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P1200465

I saw Heizer’s latest creation for the first time at SHOT Show, a semi-auto handgun in .45 ACP. It was kinda cool, but needed some work. A year later the gun is still on the drawing board, but progress has been made . . .

The gun has some controls that I like. There’s a slide stop built into the grip, and a safety that I might actually be useful in a stressful situation. That said, the magazines are still very much a work in progress.

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There’s no release date for the gun just yet, but they’ll be commanding a princely sum of $800 for this direct blowback block of aluminum.

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46 COMMENTS

  1. Stainless steel or titanium , not aluminum. My XDM 3.8 compact in .45acp holds more, weighs the same. No thanks, but it is kind of cool.

    • Says steel in the last picture. That seems right.

      Also says a titanium option will be available? That would be neat.

      • Titanium is a real pain to machine, especially the alloys you use for guns. That was the problem initially, and it remains, it’s just slow.

        As to the rest, meh. The DoubleTap isn’t really that bad with the trainer grip on it, you can get at least 6 shots before you want to drop it, and leave it where it falls. As a last resort, maybe. But there’s other 2 shot derringers, and they are half the money.

        • inth19, Sorry, was just tossing the DoubleTap into the mix, without differentiating it enough.

          The semi is still not production ready, and I guess I just don’t see the point. It’ll be painful to shoot, and it will be just a fraction smaller than other stuff that’s far better to shoot, not to mention cheaper. Like the DoubleTap. I honestly think it will be very hard to actually shoot 4/5+1, without dropping the gun.

          • I’m curious to see what they could do if they downscaled their design to .380.

            Still, I’d be willing to give even a .45 a try. If I can control it, bigger is better. And there is always handloading to reduce recoil…

        • Ask the makers of the Micro Eagle how successful a heavy, all-metal, and more expensive .380 can be.

          Let’s face facts, guys. The mainstream IS polymer-framed semi-automatic handguns. Everything else is a niche gun.

  2. Interesting. But not $800 interesting. Much better CCW options for the same or less money.

    Not to mention that shooting the Double Tap is reportedly like high-fiving a ball-peen hammer… 7 rounds of that will put you in the hospital.

    • Semi-auto should soften that somewhat, because someone of the energy will be absorbed by moving the slide. Still, it doesn’t look very comfortable, does it?

      • Not at all.

        Years back I had an AMT in .380, neat, solid little gun.

        I liked everything but the vicious slide bite.

        The Heizer looks better than that in that regard, but there’s no arguing with Newtonian physics.

        I’ll wait to see who draws the short straw at TTAG for the review…

        • Did you have the DAO or the SAO?

          I have an old Single Action BackUp 380 and really like it, despite issues with quality, and reliability… and shootability.

          If I shoot it without gloves on I get slide bite, AND grip safety bite.

        • Mine was the DAO.

          Long, heavy, but smooth trigger. It was one of the very few semi-autos I would be comfortable with appendix carry,

    • Yes, that is an apt description. I’m 6’2″ and have been shooting for years. I had to strap on a nice, padded pair of shooter’s gloves after the first shots on my DoubleTap just to keep going. It’s the 9mm model, I’d never buy a .45acp in that size. I only bought it because it was on sale for $170 (much closer to its actual value, if you ask me) and figured I could spare it.

      I carry it as a back-up on my off-hand side to compliment my EDC gun. If I ever have to use it, I’m counting on adrenaline to dull the pain. It would still leave my hand awfully wobbly afterwords. Hmmm. Maybe I should sell it and swap it for a subcompact .380 or 9mm?

  3. Not my cup of tea either, but it does at least look solid. I’m just happy the gun market is healthy enough to support these niche/outlier projects.

  4. I thought semi automatic .45 ACP pistols had been available for some time now. Wasn’t the 1911 a semi auto .45? JOKING

  6. Give me a Sig, Glock, or 1911. This thing looks like an ice sculpture, and it’s probably just as durable.

  7. They sure do want a lot for the rather unappealing products. I was interesting in the pocket shotgun for going on walks during snake season but $500 for a single shot pocket gun is absurd.

    • It is barrel UNDER guide rod, so that’s a lot of space for a substantial spring.

      Personally I’m not crazy about barrel UNDER guide rod anyway, because that means the barrel is farther from the sites (although closer to the hand).

      • For this sort of gun, if you’re using the sights, you’re doing it wrong.

        With that sight distance, it’s not going to do much, anyway.

  10. Direct blowback for 45 acp? I don’t even want to think about trying to work the slide with the spring they must have to use with that.

  12. I feel like Rachel from mean girls. “Stop trying to make Heizer happen Gretchen. Heizer is never going to happen!

  14. Gee a Hi-point 45 is direct blowback and weighs a ton… THIS is interesting. Doesn’t Kahr have a little 45 for a LOT less money(CM45)?(and much less than Springfield). I know they have had a few issues with it but anyone know if they worked the bugs out?

  15. $800 for that hunk of crap?

    This afternoon, while having one of my impromptu lunch time gun store sessions, I was going back and forth on whether to spend the money on a Magpul’d out Century C39 V2 for the same price…

    And that was an actual gun.

  16. For those wondering about the point… it’s specifically about pocket carry. Weight matters there a lot, and flatness matters even more.

    If they can actually make this work, I see myself buying one.

  17. I’d be curious to see it side by side with an XDs, although for $800, I really don’t see my XDs being replaced

  18. I want to know when they are going to make a 45acp barrel for the single shot. That I would be interested in.

    • “I want to know when they are going to make a 45acp barrel for the single shot. ”

      Get the stainless Bond derringer in .45 ACP, .410 or Long Colt:

      http://bondarms.com/

      Dual barrel, the feel of indestructibility and enough mass to help soak up some of the recoil.

      And other barrels / calibers available to swap out.

      • not interested in the bond arms. I see the heizer in 45acp like a modern day liberator. just a lot more expensive!

  19. For those of you have hands large enough to fit that grip, will you be comfortable shooting without your ring finger and pinkie wrapped around the gun? Looks rather large to me.

  20. I mean, really, a FIXED f*ing barrel in .45 ACP? As noted up thread, what kinda recoil spring we looking at here; do I gotta stick the pistol in a vise to rack it. Sure, it works on a .380, but there is a reason my SS Sig P238 hardly recoils. My late, lamented and traded in CZ-83 in 9×18 still had some recoil.

    There is a reason that most substantial calibers use a Browning lock breach design.

    I like different. And, frankly, the only cheez-whiz I like is on my Triscuits (albeit I do carry a XDs 4.0 in 9mm pretty often – was rocking the 686 today, so not, you know, entirely self loathing), but stuff needs to make sense. I can’t even say second kind of cool, but I suppose mileage may vary depending on yer tastes.

  22. I see this mainly as a collectible curiosity for those with money to blow.

    I would not want to have to manipulate that tiny looking safety under duress. I think a smooth DAO would have made more sense.

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