450 SMC

Research notes

The 450 Short Magnum Cartridge (SMC) was introduced by Triton during the latter part of 2000. It is basically the same as the 45 SUPER and here things can get a little confusing. The 451 Detonics was developed in the early 1980’s and showed what a 1911 was really capable of. The case was however a small bit longer than the standard 45 ACP so that it would not fit in a standard 1911. The 45 SUPER took the 451 Detonics case and trimmed it back to the same length as the standard 45 ACP so that standard 45 loads could be fired in a 45 Super and Dean Grennel (who developed the 45 Super) and Ace Hindman from Ace Custom Guns produced 1911’s capable of handling the added pressures of the 45 Super. The 450 SMC is a 45 Super case with smaller primer pocket, which means more brass in the base although it is debatable if the extra strength is really needed. It uses a small rifle primer instead of a pistol primer, that might offer some advantage as the quoted ballistics is slightly better than the 45 Super.