Pow'rBall 165 gr. .45 acp+p or Hornady 220 gr. JhP

M

m&p45acp10+1

New member
I am asking this because I have both of them. I have had my M&P 45 loaded with the Hornady's becasue it seems to like them as a defensive ammo. The pow'r ball was given to me and I fired a few of them at the range they were true to point of aim and recoil not problematic.
This is a small debacle for me. Personaly with 45 acp I am not afraid to use standard 230 gr ball if it came right down to it. I am just at a hang up on which one to use (I am trusting my life to them after all) both shot about equaly well at paper.
A few cents of input from some of y'all would be greatly apreciated.
 
Hornady until very recently sucked wind at low-speed expanding JHPs. They're starting to fix that with the new "Critical Defense" series now shipping in .380, 9mm, 38Spl and 38+P - but not 45ACP yet. It's a dead cinch they will eventually.

So I cannot recommend strongly enough treating the current Hornady JHPs in 45ACP as target ammo ONLY. It's utter junk as far as expansion goes.

The Pow'r'Ball is pretty damn good. I think the Gold Dot 200s and 230s (latter in barrels over 4" if possible) are better, and the DPX loads are awesome, but the PB ain't at all bad. It's what I'd carry if I were you. Only "problem" if you want to call it that is that it's often supersonic, so the noise level indoors is pretty wild. The 45ACP can deliver strong stopping power with the right SUBsonic loads, and that's what I'd switch to when I could. But I wouldn't feel unarmed at all with the Pow'r'Balls.
 
Both would be fine. Hornady's HPs haven't always been the best expanders, though. I have some 230gr. +Ps that work fine, but I wouldn't keep them as a primary defense round. I actually use them to test feeding of hollow points and to have something "hot" to feed through my 1911 since Golden Sabers are ridiculously expensive these days.

The Powerball is good ammo. 9 times out of 10, it will probably be a much better expanding round than the Hornady. Plus, since it is designed like ball ammo, feeding problems should be non-existent.
 
Power Ball

I use the power ball ammo in my carry gun,but i also back it up with
with some black talons.So the first shot is A power ball the second
And third are black talons.I think that any one hit with A 45 with anything
coming out of the barrel if by the grace of god survives,should plan on an
extended stay in the hospital.
 
I shot up some mellons last week with various ammo, powerball, ball, 185 golden saber, 230 golden saber, some super expensive stuff from winchester for defense etc.

Nothing I've shot so far expands like powerball, its what I carry in my CCW 9mm too.
 
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