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Old 01-10-2015, 02:54 AM
jeffreybehr jeffreybehr is offline
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Five 40S&W and 45Auto Personal-Defense cartridges Five 40S&W and 45Auto Personal-Defense cartridges Five 40S&W and 45Auto Personal-Defense cartridges Five 40S&W and 45Auto Personal-Defense cartridges Five 40S&W and 45Auto Personal-Defense cartridges  
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Default Five 40S&W and 45Auto Personal-Defense cartridges

As I discussed here recently...
Thoughts on M&P 45c, 357SIG, and .40S&W
...I've sort of reverted to my very first pistol cartridge, the 40S&W (plus the 45Auto) from the 357SIG. I finally have the three types of PD ammo I wanted, so here's a pic.


Flanked on far-left by the 45Auto Speer Gold Dot 200g. +P round and on the far-right by the 45Auto Hornady Critical Duty 220g. FlexLock, the 40s left to right are the Federal Classic Hi-Shok 180g. JHP, then the Hornady Critical Duty 175g. FlexLock, and then the Winchester Ranger 180g. Bonded. I should have these velocity- and expansion tested by the end of the weekend, which should see temperatures in the low seventies (dF) in the afternoons. I hope you north-central-US folk survive without frostbite.

Last edited by jeffreybehr; 01-12-2015 at 02:23 AM.
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Old 01-10-2015, 06:43 AM
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Five 40S&W and 45Auto Personal-Defense cartridges  
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I will preface my answer by saying most here might disagree with me on this.

I do not carry a 1911 for PD because of its bulk & weight, however I own several Colt 1911's and think the world of them! Whenever I have or do load them for self defense purposes the only rounds that go in are the standard 230 grain FMJ Ball ammo from Federal. Now I do not think a FMJ round in any caliber is ideal as a man stopper, however it is what the gun is designed for and never jams (as opposed to some hollow points). The 230 grain standard ball round is well known and well respected as a stopper just as it is in its original bullet design and that it what I use - solely for reliability. I realize that some of the new modern expanding .45 acp. rounds (on paper) have more stopping power, but again will trade that for the old reliability of the standard Ball ammo.

Why Federal Brand? These days I find Federal Ammo to be of higher quality & consistency than that of Remington & Winchester.

Just my opinion of course and YMMV.
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Old 01-27-2015, 03:07 AM
jeffreybehr jeffreybehr is offline
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Five 40S&W and 45Auto Personal-Defense cartridges Five 40S&W and 45Auto Personal-Defense cartridges Five 40S&W and 45Auto Personal-Defense cartridges Five 40S&W and 45Auto Personal-Defense cartridges Five 40S&W and 45Auto Personal-Defense cartridges  
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Well, I'm rather disappointed with the performance of all three of these 40S&W cartridges I've tested. While all produced great-looking results shot thru only two layers of denim, all three produced not a single properly expanded bullet when shot thru my standard 'thick-clothing' pack of 4 terrytowels between denim front and rear. After consuming about two-dozen one-gallon jugs in the 1st test and FORTY-ONE during the 2nd test*, I've recovered a total of three expanded and five unexpanded bullets; it's not easy to find these unexpanded bullets after they exit various points of jugs number 6 or 7.

I've ordered a bunch of Federal 'Tactical® HST® 40 S&W' in 180g....
Law Enforcement - Federal Premium LE, Speer LE, BLACKHAWK!, Eagle - Handgun Details

They should be here by the weekend, and I should be able to publish results of all four bullets. Here's a tease.

Left to right--Hornady Critical Duty, Winchester Ranger Bonded, Federal Classic Hi-Shok.

* It's very difficult, at least for this old fart, to shoot exactly thru the centers of eight one-gallon jugs. Properly expanded bullets will consume three or four jugs, while unexpanded bullets usually destroy six jugs but can consume all eight in the line...with NO findable bullet! Hence the consumption of about sixty-five gallon jugs for these eight samples. I'm doing a fine job of watering some weeds in one spot of the Arizona high desert.

Last edited by jeffreybehr; 09-07-2015 at 06:53 PM.
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Old 01-28-2015, 06:10 AM
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Five 40S&W and 45Auto Personal-Defense cartridges Five 40S&W and 45Auto Personal-Defense cartridges Five 40S&W and 45Auto Personal-Defense cartridges Five 40S&W and 45Auto Personal-Defense cartridges Five 40S&W and 45Auto Personal-Defense cartridges  
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Thanks for all that work!
That Hornady is in my EDC 4513TSW.
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