Favorite Ammo for .45 SD?

[Realbigo]

So i just lucked into a couple of boxes of Winchester .45acp 230gr JHP. I normaly carry Winchester SXT's for SD, but my ammo is about 3 years old this point, so I was thinking about just swaping it out for the plain vanilla jhp's. Whats your favorite round ina .45 for SD, and should I stick w/ the SXT's?

 

[tblt]

federal hst

 

[springfield30-06]

I like Gold Dot 230gr because they shot the best out of my gun when testing different JHP.

 

[wnycollector]

I will take 9 Doubletap 230gr gold dots please

 

[VHinch]

First of all, why haven't you shot your carry ammo in 3 years? Did you even test the SXT's before you chose them for carry? Are you sure that they shoot to POA? Are you certain of their reliability in the weapon you are carrying them in?

Any decent JHP round will do the job if you do yours. For that matter, so will FMJ, but carrying any round that you have not tested through the weapon and subsequently trained with on a regular basis is downright irresponsible. Shoot what you carry, carry what you shoot.

 

[possum_128]

Anything Corbon.

 

[Scratchy]

Winchester Ranger Talon

 

[Pumpkinheaver]

I'm not real picky when it comes to SD ammo in my .45 auto. As long as it's reliable and a full powered load I'll use it. Right now my Kimber is stoked with 200gr XTPs from Hornady. 1 spare mag loaded with the same another loaded with good old hardball.

 

[Kentucky-roughrider]

Winchester 230 grain SXT is my favorite but I may buy other.

 

[loop]

Whatever is most accurate and reliable out of that particular gun.

I really don't care if it is JHP, RNL or SWC.

The most important thing that it does is go where I point it.

Shot an IDPA match Tuesday night and did not have the best time of the match, but I had the fewest points down due to inaccuracy.

My feeling is that you can't miss fast enough to win in a game or in real life.

Another thought to add is that if you are shooting ammo out of a box, sooner or later it will catch up to you and your rounds will shotgun. The only way to have truly accurate ammo is to roll your own.

 

[jjohnson]

Win 185gr Silvertip

Works for me. If it were a smaller caliber, I'd be more picky about performance, but this slug is enough to be reassuring.

 

[NG VI]

I like Federal HST. The +P version is great as well, just a little more of the same. The +P is rated at 960 feet per second, so it definitely has more get up and go than your ordinary standard pressure .45. Opens very, very wide.

 

[Claude Clay]

defender--golden saber 185 +p; winter, 230 ball.

 

[Crow1108]

Remington 230 Grain Golden Sabers. They're plenty accurate, they go boom everytime, and the 25 of them that I carry (when I carry...8+1 in the gun, and 2 extra 8 round mags) should be able to handle any situation I'm likely to encounter.

 

[Phelptwan]

185gr Corbon DPX.

 

[elChupacabra!]

First of all, why haven't you shot your carry ammo in 3 years? Did you even test the SXT's before you chose them for carry? Are you sure that they shoot to POA? Are you certain of their reliability in the weapon you are carrying them in?

Any decent JHP round will do the job if you do yours. For that matter, so will FMJ, but carrying any round that you have not tested through the weapon and subsequently trained with on a regular basis is downright irresponsible. Shoot what you carry, carry what you shoot.

I really hate reading stuff like this. There is nothing in the OP's post to indicate that he hasn't shot his carry ammo in 3 years, that he failed to test them, that he's not sure they shoot to POA, or that he doesn't know if they are reliable.

About 3 years ago I bought a quantity of Cor-Bon 40S&W 135gr JHP for my HK P2000. I bought my first 20, made sure they functioned, then bought 80 more to test and, after they all fed and fired without issue and to POA, I bought 260 more. I have rotated those 260 through my 4 mags, with the remainder in storage and the oldest being shot from time to time to "remind" myself how they feel. Now, realize, this means that I do have some carry ammo that is 3 years old, and heck, I may start thinking of replacing it, too - so my situation seems like it could very well be identical to that stated by the OP.

Why take such an adversarial, accusatory position without any real basis for doing so? This is THR, we should be a community here - your response really undermines that sense of camaraderie, and I'm offended on the OP's behalf.

Also, as for the "shoot what you carry, carry what you shoot" business, yes of course I agree that it is important to shoot what you carry from time to time... but by the same token, I can afford to shoot twice as much by reloading as if I bought CHEAP stuff in the store - and about 4 times as much as if I ONLY shot Cor-Bon. I have to say, developing skill and muscle memory by shooting as much and as often as possible is more important than always feeling the exact same recoil impulse or seeing the same muzzle flash or whatever. I also shoot a great deal of .22LR, which, although it feels nothing like any of my defensive handguns, has probably contributed more to my pistol marksmanship than all other handgun shooting I've done combined, period. You may be independantly wealthy, in which case of course, shoot whatever you like. But to those like myself with limited resources, we make do the best we can with what we've got, which means shooting WWB and reloads ALOT more than shooting Gold Dots or Cor-Bon or whatever.

Now to answer the OP's question, Federal 230gr Hydra-Shok in my 1911.

 

[Water-Man]

Federal HST 230gr.

 

[VHinch]

There is nothing in the OP's post to indicate that he hasn't shot his carry ammo in 3 years, that he failed to test them, that he's not sure they shoot to POA

My tone wasn't intended to be adversarial per se, just questioning, as the way I read the post he is thinking of switching to another round because he has a couple of boxes of it (100 rounds) and his current carry ammo is 3 years old. Perhaps I read that the wrong way.

Also, as for the "shoot what you carry, carry what you shoot" business, yes of course I agree that it is important to shoot what you carry from time to time... but by the same token, I can afford to shoot twice as much by reloading as if I bought CHEAP stuff in the store

I never suggested you should ONLY shoot your carry load, just that you should test it thoroughly (200 rounds min) and train with it on a regular basis. I shoot something like 12,000 rounds a year on average, and probably 9,000 is reloads that I have worked up to replicate my carry load. Another 2,000 or so is ball for training classes, etc., with the remaining 1,000 or so being my carry load. Buying in 500 round cases makes shooting 1000 rounds/yr of your carry ammo very affordable, at least in my opinion, and I think it's cheap insurance.

 

[elChupacabra!]

VHinch,

Ok, I think I understand your position a little better, and I think we do agree. It seems like you shoot more carry ammo than I do, but to each his own.

Sorry if I over-reacted

 

[retgarr]

Hornady .350 gr flatpoint

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=122888&t=11082005#enalarge

Seriously though, it depends on the barrel length. I like the lighter, faster rounds for a short barrel and heavy rounds for 5"

 

[Dgreno]

I carry 10 rds of 185gr Golden Saber in my G30, 10 rds of GS in a second mag and 10 230gr HST in a 3rd mag for the zombies...

 

[Mike U.]

Winchester Ranger 230 gr. +P,
load RA45TP.

Consistently accurate as all get-out from my H&K USP45, FTF has never occured and the round has a good deal of THUMP!
I haven't found anything bad about this load yet. Good stuff...

 

[EHL]

Winchester Ranger T 230grain, Taurus Copper Hex 185 grain, and Federal HST 230 grain.
I used to carry Corbon 230 grain JHP, Remington GS 230 grain, and Feder Hydra Shok, and Gold DOt 230 grain. The other ones work better. I think these work just fine, but I want every advantage I can get, even if it's minor.

 

[Realbigo]

Well, The SXT's are EXPENSIVE!! and as I am a poor college student, after testing my carry "Black Talons" in the way none of us want to have to, I bought new SXT's and I keep them stored properly when I'm not carrying. I buy good ammo when I can afford it, and usually shoot the cheapest 230gr I can find on the shelf when I can go to a range. I picked the SXT's originaly because a man who's opinion and counsel I trusted and appreciated recomended them to me for a stock length 1911 barrel. I doesn't seem the last few weeks like I can ask a simple question and give reason and opinion w/out getting jumped on, so I think I'll just sit here in the peanut gallery and snipe at people who's opinions I don't like from now on.

PS. Thanks ElChup. Appreciate you having my back.

 

[Noxx]

I've gone to DPX for my 220. My el cheapo spanish 1911 has one, yes one, round of SD ammo. It's a 185 Hornady JHP that sits in the pipe, backed up by a mag of 230 ball because that sucker won't feed JHP for nuthin!

It is however, a reliable working handgun, so it stays loaded and in it's appropriate spot around the house. With it's lonely single round of JHP. Sort of odd, but then, so am I.