Is jhp overkill in 45 acp?

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I guess I don't even really understand the concern. Overkill in what regard? If a situation is bad enough that you actually need to plug someone, you want to do the most damage per shot with little or no over penetration. Using a non expanding bullet increases the chance of over penetration and collateral damage.

No, 45 caliber JHP are not overkill.
 
230 grain HST is an amazing bullet in every testing medium I've seen.

And if you need your .45 you need all the help you can get, because you'll need your deadly threat stopper NOW.

Heavy .45s will penetrate well.
 
When your life or the life of a loved one is on the line, you will be wanting the hammer of Thor to strike the suspect and stop him NOW. People RARELY flop down and stay down forever after one shot, that's Hollywood. People may fall after being hit with a bullet, but they're still in the fight until they choose to stop (or their body shuts down). Your selection of a quality JHP in .45 ACP is a very good choice for such an encounter.

No such thing as "overkill" in such a situation IMHO. If the threat is stopped before any innocents were hurt, it was the perfect amount of "kill" to keep you and yours alive.

As for the suspect, he chose his path in life. And his actions alone put you in a position where you were forced to end it. No tears shed for him here...

Hopefully you'll never have to find out how effective your chosen load/caliber/firearm combo is:).

Stay safe!
 
I never carry anything but JHPs in my semi-auto pistols.

I usually carry a 3 1/2" M1911, uaually loaded with Hornady or Speer 200gr. JHPs.

In Ohio, a criminal assailant in a justified shooting or his survivors can't collect monetary damages. The person hit by a through and through can.
 
I never understood the thinking that there is such a thing as "overkill" when you are trying to kill something. If I'm trying to stop an attacker and have judged it's him or me, and my desire is to do it a quickly as possible, can I possibly make him "overdead"? The military uses FMJ for humanitarian reasons. I see no reason to do anything similar to someone who want to do me great bodily harm.
 
HP rounds perform better than ball. That's a fact. If they function reliably in the pistol (and no reason why they wouldn't do do in a XD) and they don't decrease performance or make the pistol less capable in terms of increased recoil or weight, or decreased accuracy (they won't) then the only reason not to use JHP would be if there is some law that says you aren't allowed to use them. They are the universal choice of armed professionals. This pistol may be used to save the life of you or someone else- so "overkill" should not be a consideration.
 
FL-NC said:
HP rounds perform better than ball. That's a fact. If they function reliably in the pistol (and no reason why they wouldn't do do in a XD) and they don't decrease performance or make the pistol less capable in terms of increased recoil or weight, or decreased accuracy (they won't) then the only reason not to use JHP would be if there is some law that says you aren't allowed to use them. They are the universal choice of armed professionals. This pistol may be used to save the life of you or someone else- so "overkill" should not be a consideration.
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A .452 JHP may or may not get bigger in diameter in human tissue.

It won't get SMALLER.
 
jmr40 said:
I've read that quote, or something very similar, dozens of times over the years and the facts don't agree. All of the typical service handguns 9mm and up tend to be effective the vast majority of the time in actual shootings with good JHP ammo. With old school FMJ they tend to be effective about 2/3 of the time. Caliber seems to be a non-issue and equal shot placement with a rifle is only slightly more effective.

What a rifle does is improve accuracy and range, but at extreme close range the ability to use a handgun with one hand outweighs that.

The best judge of what is effective is a handgun round that you can shoot accurately that will penetrate around 12" in gel along with good expansion. Expansion is good, and more is better unless it starts to limit penetration.
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Mn Fats said:
No way. So 10mm, 45 acp, 357 mag, 45 colt, are all "under-powered"? They are service handgun cartridges. Too many variables with your statement.
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Facts and the Truth.



​

Or, put yourself at the other end of this range with a handgun and see how you come out.





​

GR
 
I shoot nothing but 230 gr Hydra-Shoks in my EDC. I've tried nearly all the others, including HSTs. HSTs, I find to be woefully inconsistent in my gun, and is the only cartridge that has ever caused a malfunction. Hydra-Shoks, OTOH have always shot exactly where I'm aiming, and still have a great reputation for expansion.
 
+1 to that, very well written post.

So as a rule of thumb --

  • More holes are better than fewer holes.

  • Larger holes are better than smaller holes.

  • Holes in the right places are better than holes in the wrong places.

  • Holes that are deep enough are better than holes that aren't.

  • There are no magic bullets.

  • There are no guarantees.
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Now if one comes across a T-800 or T-1000 Terminator, a handgun is not going to be very effective. ;)
 
Stevie-Ray said:
I shoot nothing but 230 gr Hydra-Shoks in my EDC. I've tried nearly all the others, including HSTs. HSTs, I find to be woefully inconsistent in my gun, and is the only cartridge that has ever caused a malfunction. Hydra-Shoks, OTOH have always shot exactly where I'm aiming, and still have a great reputation for expansion.
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At one time I used to carry Hydra-Shok in both my 9mm (124gr) and my .45 (230gr) guns. Since then, I've seen enough evidence that newer JHP like Gold Dots and HST have improved on the old 9mm Hydra--Shock bullet that I've switched my 9mm carry guns over, but recent testing on the .45 version seem to me to show that in that caliber the old Hydra-Shok is still competitive with the newer JHP rounds.
 
buck460XVR said:
I never understood the thinking that there is such a thing as "overkill" when you are trying to kill something. If I'm trying to stop an attacker and have judged it's him or me, and my desire is to do it a quickly as possible, can I possibly make him "overdead"? The military uses FMJ for humanitarian reasons. I see no reason to do anything similar to someone who want to do me great bodily harm.
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There is no such thing as "overkill." There is, however, such a thing as "underkill." I once made the mistake of stepping over a "dead" man -- and he came back to life and attempted to shoot me in the back.
 
buck460XVR said:
I never understood the thinking that there is such a thing as "overkill" when you are trying to kill something. If I'm trying to stop an attacker and have judged it's him or me, and my desire is to do it a quickly as possible, can I possibly make him "overdead"? The military uses FMJ for humanitarian reasons. I see no reason to do anything similar to someone who want to do me great bodily harm.
Click to expand...
Not exactly.
Aside from one treaty specifying humanitarian reasons, the military uses FMJ for reliability. Considering the thousands, even hundreds of thousands of different weapons, magazines and the conditions military ammo needs to function, FMJ performs the one size fits all protocol. LEOs and CCWs aren't so restricted
 
I like HST but settled on Gold Dots because those were on sale when I was buying.
 
[QUOTE="jmorris, Define “overkill"
The use of more destructive force than necessary, but I am sure you know that:)

[QUOTE="Vern Humphrey, There is no such thing as "overkill."
In a way I have to agree. But would you not rather be sure of "kill" than just hoping for the best? I am sure you would being in your profession! (Kudos, thanks for your service!):)

Overkill is just another word or phrase like "common sense". Poor use of the English language!

Getting back to the OP, I have to agree using a jhp, like charlie98 said in post #2.
 
In a .45 caliber I dont see much that can go wrong, a HP will work fine, my .45 preference is .45 colt over acp but either way choose a reputable brand and provided it shoots well in the gun carry it. I know a guy that only shoots ball in their weapon cause thats all that functions and they dont want to buy another gun (Ive tried talking to them to no avail).
 
I have always carried JHP in my carry gun. That being said, if someone is shooting at me, I don't think I would be hoping they were using FMJ instead of JHP. Either way, if you are on the receiving end, it isn't good.
 
Double Naught Spy said:
And By God, so has .22 lr.!!!

The issue isn't whether or not it will kill.
Click to expand...

Now we can get them Winchester commemorative 1941-1945 230GR ball loads. The case head is marked m1911 and there is also very nice Chinese-made pine box. How kool is that....KOOL AIIIID!
 
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