# .45 ACP loads??



## Stick Dummy (Jun 30, 2010)

Hello all,

Just curious if you carry a .45 ACP caliber handgun what load do you carry, and WHY did you select it?

Doing some research for a friend who is interested in the topic.

Thank You for the replies.


----------



## Bill Mattocks (Jun 30, 2010)

Been a long time since I've been behind my Rock Chucker, but as I recall, it was 5 grains of Bullseye behind 230 grain FMJ.  Of course, that was not a self-defense round, that was for targets.


----------



## Stick Dummy (Jun 30, 2010)

Bill,

Thanks LOL, I just had five rounds previously loaded EXACTLY that way ejected down my shirt collar while qualifying at the range.

Talk about "induced stress" while focusing on task at hand! Still managed 300 clean score in spite of it.


----------



## Bill Mattocks (Jun 30, 2010)

Stick Dummy said:


> Bill,
> 
> Thanks LOL, I just had five rounds previously loaded EXACTLY that way ejected down my shirt collar while qualifying at the range.
> 
> Talk about "induced stress" while focusing on task at hand! Still managed 300 clean score in spite of it.



You shoot righty or lefty?  I'm a righty,  never had that much of a problem with brass down the blouse from my 1911A1.  Used to get a hot one down the back of my blouse from time to time with my M16A1, but that was not my rifle, not my load.


----------



## Stick Dummy (Jun 30, 2010)

They weren't mine they came from next shooter to the left, directly down back of my shirt.

Strong hand dominant but ustabee ambi


----------



## Grenadier (Jun 30, 2010)

Glock 30 and Glock 36, back when I had them...  Those were great .45 ACP pistols, since both were easily concealed with a good holster and belt.  

I especially enjoyed the Glock 30, since it was one of the softest-shooting .45 ACP compact pistols out there, and gave me 10+1 capacity, in one really nice, accurate package.  

The preferred load for carry was Remington's 185 grain standard pressure Golden Saber.  I found that my Glocks shot point of aim, dead on, with this load.  I also used standard pressure 230 grain Golden Sabers, as well.  

With today's premium ammo designs, any premium jacketed hollowpoint will do the job, as long as it's not a gimmick round.  You can have your choice of Remington's Golden Saber, Speer's Gold Dot, etc., and any of them will do the job.


My target load was the following:

230 grain FMJ round nosed bullet (any)
5.0 grains Vihtavuori N320 powder
Winchester large pistol primer
COAL = 1.260" 

This is an exceptionally clean-burning load, very accurate, and cycles the slides of just about any .45 pistol out there, reliably.


----------



## Andy Moynihan (Jun 30, 2010)

Sig-Sauer P220 ( DAO converted), Speer Gold Dot 200 grain +P JHP.

Carry it because it meets the 500 foot-pound general guideline for producing hydrostatic shock and thus as close as possible to the mythical "guaranteed" one round stop, AND because it has all over the box "Designed to meet the needs of Law Enforcement" so that should my awareness, avoidance,empty hands and spray fail to end the problem, or be otherwise unable to reasonably be employed to stop the threat, and I were heaven forbid forced to shoot, and the prosecutor attacks my "killer hollowpoint ammo which proves i had malice in my heart" and asks why I chose it, I say, in complete truthfulness, "I figured if it was good enough for the police to protect me and my family with, it was good enough for ME to protect me and my family with".

Even the stupidest, hungriest prosecutor isn't gonna go after the law enforcement establishment just to get at you. BUT you have to have the answers to all this stuff because there is no animal in nature more desperate than a prosecutor with no case.


----------



## Deaf Smith (Jun 30, 2010)

Stick,

One of the happy things about the .45 ACP is except for the soft-ball waddcutter loads most .45 loads are good stoppers.

Yes you can go to +P, but the .45 ACP really does not need it as bad as the 9mm.

The Hydra-shock .45 load is a known good one.
Cor-Bon DPX is another.
In fact most top brands of .45 loads are all excellent.

Funny thing is, I'm sitting on top of over 500 rounds of .45 Super and .45 SMC (the only difference is the large-small primer pockets.)

But if I was to unlimber one of my 1911s and pack it, I'd use DPX. Why? Cause it expands even after going through dennim jackets. It won't plug up with cloth and not expand.

Deaf


----------



## sgtmac_46 (Jul 2, 2010)

Stick Dummy said:


> Hello all,
> 
> Just curious if you carry a .45 ACP caliber handgun what load do you carry, and WHY did you select it?
> 
> ...


 
I carry 185 grain Cor-Bon..........but the reality is that it's more important to find ammunition that cycles well in your firearm, than to concern yourself with this wonder expansion round versus that one.

I feel perfectly comfortable with FMJ, so long as it cycles reliably, as reliability and shot placement is more important than most other considerations.


----------



## Stick Dummy (Jul 2, 2010)

Gentleman,

Thank you for the replies. I had already figured there would be a nice cross section of selection based on brand and weight.

 Will pass on the info today and watch the "sticker shock" set in at the store LOL

Thanks again


----------



## Bill Mattocks (Jul 2, 2010)

sgtmac_46 said:


> I carry 185 grain Cor-Bon..........but the reality is that it's more important to find ammunition that cycles well in your firearm, than to concern yourself with this wonder expansion round versus that one.
> 
> I feel perfectly comfortable with FMJ, so long as it cycles reliably, as reliability and shot placement is more important than most other considerations.



I agree.  That's why I tended towards FMJ when I had a 1911A1; one must absolutely be confident in feeding (and extracting) for SD use.  FMJ was always reliable, and Bullseye never let me down with stovepipe jams, etc.

I know semi-auto fans who say that if your weapon has feed issues or extraction problems, you need to get it worked over with a 'smith or get a different weapon, etc; but I feel that's asking too much.  I should not have to tweak a weapon and worry excessively about the viscosity of the slide lube based on ambient temperature today, etc.  So I just went with what always, always, worked for me in my particular weapon.

However, that gets us back to the basic question of why a semi-auto instead of a revolver, which will obviously not have failure to feed or extraction issues.  A .38 Special +P with wadcutters is actually quite a nice SD weapon, and cheap too.


----------



## Andy Moynihan (Jul 2, 2010)

Bill Mattocks said:


> I agree. That's why I tended towards FMJ when I had a 1911A1; one must absolutely be confident in feeding (and extracting) for SD use. FMJ was always reliable, and Bullseye never let me down with stovepipe jams, etc.
> 
> I know semi-auto fans who say that if your weapon has feed issues or extraction problems, you need to get it worked over with a 'smith or get a different weapon, etc; but I feel that's asking too much. I should not have to tweak a weapon and worry excessively about the viscosity of the slide lube based on ambient temperature today, etc. So I just went with what always, always, worked for me in my particular weapon.
> 
> However, that gets us back to the basic question of why a semi-auto instead of a revolver, which will obviously not have failure to feed or extraction issues. A .38 Special +P with wadcutters is actually quite a nice SD weapon, and cheap too.


 

Only thing is that doesn't take into account the risk of overpenetration with FMJ ammo, especially jacketed. Modern autos coming off the lines now are ALREADY set up to feed JHP's fine, this isn't the 80's anymore where that was a problem. The round passes through and injures or kills someone behind the threat, it doesn't matter that you won.

Then , too, if that's still a concern in your particular gun, they DO make expanding FMJ ammo these days too.

I do concur about the ease of failure-to fire drills with a revolver though (i.e.--pull trigger again).


----------



## Stick Dummy (Jul 2, 2010)

Gentleman,

Could you please refrain from hijacking the thread? 

Revolvers DO JAM, BTDT for a number of reasons.

Start a thread and I will be happy to enlighten you more.

Thanks!


----------



## Bill Mattocks (Jul 2, 2010)

Andy Moynihan said:


> Only thing is that doesn't take into account the risk of overpenetration with FMJ ammo, especially jacketed. Modern autos coming off the lines now are ALREADY set up to feed JHP's fine, this isn't the 80's anymore where that was a problem. The round passes through and injures or kills someone behind the threat, it doesn't matter that you won.



Good point.  When I carried a 1911A1, it *was* the 1980's.

But one reason I preferred handloads from my Rockchucker was that 5 grains of Bullseye was not likely to overpenetrate if I hit anything close to center mass, which is where I aim.



> Then , too, if that's still a concern in your particular gun, they DO make expanding FMJ ammo these days too.
> 
> I do concur about the ease of failure-to fire drills with a revolver though (i.e.--pull trigger again).



I get that some folks prefer more rounds than a cylinder carries, and larger calibers than .38 Special, but I'm just not one of them.


----------



## sgtmac_46 (Jul 4, 2010)

Andy Moynihan said:


> Only thing is that doesn't take into account the risk of overpenetration with FMJ ammo, especially jacketed. Modern autos coming off the lines now are ALREADY set up to feed JHP's fine, this isn't the 80's anymore where that was a problem. The round passes through and injures or kills someone behind the threat, it doesn't matter that you won.
> 
> Then , too, if that's still a concern in your particular gun, they DO make expanding FMJ ammo these days too.
> 
> I do concur about the ease of failure-to fire drills with a revolver though (i.e.--pull trigger again).


 

Ehhh......the reality is that many times expansion ammunition overpentrates as well.  I won't go in to details, but I have seen bodies struck by Federal Hydroshok where the rounds have passed through.  Conversely, i've seen expansion ammunition failure as a result of a failure to penetrate to vital organs.

The reality, though, is that the bullet velocity of either expansion ammunition or FMJ, out of a pistol, is extremely neglible after passing through a human torso.  

It's far more important to be able to get reliable performance and and accurate hits, than to worry about some theory about how a given round is going to react when it hits.  What is reliable is accurate shots, repeated as needed.


----------



## sgtmac_46 (Jul 4, 2010)

Bill Mattocks said:


> I get that some folks prefer more rounds than a cylinder carries, and larger calibers than .38 Special, but I'm just not one of them.


  The real truth is that there are very few actual interpersonal conflicts that cannot be resolved with 6 accurate shots of .38 special.........on those rare occassions when there are, that's why god invented speed loaders.

It's not my preference, but it's certainly an acceptable one.


----------



## Stick Dummy (Jul 4, 2010)

That's it in a nutshell:

Kinda a "tauntalogical"(a fancy Happy Fourth of July word for Andy M) journey back to the roots of DVC philosophy.

Speaking of which Happy 4th of July please remember the costs of us having the freedoms we cherish


----------



## Hudson69 (Jul 30, 2010)

When I was in narcs I used Winchester SXT in my 1911 for undercover work.  It was the issued round; no preference, just that it was required to be carried.


----------



## Grenadier (Jul 30, 2010)

Hudson69 said:


> When I was in narcs I used Winchester SXT in my 1911 for undercover work.  It was the issued round; no preference, just that it was required to be carried.



The SXT's a nicely designed round.  Alan Corzine really did his homework, when making this bullet.  The only knock against it was the core / jacket separation after going through an intermediate barrier (such as car glass).  For most situations, that's really not a concern, since you still have a lead slug hitting the target.


----------



## Cryozombie (Aug 4, 2010)

Stick Dummy said:


> Hello all,
> 
> Just curious if you carry a .45 ACP caliber handgun what load do you carry, and WHY did you select it?



I don't carry, (That's not legal here, and I would NEVER break the law) but I typically have Corbon ammo in there.  I like their 230 Grain hollow points.  Corbon was recommended to me, and as far as performance, they seemed to work the best for me and my gun.  Yes, I could go with a lighter load, (might even help my accuracy) but for now I'm satisfied.


----------

