[SugarmillMan]

I have a box of Speer Gold Dots, a box of Remmington Golden Saber and a box of Hornady Critical Defense. I have no idea which one would be most effective .380 round against a bad guy.
Which one would you load and carry in your LCP?

 

[jocko]

I have a box of Speer Gold Dots, a box of Remmington Golden Saber and a box of Hornady Critical Defense. I have no idea which one would be most effective against a bad guy.
Which one would you load and carry?

based on many tests the golden sabrea..Hornady critical defense cold be a good roun d but could also be just good PR hype to. You won't go wrong with any of the 3 you mentioned either...I am sure BG won't care either..

 

[argyle]

You won't go wrong with any of the 3 you mentioned

That's kind of the good news bottom line. There isn't, and can't be, a single "most effective" round for all circumstances. Any of those 3 rounds will probably get the job done in an average situation, while individually they might each have a particular set of circumstances where they outperform the others.

I've done some testing on the Speer GDs and the Hornady CD and the Hornady delivers exactly what it promises - expansion under just about any circumstances. However, expansion will always come at the expense of penetration - there just ain't no such thing in this world as a free lunch. To me, it seems their best usage would be in calibers larger than .380 where over-penetration and the potential wounding of bystanders becomes as much of an issue as under-penetration. I think the Hornaday CD will be outstanding in the 38 spl +P, .357, .40, and .45. For the .380, I'm going to go with something that penetrates a little more. I like the Speer GDs better than the Golden Sabers, but I would not feel afraid carrying either of them.

 

[kensteele]

love the gs but the only issue for me personally is that big bullet is giving me some harsh recoil problems (ouch my hands). hornady cd is smooth....like a .22cal.

bet you won't feel it (or care) at go time but i load hornady cd 7 rds and my backup mag has..................................wait for it...................................6 gs! both functional flawless.

 

[9Short]

This is a very useful resource for gauging the performance of quite a few .380 rounds. Look for the best combination of expansion (diameter) and penetration without jacket separation.

http://stevespages.com/page8f380acp.html

 

[ScubaSteve]

I have been curious about the Magsafe Personal Defense round for daily carry. It is only 60 gr but states 1500 fps muzzle velocity. Anyone tried these?

 

[jocko]

I have been curious about the Magsafe Personal Defense round for daily carry. It is only 60 gr but states 1500 fps muzzle velocity. Anyone tried these?

have yet to read anything really postive about magsafe ammo. velocity with no bullet weight just doesn't do much for me. My air rifle shoots out over 1000 fps with a what maybe 20 grain pellet??

 

[Rodentman]

I bought some PMC 95 gr SFHP yesterday at my monthly ammo shopping trip. Homemade in Korea, which I didn't know when I bought them.

 

[9Short]

The PMC Gold Starfires are actually a great SD round and is designed for law enforcement. This is the same technology that Federal "borrowed" to develop the HST line. It is hard to tell the difference between a Starfire Gold and an HST by looking at the expanded round.

I am not a fan of the PMC bronze or the PMC Elderado lines. This is the crappy consumer stuff.

Yes... PMC did sign a joint venture contract with the South Korean Poongsan Corporation to do produce some of its lines and open up foreign markets to its products.

 

[45longcolt]

I carry Federal Hydra-Shoks. I have some Speer Gold Dots that I have ran over the PACT screens along with the Hydra-Shoks. HS's ran 975 FPS and GD's ran around 965 FPS or so. Pretty close to one another. I figure this speed is needed to open a HP reliably so I will carry these. I see they do make Ranger SXT .380 rounds. Gentlemen, this is an awesome bullet. Black Talons only not black anymore. I got to get me some of these.....

 

[maximus83]

I've been using the 90gr JHP DoubleTap ammo, they are loading Speer Gold Dots. It's a hot load, makes your LCP sting a bit, but like other DoubleTap loads, it's good quality stuff, highly reliable, and I suspect very potent.

www.doubletapammo.com