[SCOTTY]

I've recently bought me a Taurus 24/7 45. for carry, right now I have it loaded with Rem 230 grain golden sabres I just picked up a box of Rem. UMC 230 grain hollowpoints at Walmart 100 rounds for 25 bucks " For target practice"

I was just wondering what you 45 shooters opinions on the light 185 grain "fast" versus the 230 grain for neutralizing a threat .

Oh and does anyone know anything about the UMC ammo are the hollowpoints used in any of there other ammo I would much rather keep it loaded with those if thats the cartridge I shoot mostly for practice, Half the price! But then again maybe you get what you pay for .

 

[Gelicious]

Scotty, Most of your incounters with "BGS" will be in close quarters combat. a 230gr bullet has alot more punch to it than a lighter faster bullet. If you did plan on taking a shot at something that was further away then conside that the 230gr bullet is still in the 800-1000fps range at 15 yards. Its i guess just your choice, the lighter bullet might have a slightly less intense recoil but im not 100% on that.

As for the hollow point. I have done my own expantion test on a box of golden saber, speer gold dot, and horandy T.A.P and found that the Gold dot expanded perfectly every shot and the Horandy T.A.P expanded perfectly 99.0 percent of the time. Only once did the hornady not expand well and that was out of 50 rounds. The golden sabers did ok but had some failure to expands in there. The hollow point debate is alive and well on these boards so check around and see for youself what others are saying but nothing writen on these boards should make you mind up for you.. you should do some tests yourself. If the hollow point feeds well in your gun and it expands as expected, then go with it! I use the gold dots and the hornady T.A.P ammo. Im still waiting on my CCW to show in the mail so im not packing them around yet.

Good luck and I hope you find your answers!

 

[P95Carry]

I still have a full box of the UMC FMJ - 230 grainers. I have not used them yet or even tried any. Other UMC ammo I have had seemed to work OK and of course yes, price is lower than some stuff. I do seem to remember what I did shoot (FMJ) was very messy!

The bullet design appears pretty fair but not sure whose bullet is used - it is similar to a GD, in some ways. Others may know.

Providing ammo is reliable and most important, feeds every time - then perhaps spending top dollar is not really mandated. As for 185 vs 230 - I really am very imbivalent on that. As long as POI is not too radically altered I do not mind - and if carrying 220 will load that with 185 Gold Dots ... they shoot well for me and I do like the bullet performance.

 

[Euclidean]

If I want to shoot a 180something grain bullet I'll do it out of a .40 S&W chamber and likely get more velocity out of it.

The 230 freakin' grain bullet just seems to be the whole point of shooting .45 ACP to me personally, and this is coming from a guy who likes 125 grain .357 loads and 165 grain .40 S&W loads FWIW.

 

[dimmak]

for practice, you'll find the Speer lawman is more expensive, but is exceptionally clean....

 

[Bud White]

I like the 230 grain bullets if i want to shoot lighter ill use a smaller gun 230 grain has a good rep

 

[vzwnnj]

for practice, I sometimes use 185gr, but for carry, its strictly 230gr Federal Hydrashok...dont think Im ever going to be shooting at much past 10-15 yrds while carrying.

I have heard good things about hornady TAP ammo

 

[ecbaatz]

It is what is is designed for

IIRC the 1911 was designed for a 230 gr balll bullet. I feel that is good enough for me to stay with 230 gr. I do carry hollow points for defense, of course they are still 230 gr.

Eric

 

[duckhunter]

230 gr Hydra Shoks for carry, 230 gr FMJ reloads for practice, although I have a box of 185 gr Gold Dot bullets to try reloading.

 

[Stephen A. Camp]

Hello. The original version of the .45 ACP from Mr. Browning used a 200 grain bullet at around 900 ft/sec. At the request of the military, the bullet weight was increased to 230-grains and the velocity lowered a little. That said, I pretty much stay with 230-gr expanding bullets in this caliber but do use 200-gr CSWC's for practice.

There are several "good" expanding bullets in the 230-gr bullet weight and they've performed well for me so I've pretty much stayed with them after years of experimenting with those that are light or medium weight for this caliber.

Best.

 

[acparmed]

I stick with Federal 230gr HydraShoks as well. In street reports on actual shootings the 230 HydraShok has a 92% one shot stop record. It functions well in my guns and all the terminal ballistics tests I've conducted in wet newsprint has the bullet expanding just as advertised. I even fired one through a "bullet resistant" window that was given to me for that purpose. I had to tell them to go back to the drawing board. After I dug the bullet out of the dirt hillside, I measured it and found that even after passing through the window and then into the dry dirt, it measured .68 cal and retained 94% of it's original weight.

Just my opinion, but that's the kind of bullet I want in my defensive handgun.

 

[ecbaatz]

200 not 230

Steve, guess I missed that in your book. But I was close, it was "re" designed for 230 gr. Thanks for the correction.

Eric

 

[PatrioticRick]

IIRC the 1911 was designed for a 230 gr balll bullet. I feel that is good enough for me to stay with 230 gr. I do carry hollow points for defense, of course they are still 230 gr.

Eric

+1 :wave:

Use Winchester Target/Range FMJ 230 gr for practise $19.97 for 100 at Wally World

 

[maclean3]

I prefer 230gr JHP as well. Among others, I've used Fed. Hydrashoks, Win. SXT (civvie version), Rem. GS and have plans to test drive the Speer GD. All those I've tried so far have fed and functioned well in my guns and honestly, I'd feel well armed with any of those loads - just because the Hydrashok is older doesn't mean it doesn't still work.

The only .45 I've owned that REQUIRED 185gr. +P to function properly was my stainless SA Ultra compact Hi-cap (3.5" barrel). I bought it NIB and it was probably the tightest fit 1911 I've owned to date. 500 to 800 rounds of ball and some minor lapping probably would've overcome the cycling problems but I'm just not that patient so I eventually traded it off.

As for UMC ammo: I've never tried the JHP (didn't even know they made one) but use to shoot a lot of the their 230gr. FMJ. I quit using it 5 or 6 years ago when I started noticing a lot of bullet set back (in my 5" Colt). I can't say if it's a case mouth diameter problem, lack of crimp or some other unknown factor but I value my guns and my health more than the extra buck or so per box it takes to avoid risking a case rupture. Take that for whatever it's worth, many others here have much more shooting experience than I do.
Jack