Golden Sabre Bullet or Gold Dot Bullet in a SD/HD Load?

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About 12 years ago I bought 1000 bulk Golden Sabre 185gr bullets for my .45ACP. Around the same time I also bought 1000 Gold Dot 185gr boxed bullets also for my .45ACP.

What would be your preference of these two for a SD/HD load?
Any pro or con reason would also be appreciated.
 
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Reliability would be my numero uno criteria. Years ago, I had a Glock 29 (10mm) and it ran fine with every brand except the Golden Sabres. Ya just don't know til ya shoot 'em. Beyond that, with the tougher jacket, I believe the Golden Sabres may be prone to a little more penetration and less expansion than the Gold Dots.
 
GS are perfectly fine but GD seem to be a bit more effective, assuming equal reliability and accuracy. Since u have both, try both & see if there's a difference in those areas in your gun in your hands.
 
GS, unless the bonded version, have an unbounded jacket that can separate upon hitting a medium (like a bad guy, or a barrier), resulting in inconsistent performance. It's a dated design, much like 9BPLE, Hydrashock, Nyclad, etc..
That said, they are still good bullets, and generally perform well. To use an absolutely stupid, but often repeated axiom "they work as well as they ever did."

The Gold Dot was the first of the newer generation of bonded jacket HPs that are just more reliable performers. How much more so is debatable and it does not diminish the efficacy of the Golden Sabre. But among those who really do a lot of testing (ie. law enforcement) and who really have a choice, i'd be willing to bet everything I own that you see more Gold dot carried in duty holsters than Golden Sabre.

Now, to address another issue. You mentioned that you bought these 12 years ago. Are you just now getting around to loading them for carry? If so, under what conditions have they been stored?
 
As long as they both function equally, either one will work fine. I have a slight preference for Speer Gold Dots but with the same hit, i doubt a bad guy would know the difference.
 
First of all, are you talking bullets or cartridges? Are these premium defense/LE loads, or are you intending to handload the bullets to your specs?

I would not use 12-year old bullets (or cartridges) for my first-line self-defense loads. Premium JHP bullets have become considerably better over the past few years, so stuff from circa 2002 isn't going to be as effective.

Personally, I carry Federal 230-gr HST +Ps in my XDS, but wouldn't shy away from either the Gold Dots or the Golden Sabres.
 
19-3Ben - "Are you just now getting around to loading them for carry? so, under what conditions have they been stored?"

They have been stored in den closet... ~ 68*F in the winter months and ~ 76*F in the summer months. I think the humidity is probably "normal" to slightly dry-- no signs of mold anywhere in the house ever.

I bought the bullets and 1000 Starline .45 Super brass for a reloading project. A recent housing move bought the supplies to my atteneion again.

I had been loading these bullets to a top loading of 1100fps and I wanted a margin of satety afforded by the Super brass in the partially unsupported chambers in my 1911 style pistols.


Hypnogator - I'm aware that there has been some significant improvements in bullet design in the past decade. I have availed myself of the improvements by currently using the Critical Duty cartridges.

However, other than some bullets breeching certain barriers better, is a bad guy going to tell the difference being hit by any of these bullet/cartridge combinations?
 
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I have a slight preference for the GS, but either bullet is excellent.

GS, unless the bonded version, have an unbounded jacket that can separate upon hitting a medium
Click to expand...

I saw many jacket separations in ballistic clay from both Gold Sabers and Gold Dots, as well as many other bullets. The Hornady XTPs were the only ones that didn't in my own testing. They were also, however, the most likely to simply plug up and fail to expand.
 
I personally like gold dots in general but they are both good performing rounds. Like others said, I would go with whichever is most reliable in your gun and use the other for practice.

Start with a clean gun, shoot one type until the first failure. Then, clean the gun and shoot the next type until failure. Go with the highest rd ct until failure!
 
I generally prefer the Gold Dot vs. the Golden Saber but I've had better feeding reliability in 1911s with the GS.
 
strambo - "Go with the highest rd ct until failure!"

The possibility of my having two reliable handloads is the glitch in your plan. Not having a failure could wipe out my entire stash! :D

Do you think that 200 consecutive rounds without failure would be a sufficient test? :confused:
 
If your handgun likes them both flip a coin and you have your winner. I like the speer gold dots and speer bonded better.
 
I use both GS and GD bulk projectiles and would be comfortable using either projectiles.

Once you determine the test loads that feed/chamber reliably, I would range test them and go with the projectile that produces the smallest shot groups consistently when shot offhand at "practical" defensive shooting distances (7-10 yards).

BTW, I use factory ammunition in my SD/HD pistols. I load practice/backup defensive rounds using bulk GS/GD projectiles. ;)
 
While I shoot 230 gr. 45 ACP loads, 124 gr. 9MM loads, and 165 gr. 40 SW loads I like both the Golden Sabers and Gold Dots. The Golden Saber's are very accurate in all the calibers in Glocks and Colts. Just a little better accuracy than my Gold Dot loads but not by much. I don't feel underpowered with either bullet and they all are reliable. In the past I've got good deals and prices on Golden Sabers making them less expensive to shoot. If I could only pick one SD bullet it's probably go to the Gold Dots because of ballistic tests I've seen. Load either to recommended velocities in the upper range of published data and check for total reliability.
 
Gold Dots give me set back problems in some of my .45's with both factory and hand loads. I think it is the wider hollow with the sharper edge that may be catching the feed ramp.

Golden Sabers feed perfectly without setback in all my guns, even the Sig 220 that some on the internet sites have said has problems with them.
 
I'd be happy with either one, as long as it feeds in my pistols. Back when the GS was fairly cheap in bulk, I bought 1000 of them. I used some for load testing and function tests. 750 are in a 30 cal ammo box, right next to the one with 750 lead truncated flat points. I like 45 ACP by the way. My Kimber CDP Ultra feeds Gold Dots as well. I bought 100 200 Gr GDs for function testing and have the gun loaded with them. My old Springfield will feed anything, including empty fired brass.

Either one, as long as your gun likes them. In general, the GS is going to feed better in a wider variety of pistol. IMHO.
 
I've done a lot of gel testing with GS bullets of various calibers as well as numerous bonded and non bonded bullets from other manufacturers. The GS 230gr JHP (non bonded) almost always performs well in bare gel, four layers of denim or FBI heavy clothing tests. The only caveat is that the core seating step can really affect performance. If the set up isn't ideal then jacket core separation can happen, particularly when bullets are launched from short barreled pistols. Bonded bullets are somewhat immune to set up issues that plague standard cup and core bullets.
 
Just so I am clear about this... the Golden Sabre & the Gold Dot bullets I bought 12 years ago are NOT bonded???
Click to expand...

The Golden Sabre from 12 years ago are not bonded.

To the best of my knowledge, Gold Dot has ALWAYS been bonded. I think it was the first of the bonded HP rounds, but if someone knows better please chime in and correct me.
 
Speer Gold Dot HP bullets are thick copper plated bullets therefore "bonded". They are essentially Speer TMJ (Total Metal Jacket, trademark for copper plated bullet for ATK/Speer) with thicker plating and hollow cavity in the nose.

Golden Saber bullets use brass colored jackets over lead core and are true "jacketed hollow points".
 
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