Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns 45 ACP ammo recommendations

I forgot to mention the Winchester Train and Defend W line of ammo. It's an interesting concept of FMJ training ammo and hollow point defense ammo with lower recoil. Both bullets have the same profile, so, if the more economical training ammo functions well in your pistol, the defensive ammo should as well. They are designed to be ballistically identical and the defensive loads in 9mm, and 45ACP have been shown to penetrate into the 12" - 18" range thru 4 layers of denim and then ballistic gel. It's an interesting concept and the defend rounds have tested out to be good performers in .45, 9mm and .380 as well.

I'm with Dave in WV.
My defense ammunition for the 1911 in 45ACP is the Federal Hydra-Shok.
Since I reload (32 different cartridges) I can't recommend a factory plinking load.

One caveat:
If you are going to carry your new gun, shoot it at least 500 rounds.
This will break it in for better functioning and illuminate any problems that might need fixing.

Despite all the hype, the actual terminal performance of any of the premium bullets is very much the same in actual defensive use.

At $1.00 each or more for premium ammunition, it is natural to buy few.
But get enough to confirm that they are 100% reliable in your gun.
Once that is settled, enough for 2 or 3 magazines to carry should last a long time.

Let us know what you decide on.

Steve

Lots of great defense ammo out there nowadays.

Personally, I prefere Speer Gold Dot 230 gr JHP, and the Hornady Critical Duty. I've also killed quite a few deer & feral hogs at the Ranch with Remington Golden Sabre 230 gr HP, and it works well too.

Most of my plinking is done with reloads and cast bullets, but if I buy Factory Ammo for plinking, I always but the Winchester 230 gr FMJ stuff that comes in the plain white box.