I got to looking at some gold dots in .45 today...

I'm going to have to give their customer service a call, as I feel swindled. I always thought they were jacketed, but I was informed they were plated.

I know they still perform acceptably, but I feel as though I've been shuck and jived for the money they want for this ammo.

I'll just go and purchase a hollow point mould, pour and load my own and come out way ahead.

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Speer Ammo - Construction

Yes, sorta but jacket is bonded to the core and thicker like a jacket, not like a normal thinly plated bullet. It is one of the most highly rated SD bullets available, so what does Iit matter how it is made?

They are plated, but it's thicker than what is sold as plated bullets. As far back as I can remember they've stated that in their marketing of them. I've always heard to use jacketed load data for them where plated bullets use lead load data. Is there something that a cup & core bullet does better than a Gold Dot which would lead you to expect to pay more for a cup & core than for a Gold Dot?

Hey, you pay extra for a bonded core jacketed bullet, what's your complaint?

I'll grant you the run of the mill plated bullet doesn't have the resistance to deformation that a jacketed bullet has. However, in the case of a HP, we want deformation. ATK has found a balance in the thickness of their plating to do very very well in the FBI tests. How the bullet is made is less important than how it performs.

I expect you'll spend a heck of a lot more money trying to reproduce the Gold Dot performance than you'll save.

I think there are enough clues in the wording to describe the bullets that they are not traditional jacketed bullets. Can't really blame Speer for what you "always thought". I'm not sure, but were Gold Dots maybe one of the first "plated" bullets out there? They use the term "bonded" which is probably the first clue. Maybe "plated" wasn't a common term when they first came out but since then it has become a more industry accepted term. Maybe someone can chime in with a timeline/history of plated bullets.

The Gold Dot bullet design has ALWAYS been plated! Speer's early design was even named PHP for Plated Hollow Point. There's no reason to blame Speer for your ignorance...

I'm not complaining about their performance, just about their pricing for what it is...

Not saying I can do better, but I feel disenfranchised.

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Speer goal was not to make a cheaper bullet but to make a better bullet, with the performance of the Gold Dot they were successful. If the way they are made bothers you don't buy them, but it is a mistake to equate them with plated practice bullets when they are superior to many traditional jacketed hollow points.

What about their Hot-Cor rifle bullets? Are they made the same way and considered "bonded" too?

Dave Sinko

Speer rifle bullets for hunting have a different copper thickness and make up for each of its bullets.
The HotCore is the basic that is like the Sierra "Pro Hunter" in the SP style for 0 to 300 yard shots in general.

The Mag-Tip has a little heavier jacket while the Grand Slam
has a very heavy copper jacket and is designed for deep penetration on larger game.
The new Deep curl is also a "Bonded" design and works best on Antelope to Elk but the 30 cal. 150gr is designed for the 30-30 and the 165gr has a much BETTER BC for a 30 cal. rifle.

They work...........if you don't reload the new Deep curl bullet can be found in the Factory Federal Fusion loadings for deer.

While the Gold Dot bullets are technically plated because of the process in which they are produced don't confuse them with other plated bullets like those made by Rainier and Berry's. Like said above, Speer's intent was to build a bullet where the core and jacket would not separate and they did. The plating is so thick on the Gold Dots you would be hard pressed to tell the difference between standard jacketed bullets and the plated Gold Dots. (from what I have read on the subject)

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Exactly what AA said above the "bonded " bullets show better performance( staying together)when used against, car doors, doors , even heavy leather clothing so they are preferred by some units that may have to engage through barriers , or are available if the situation arises.. So as far as value your getting a better bullet in some regards.

All the information I've read and test results of different bullets / ammo I have seen. The performance of the Gold Dot Ammo appears to be excellent. I guess I don't really care if they are jacketed, plated, or bonded. I carry the short barrel Gold Dots in my m60, m642, and I'm planning on getting some for my short barrel 1911.

The way they do it is ingenious! It's automatically bonded to the core, consistant and an economical way to boot!

Drawing a copper cup , and forming it over a separate lead slug is much more labor/time consuming and makes for copper scrap.

As noted previously Speer starts out by plating these bullets, actually all of their jacketed handgun bullets start out as plated. I also suspect that a majority of their rifle bullets start out plated but haven't seen that particular documented by Speer. The reason this is done is that the mechanical bond produced by plating is far superior than the bond produced by pouring molten lead into a thin shell of copper. With plating the bond produced is at the molecular level because that plating follows every microscopic variation and there isn't any shrinkage that might tend to loosen the bond. As for plating being "cheap", only someone who hasn't actually seen the process would make that statement. It's a lot faster to just pour some lead into a shell than it is to lay bullets on a grounding mesh and then wait for hours and hours for the plating to build up to the required thickness. Basically, when plated to a specific task oriented specification plating will produce a superior bullet.

I've also compared reloads featuring jacketed and plated bullets using a chronograph. What I saw shows that a plated jacket produces the same velocity in the barrel as a traditional jacketed bullet. When I compared Hornady Jacketed to Berry's and Hunting Shack's plated bullets all 3 loads produced velocities within 15 fps. of each other. As a result I use data for jacketed bullets when I can't find a listing specific to a copper plated bullet with the powder I've chosen. However, I do stick to the low end of that data because if you push a plated bullet too hard you'll leave a trail of lead down your barrel and that particular mess is no fun at all to clean.

The Gold Dot is often my first ammo of choice in the calibers I shoot, regardless of price and construction process. I think it's good "stuff." wyatte

Modern jacketed bullet manufacturing does not involve "pouring molten lead into a thin shell of copper" or any such nonsense.

How Bullets Are Made - YouTube

I am certainly NOT representing myself as a Professional Ballistics Expert here but I have taken much interest and pride in testing .38 Special carry ammo since it is my caliber of choice for SD carry purposes. I have done testing over the last 5 years now and continue to do so every few months.

There are four loads that in my personal tests have always come out on top, and they are as follows - in no particular order.

Buffalo Bore 158 grain +P LSWCHP-GC
Buffalo Bore 158 grain NON +P LSCWHP
Speer 135 grain +P Short Barrel Gold Dot HP
Remington 158 grain +P LSWCHP

I am sure there are also others that I have not tested yet, but these four always exhibit consistency, reliability and accuracy. IMHO you would be well armed with any of these including the Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel 135 grain GDHP +P and to the best of my knowledge it was never a "conventional" jacket as we have come to think of.