Advice for a 1911 and JHP rounds?

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Eightball

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Alright, so 1911's and JHP ammo (yeah, I hear the groans). I'll get my CCW permit in a few weeks, and plan on carrying my 5" Kimber Tactical Custom II during this winter season (I'll have ample concealment available). That being said, I've not had a chance to try to run JHP through it yet. Is there a general process by which to determine if/what JHP rounds will run through a 1911, or am I stuck with the "try and see" method? And, when I searched for it, I read a lot of different advice (polish feed ramp, don't polish it, get good mags, etc); I've already got a Wilson Combat mag (plan on getting more), so that solves any possible "mag" problems--but would the aluminum-alloy frame complicate any of the other testing methods to see what should work?

And if I'm just missing something, and there's some "cheat sheet" to see what JHPs work with which types of 1911s, by all means enlighten me :eek:

Anyhow, any thoughts or advice?
(Please, no suggestions along the lines of "carry something else," it's the best option I have for the time being, and the first rule of a gunfight IS "have a gun").

EDIT: Also, I am planning on picking up dies to reload for my 1911.....any specific projectiles that you've had luck with in reloads for PD purposes?
 
I think its pretty much just hit and miss. Its not what a brand of gun likes, its what YOUR gun likes.
Go and buy a box of whatever you prefer and shoot them to see if they are reliable in YOUR gun. repeat until you find out what the gun likes....you can send any unwanted ammo to me for disposal lol.
 
Figure out which load you most want to carry, then buy some and see how it does.

Wilson makes fine mags, but as mentioned, they might not be the best mags for YOUR gun. If you can, buy one or two of each of the "highly-acclaimed" 1911 mags. Tripp, Metalform, Chip McCormick, etc. Don't forget about the GI 7-rounders too. ;)

If your gun runs with the first load, carry that. If not, repeat process with the second most desirable load.

My suggestion would be Federal HST 230gr. +P JHP.

Here's a picture of one atop a quarter dollar. :eek:
hst_002.jpg
 
M. Ayoob says the Remington plain 185 gr JHP will feed in about any auto that will feed hardball. I use it in my old Commander. I have read that Golden Sabres are about as good, seems Remington pays more attention to feeding than other outfits who focus on expansion.

I don't reload defense ammo, but the nice thing about Remingtons is that you can buy the bullets and load close to factory for practice.
 
Plan A and Plan B

Plan A is to try several different brands and see which your particular pistol prefers to feed and spit out. There are no "Brand X shoots brand Y" cheat sheets that I know of. I have two Springfields that I carry (not at the same time...usually). One likes Federal and one likes Remington ammo. Go figure.

Plan B is to carry hardball until you can implement Plan A.
 
In general, I think Remington Golden Sabers feed a little better than most other big name JHP's, but as others have pointed out, for any particular gun its a matter of trial and error to see what works in your gun.

Winchester Silver Tips also feed well, but are not as "state of the art" as some more modern designs. I think they will still hurt you bad if you get shot with one, nonetheless.

Nothing wrong with plain old hard ball either. Just make sure your gun is 100 percent reliable with whatever you carry. Reliability and shot placement trump expansion every time.
 
I carry a springfield mil-spec 1911A1 and use Wilson Combat magazines exclusively with Gold Dot 185 gr HP's. I haven't had a single hiccup with that combination.
 
And, just to double-check......there shouldn't be a conflict if I desire to carry a +P load in an aluminum frame gun, should there?
 
The reason we always test carry ammo is that guns SHOULD be interchangeable and identical in manufacture, but in the REAL WORLD, they aren't. It's also a matter of the importance of the mission, you're hanging your life on this gear, and "It SHOULD" work really isn't good enough.

The manual of your Kimber will say, "Use only 230 grain jacketed ammo." This is mostly a butt cover, but it DOES make sense. If you're using a full length barrel, full-weight ammo delivers the best performance anyway.

I'm not a fan of +P, I mostly think that it's a bad idea to try to make a bullet do more than it was designed for.

I've used 230 gr hydra-shoks and just switched to Federal HSTs in my Custom II, none of them have ever had any kind of failure.
 
Generally speaking, stay with the major manufacturers. The Gold Dot and Golder Sabers are good. The Hydra-Shok is a good load too. My particular 1911 likes the Hornady load in 185 gr. You might want to eventually try a box of several different brands, and unless it scatters them like buckshot, they will all preform fairly well. As for mags., I use Wilson all they way. There are others out there but so far I haven't found anything better.
 
I would say "try and see." In this design you are more likely to get better feed reliability from a bullet that has a round nose profile and narrow cavity, but individual guns do vary.
 
+ 1 for Golden Sabers feeding very, very well. I have also had very good luck with XTP's and Gold Dots in my gun, but the Golden Sabers will feed in some guns that are finicky about other stuff. :)
 
Kind of Blued wrote
Here's a picture of one atop a quarter dollar.
Click to expand...

Are you sure - looks like it may be a dime to me, and size-wise, that seems to make more sense than the bullet being the size of a quarter.
 
Eightball. I just broke in a Kimber UCC II with what ever I could find. Both name brand and bullet type. I found nothing that didn't work in my compact .45 ACP. What failures I had during the first 300 rounds was not related to bullet style. By The Way. The last 700 rounds went without a hic-up...

Pick one of the better SD rounds and run a few through and go for it...
 
My Kimber Tactical Ultra II loves the Wallmart WWB JHP, never once have I had an issue using it. I don't know for a fact (as I'm not a ammo expert), but I've read that a lot of 1911's like the WWB because the diminsions are close to the ball ammo, whatever the reason again my Kimber has had no issues with.
 
D-Man said:
Are you sure - looks like it may be a dime to me, and size-wise, that seems to make more sense than the bullet being the size of a quarter.
Click to expand...

Yes, I'm sure. This one should make it more clear.

rounds.jpg
 
in reference to +P in an aluminum frame .45.

i had the same question dealing with my aluminum pro carry 2 a few months back. i was advised to stay away from +P ammo because of the rigidness of aluminum. the frames were tested to have no structural damage past 20 000 rounds but that was with non +P ammo. the +P ammo may weaken the aluminum to the point of cracking. you may still want to carry +P ammo as i do so i was then advised to buy higher power Wolff springs (set of recoil and firing pin springs) to offset the added pressure put on the recoil spring and slide.

its my feeling that if you practice with regular ammo and occasionally fire +P ammo you should be fine. i might still pick up a set of wolff springs just to be safe though. it also gives an extra 2lbs of force when feeding new rounds which helps. since i threw in the wolff springs ive had 0 failures. that was probably 1000 rounds ago. you can buy the springs from brownells website. cheers
 
smartshooter.45 said:
i had the same question dealing with my aluminum pro carry 2 a few months back. i was advised to stay away from +P ammo because of the rigidness of aluminum.....the +P ammo may weaken the aluminum to the point of cracking....i was then advised to buy higher power Wolff springs (set of recoil and firing pin springs) to offset the added pressure put on the recoil spring and slide.
Click to expand...
I'm just curious, who advised you, or did you research this & find some data, or is this opinion? I'm just anxious to check out as much as possible, so I don't screw up.

And, are the Wolf springs just "one of those things" that is generally recommended for a carry piece, or is that only if you intend to carry +P loads?

And, after looking at Kind of Blued's little pictorial representation.....I presume that the separation's possibility of creating two distinct wound channels is less of a benefit than the HST's "solid" performance?
 
I presume that the separation's possibility of creating two distinct wound channels is less of a benefit than the HST's "solid" performance?
Click to expand...
Separation of the jacket from the rest of the bullet is bad because it takes needed mass out of the bullet. That would likely be a bigger problem with the .380, but if we have bullets that work properly in .45 we might as well use them.
 
You can't ever really KNOW what a particular gun will feed without actually trying it.

When I bought my Series 70 Colt in 1979, it wouldn't reliably feed 230gr. ball. It WOULD however feed the old Lawman "flying ashtrays" with 100% reliability. After a box or two of the "flying ashtrays" and a couple of boxes of ball, it would shoot the ball reliably.

It just depends upon the individual gun and whether that particular gun has been broken in properly.
 
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