Hi guys,
I'm looking to stock up on some personal protection ammo and have decided to go with Speer Gold Dot, but am not sure whether to go with their Short Barrel specific or regular load. GDHP or GDHP-SB? I have a 4" Service XD45.
Seems kind of odd to think of a 4" barrel as "short", but I guess due to the low pressure of the 45ACP round (accelerate a larger heavier bullet slowly and gradually) 4 inches does end up being kinda short for 45ACP. Seems like everywhere you look the standard barrel size used to chronograph and rate 45ACP loads is for a 5" barrel. For 9 and 40 it's 4 inch, so a 3 inch is "short" for those calibers.
For 45ACP, Speer has two different loads for 230gr, which is the weight I'm going to stick with, just a question of which one.
#23966, 230gr, GDHP, 5" test barrel, 890 fps, 404 ft-lbs
#23975, 230gr, GDHP-SB, 4" test bl, 820 fps, 343 ft-lbs
Speer says they intentionally make the Short Barrel stuff lighter firing to help keep kick and recoil down since you're presumably shooting with a lighter and shorter barreled gun than what would be considered "optimal" for that round, which I guess would help with accuracy and follow-up shots under stress. And they also say that the SB bullets are designed to expand at slower velocities. I'd guess the regular load at 890 fps from a 5" would still manage in the 850+ range out of a 4" and would reliably expand, but who knows? Would there be any secondary benefits like reduced muzzle flash? What are the LEOs out there carrying for 45ACP/4" guns? I know a lot of them carry Speer, but is it the regular stuff or Short Barrel? I'm guessing penetration would be a bit less with the SB stuff.
I'm leary, but leaning towards the Short Barrel loads for a few different reasons. 45ACP is a big round with a large wound channel and is going to need more energy than smaller rounds to get the optimal penetration depth. But I doubt ~350 ft-lbs of energy vs 400 is going to make any huge difference here. I doubt Speer would put their name on anything that wasn't going to perform adequately for a personal defense product, but would like to hear everyone's feedback.
I'm looking to stock up on some personal protection ammo and have decided to go with Speer Gold Dot, but am not sure whether to go with their Short Barrel specific or regular load. GDHP or GDHP-SB? I have a 4" Service XD45.
Seems kind of odd to think of a 4" barrel as "short", but I guess due to the low pressure of the 45ACP round (accelerate a larger heavier bullet slowly and gradually) 4 inches does end up being kinda short for 45ACP. Seems like everywhere you look the standard barrel size used to chronograph and rate 45ACP loads is for a 5" barrel. For 9 and 40 it's 4 inch, so a 3 inch is "short" for those calibers.
For 45ACP, Speer has two different loads for 230gr, which is the weight I'm going to stick with, just a question of which one.
#23966, 230gr, GDHP, 5" test barrel, 890 fps, 404 ft-lbs
#23975, 230gr, GDHP-SB, 4" test bl, 820 fps, 343 ft-lbs
Speer says they intentionally make the Short Barrel stuff lighter firing to help keep kick and recoil down since you're presumably shooting with a lighter and shorter barreled gun than what would be considered "optimal" for that round, which I guess would help with accuracy and follow-up shots under stress. And they also say that the SB bullets are designed to expand at slower velocities. I'd guess the regular load at 890 fps from a 5" would still manage in the 850+ range out of a 4" and would reliably expand, but who knows? Would there be any secondary benefits like reduced muzzle flash? What are the LEOs out there carrying for 45ACP/4" guns? I know a lot of them carry Speer, but is it the regular stuff or Short Barrel? I'm guessing penetration would be a bit less with the SB stuff.
I'm leary, but leaning towards the Short Barrel loads for a few different reasons. 45ACP is a big round with a large wound channel and is going to need more energy than smaller rounds to get the optimal penetration depth. But I doubt ~350 ft-lbs of energy vs 400 is going to make any huge difference here. I doubt Speer would put their name on anything that wasn't going to perform adequately for a personal defense product, but would like to hear everyone's feedback.