Bullet Grains

[Bo]

Someone educate me on bullet grains. What is the advantage / disadvantage of using a 185 gr. bullet over a 230 gr. or vice-versa. How about Plus-P, yes or no ? I'm thinking a 45 acp is going to penetrate soft tissue regardless of the grain. Weather it penetrates car doors or brick walls is really not an issue is it? We're talking self-defense here. OK, I'm all ears, let the lessons begin!

 

[Jim Watson]

Oats are better for you than wheat.

The point of the 185 grain .45 ACP is to be able to get high enough velocity for a plain hollowpoint to expand. Supposedly modern design enables a 230 grain hollowpoint to expand at its lower velocity. The actual difference in a gunfight is small to nothing.

Me?
I keep some 185 grain Remington JHP for my old Commander; it is a relatively mild load with moderate recoil. The steel guns get 230s. I would prefer the old 1905 load of a 200 gr bullet at 900 fps but nobody makes that except Hornady and I'd rather not be tied to a single source.

 

[BlindJustice]

Yeah, in .45 ACP with the limited case capacity
lighter bullets = higher velocity. +P is so labeled because
the SAAMI pressures is above the standard of 21,0000
and +P is 24,000 psi or something like that.

I had 350 rounds of new Rem. Brass ok, it was new in the early 19870s let's say unfired brass loaded with 200 grain. Leadhead SWC to 1,025 FPS
and it's a nice 'tweener, in terms of weight/velocity.and not +P

 

[AndyC]

Lighter bullet will usually shoot a touch lower, too (emphasised because I can see some anal-type about to spout off).

Overall, it's a matter of personal choice, but one thing I do know - the bullet don't matter if it don't feed.

 

[davinci]

shot placement matters most.

If I were you, though, look up 45 super...now that has the scare factor of a flaming squirrel clawing through a dryer vent on a rainy day dragging a box of sparklers like a rucksack behind him.

 

[CWL]

It is my opinion that lighter & faster 185gr and 200gr .45ACP bullets are more useful in short barreled pistols. While 1911 Govt. length barrels are fine with 230gr bullets (FMJ or JHP), shorter barrels in the 3-4" range need a little more 'push' and lighter bullet to maximize expansion.

There is a member of this forum who used 230gr Hydrashoks in a mini Glock to prevent a massacre (National Shooting Club). The bullets were later discovered not to have expanded -probably due to lack of veocity out of a short barrel.

 

[MachIVshooter]

The avantage of using lighter bullets is that they effectively increase case capacity, which means they can be driven at higher velocity. Of course, that translates to higher energy. The downside is that lgihter bullets tend to penetrate less. For this reason, I stick with medium to heavy-for-caliber bullets. Penetration is paramount, expansion is a good bonus. I know of an individual who was shot with a .17 Remington from across the kitchen table (yet another "gun cleaning" incident. The energy was there, but that ultra-light, ultra fast bullet barely got deeper than the muscle tissue. It left a horrific looking fleshwound, but was really superficial. That's an extreme example of light and fast, of course, but you get the gist of it.

 

[jpwilly]

A lighter 45 bullet is going to reduce the felt recoil and have more velocity than a heavier bullet. Hollow point bullets need velocity to expand properly. Out of a compact pistol for the sake of both recoil and velocity I use the lighter grain personal defence ammo. There's plenty of power any small differences between heavy and light ammo can be sumed up by the fact that it is still a .45! It's not like your shooting a 22.