1911 ammo question

[Lawdawg45]

Admittedly after 30 years as a LEO, hunter, and competitive shooter, I've only recently become a 1911 owner, so when I purchased my Remington R1 recently I began researching ammo. On looks alone the Hornaday Critical Defense was a smooth, almost FMJ looking round, with average balisitcs, so I went with it. I later discovered that the 1911 was designed to work optimally with a 230 grain bullet, and that true to form for Hornaday, it was a light 180 grains. It shot flawlessly round after round, but after having questionable performance in killing a roadside Deer (see my thread in the general forum), I had my doubts. Our large PD here in town only authorizes Federal Tactical ammo, yet they've seen multiple issues with that round in the Ruger and Kahr pistols in .380, and since the .45 acp isn't authorized for carry, there is no data available. What have you folks found that will reliably feed in a 1911, yet have FBI minimum ballistic performance?

Thanks............LD

 

[357 Terms]

I had a finiky Kimber that didn't like most JHP designs. ( Gold Dots, HST's, Even XTP's)

I found that my reloads with Remingtons 230grn JHP (not Golden Sabre) ran great, expanded every time (wet newsprint)

With a 5in 1911 I think heavy for caliber is the best way to go, no need to compromise.

 

[bigfatdave]

that will reliably feed in a 1911

what works in my gun will not necessarily work in your gun, even if we had the same model and consecutive serial numbers.

That being said, my 1911 likes Gold Dots, and so does everything else I own that I've tried Gold Dots in. If you're having a finicky feeder, Federal makes an EFMJ round that expands in pretty much anything while having a good feeding profile.

But you'll really have to experiment, there isn't an "ideal 1911 ammo" other than 230grain round-nose FMJ, and that's just for mil-spec guns.

 

[jackpinesavages]

My 1911s have only had WWB 230gr.. $32 for a 100 at Wal-Fart is too easy.

 

[jblackfish]

My 1911s have only had WWB 230gr.. $32 for a 100 at Wal-Fart is too easy.

WWB functions fine but is fairly dirty-burning ammo. Anyone know of a cleaner-burning factory ammo? Just asking - I don't shoot that much factory stuff.

 

[MAG-63]

+1 on the Remington 230gr JHP. I think it's one of the better-kept secrets out there in the "non-designer-hollowpoint" world. I've had it run well in 1911s from 3 different manufacturers, and it expands reliably in my non-scientific testing.

 

[WC145]

My duty and SD load is 230gr Ranger T +P, works fine in all my 1911s.