45acp for personal defense

[uwspmgc]

i have springfield milspec with no after market work. i have read the 230 grain ball round does not work well as a self defense cartridge because it over penetrates. i have also read that hollow points will not chamber in my gun because of the lack of a throated barrel and polished feed ramp. what can i use for a personal defense cartidge that i can expect to feed with total reliability?

 

[jad0110]

i have also read that hollow points will not chamber in my gun because of the lack of a throated barrel and polished feed ramp.

Interesting. My mil-spec does have a throated barrel and polished feed ramp, and it eats up 230 grain Remington Golden Sabres without any trouble using the stock magazines with 11 lb Wolf springs.

Are you thinking of the GI-45 perhaps?

You could give some hollowpoints a try. 1911s are most likely to work best with 230 grain JHPs with a shape that approximates the rounded profile of ball ammo.

 

[1KPerDay]

Buy some HP and try it. Buy some of the "bulk" JHP ammo that you can get in 50 rd boxes, and run a couple of boxes through at least. Then you can be reasonably confident that that ammo will work in that gun. It's difficult to predict what ammo will work in any particular gun with any accuracy.

230 hardball has sent a lot of people to the morgue... and I'm not sure "overpenetration" is necessarily a bad thing when you're basically poking holes in people.

 

[Sam1911]

Buy a few boxes of loads you like. Shoot them. As many as you can. If your gun jams with some, don't buy any more. Eventually you should be able to prove to your satisfaction that at least a few brands of hollow-point defensive ammo feed flawlessly in your gun. (The oft' quoted number is 500 rounds of that ammo will prove reliability but you may be satisfied with fewer.)

I shoot a gun that started life as a Springfield Milspec and it has never failed to feed hollowpoints. I use Hornady TAP 230 gr. +Ps if you're curious.

I wouldn't use FMJs because much better rounds exist.

If your gun won't shoot hollowpoints, Springfield should, and WILL, fix it. IF you get jams, call them and send it back.

Until you've proved it one way or the other with YOUR gun, I wouldn't put any faith in what you've read.

 

[Jim K]

Regardless of what anyone says, always fire at least 200 rounds of the carry ammunition with each carry magazine before considering an auto pistol reliable enough to depend on. And that is with NO failures. Zero. If you have a failure, start counting over.

If you consider this too expensive, remember, your life will be on the line.

(On the few occasions when I have carried a .45 pistol, I loaded with GI hardball. If I had to shoot someone, overpenetration would not be a major concern, even assuming I had time to think about it.)

Jim

 

[RandyB]

Shoot it and try. hardball will work, remington JHP tend to feed better with a more rounded profile. Bottom line buy some ammo and try it to see if it will feed.

 

[DFW1911]

From Springfield:

A step up from the G.I., the Mil-Spec™ includes many improvements utilized by the U.S. military during the 1911’s years of service. These features include: High-profile 3-Dot sights, high-hand grip, beveled magazine well, polished feed ramp and throated barrel, lower and flared ejection port and angled slide serrations.

You have selected a great weapon. As already mentioned, get a variety of ammo and hit the range. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Also, make sure you try various magazines to check them out as well. Often we blame the gun when, in fact, the magazine is the problem.

Hope this helps and have fun!

DFW1911

 

[MICHAEL T]

Look for HP with a rounder profile They should work fine.

230 ball has stopped a lot of people . I wouldn't to to worried about over penetration I be more worried about those that missed Their still running full power at least body took away some steam.

 

[uwspmgc]

sorry for the double post

 

[uwspmgc]

after checking springfield's website i have found that my milspec does in fact have a throated barrel and polished feed ramp. i blame my untrained eye for the mix up(my first 1911!). thanks for setting me straight!

 

[Dave T]

It's a good thing this business of 45 Ball not working for self-defense wasn't known for most of the last 99 years. A lot of fights were ended with Ball, I guess because they didn't know any better.

Dave

 

[Drail]

Forget about everything you read. Go to the range and see for yourself.

 

[LiveLife]

I have read the 230 grain ball round does not work well as a self defense cartridge because it over penetrates.

Well, I personally witnessed a 45 ACP Federal Hydra Shok round that went through 2 concrete stucco walls (2 buildings with dry wall interior walls) and lodged inside a 2x4 bench without mushrooming.

Apparently, the drywall compound filled the cavity of the bullet and acted like a soft nose.

Just shoot some JHP at the range. My preference would be Remington Golden Saber, but even the 230 grain ball round killed a whole lot of people.

 

[C-grunt]

While a hollow point does work better, plain old ball ammo will still put good sized holes in a bad guy. Be more worried about misses than overpenetration.

Ive seen .45 JHP completely penetrate people before.

 

[BlayGlock]

Look for HP with a rounder profile They should work fine

That was my experience when I had my Mil-Spec. Mine would not feed the Hornady TAP but anything with a more rounded profile did fine.

 

[ms6852]

I own 2 Springfield 1911's and one of them is the G.I. mil spec you speake of. Mine feeds anything you give it. I has semi-wad cutters that work well. The more you feed it different ammos you will be able to decide what it likes best as much as you will.

 

[FenderTK421]

My 1911 eats anything I feed it. That does not mean I will trust a personal defense round w/ out firing at least 200+ of them. Neither should you. Of course, mines a Taurus, so I expect nothing but the best.

 

[jcs271]

If it shoots hardball with no issues, but will not reliably chamber HP rounds then you can always use the tried and true method of chambering a hollow point and then carrying a mag full of ball. In a fight,1st round is HP and reliable ball for all the rest.

Might work for you!

I would rather defend myself with a magazine full of .45acp ball than a mag full of HP's in a .380 etc.

 

[MachIVshooter]

Look for HP with a rounder profile They should work fine

+1

Some guns just don't like truncated cone type bullets. The Remington Golden Sabres have pretty much the same profile as ball ammo.

 

[greenjeans]

My GI Spec. feeds Winchester Silvertips just fine. I polish my feed ramps with jewelers rouge on a felt buffing wheel.

 

[gunnie]

if memory serves me well, marshall/sanow rate the 230gr ball round at 85%, and the most effective HP came in at 94%. as noted above, the ball round works better than many other calibers that ~WILL ALSO WORK~ with a well placed shot. ayoob wrote an article stating he prefered ball in the winter due to HP loading up with heavy clothing. with weight and velocity equal, the end result is a bullet that doesn't expand, and doesn't penetrate as well.

most handguns are woefully short on horsepower anyway, and dumping every bit of energy from them into a perp is not really much more effective than passing on through. on a shot that doesn't hit major organs, or the CNS "service disconnect switch" perhaps two holes to leak from would be even more effective than HP that stays inside at the same spot. ball will generally pass through barricades and car doors better than HP also.

the moral to this story is worry more about getting good with it than what bullet design you are shooting.

also, if it doesn't like HP, most any semi-competent smith can mod the ramp to even reliably feed empty brass. i wouldn't pay more than $50 for this as it is an easy fix.

gunnie

 

[Fiv3r]

Part of a reason that I carry a .45 is that I feel pretty confident that if my gun is loaded with FMJ or JHP, I feel pretty good about my chances of stopping a situation....of course JHP gets the nod whenever possible.

 

[MikePGS]

I believe the G.I. model used to be called the Mil-Spec so its possible that you might have an unthroated model if you have an old one. Otherwise you should be good to go.

 

[Ben86]

FMJ in .45 is no slouch, but it can overpenetrate. I have heard that the Remington UMC jhps feed in just about everything, even guns that "don't" feed jhps reliably. I'd give those a try. Rem golden sabers also feed almost universally well, because of their rounded ogive.

 

[Slamfire]

i have read the 230 grain ball round does not work well as a self defense cartridge because it over penetrates.

The 45 ACP is an excellent pistol round. It is big, stays big, is not easily deflected by ribs or bones.

How much better is a hollowpoint in 45ACP compared to round nose ball?