1903Collector
NES Member
Still plenty left today, bought a few boxes, also got some GD 230gr for the 45 (oops, Sig 45 ammo)
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Speer Gold Dot Self Defense Ammo?
- Thread starter TTA89
- Start date
Pretty much my same mind set. testing the ammo before you use it, even though it costs a few dollars more, is as valuable as any YouTube ballistic test video.I try to not get into a "This carry round and nothing else..." frame of mind.
ALL major line manufactures have decent stuff and I will put most of them down the pipe, making mental notes on performance, control, POA/POI and such.
Placing each into an "Order of Desirability."
I figure, that way I will know what is usable for me and my skill set with my pistol, and what alternatives I can shoot confidently if my First & Second choices dry up...
YMMV,
"He who fails to experiment with different ammo... is doomed."
~Enbloc
I’ve personally seen it on several occasions. Both in pistol mags and in my day job. Now there could be arguments made that the springs (magazine or otherwise) had defects in them that led to the failures and that leaving them loaded for a year or 2 or 10 only brought the defect to light. Either way I have been convinced that a magazine loaded with ammo your betting your life on should be exercised once in a while.
ReluctantDecoy
NES Member
A lot of people with engineering backgrounds will tell you that the continual loading and unloading of mags is what really causes the type of fatigue that leads to permanent spring deformation. In theory, a single load up of force applied to a well made spring should not impact it ability to release that force later and return to its original shape, or very close to it.
But as @Mesatchornug mentioned, a lot depends on design and quality of the spring. Most mags springs will deform a bit at break in, and later with extended use. But I have a feeling most of that deformation comes from practice use, not long term storage unless it is a bad spring as creep is at play.
But I feel that most manufacturers already make their springs to known specifications on coil count and OAL with assumed projected deformation. That's why most are really tough, almost damn near impossible to load without a loader when they are new. Then, broken-in shortened OAL is probably still well within tolerances.
That said, some of the mechanical laws of springs are tossed out the window when you consider the compression isn't always linear. If anyone has ever seen a clear ETS mag under load, you know that the spring is getting tweaked laterally as well, which the spring's is not as resilient to rebound from. I'm pretty sure most mags do the same under their metal or polymer bodies, so that might play a part in longevity as well.
I like all the good stuff. I used to run mainly Hornady duty in most carry guns, but mainly am carrying hst right now. Before that I was big into gold dot and just bought more. I’m keeping hornady in shorter barrels and hst in longer barrels.
I wouldn’t want to take a hit from any of them!!
I still have a 33rnd happy stick loaded with some of that cheap Winchester hollow points in the door pocket of my truck....used to let that sh fly like it was jhp back in the day!
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I was actually wondering if this thread was based on the TSUSA availability. They have both federal and gold dot 124+p. Pricing really isn’t bad on either one. If I didn’t already have established carry rounds and plenty of them, I’d probably buy 100 of each and see which I like better.
I was actually wondering if this thread was based on the TSUSA availability. They have both federal and gold dot 124+p. Pricing really isn’t bad on either one. If I didn’t already have established carry rounds and plenty of them, I’d probably buy 100 of each and see which I like better.
Thanks for the tip! I ordered a case on Wednesday morning and it was on my porch Thursday afternoon. Splitting it with 2 other guys... Should last us the rest of our lives.
fshalor
NES Member
I like it. My guns like it. It's (fifteen years ago anyway) the only HP which could have a chance of point-shooting through glass, which is why most of the LE's I know had department suggestions or regulations to use it, even in personal off-duty carry weapons.
I've SEEN Hornaday critical duty in an incident deflect... WILDLY. Three rounds hit a pie plate sized circle in front of the driver's chest. One deflected and struck the seatbelt hindge, one deflected into the back seat and down, the other went up and hit the roof and got trapped in the dome light. Woman ALMOST ran over the officer. Slammed his squad car around a bit, sped off, hit another squad car, bounced off a telephone pole down the road, almost ran over two pedestrians and then was PITTED out of commission a mile away.
We took a handful of windshields for the same make and model Dodge sedan (donated by Safelite! Thanks!) to a local range, set them up at the same angle, and went systematically through as many 9mm brands as we could find locally. The only one which could obtain point-shoot hits from 7 meters was Speer gold Dot.
No difference between the LE practice rounds vs the "real deal".
Somethough about how Speer Gold Dot ballons, managed to stabilize through the glass. I don't think it's the "best" for expansion and wound tunnels (Hornday is really really good at that), but for ~ 5% less would tunnel exit diameter, I'm willing to trade off better feeding, better ballistics and not having to think about where my rounds would go if I had to split-second decide to shoot glass.
That was a FUN range day.
I've SEEN Hornaday critical duty in an incident deflect... WILDLY. Three rounds hit a pie plate sized circle in front of the driver's chest. One deflected and struck the seatbelt hindge, one deflected into the back seat and down, the other went up and hit the roof and got trapped in the dome light. Woman ALMOST ran over the officer. Slammed his squad car around a bit, sped off, hit another squad car, bounced off a telephone pole down the road, almost ran over two pedestrians and then was PITTED out of commission a mile away.
We took a handful of windshields for the same make and model Dodge sedan (donated by Safelite! Thanks!) to a local range, set them up at the same angle, and went systematically through as many 9mm brands as we could find locally. The only one which could obtain point-shoot hits from 7 meters was Speer gold Dot.
No difference between the LE practice rounds vs the "real deal".
Somethough about how Speer Gold Dot ballons, managed to stabilize through the glass. I don't think it's the "best" for expansion and wound tunnels (Hornday is really really good at that), but for ~ 5% less would tunnel exit diameter, I'm willing to trade off better feeding, better ballistics and not having to think about where my rounds would go if I had to split-second decide to shoot glass.
That was a FUN range day.
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No, we are just using what works well for us. No need to spend excessively to get ammo that performs adequately.
Mesatchornug
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Wat this the G2 or the original. From what I've seen tested on youtube, the G2 pernitrates glass/steel/wood better and with less yawing than the original.
Any thoughts?
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fshalor
NES Member
Tested rounds were from both 50 round boxes and 1000 round bags. 2004-2007 purchase dates for the Speer Gold Dots. Not sure if that is considered (G2) or not. We didn't notice a difference between the bagged bulk practice ammo and the box stuff. Then again, we only had a small number of glass samples to shoot through.
Three pistols were used.
KP95d
Glock 17
SigSauer. Maybe p226. I think.
All were fired from bench mounted pistol vise. All were shot in three round groups. Evaluation was two fold.
Were all shots on a pie plate through glass?
If not, what was the distance off the pie plate to the impact. Score dropped below zero by that distance in millimeters. The ONLY round which had a 0 score after the test was Speer Gold Dot. Ball FMJ did rather well too, but wasn't a "0".
I mostly followed along and learned, took pictures and did data crunching after. Wish I still had the docs or even the pics.
I'd love to redo this test today, with some GoPros and maybe a slow motion cap rig behind the glass.
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Love the detail in your reply. Much obliged.
EDIT: The G2 bullet has an elastomer in the cup of the bonded hollow point. I don't think Speer had them in that date range.
Here's a little info for anyone reading this thread and is interested from Speer...
https://media.vistaoutdoor.com/presskit/NPS/speer/Gold-Dot-G2-CarryGun/Speer_GoldDot G2CarryGun_Evolution_FNL.pdf
Speer Gold Dot G2 9mm Luger Ammo 147 Grain Jacketed Hollow Point - 54226. ... On impact, the elastomer is forced into engineered internal fissures to start the expansion process, as opposed to conventional bullet designs, which rely on target media to enter the hollow-point and create expansion forces.
This site says that the G2 has headstamps as far back as 2012...
Speer "G2" Gold Dot new bullet
EDIT: The G2 bullet has an elastomer in the cup of the bonded hollow point. I don't think Speer had them in that date range.
Here's a little info for anyone reading this thread and is interested from Speer...
https://media.vistaoutdoor.com/presskit/NPS/speer/Gold-Dot-G2-CarryGun/Speer_GoldDot G2CarryGun_Evolution_FNL.pdf
Speer Gold Dot G2 9mm Luger Ammo 147 Grain Jacketed Hollow Point - 54226. ... On impact, the elastomer is forced into engineered internal fissures to start the expansion process, as opposed to conventional bullet designs, which rely on target media to enter the hollow-point and create expansion forces.
This site says that the G2 has headstamps as far back as 2012...
Speer "G2" Gold Dot new bullet
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