The Entreprise
Tactical P325Plus
A Top Notch Compact 45 Auto

The Entreprise P325 Plus is a wide-body 1911-style pistol that is chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge and has a ten-round magazine capacity.	Like other Entreprise auto pistols, the P325 has features normally found on expensive custom auto pistols like an ambidextrous safety, an elongated burr-style hammer and a high-ride beavertail safety with an upswept tang.

The Entreprise Arms Tactical P325 Plus is a compact high-capacity .45 auto pistol made by Entreprise Arms of Irwindale, California. It is the second pistol that we have reviewed from this company this year. In our July 1998 issue our editor Jan Libourel reviewed the Tactical P500, which is a 10-shot full- size 1911-style auto pistol.
     The P325 Plus is more size-efficient with a Commander-size, wide-body frame married to an upper body with an overall length close to that of an Officer's ACP. The pistol's slide is machined from stainless steel, while the frame is made of carbon steel and has a wide body to accommodate a ten-round double-column magazine.
     The frame is quite similar to that found on other high-capacity 1911s, namely those made by Para-Ordnance. The P325's frame differs in one notable respect in that the front of its trigger- guard is square instead of round.

As with the P500 that editor Libourel evaluated, the pistol has a number of features that are generally found only on expensive custom pistols. These include slim ambidextrous safety levers and a beavertail grip safety with an upswept tang, as well as a burr-style hammer with an elongated slot. The slide has a rounded top and front cocking serrations. The barrel has a reverse taper that provides a good lockup with the barrel bushing in the slide similar to an Officer's ACP. The pistol also has a full-length recoil-spring guide rod. The sights are fixed and are secured by means of dovetail slots in the front and rear of the slide. The front sight has a square profile and is ramped, while the rear sight is a low-mount Novak design. The grip panels are made of a black plastic material and have checkered sides. The mainspring housing is flat and checkered.
     

The P325 has the usual 1911 controls of slide stop, button-type magazine catch, speed and grip safety.	The barrel has a reverse taper that provides a tight lockup with the barrel bushing in the slide. Both the front and rear sides of the slide are serrated for ease of loading the chamber

Takedown for normal cleaning and maintenance is much like that for other similar 1911 pistols. The recoil spring must, however, first be captured using a bent paper clip by locking open the slide then placing a bent paper clip in a hole in the spring guide rod and releasing the slide. The slide/barrel/recoil spring assembly is then removed from the frame. Once this has been accomplished, the captured recoil spring assembly is removed from out of the bottom of the slide, followed by the barrel. This completes field-stripping, and the pistol is assembled in reverse order.

When shot from a seated bench rest, the P325 proved to have good combat accuracy, shooting groups of between three and four inches. The best shown here measured 2 3/4 inches.	To disassemble the pistol down to its nine basic components, the recoil spring assembly must be captured using a bent paper clip

 The magazine catch is of the button type and is slightly extended to compensate for the pistol's wider grip. My P325 was very well made, with no signs of machining or casting imperfections to any of the exterior metal surfaces. Despite its wide girth, the pistol was comfortable to hold and I had no difficulty engaging the trigger and accessing the controls with the thumb of my shooting hand. The trigger pull was crisp, breaking at just on five pounds, although it felt considerably lighter
    I shot the pistol at the Petersen Ranch range late during the month of June of this year using the following ammunition: Black Hills 230-grain JHP, Federal 230-grain Hydra-Shok HP, Norma 230-grain Diamond JHP and Speer 230-grain Gold Dot HP. At a distance of 25 yards shooting from a seated bench rest, the Norma Diamond ammunition was the most accurate, shooting a 2 3/4-inch group, which is very good for a combat auto pistol. The rest of the ammunition produced acceptable accuracy, shooting groups that varied between three and four inches. The fixed sights were pretty well regulated, consistently shooting groups that were only just slightly below my point of aim.

The pistol performed well when shooting fast two-shot strings from five yards back to 20 yards, keeping all shots within the nine-ring of a B27 target center.

The pistol performed equally as well on the combat range. It pointed well when I started off with some unaimed point shooting at five yards, putting both of my first fast two-shot strings in the ten-ring of a B27 target center. This exercise was repeated at seven yards using the sights, where another two tens were scored. Recoil, while noticeable, was quite easy to control. All but two of my subsequent shots remained in the ten-ring as I moved back to ten, 15 and 20 yards using a two-handed hold. In fact, these two shots were nines just out side of the ten-ring.
    I found that the wide grip helped in absorbing recoil, and the good sights made it easy to reacquire a sight picture for a fast follow-up second shot. I did experience a few feeding problems, but these disappeared the more I shot the pistol. By the end of the day, it was functioning perfectly.
    My general impression of the Entreprise model P325 is that it is a perfect companion to the 500 model shot earlier by editor Libourel. It is well made, accurate, reliable and has many features found only in more expensive customized 1911-type auto pistols.

The pistol's fixed sights consist of a ramped front blade and a Novak low-mounted rear assembly.

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