Question on ammo/barrel length

[Tally XD]

Been years since I owned a handgun and even then, I wasnt into the "tech" part as much as I am now.

My question is, after doing a lot of reading here, do certain grain bullets, powder loads etc., work better in certain specific barrel length handguns?

In other words, would a 230grain hot load cartridge not properly function in a 4" barrel?

Since I now own the XD 45 Service model, is there a certain cartridge that has shown to work best in this weapon?

[jeepinbanditrider]

Pick up some Speer Gold Dots in a medium weight flavor and test a magzine of them in your pistol. If they cycle properly, fill a carry magzine and call it day.

[T-Bear]

What are you after? Just plinking rounds, carry loads, or reloading
The best is reloading, since you can tailor to your XD needs.
If your not into reloading, then Walmart WWB, would proably be your best bet.
If your looking for carry load, I would go out, buy and test what works best for your own XD

[Tally XD]

Originally Posted by T-Bear

What are you after? Just plinking rounds, carry loads, or reloading
The best is reloading, since you can tailor to your XD needs.
If your not into reloading, then Walmart WWB, would proably be your best bet.
If your looking for carry load, I would go out, buy and test what works best for your own XD

Range loads are just the WWB from Wal Mart or possibly some quality reloaded bulk from internet source.

I was mostly concerned with the defense ammo I will choose to carry. That was my concern here, and why I asked this question about which cartridges worked best in the model I have. I wasnt sure if I should start looking at the biggest and baddest, or more accurately pick from a range of loads starting in a given range.

I know many newbies are likely to just go buy the heaviest bullet with the hottest charge behind it they can buy, but, I feel that likely isnt necessary or even advised. Since bullets seem to act different in different length barrels, I thought maybe there is a specific range of grain/poweder load that I should look for to start with.

[deepdiver]

Rds can't gain as much velocity in a shorter barrel as in a longer barrel. This caused a problem with earlier HP rounds because the bullet didn't get enough velocity out of a short barrel to properly open on impact. The newer +p self defense bullets from your service model aren't going to be an issue. There are a lot of ballistic results online for rds from a 4" barrel. It appears, that in general, a 4" .45 is going to be about 50-75fps slower than the same rd in a 5" barrel .45.

Speer Gold Dot does make a rd for "short barrels" in which the bullet is different and designed to open at a lower velocity. From the testing I have seen, any quality JHP opens in self defense ranges (<10 yds) from the XD 45 service model. I've been carrying Corbon DPX in mine but am going to try out Federal HST and switch if I like them. That is just a preference (and $) issue. The XD handles +p rds just fine, so IMO find a self defense round you shoot accurately that you can afford to practice with and load your mag.

[Niner4Tango]

Originally Posted by deepdiver

Rds can't gain as much velocity in a shorter barrel as in a longer barrel. This caused a problem with earlier HP rounds because the bullet didn't get enough velocity out of a short barrel to properly open on impact. The newer +p self defense bullets from your service model aren't going to be an issue. There are a lot of ballistic results online for rds from a 4" barrel. It appears, that in general, a 4" .45 is going to be about 50-75fps slower than the same rd in a 5" barrel .45.

Speer Gold Dot does make a rd for "short barrels" in which the bullet is different and designed to open at a lower velocity. From the testing I have seen, any quality JHP opens in self defense ranges (<10 yds) from the XD 45 service model. I've been carrying Corbon DPX in mine but am going to try out Federal HST and switch if I like them. That is just a preference (and $) issue. The XD handles +p rds just fine, so IMO find a self defense round you shoot accurately that you can afford to practice with and load your mag.

+1

4" ain't exactly a short barrel. "...find a self defense round you shoot accurately that you can afford to practice with and load your mag" says it all.

[nasnickerz]

ive been reading alot of gun magazines lately, especially the parts about when people actually have to defend their life or the life of another....

in this particular instance husband loves shooting wants wife to love shooting. husband buys wife 38 super handgun, wife thinks they kick too much for her, husband LOADS her "creampuff" loads for reduced recoil. something happened wife downward spiral husband comes home seeswife with very gun he bought for her placed close to her head loaded with creampuff loads he loaded himself, she shoots herself in the head.... the husbands reloads were so weak they did not throw any powder out of the muzzle onto what remained of wifes head like a normal load would at that close of a range. in court husband repeatedlly states that the loads were his own reloads.....prosecution doesnt listen conducts tests with commercially available 38 super ammo always caused powder burns at specified range. husband is wrongfully imprisoned.

granted these werent self defense loads, but given the fact the in most of the cases that involved self loads even when the person who loaded them had some of the loads in a specified location with loading data the prosecution could have used to re-create very same results as the handloads didnt and used only commercially available ammuntion to try to achieve the same results

because of this and other similar stories i am leary of reloading especially my own defense loads, because if the day every comes where i have to make the split second decision to end someones life, i do not want to be the one behind bars that no one believes because nobody can reproduce the same results as i with the ammo i used and was justified in using to remove someone from this earth

sorry for the lack of puncuation and proper grammar and all that stuff that would have made this about 3 times as long,

[jtkratzer]

Originally Posted by nasnickerz

ive been reading alot of gun magazines lately, especially the parts about when people actually have to defend their life or the life of another....

in this particular instance husband loves shooting wants wife to love shooting. husband buys wife 38 super handgun, wife thinks they kick too much for her, husband LOADS her "creampuff" loads for reduced recoil. something happened wife downward spiral husband comes home seeswife with very gun he bought for her placed close to her head loaded with creampuff loads he loaded himself, she shoots herself in the head.... the husbands reloads were so weak they did not throw any powder out of the muzzle onto what remained of wifes head like a normal load would at that close of a range. in court husband repeatedlly states that the loads were his own reloads.....prosecution doesnt listen conducts tests with commercially available 38 super ammo always caused powder burns at specified range. husband is wrongfully imprisoned.

granted these werent self defense loads, but given the fact the in most of the cases that involved self loads even when the person who loaded them had some of the loads in a specified location with loading data the prosecution could have used to re-create very same results as the handloads didnt and used only commercially available ammuntion to try to achieve the same results

because of this and other similar stories i am leary of reloading especially my own defense loads, because if the day every comes where i have to make the split second decision to end someones life, i do not want to be the one behind bars that no one believes because nobody can reproduce the same results as i with the ammo i used and was justified in using to remove someone from this earth

sorry for the lack of puncuation and proper grammar and all that stuff that would have made this about 3 times as long,

i don't know about this story, not that you're not telling it right or anything, but if the entire wheel is loaded with the same ammo, they very well should be able to produce the same results. not only that, i'm sure he didn't make 6 rounds and that's it, they should be able to pull from the batch, but the problem is in fact proving that the hand loads were the ones used. when you use brass to reload, that was originally name brand store bought, how can you tell? the other 5 loads in the wheel should have been enough to compare, weight, results, etc.

[jeepinbanditrider]

.38Super is a semi-auto load. But you're right there should have been more rounds in the magazine.

[jtkratzer]

Originally Posted by jeepinbanditrider

.38Super is a semi-auto load. But you're right there should have been more rounds in the magazine.

right, that's why i said in the wheel, as in the the cylinder of the wheel gun.