Author Topic: .45 acp defense round? (Read 2846 times)

markc · « **on:** October 29, 2008, 07:43:36 AM »

For those who carry a .45 as their personal defense weapon, what ammo are you using, or do you recommend? Thanks..

chucky52 · « **Reply #1 on:** October 29, 2008, 08:21:28 AM »

Federal, low recoil, 165 gr. for maximized expansion.

StrawHat · « **Reply #2 on:** October 29, 2008, 09:44:39 AM »

Federal HydraShok 230 grain.

gstewart44 · « **Reply #3 on:** October 29, 2008, 02:26:08 PM »

I still have 10 boxes of Winchester's no-longer-made Black Talons. No good for hunting but damned accurate and expand tremendously for self defense. I have three SW 1917's that are my primary self defense guns. When these are depleted I will be in the market for more. I will keep reading this thread for other's advice/experience.

williamlayton · « **Reply #4 on:** October 30, 2008, 12:43:29 AM »

Ball is not a poor choice in winter---ball is not a poor choice.
As a general rule I prefer any of a number of HP/Expanding ammo for the dual purpose of expansion and lessening penetration.
Blessings

Mikey · « **Reply #5 on:** November 05, 2008, 12:53:16 AM »

I have found the best ammo to use in the 45 is plain ball. It does not fail if you hit with it. If you don't hit with your ammo, regardless of design, it will not stop an attack.

If you reload the only other bullet for the 45 is a semi-wadcutter and there are two swc slugs that immediately come to mind. The first is the old Lyman 452423 at 238 gn and the Mag-Tech 230 gn fmj-swc. Either slug over 6.5-6.7 gn of Unique duplicates factory velocity loadings, is accurate in my 45s, and is a major improvement over the round nose bullet design. Mikey.

dbriannelson · « **Reply #6 on:** November 05, 2008, 04:22:00 AM »

While I don't carry a .45 anymore, my experience in the military with ball is that it's 100% effective. Way back I used to reload .45ACP using a SWC bullet and figure it would have been about the same on target, and it also fed 100% reliably.

The two things that are necessary are that it always chamber and fire, and it be effective on the target. For me, ball is a slam dunk for both, and a SWC reload is in a close second place.

-Don

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #7 on:** November 05, 2008, 04:31:10 AM »

most any round that pokes a near 1/2 inch hole in anything is good ! If it comes out the far side its a great round !

rigger1 · « **Reply #8 on:** November 05, 2008, 08:16:47 AM »

Recent tests with short-barreled guns has convinced me to load Corbon DPX in all my carry guns.

These tests have shown excellent penetration and expansion through hard barriers and fairly heavy clothing.

Bigeasy · « **Reply #9 on:** November 05, 2008, 06:06:23 PM »

A good defensive load, in any caliber, will combine adequate penetration with expansion.

In the 45 ACP, actual police shooting statistics have shown the 185 / 200 grain Plus P hollowpoints have proven most effective as manstoppers.

Larry

markc · « **Reply #10 on:** November 06, 2008, 09:26:33 AM »

Thanks for all of the replies folks. Long ago I carried W silver tips in my old. 45. Once I get this new one broke in good, I'l decide on a defense round and shoot a boat load of those.

Lee Robinson · « **Reply #11 on:** November 06, 2008, 04:49:31 PM »

Not claiming to be an expert of the 45 ACP at all. I am new to the round, but I will tell you MY THINKING and what I chose.

I wanted a round that was affordable so I could practice...as others have said, it doesn't matter how good the bullet is if you miss. So, I looked at "bulk" bullets for reloading to choose from. There are some "FMJ" bullets that are fairly cheap, but I also wanted to look at lead since we are talking about less than 900 fps here...and leading shouldn't be a problem.

I also wanted a fairly heavy bullet given we are going to be relatively low velocity (compared to other defensive rounds like the 357 Mag) in order to maximize the efficiency of the round in general (for the dollar, as I am sure there are some JHP designs out there that may offer some improvements overy my final selection, but they would be expensive enough that I doubt I would practice with them a great deal...and I want to shoot this gun a LOT so it becomes second nature).

I also wanted a flat point or hollow point bullet with the RELIABLE FEEDING of the round nose (again, it doesn't matter how good a bullet is if it doesn't feed reliably)....but I didn't want a "round nose" bullet...so I looked for something that offered a design suggestive of reliable feeding.

I also considered that I wanted the front to be flat for performance/shock and also to reduce chances of "glancing off bone"...as I would rather it go through the bones even if it stops shortly there after.

For this reason, I chose to try the 225 gr 45 ACP truncated cone (PM45-225 45TCBB) bullets by http://www.proshootpro.com. This bullet has a flat meplat that isn't big, but it is decent sized...and yet it has enough "taper" to the design that it appeared that it would reliably feed at least as good as a round nose design.

I tried them and they fed VERY RELIABLE. I am one of those people that has problems with "autos" getting jammed for some reason for whatever reason...and this bullet has never jammed on me. My first loads were with "universal" powder. Accuracy with this bullet and with the Universal powder was less than I desired. Not bad, but not good...about 3-4" at 25 yards. I tried W231 and accuracy greatly improved. Even with used "discount" brass these bullets shoot less than 2" at 25 yards for me...at 10 yards they cut one ragged hole. Loaded over 5.5 gr of 231 the muzzle blast is reasonable (if I had to shoot in a "situation" I wouldn't end up deaf) and muzzle flash in low light is also reasonable...and being a 45 they would push a 0.45" hole through the target as long as it RELIABLY reliably goes bang and as long as I can practice enough to hit what I am shooting at. This bullet feeds very reliably, and I even did those ridiculous "move scenes" with unorthadox shooting as if I was hiding behind a barrier and shooting in a strange position shooting offhand (with my left even though I am a right handed shooter) and also shooting with the gun held in tilted as if I was holding up over a blind (not that I would do that in real life but I wanted to test the bullet's reliability)...and they reliably fed and went "bang" every time. No jams and brass cleared no matter how I held the gun. I don't know the velocity, but I will let you know if you are interested, as I do have a chrono. I just ordered several thousands more of these rounds because even though there may be others "better" in some areas, I feel this bullet offers a good balance of the features I desire from the 45 defensive round.

gstewart44 · « **Reply #12 on:** November 07, 2008, 03:39:53 AM »

I use 200 gr LSW at about 800fps for practice and for light hunting. these SWC's have given me pass through on lung shots on pigs up to 100 lbs. Still use the Black Talons for a SD load.

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #13 on:** November 07, 2008, 03:50:07 AM »

For what its worth i saw a dash cam video of a policeman shooting a bad guy with a 230 gr hydra shock center of the chest at point blank . The bad guy then beat the policeman and run off . The policeman was a larger man the bad guy was on PCP. The bad guy died later in the hospital.

rigger1 · « **Reply #14 on:** November 09, 2008, 09:31:56 AM »

Quote from: SHOOTALL on November 07, 2008, 03:50:07 AM

For what its worth i saw a dash cam video of a policeman shooting a bad guy with a 230 gr hydra shock center of the chest at point blank . The bad guy then beat the policeman and run off . The policeman was a larger man the bad guy was on PCP. The bad guy died later in the hospital.

Too bad it took so long. Low center will hurt, but it's not a "stopper." IMHO, better is higher chest; if you strike bone it will be harder for the perp to ignore, plus you might punch the heart.

inluvwithsara · « **Reply #15 on:** November 09, 2008, 09:35:28 AM »

Hydroshocks/GoldenSabers/Corbons all feed flawlessly in my glock 30 and my brothers excessive 1911 collection. (man I covet his Spingfield 1911 longslide

)

markc · « **Reply #16 on:** November 14, 2008, 07:42:46 AM »

maybe your brother will let you borrow that springfield. I've seen folks on a variety of substances, both illegal and legal and take a serious hit and just keep going. They silly fools don't realize that they are seriously hurt, or dead. They just keep going for a while...

S.S. · « **Reply #17 on:** November 18, 2008, 03:08:23 PM »

ball ammo has proven itself too many times to be ignored.
If a round in the chest does not stop them, break their pelvic
bone with the second. That will floor them.

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #18 on:** November 19, 2008, 03:51:27 AM »

if ya get a second shot ,

jls · « **Reply #19 on:** November 20, 2008, 10:10:15 AM »

Has anyone carried or considered Magsafe or Glasers? Thats what my .40 and .380 are stoked with now. $:-\$

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #20 on:** November 20, 2008, 10:20:25 AM »

nope !

markc · « **Reply #21 on:** November 21, 2008, 03:44:24 AM »

No sir, never really considered either of those two rounds.. The vote for ball ammo is a good though..

gstewart44 · « **Reply #22 on:** November 21, 2008, 08:36:47 AM »

The Glasers will work resonably well in warm climates where everyone is wearing lightweight clothing. Cold climates where heavy winter shirts and jackets are worn will disrupt the penetration of a 45 acp Glaser. I tried a test on a wild boar that I had harvested. I hung the boar up but before cleaning him I wrapped several layers of old clothing around the rib cage to simulate winter garments. I fired from 25 feet. The Glaser blew a big hole in the clothing but only penetrated the rib cage about 2 inches...would this be fatal? Probably yes but I don't think it would be a stopper.

I havent tried any of the Magsafes.

BillDan · « **Reply #23 on:** November 21, 2008, 08:43:22 AM »

I used to use CCI Lawman when they were loaded with the Speer 200 gn "flying ashtrays". Now it's all hardball. So now I load 200 gn Gold Dots ahead of 5.8 gns W231. Accurate and hard hitting in my Springfield Armory 1911.

wyohandi · « **Reply #24 on:** November 21, 2008, 02:47:37 PM »

When I was in the big sandbox we had Berrettas and I will tell you why they have
15rd mags, there is nothing wrong with 9mm other than in a real adrenaline charged,
or drug supplied stupper it can take quite a few to end a situation.
The 45acp seemed to do alot more stopping with way fewer rounds, that was with ball ammo.
No packable handgun is 100% with any magic bullet.
I carry a 45 with 230gr HP, if they expand great if they don't fine they leave a big hole anyhow.
It may not be PC but if I have to shoot, you don't get one shot to "see how you react" they're
gonna keep coming until your no longer a threat, especially at point blank range, because I want
you out of my space now! Because even if you brought a knife to the gunfight at 3 feet that's
all you need.

JD338 · « **Reply #25 on:** November 23, 2008, 05:03:50 AM »

I carry a Kimber Tactical Pro II with Federal 230 gr HST Law Enforcement ammo.

JD338

Mohawk · « **Reply #26 on:** November 25, 2008, 04:21:48 PM »

I think ball would be OK. My former neighbor, an ER doc, said that ball ammunition was underrated. Nobody at work carries a .45 so I'm not familiar with it's more popular loads.

michaelt454 · « **Reply #27 on:** November 25, 2008, 05:13:44 PM »

corbon 185 grn DPX!

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #28 on:** December 01, 2008, 08:56:19 AM »

If it has 45ACP on the box wouldn't it work ?

95Road King · « **Reply #29 on:** December 01, 2008, 12:43:35 PM »

7 round mag +1. Ist one is a Black talon, then a Hydra shock, then a Hardball. Then repeat!!