I carry a .45 and used to use Rangers. Than when I shot some and saw that they rarely had sharp petals they are supposed to be known for. Expansion was inconsistent and they had a tendency to separate. So I did some reading and study learning that my findings where consistent with everything I could find. Rangers do not do well shot through sheet rock, window, auto glass. Expansion is all over the board typically separating and looking like rounded ball without any petals. Remmington Golden Sabers are far more consistent performing but also separate though not as often as Rangers and do not have the penetration or expansion of Federal HST which out performs everything else by every measure I have seen
Here are a couple of links I posted on another thread. Federal HST by far out performs every other bullet I have seen and studied. No matter what they are shot through or into hey are the most consistent performing and expanding round available.
Ammunition To Go! keeps a supply available with decent prices and excellent service. They of course carry other premium ammo, Rangers Gold Dots, Golden Sabers etc all of which they tend to have in stock.
This first set are tests done at LEO facilities around the country and provide a great deal of comparative information of several different brands of ammo including Rangers and HST. They are downloadable PDF files so you will need Adobe Acrobat to read them if you do not have Adobe Acrobat . You can download it
Here
Los Angeles County - California
Riverside - California
Santa Clara - California
Fresno County - California
Kern County - California
Sacramento County - California
San Angelo - Texas
Pierce County Workshop - Washington
San Diego County Workshop - California
Portland Police Bureau - Oregon
The following are links to pages with some pretty dramatic pics of different SD ammo from a two different sites. Nothing like seeing the expansion difference side by side. Lots of 9mm pics
ballistics testing - round 1 - varied 9mm JHP's
ballistics testing - round 2 - varied 9mm JHP's
ballistics testing - round 3 - varied 9mm JHP's - shooting through tshirts
ballistics testing - round 5 - comparing 9mm JHP velocities
ballistics testing - round 6 - Federal HST 9mm vs 45 acp
ballistics testing - round 7 - shooting through denim - 9 mm, 45 acp, and 357 magnum
Terminal Ballistics .45 ACP
Terminal Ballistics 9mm
There is also a rather informative thread here with pics at
Federal HST vs, Hydra-Shock pics
Below is a pic of my rather meager example of HST compared to some other premium SD ammunition. By the time I did this I no longer had any expanded .45 Ranger rounds. To be honest after I shot some HST and compared it to Ranger I was pretty ticked. I had just bought over $200 of Rangers that I ended up shooting at targets. The .45 Rangers look pretty much like the .380 Rangers except larger but not nearly as large as the HST or even the Golden Sabers