golden sabre .45 acp

In a word, yes. It's hasn't lost any of it's effectiveness.

The Golden Saber is as effective as it ever was. But that statement is a little misleading. Musket balls are also as effective as they always were also. How many people carry black powder with lead balls for SD?
Of course the comparison here is hyperbole, and taking this example to an unreasonable extreme, but you get the idea. Golden Saber came out at a time when it was on top of the defensive ammo game, along with the Federal Hydra-shock. They usually worked, but there were the same issues back then that they have now. Getting clogged up with clothing, core-jacket separations etc… The difference is that back then it was all we knew and we accepted those as just being what happened with hollow point bullets.

These days we have the modern bonded core ammo that you mention, and we don't have the same level of failure as the older "top of the line" ammo. New stuff still can and does fail. Just not as much as the older stuff.
While the old stuff is good, it usually costs just as much as the HST, Gold Dot, Ranger T, etc… and the newer stuff just has the edge. Since it all costs about the same anyway, the real question is, why NOT go for the newer stuff?

Anything sold and used by law enforcement is good ammo. Golden Saber ammo is on par with any of the premium civilian defense or police surplus ammo available from the other manufacturers.
People tend to jump on the latest thing, the cell phone mentality, and for some reason believe that anything previous is "old" and somehow outdated. People like "pretty" and the HST and Gold Dots make a nice pretty expanded bullet when fired in media where they can be recovered but in function a bullet that expands and penetrates as well functions the same regardless of how pretty or ugly they look. Look on Youtube for various test using Golden Sabers and compare them to the ones using HST and Gold Dots.

Golden Sabers can be found in both bonded and non bonded variety though the bonded ammo is usually police surplus. Be assured that if your handgun is loaded with Golden Saber you have some of the most effective JHP on the market.

Bonded

I would go with the Federal HST or Winchester Bonded. I believe the HST is probably Bonded anyway. [anyone have info on that?] I was in LE and the Bonded ammo prevents core, jacket separation. Which is something I want even as a civilian now. A lot of people will say it is just to penetrate barriers, but it is MUCH more EFFECTIVE for SD if their is no core, jacket separation!

Take care,

Frank

Be assured that if your handgun is loaded with Golden Saber you have some of the most effective JHP on the market.

Click to expand...

I have also found the bullet design to be more conducive to reliable feeding than some others, especially in 9mm and .45 ACP.

wow6599, I've also found that, at least for their 185 grain .45 offering. The rounded ogive really funnels the cartridge into the chamber easily. No "flying ashcan" jams.

Last two posters-Good Point!

I can say the same I have had NO failures of any kind with modern bonded ammo. Some of this can be attributed to using nothing but Modern auto-loaders. I would say we can surmise using quality guns and ammo is the best way to protect from failures. Also keeping your guns clean and in good working order. Excellent post really. I Hope everyone stays safe and never has to use their firearm. BUT it is Very Good to be prepared for the worst! Even after seeing ALL the Garbage I have seen as a LE undercover officer. [Most of my years were in Plain Clothes] I still believe God helps a Good Man in All that he does!

Best to All!

Frank

My cartridge of choice for both my .45s has been either 230gr Gold Dots or HSTs but recently they were hard to find so I bought a couple hundred rounds of 230gr Golden Sabers. Not having shot anyone I can't comment on their terminal effectiveness, but they do function with no problems in both my G21 and G36.

I have had velocity variations of 125 fps with Remington Golden Saber cartridges. I stopped using it for this reason. Poor quality control.

Golden sabre is all I have ever carried for SD in my 1911 and I'm picking up a box of it in 357 for the Dan Wesson I sent off to get refinished. I don't necessarily have a strict loyalty to it but I think it's just as adequate as most of the other SD rounds out there.

I don't really know enough about the specifics of various ammo. I can only go by my experience. Having served in LE, the agency for which I worked issued Golden Sabre ammo when I first started and was still issuing it when I left. I have to believe that if the more recent ammo being offered was a better option, a change would have been made. So I will stick with Golden Sabre ammo for my concealed carry and feel confident I am able to protect myself and my family should the need arise with something "tried and true". That being said, I see nothing wrong at all with the some of the new ammo on the market either.

Golden Saber is good stuff, but you do see core/jacket separations with them pretty frequently. Remington does make a Bonded Golden Saber, but they aren't terribly easy to find.



At last year's SHOT show, Remington had promo materials for the Golden Saber "Black Belt," which looked like a Golden Saber with a delrin band around the bullet to limit expansion and core/jacket separation. I never have seen anything else about it, so I don't know if it was ever successfully brought to market.



FWIW, there are several loads out there that are as good, and in some cases, better. The Speer Gold Dot, Winchester Ranger Bonded, Winchester PDX1, and Federal Tactical Bonded are all as good or better, and are all bonded bullets.



Oh, and to answer a previous question, the Federal HST is not bonded. The Federal Tactical Bonded is like a bonded HST... Sort of.

I chose it specifically for the rounded profile for reliable feeding.