Sidearms & Scatterguns 45 carry ammo

[alan98]

I'm beginning to look for some good carry ammo for my 1911 trp and my new HK45CT. I haven't looked around too much but have read the 230 hydroshock's mentioned a lot. Just wanted to post this to see if anyone has tested some different ones and which they feel is one of the better ones.

Thanks

Alan

 

[07yzryder]

i wanted to roll my own so i went with the Barnes Tac XP rounds. From the tests i seen on the interwebz they seem to work well and can kill water jugs and denim with ease.

 

[FN in MT]

I'd say the hydra-shoks or the WW Ranger SXT's in 230 grain.

 

[DocUSMCRetired]

Federal Premium Hydroshock, or the Cor-Bon +P. Both are great, I tend to lean more towards the Cor-Bon.

 

[fasteddie565]

I would recommend a bonded bullet. DOS security details were having issues with corbon bullets breaking apart without hitting medium. I carry Speer gold dot hollow point as it is a bonded bullet and the shape makes it a reliable hollow point. The federal Hydrashocks are not bonded bullets.

If not a hollow point, consider a truncated cone bullet or a flat point. They cut through medium vs a round nose that tends to find the path of least resistance. At least that is what The Guru professed.

 

[MLC]

Don't use 185 grain Winchester Silvertips.
Woefully inadequate penetration on flesh and bone.

 

[WileyG]

My carry ammo is Winchester Ranger T in 230gr. It's the Black Talon bullet minus the black coating to be PC. I stocked up in August 2012 before things got crazy in the ammo market

 

[JustG]

I carry Liberty USM4 in my glock 30s. 1900fps out of a 78gr .45..

 

[rmfield]

This should help: Best Choices for Self Defense Ammo

 

[Unknown]

Regardless of which brand of ammo is most highly recommended, cheapest at the gun store, or even available, make sure it will feed properly in YOUR pistol. If the ammo won't feed, it is fairly useless, regardless of how much you like all the other factors.

My former partner and I both had factory box stock Glock 21's (45acp) and we found that they both had strong AND DIFFERENT ammo preferences, and simply wouldn't work reliably with some hollow point ammo. So even if brand X shoots great in your buddy's identical pistol, you can't be certain that the same ammo will work in your pistol.

 

[JMGlasgow]

I use Hornady Critical Defense.

 

[jhr1986]

A specific brand name isn't what worries me too much. Generally I carry Gold Dots, but that is because they feed well in my pistols and I was able to find them in 50rnd boxes at a reasonable price. I think in terms of quality Gold Dot = HST = Ranger T. I haven't extensively tested Golden Sabers, PDX1s or Hornady's polymer tipped SD rounds but if they fed well I would have no problem using them either. All the top manufacturers make high quality, effective HP bullets these days. I have about 1k golden saber bullets to load, but I just haven't gotten around to it.

 

[Shoottothrill]

Speer Gold Dot 230gr. Hollowpoints. This is why. Speer Gold Dot .45 ACP 230 gr JHP SIM-TEST w/denim - YouTube

This round expands perfectly even after going through 4 layers of denim. Penetrates 12" inches which is ideal. Thats why almost every law enforcement agency uses the Speer Gold Dot, regardless of caliber.

 

[Graham]

45 carry ammo

Anything that will expand .45 caliber will work nicely.

 

[Flea21]

I roll my own.. Mine are Hornady XTP 230gr.

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

 

[Double3]

I like Federal HST.

 

[ArmyJerry]

Plain old ball ammo, minimize chance of feed issue.

 

[VoxPatriam]

I carry either Hydra Shoks, CorBon Power Ball, or Hornady Custom TAP+P in my Kimber. I'm prone to carry +P rounds in winter when a threat is likely to be wearing heavier clothing.

 

[snipe10]

+1 to armyjerry,

 

[alan98]

Thanks for all the posts..I'm gonna try to find some gold dots and see how they perform accuracy/reliability.

Alan

 

[Yama Arashi]

Speer Gold Dot, Winchester Ranger T or Federal HST

 

[matthias]

No question federal hst is the best I have tested. Winchester PDx was decent , rem golden sabre was decent ,Guard dog was inconsistent . Federal hst was the best.

 

[W8-2112]

My self defense 1911 is loaded with black-hills match 230gr HP, I feel sorry for any poor fool who unlawfully crosses my path for I have (3) 7round mags bed side to handle business which I figure is enough to make it to the gun safe where the big guns are kept.

 

[SilentG21]

I gotta go with ArmyJerry also...230grn fmjs...reliable...and come on...230grns hitting a person...I dont think it matters how the bullet looks....that thing is gunna hurt

 

[Yama Arashi]

Dumped these rounds into some water jugs with a USP Compact.

All .45 230gr standard pressure - the +P version of these rounds don't open up as much

L to R: Speer Gold Dot - Winchester Ranger T - Federal HST

 

[JaysonF]

I use SXT, hornady critical defense, or hydrashock

 

[dammitman]

My carry ammo is Winchester Ranger T in 230gr. It's the Black Talon bullet minus the black coating to be PC. I stocked up in August 2012 before things got crazy in the ammo market

what he said

 

[alman1531]

I am also a fan of the 230gr Gold Dot. I have also tested the Hornady Critical Defense in wet pack and it had good expanion and penetration. The Gold Dots were better though.

 

[Tack425]

I picked up some of this:
.45 ACP +P | 200 gr. Hornady XTP, 1050 FPS - 5" Barrel-Wilson Combat

 

[DetroitRearView]

I went to a fair number of autopsies back in the day...We carried the 230 black Talon. Much of what I find regarding the correct load "for you" is of course feeding/reliability BUT also confidence is huge. On numerous real shoots I saw the difference between hardball or even HP bullets pushing past a major artery and the WW Talon claws ripping it wide open for the bleed out.

Unless you tap the computer it will generally be quite an exciting exercise, exchanging projectiles (while at times releasing your own bodily fluids) at very close range.

So, because of very unscientific samples and admitted bias, I carry my G21 stocked with Ranger SXT 230 bonded, along with 13 full mags of same pill with my go bag (which also houses my G30).

Behind my seat is my HK/USC/UMP SBR with 4 25rd mags carrying the same diet. That being said, they function without failure in all my 45ACP weapons. I like 'em.

 

[rez187]

hornady critical duty. the critical defense is slightly less velocity due to it being designed for close quarters. the critical duty is full powered with slightly larger red tip. red rubber type tip is designed to prevent hollow point clogging and initiate expansion. give critical duty a look and you wont look back! ps if your 1911 is finiky with hollow points look at corbon powerball have a small "ball" in tip of hp to mimic the feeding reliability of the fmj a great second to the hornady critical duty. what ever you choose you absolutely must shoot few mags to ensure feeding!!!!!!

 

[arocholl]

Speer Gold Dot 230gr. functions flawlessly in my kimber

 

[Bluejazz]

I roll my own.. Mine are Hornady XTP 230gr.

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

Same here, great bullet

 

[Graham]

45 carry ammo

Guys, it's really not about the bullet.

 

[bobke]

And more about ability to deliver it properly?

 

[RTH1800]

Good bullets are never a bad idea. Good bullets function in the gun YOU carry. Good bullets do not blow up and maintain a true course. Good bullets are consistent in expansion. In a .45, expansion is not so critical as with smaller cal weapons. I have literally shot over 1000 game animals with handguns. Ranging from small game to 650 pounds or so. Proper placement of a good bullet is all that does matter.

 

[Graham]

If it's a .45 I'll settle for proper placement of a bad bullet.

 

[bobke]

Probably breaking most rules, but I always carry what I shoot IDPA and everything else with and it's only one load, 200gr swc, makes major, always hits where I'm aiming, I've shot at least 7500 rounds of same load and I'm familiar with it, practice with it, it does cut a full 45 caliber hole-every time and if all that's wrong, I've been barking up the wrong tree for a long time. And worse yet, it's a handload.

 

[leadbullet]

always carry factory ammo, preferrably the same brand as your local cops, much easier to explain in court why you picked that ammo instead of your home made match ammo.
cheers.

 

[bobke]

I understand the factory ammo argument, but my two possible carry options don't ever see jacketed bullets, and my logic is to carry what I'm most familiar with. If I was to select an effective 200gr load going another 150-200fps and it didn't hit point of aim when called upon, I'm putting someone else's health at risk in opting for a load that gun isn't set up for, if just to shoot a factory round. A court might judge me irresponsible for choosing a load not established by regular use. All said, many sides to discussion.

Curiously, wonder how many rounds per year are shot with specific carry loads noted here, to assure familiarity with same.

 

[997/2man]

Regardless of which brand of ammo is most highly recommended, cheapest at the gun store, or even available, make sure it will feed properly in YOUR pistol. If the ammo won't feed, it is fairly useless, regardless of how much you like all the other factors.

My former partner and I both had factory box stock Glock 21's (45acp) and we found that they both had strong AND DIFFERENT ammo preferences, and simply wouldn't work reliably with some hollow point ammo. So even if brand X shoots great in your buddy's identical pistol, you can't be certain that the same ammo will work in your pistol.

Try some. Try some more. Be shit sure the ammo works in your pistol. Like many, many mags worth. I'm not comfortable with a pistol unless I've shot a couple hundred problem free rounds thought it. That's like the minimum.


And that would still be a "new' pistol/ammo combo to me.

It is hard when some of this stuff is close to a $1 a round...