I went to the gun shop to pick up some ammunition the other day and purchased a box of 45 auto 230 grain gold dot hollow points. When I got home I noticed the box said Speer LE not just Speer, and was marked duty ammunition rather than personal protection. Is there a difference?
Gold dot vs Gold dot LE
- Thread starter magstang1
- Start date
armsmaster270
New member
Yes personal protection ammo comes in 20 round boxes and LE ammo 50 round boxes that is the only difference. Otherwise identical.
More often then not, the answer to what are they and is there a difference is that there is NO difference between something marked LEO and a box of rounds with no LEO markings.
The cases, primers, powders and bullet loads are often exactly the same. They come off the same machines.
Rarely does a manufacturer develop a product and then designate that it be sold only to what can best be described as the smallest market possible (LEO represents an incredibly small percentage of all ammunition sold in USA).
Factually the main difference is that LEO ammunition is sold in 50 round boxes and bears some Law Enforcement or Duty Ammo marking on that box.
For example Speer Gold Dot 23966 (230grn GDHP 45Auto) and 53966 (230grn GDHP 45Auto) have exactly the same ballistics according to Speer’s published charts, yet the 23966 is sold in 20 round boxes with no LEO markings while the 53966 is sold in 50 round boxes marked “Duty Ammunition”.
The first number (2 or 5) in the case of Speer indicates whether it is 20 or 50 rounds and therefore “civilian” or “duty” ammunition.
To answer the question “Can I buy them”, the simple answer is this – unless there is some state/city/municipality ruling prohibiting a particular bullet configuration or some reason for you to not possess ammunition – the answer is YES you can.
This whole separation from civilian and duty ammunition can according to some be traced back to the Black Talon ammunition that Winchester developed. The Black Talon is now the T Series (previously the SXT) ammunition sold under the Ranger moniker. The Black Talon became the stuff of Urban Legend and when Congress became involved, the round was withdrawn and redesigned, relabeled and reclassified. Next thing you know there was LEO and non-LEO ammo.
Federal, Remington, Speer (a division of Federal) and Winchester as well as others market LEO/Duty ammunition as well as other “types” of ammunition. Each have tried to put forth their version of a prohibition on the sale of “duty” branded ammunition. This seems primarily based on profitability than anything else.
Using the Speer GD example it’s easy to see the logic behind the prohibition.
23966 sells retail for $22 to $24 (20 rounds)
53966 sells retail for $28 to $30 (50 rounds)
Given the same percentage of markup it’s fairly clear that the profitability of the manufacturer lies with the 20 round boxes.
Go to
http://www.tds-us.com and check under pistol ammo
More often then not, the answer to what are they and is there a difference is that there is NO difference between something marked LEO and a box of rounds with no LEO markings.
The cases, primers, powders and bullet loads are often exactly the same. They come off the same machines.
Rarely does a manufacturer develop a product and then designate that it be sold only to what can best be described as the smallest market possible (LEO represents an incredibly small percentage of all ammunition sold in USA).
Factually the main difference is that LEO ammunition is sold in 50 round boxes and bears some Law Enforcement or Duty Ammo marking on that box.
For example Speer Gold Dot 23966 (230grn GDHP 45Auto) and 53966 (230grn GDHP 45Auto) have exactly the same ballistics according to Speer’s published charts, yet the 23966 is sold in 20 round boxes with no LEO markings while the 53966 is sold in 50 round boxes marked “Duty Ammunition”.
The first number (2 or 5) in the case of Speer indicates whether it is 20 or 50 rounds and therefore “civilian” or “duty” ammunition.
To answer the question “Can I buy them”, the simple answer is this – unless there is some state/city/municipality ruling prohibiting a particular bullet configuration or some reason for you to not possess ammunition – the answer is YES you can.
This whole separation from civilian and duty ammunition can according to some be traced back to the Black Talon ammunition that Winchester developed. The Black Talon is now the T Series (previously the SXT) ammunition sold under the Ranger moniker. The Black Talon became the stuff of Urban Legend and when Congress became involved, the round was withdrawn and redesigned, relabeled and reclassified. Next thing you know there was LEO and non-LEO ammo.
Federal, Remington, Speer (a division of Federal) and Winchester as well as others market LEO/Duty ammunition as well as other “types” of ammunition. Each have tried to put forth their version of a prohibition on the sale of “duty” branded ammunition. This seems primarily based on profitability than anything else.
Using the Speer GD example it’s easy to see the logic behind the prohibition.
23966 sells retail for $22 to $24 (20 rounds)
53966 sells retail for $28 to $30 (50 rounds)
Given the same percentage of markup it’s fairly clear that the profitability of the manufacturer lies with the 20 round boxes.
Go to
http://www.tds-us.com and check under pistol ammo
Last edited:
#18indycolts
Moderator
Federal did just that with the HST.