Just joined up here, seems like a great forum! I picked up a PM45 a few weeks ago for concealed carry (pic included of course). I've been through quite a few pistols for carry duty over the years and have to say the Kahrs are tough to beat from a weight/size standpoint. I'm in Texas so it's not easy to conceal due to the heat. I have a couple of PM9's as well but it sure feels better knowing you have some thumpers available. I've put 350 rounds through it so far and it's been perfect with Federal and PMC ball, Speer Gold Dots and Hydrashoks. I did buy some reloads at the range on my 2'nd trip and it did not like those at all. Anyone have a recommendation on 185 grain vs. 230 grain ammo for a short barrel pistol like this? I use Speer GD's pretty much exclusively in all my carry guns but I'm curious about penetration/expansion for the lighter vs. heavier weight ammo, though with the .45 it may not matter too much.
First off welcome to the forum. The Gold Dot ammo is hard to beat, but most of todays hollow point defense rounds should be ok. Nice pistola, by the way.
I always like the 230 gr, but just put two boxes of Hornady Critical Defense thru my P45 and they all worked well. They are only 185gr, but I have decided to carry these in my P45 and the 115 gr in my PM9.
If Hornady does come out with the 230 gr in the Critical Defense, I will go with them if they too work well.
Welcome to the forum friend. Penetration with a .45 cal bullet or any other projectile is a function of sectional density, speed, and shape (sharpness). Speed remaining equal, a projectile with a higher sectional density will penetrate further than a projectile with lower sectional density. You will observe from ballistic gel penetration tests that even with a substantially higher velocity the projectile with a lower sectional density will under penetrate relative to the higher sectional density projectile. Bullet expansion reduces sectional density by the amount it expands past it's original dimensions. For what I consider adequate penetration from a short barreled gun like yours is first and foremost a heavy projectile (high sectional density), 230 grain. The gold dots and hydrashocks you've chosen should be adequate to meet a minimum of 12" ballistic get penetration (FBI standard) and provide a wider than .45" wound channel providing that they are 230 grain bullets. Lighter (and faster) bullets are inferior and will not meet FBI standards with regards to meeting penetration and wound channel standards. The following website will demonstrate these facts, pay special attention to the shots from a derringer as it is the most similar barrel length to yours.
Thanks all, I agree with the .45 a 185 or 230 probably isn't going to make much difference to any unfortunate person on the receiving end. And whatever ammo fuctions the best is the best choice. Mostly I am curious about the short barrel length and velocity with the 185 or 230. My thinking (and I could be wrong) is that you want the bullet to get up to speed as fast as possible with the short barrel as the bullet won't have a lot of time in the pipe. A lighter bullet should accelerate faster than a heavier one given the same amount of force applied to it so maybe the lighter bullet would be a better choice for the short barrel pistols.
Out of my PM45:
(Average for 5 shots)
Remington 185 JHP: 889 fps (324# KE)
Federal 185 JHP: 856 fps
Winchester Ranger T 230: 832 fps (353# KE)
Federal Hydra Shok 230: 781 fps
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