Bullet Weight Choices for Compact .45's

[Ala Dan]

185 grain Winchester Silver-Tips, 200 grain Hornady T.A.P. JHP's is my
preferred choice for 3" barrel .45's, like my Kimber Stainless Ultra Carry
II~!

 

[George757]

Corbon makes a 160gr DPX load specifically for 3" barrel-length guns. It's not +P and yields 1050fps.

 

[Walkalong]

Bullet Weight Choices for Compact .45's

Same as a full size 1911. Period.

If I feel confident in the round then it's good to go, wether it's from a 3" barrel or a 5" barrel. You don't lose all that much velocity (from a chrono, not guessing) and most good defensive .45 ACP HP rounds are designed to open up easily anyway. (tested, not guessing) I have 200 Gr. Gold Dots in my 3" CDP right now. I would not hesitate to carry 230 Gr. Gold Dots either. Nor would I hesitate to carry 200 or 230 Gr. XTP's. There are a couple of others brands I would carry as well after they proved reliable in my gun. I know my gun feeds and shoots those four well and I would certainly not want to be shot by any of them at lets say 10 to 20 feet.