.45 Colt 250 Grain Speer GD quesiton

[FullEffect1911]

Has anyone chronographed a Speer 250 grain gold dot .45 colt factory loading? Speer ammo used to have the velocity listed on their website at around 900 fps from a 5.5" barrel. Now they have it listed at 750 fps out of a 5.5".

This is disconcerting news to me, as I thought that loading was a very good one for self defense.



Added with an edit:

I did find an interesting website that actually did a gel test on this round... Seems like good results to me. Perhaps I shouldn't be concerned with such things.


http://www.shooterslegacy.net/articles/45colt.html

 

[dirtygrunt95]

I carry buffalo bore 255 SWC in my 25 mtn gun 950 fps out of a 4", proven design. much smashem.

 

[FullEffect1911]

much smashem.

I like that description.

Believe me, I really liked the Idea of that Gold Dot going 900 fps, and from speer's previous ballistics I thought it was.

Maybe it's time to check out some other .45 colt ammo.

 

[EnsignJimmy]

I suspect they probably changed up the Gold Dot to go slower in deference to Cowboy Action shooters not used to 250 gr .45 Colt loads doing much over 750 ft/sec.

Not that a 250 to 255 grain load doing 725 to 750 ft/sec is anything to sneeze at. The .45 Colt revolvers that pacified the Phillipines after the Spanish-American War delivered exactly this load, and delivers similar KE and momentum numbers to the venerable M1911 ball.

As an interesting experiment, I've got a few older boxes of Gold Dots (back when Speer's ballistics advertised 900 ft/sec) lying around. I suppose I could buy a new box of Gold Dots, take it to the range with a chrony and one of the old boxes, and see if my theory holds any water.

 

[FullEffect1911]

I suspect they probably changed up the Gold Dot to go slower in deference to Cowboy Action shooters not used to 250 gr .45 Colt loads doing much over 750 ft/sec.

It got SASed. What a shame.

As an interesting experiment, I've got a few older boxes of Gold Dots (back when Speer's ballistics advertised 900 ft/sec) lying around. I suppose I could buy a new box of Gold Dots, take it to the range with a chrony and one of the old boxes, and see if my theory holds any water.

I would be rather interested in such a test. What barrel length would we be talking about here?

 

[Biker]

I carry 225gr Winchester Silvertips in my Taurus 450 for SD purposes. They're advertised at 975 fps out of a four inch barrel. I imagine that out of my two inch barrel, maybe 100 fps is lost. Even at 875 fps, that's still pretty respectable.

Biker

 

[EnsignJimmy]

I would be rather interested in such a test. What barrel length would we be talking about here?

I'm thinking of using a Uberti SAA clone with a 5.5" barrel. I've found chronographing loads through it tends to neatly split the difference between what one could expect out of 7.5" barrels and 4.75" and under barrels. Add 50 ft/sec one way, subtract 50 ft/sec the other way. Also, the loads are factory-tested through 5.5" barrels, so this should be a good 'real world' test.

 

[Fisherman_48768]

I don't think cowboy action shooting had anything to do with it.

I suspect they probably changed up the Gold Dot to go slower in deference to Cowboy Action shooters not used to 250 gr .45 Colt loads doing much over 750 ft/sec.

Most ranges won't let you shoot anything but lead bullets, then they cannot be gas checked much less jacketed, so why would a company load/market something that has no use within the intended market?