I have read/heard of the 45ACP's "non-penetrating" several times now. It has a short, fat bullet at a relatively low speed.

Did the ither bullets (.22 and .25) penetrate better because they are so much smaller and therefore much less resistance? Generally spoken, we have 40gr vs 230gr.

If I recall we had same results on old car doors (old style found at dump cars stuff 1990) the 45 ACP lead bullets made huge dents but often did not pass through - mostly making a dent with a like cap torn half open far side.
I can not recall if this was through one door and caught second door or first door - just have a mental image of that stretched cap on exit side.  I know the 9 mm was MUCH better, but Cup and core bullets - my 45 used lead bullets.

This is one of the reasons why I'm getting a FN57 😉

Seriously though, one has the choice between a slow, heavy thump (45ACP), or a stiff whack with a 9mmP etc.

The 45ACP came into being because the newest handgun cartridges they had (.38/200?) couldn't do the job.

The stats on handgun bullet effectiveness in stopping human targets make it very clear that there are no magical calibres. From 380 on and assuming quality modern bullet construction there's not much in it. Handguns are whimpy things and depend completely on drilling holes through critical bits to make bad people go good. Whether that hole is .38 or .45 in diameter isn't the critical factor.

The stats on handgun bullet effectiveness in stopping human targets make it very clear that there are no magical calibres. From 380 on and assuming quality modern bullet construction there's not much in it. Handguns are whimpy things and depend completely on drilling holes through critical bits to make bad people go good. Whether that hole is .38 or .45 in diameter isn't the critical factor.

********************************
Handguns are not very good killing choices until they become impractical or no longer really a handgun.
When barrels get to 9 - 10 inch's and - or calibres reach .50 then terminal ballistics change enough to be very affective.