Carry Ammo for .45

5111 · #1

I was at Bass Pro a couple of weeks ago and decided to look for some carry ammo for my Colt Officers. I had previously just been carrying the WWB that I shoot at the range. Anyway, the guy at Bass Pro convinced me to buy the Remington Golden Saber .45ACP (+P) @ $25/box of 25. Later I realized that it was only a 185 grain hollow point. Is this a reasonable carry ammo, or should I go shoot this $1/round ammo up and buy something else?

mr surveyor · #2

it's good.... keep it for carry

yobdab · #3

I also like the TAP ammo by Hornady. Not the personal defense stuff but the original.

Xander · #4

I'd agree with mr surveyor. I'd be comfortable trusting it. As long as your gun eats it properly, (which is an issue with any load) it's a good SD round.

AEA · #5

I hear it is good, however I also hear that some guns do not eat it well.

Personally, I have always used Federal Hydra-Shok in 230gr. They also make a 185gr but I like the heavier bullet.

I understand the advantages of a somewhat faster bullet, but faster means lighter and if I wanted to shoot a faster/lighter bullet I would have bought a 9mm.

Xander · #6

AEA wrote:I hear it is good, however I also hear that some guns do not eat it well.

And the potential for this is why with *any* round I carry, I bite the bullet, and run a couple of hundred rounds of it though the gun I intend on carrying it it before I trust my life to it. It doesn't matter how good the terminal ballistics are, if it fails to feed, you're in a world of hurt.

I'd suggest that the *minimum* amount of testing that you should do with any carry load is a full magazine's worth through each and every magazine you intend to carry, to make sure the system is reliable from beginning to end.

mr surveyor · #7

Xander wrote:
AEA wrote:I hear it is good, however I also hear that some guns do not eat it well.
And the potential for this is why with *any* round I carry, I bite the bullet, and run a couple of hundred rounds of it though the gun I intend on carrying it it before I trust my life to it. It doesn't matter how good the terminal ballistics are, if it fails to feed, you're in a world of hurt.

I'd suggest that the *minimum* amount of testing that you should do with any carry load is a full magazine's worth through each and every magazine you intend to carry, to make sure the system is reliable from beginning to end.

yep, good advice!

HankB · #8

I normally carry 230 grain Remington Golden Saber JHP, as it's reliable in my gun, accurate, and, if it doesn't expand, it's still a 230, meaning it will be no worse than GI hardball in terminal effect . . . and that's not bad.

I recently picked up some Winchester Ranger 230 +P and plan to give it a try at the range next time I'm there.

5111 · #9

My plan was to shoot at least a couple magazines of it on my next trip to the range. That would still leave me enough to carry for now.

Xander · #10

5111 wrote:My plan was to shoot at least a couple magazines of it on my next trip to the range. That would still leave me enough to carry for now.

I'd think that should be adequate for making sure that it runs well.

nemesis · #11

The lighter bullets are a good choice for a short barreled 1911. 230 grain bullets will not produce good muzzle velocity out of short barrel as the inertia of the heavier bullet is too much for a short barrel . It's just not a long enough run to produce the expected velocity.

I have chrono'd 185 gr +P Golden Sabers out of my Springfield Ultra Compact and found they were only a couple of fps below 1050 fps.

I carry these daily.

Big Calhoun · #12

I've a Federal HydraShock +P 185 gr through all my .45s. I seem to get consistent performance and since I'm pretty much still a n00b when it comes to ballistics, I'm not going to fix something that isn't broken.

LM23 · #13

Winchester Ranger T, tough to find anymore. But still, in my opinion, one of the bet defense loads made.

badkarma56 · #14

LM23 wrote:Winchester Ranger T, tough to find anymore. But still, in my opinion, one of the bet defense loads made.

+1 on the Ranger-T rounds, I use the 127 gr. +P+ for my USP9C (carry piece) and the 230 gr. +P for my USP45 (one of several home defense pieces).

I'll tell you a great place to order this ammo from, http://ammunitiontogo.com/. They just about always have Ranger-T in-stock. If they happen to be out-of-stock when you order, get some of the Federal HST rounds for your piece (not to be confused with the less effective Federal "hydra-shok" round). HST ammo is ballistically similar to Ranger-T loads, and offers the same sort of disruptive bullet expansion (i.e., sharp, petal-like edges upon expanding).

This guy did some interesting testing of several different JHP loads in 9mm (including Ranger-T, HST, and Hydra-shok loads): http://frag.110mb.com. Dude, I'd REALLY hate to ever "catch" a round of Ranger-T or HST...talk about pain!

Commander · #15

I carry 230 Grain Golden Sabres in my XD-45.