The best carry ammo for a .45

[Venus Pax]

What is the best ammo to carry in a .45 cal?
I know that hollow points are good. I put them in any gun I plan to carry/keep in the house.

However, I've heard talk of the "Federal Hydrashocks". Do these come in a .45? If so, how do they measure up against the hollow point?
Which would be the better bullet for my gun. (My concern is stopping power, as this will be a primary carry gun.)

Also, which brands of ammo go best with a Springfield 1911?

[KinnyLee]

Hydrashocks are some good stuff. They come in 165gr, 185gr, and 230gr. Not sure about the 200gr.

Gold Dots, Goldsabres, and DPXes are all good JHP for self defense. The trick is energy transfer once it hits the target, and the only way to do it is to expand which most JHPs do effectively.

The FBI HRT and SWATs who uses the Springfield Professional uses Remington Bonded Golden Sabres in 230gr.

[HighVelocity]

As Kinny already stated, Corbon DPX, Rem Golden Saber and Speer Gold Dot are all good JHP for personal defense.
I would also like to add Winchester Ranger to the list. You can buy it in 50 round boxes for just a little more than the 20 or 25 round boxes that the others come in.

Whichever you choose, buy a little at first, make sure it functions in your gun and shoots to point of aim. Whichever one works the best and is most accurate in YOUR GUN is the one I'd go with.

[MrDrummy]

I've tried Corbon DPX, Winchester Rangers, Speer Gold Dots in 200gr +P and 230gr, and Federal Hydrashoks all in my Kimber, and have had problems with only the Speer 230gr. For some reason my gun really didn't like feeding them. I may have just gotten a bad box, who knows.

I use Federal Hydrashok 230 gr as my carry ammo. They shoot well out of my pistol, and feed at 100% (...so far.)

[txinvestigator]

Federal 230 Hydrshocks for me too.

[G.C.Montgomery]

What is the best ammo to carry in a .45 cal?
I know that hollow points are good. I put them in any gun I plan to carry/keep in the house.

However, I've heard talk of the "Federal Hydrashocks". Do these come in a .45? If so, how do they measure up against the hollow point?
Which would be the better bullet for my gun. (My concern is stopping power, as this will be a primary carry gun.)

Also, which brands of ammo go best with a Springfield 1911?

Firt priority is reliability, what feeds, fires, extracts and ejects from your gun without error 99.9999% of the time. Technically speaking, nothing is 100% but 99.9999% is pretty darn close and would represent a failure of exactly one round out of a million...I'll take it or as close to it as I can get.

Stopping power, as a measure of performance, has been debated a million times. I fall into the camp that says, it doesn't exist. Lets leave it at that.

Hydrashoks are certainly available in .45ACP. They are now among the oldest of hollowpoint designs on the market but remain popular because they run reliably in most guns, including 1911's. As mentioned already, all the major manufacturers offer good options. If Hydrashok works for you, buy lots of it, shoot it, and carry it.

I personally carry 230grain, Speer Gold Dot in my 1911's. It runs reliably in all my 1911's. The recoil and point of impact is almost identical to my practice loads. And I get it cheap as an employee at TopGun.

I've carried Hydrashok, Golden Saber and Ranger too. All ran well in my guns and I recommend them. Corbon's DPX seems to be a great new bullet by all accounts. It may well represent a leap in performance above and beyond all others but I've seen glowing reports like this before about other "wonder bullets" now known to be shams.

At this point, DPX does seem to live up to the hype in real world performance. But it doesn't run well in my 1911's. I can probably fix this but it's not worth my time given that Speer Gold Dots perform just fine for my needs. FWIW, I have run it in my Glocks, Sigs and revolvers in all calibers without any problems.

[propellerhead]

If your 1911 has a short barrel (under 4 inches), you might consider ammo designed for shorter barrels. Most of the manufacturers have it. I've been following the endless debates about short barrels and lower muzzle velocities and lack of expansion but it seems like it is a myth. I haven't found any conclusive data. However, the short barrel ammo is designed to burn quicker to make up for some of that lost velocity and to reduce muzzle flash.

[Kalrog]

Gold Dots, Goldsabres, and DPXes are all good JHP for self defense.

These are my top 3 choices. Pick the one that is most accurate in your gun and make sure to run through hundreds to make sure everything is functionally perfect (or as close to perfect as you can get).

[Paladin]

I'd recommend any of these loads:

.45acp-
Corbon 230gr+P jhp
Federal [Tactical] 230gr LE45T1+P
Remington 230gr Golden Saber BJHP
Speer 230gr Gold Dot
Winchester Ranger 230gr RA45T
Winchester Ranger 230gr RA45TP +P

And I'd stay away from the hydrashoks, unless it's all you can get to run reliably in your gun. The loads above are better.

[txinvestigator]

I'd recommend any of these loads:

.45acp-
Corbon 230gr+P jhp
Federal [Tactical] 230gr LE45T1+P
Remington 230gr Golden Saber BJHP
Speer 230gr Gold Dot
Winchester Ranger 230gr RA45T
Winchester Ranger 230gr RA45TP +P

And I'd stay away from the hydrashoks, unless it's all you can get to run reliably in your gun. The loads above are better.

Better in what way? Based on what, by what standard?

[Paladin]

By FBI standards.

It's not like I didn't post this a few days ago:

http://www.firearmstactical.com/tactica ... cle415.htm

.45 ACP Federal 230gr HydraShok JHP

Bare Gelatin: Jacket fragments observed in all wound tracks. [the Hydrashoks were breaking up. The bonded bullets I listed above don't do that]

Denim Covered Gelatin: Average expanded bullet diameter cannot be determined because all bullets penetrated the entire length of the 18 inch gelatin block, exited, and the bullets were not recovered. [Hydrashoks don't reliably expand against Denim covered targets. And probably don't expand in a target covered by other heavy clothing.]

[casselthief]

ooooooooh, snap!

jk

srsly, thanks for the info. I thought that the point of a HydraShock (based on my assumption {and you know what they say about those}) was to open, fragment, with that little rod thing in the middle leading the charge with the rest of the bullet through the target.
obviously I am fairly ignorant about these things.
*shrugs*

[Braden]

What is the best ammo to carry in a .45 cal?
I know that hollow points are good. I put them in any gun I plan to carry/keep in the house.

However, I've heard talk of the "Federal Hydrashocks". Do these come in a .45? If so, how do they measure up against the hollow point?
Which would be the better bullet for my gun. (My concern is stopping power, as this will be a primary carry gun.)

Also, which brands of ammo go best with a Springfield 1911?

The Federal Hydrashok is actually a very old bullet design, but the correct answer to your question is "whichever one will shoot reliably and accurately from your gun."

If it were MY gun and it shot reliably and accurately with it, I would keep it loaded with Speer 200 grain +P Gold Dot Hollow Points. In my OPINION the Speer GDHP is one of THE best self defense rounds available for handguns regardless of caliber. It is also what many, many law enforcement agencies use, which could be a feather in your hat if you ever shot someone and had to go to trial.

Really though, any name-brand hollow point that shoots reliably and accurately through your gun will serve you well.

[MrDrummy]

I sure wish that I could get those Speers to feed through my Kimber.

I've heard nothing but good things about them.

[txinvestigator]

By FBI standards.

It's not like I didn't post this a few days ago:

http://www.firearmstactical.com/tactica ... cle415.htm

.45 ACP Federal 230gr HydraShok JHP

Bare Gelatin: Jacket fragments observed in all wound tracks. [the Hydrashoks were breaking up. The bonded bullets I listed above don't do that]

Denim Covered Gelatin: Average expanded bullet diameter cannot be determined because all bullets penetrated the entire length of the 18 inch gelatin block, exited, and the bullets were not recovered. [Hydrashoks don't reliably expand against Denim covered targets. And probably don't expand in a target covered by other heavy clothing.]

That is not an FBI test, and your data is SIX years old.

So "best" depends upon yuour interpretation. I know hydras are not bonded, and I am fine with that.

They are different, not worse or better.