Please help, duty ammo 45 acp

W

witness10mm5

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I work Armed Security. My duty weapon is a Smith and Wesson MP 45. I presently carry as duty ammo Speer Lawman FMJ's. My fellow ifficers carry 185 grn Golden Sabre. Of, course with them hey dude these are the best. I have always been a huge fan of 230 grn. I like Federal Hydra-Shock in 40 and 9mm. However in these neck of the woods it is hard to find them in 230 grn 45 acp.

I have been looking at PMC Starfire and Winchester 230 grn SXT. We are not allowed to carry +P ammo. All standard. Starfire, although Korean is impressive to me. Winchester SXT I Like as well. I do not want clogging to happen from heavy clothing. So, I would like to ask my fellow gunners on this issue and your help in selecting my duty ammo. I have heard about Double tap ammo. All good. But i think it is +P ammo. Taurus ammo any good?

Right now, it is either Starfire or SXT. What thinkest you? Please.

Witness10mm5
 
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FWIW, I carry Federal 230-gr Tactical Bonded in my Taurus PT-145 because it is rated excellent for short-barreled weapons. However, it, and the Federal HST stuff are both rated +P.

Taurus 185-gr ammo with the Barnes Hex bullets are excellent, mild-recoiling loads with very good penetration and expansion records. That'd be my choice of all the non +P stuff out there. :cool:
 
I'm no expert on the topic to be sure, but if it were me, I'd settle on the one that functions best. You're talking about a .5" hole to begin with, which is bigger than you get with a 9mm after it expands. Anything beyond that is a bonus.
 
Dude....you're carrying a .45. That's why you carry it. It is going to make a big hole. Don't sweat the other stuff.
 
I presently carry as duty ammo Speer Lawman FMJ's. ... I do not want clogging to happen from heavy clothing.
Click to expand...
In my opinion you're overthinking this. Any decent expanding round (as long as it functions in your pistol) won't be worse than what you're carrying now even if it clogs and if it does expand it might be a little better.
 
Hands down Speer Gold Dot 230's . No QUESTION....

The SXT stuff will seperate core form jacket as will most verything else mentioned here. You want a bonded bullet so you do not lose the weight of the projectile if fired through glass or another substrate, also when shot into flesh.

I was involved in 4 shooting in my LE career of 15 years (I retired to teach) and one of those was with Win Black Talon (SXT now) , jackets completely seperated from the core in two rounds recovered through auto glass and then into flesh. In two shootings with Gold Dot the projectiles were recovered from flesh and one weighed 227 grains and the other was 229gains, both projectiles COMPLETELY "mushroomed" and left terribly nasty holes (as witnessed post mortem). I wouldn't carry anything else. (Fourth shooting was with a Rem 870 and Federal Tactical Buckshot, this subject lived)
 
I am sorta partial to the 230 XTP.

Still has good penetration/weight retention, but still has the ability to expand (Although it might not as well as other stuff).

Security's probably differant than concealed carry, however when I do start carrying my .45, I plan on switching to either 185 grain XTP's, Silvertips, Gold Dots. Probably XTP's as they'll be the beter penetrators.
 
im not LE or anything

in my experience (backyard gelatin) and range shooting i carry golddots ( 230 grain).

i really wanna like hornaday's tap line but have not had enough experience with em yet. i like to shoot 3 or 4 boxes before carrying them on a daily basis.
 
I looked into the PMC starfires after I bought a box for .38 spl. I think it was on TBoT where he shot through multiple layers of denim and the hollow plugged up. IIRC the Gold Dots out performed them. Since they are cheaper I would probably use it as summer ammo since it gets near 120 at the peak here and nobody in their right mind would be wearing a hoodie from May through August. Then again, most people you need to shoot wouldn't be in their right mind int he first place. Remember this was with .38 spl, so I'm not sure what performance on larger calibers would be. You can't go wrong with Gold dots, though, and I have no experience with the Federal SXT's.
 
It's a Big Hole anyway!!

Trust me, 230gr FMJ @ 850 - 900fs WORKS!! Will expansion help? Yes. Is it dependable at those velocities? Not as dependable as say 9mm or 38 Supers.
Is it dependable? OH YEAH. If Fmj has a FTF issue use the weapon as a paper weight. Big holes let lots of air in and lots of liquid out. That's always good....unless you're the one leaking/ventilating.
 
witness10mm5 :
Probably ball is good enough for your needs. However, I'll comment on some of your concerns.
I have an older 1911 that does not like hollow points. I've tried the Taurus 185 gr copper stuff and it does not feed. One in the chamber shoots fine and is devastating to the stuff I shot.
I've used WWB 230 gr JHP with a modern mag and I have no problems with that ammo. I think it might be what you want.
 
Use whatever ammo is readily available and affordable so you can practice and know how it functions. Don't get caught up in how one brand has 10 more fps or 20 pounds more energy than brand x. You're shooting a .45. Even hardball will make a hugh hole and and get the job done, just ask any Marine that has ever used one in combat. If you were looking for the best round for your .38 snub or .380 then that would be a different story.
 
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