45 ammo question

[firehunter]

I just picked up the Kimber ultra carry. It has the 3 inch barrel. Any input on what would be the best performing personal protection round for the 3 inch barrel?

[dbmtrman]

How about the 230 grn. Gold Dot. Alot of SWAT teams and I believe FBI HRT use that. I am currently carrying the 230 grn Winchester Ranger XST in my .45.

[Flesh Thorn]

Since it is a .45 anything should put a nice hole in someone even FMJ. I use the Winchester 230 grain hollow points in the white box that you can buy at Walmart just because it is available and it functions in my Kimber.

[RangerX]

Pick up some 230 & 185 grain and see which one "feels" right in your gun. I have 2 .45s and each one has a different "preference".

[Flesh Thorn]

There's mixed feelings about this issue but some dude is serving a long prison sentence because he used hollow points in a self defense shooting, it was in Colorado I believe. Due to the fact that there are too many ambitious liberal prosecutors and judges out there I don't use hand loads or hollow points when I CCW

I have considered using whatever the local PD and /or Sheriffs Department uses, but the Winchester ammo I buy from Walmart says "FOR PERSONAL DEFENSE" right on the box.

[Oto-Man]

There's mixed feelings about this issue but some dude is serving a long prison sentence because he used hollow points in a self defense shooting, it was in Colorado I believe. Due to the fact that there are too many ambitious liberal prosecutors and judges out there I don't use hand loads or hollow points when I CCW, I use Aguila, American Eagle and a couple others that feed well in my 1911. Like someone else mentioned FMJ's will do sufficient damage.

Better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6...there must have been a little more to that story than the fuckin ammo there sparky...unless there is a LAW against hollow points for CCW there (in which case I will retract the 'sparky' )

Florida just lighted up the CCW laws in the last year or so, and have removed the "must attempt to flee" clause...that used to get a lot of people snagged...now... Fear for life (self or others), stop forcible felony in the act vs (self or others)...bang...no paperwork (for the civilian) and go the hell home.

Some Dem. Dipstick in the FL House was trying to make MAGSAFE Ammo illegal, but the NRA explained it to him, and their lawyers handed him his ass and he just STFU.

[firehunter]

So the 3 inch barrel is long enogh to get full expansion of hollow points?

[Flesh Thorn]

Something that Tater Nuts told me to consider, if a 9mm HP expands as advertised it will be about .45 in diameter.

[RangerX]

So the 3 inch barrel is long enogh to get full expansion of hollow points?

Expansion is effected more buy the material it impacts than anything else.

[dbmtrman]

I'd have to disagree with a couple things posted on here. I do agree that shot placement is paramount. But that being said, a controlled expansion round will to much more damage then ball ammo. A .45 ball round goes in and comes out at .45 inches wide. A .45 hollowpoint goes in at .45 inches but soon expands to something like .65 to .75 inches wide, causing alot more cavatation. In addition, when the hollowpoint expands it usually has many jagged edges, that rip and tear tissue as it travels through the body, whereas the ball round has much less of the tearing action.

As for the difference between 230 grain and 185 grain. The 185 grain is traveling at a higher velocity, and has more chance of overpenetrating.

If you are using Hollowpoints for self protection, then there should be no issues, unless your laws strictly forbid it. There has to be more to the story describer earlier. Apparently the prosecutor and courts felt there was some malicious intent on the part of the shooter, other then just self preservation.

[VengefulIcebox]

I just picked up the Kimber ultra carry. It has the 3 inch barrel. Any input on what would be the best performing personal protection round for the 3 inch barrel?

Ranger Firehunter,

I carried Federal Hydrashocks in my .45 ACP USP. I never shot anybody so I can't comment on actual performance. In selection of personal defense ammunition my biggest concern would be consistent feeding. Hollow point ammunition has had a reputation for feeding problems in the past. I believe alot of those feed ramp issues have been addressed in the last 20 years with personal defense handguns coming factory with, what used to be, custom gunshop options. Like opened or beveled chamber lips and optimized feed ramps. There was specific ammunition that had more prevalent feed issues from Speer nicknamed Flying Ashtrays. Some searching says it may not be in production anymore, but it was a 200grain .45 +P round with a large cavity.

Here's a link to a chart organized by a color code for barrel lengths / weapon. The chart is an effort to record measured velocity from different lengths of .45 barrels. This comparison may help you to determine if any concerns of expansion, per barrel length, are important.
http://www.w0ipl.net/Vel-45ACP.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Another link is a not so scientific pictorial documentation of a forum of shooters recovered bullets after expansion. Some are .45's but not all. Also not all of the pictures seem to be visible for me, the links to them may be broken.
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/sho ... ?p=3500890" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I always see Cor-Bon listed as the final say in PDF ammunition. It's expensive though. No experience with it personally.

[VengefulIcebox]

Veteran TC204,

That story doesn't surprise me to hear. I'm sure there was a bit more to it, but I could see the use of personal defense ammunition argued by a Prosecutor to be a premeditated choice to kill, not stop a criminal. Without a proper defense team, a politically motivated prosectutor could definitely surprise a legitimate use of force case. Not every Prosecutors differentiates wrong from right, some are only interested in convictions.