Ten X 45 Colt Ammo....

[rrruuunnn]

I was thinking of buying a Taurus Judge loaded with Ten X 45 Colt Cowboy Ammo. How effective is this as defensive ammo? The website says 250 gr. at 700 fps. Is that good?

 

[gearchecker]

Cowboy ammo is low pressure and slow moving. The purpose is so Cowboy style competition shooters can get on target faster for their recovery shot. It's used quite often in quick draw competitons too.

It's used almost exclusively in "Cowboy" competition shooting evolutions.
A lot of fun to shoot. It can be used to learn good shooting technique because the low recoil helps reduce flinching and a poor grip from anticipation of the shot.

I wouldn't recommend it for home defense at all. It's very good for range practice in any handgun.

 

[EnsignJimmy]

A 250 grain at 700 to 750 ft/sec is the same as the .45 Colt load the US Government used for military Colt 1873 single-action guns after finding that the full-power load was hard on both guns and soldiers. When the .45 Colt was re-adopted for units in the Philippines for use in the Colt 1902 double-action (derived from the old 1878,) and Colt Army Model 1909 double-action (based on the New Service,) they fired a 255 grain conical at 725 ft/sec.

So a 250 grain bullet at 700 ft/sec is okay for defensive purposes. At the sorts of ranges you'd be shooting a Judge, it'll drill nice .45 caliber holes in people. The problem is that it's a hard lead bullet with a lot of momentum behind it. About as much as 230 grain .45 ACP hardball. It has the potential to over-penetrate. For that reason, it isn't quite as desirable for modern self-defense as a decent hollow-point.

A decent expanding .45 Colt round is the old Federal 225 grain lead hollow-point, or a 250 grain Speer Gold-Dot, which moves a bit quicker and expands reliably.

 

[NG VI]

If you're going to use it for defense, and keep it loaded with .45 Colt, why not get any other DA .45 Colt revolver instead?

 

[jmortimer]

Using SASS single action two handed technique with practice you would be well protected with a single action. I have the Ten-X ammunition you mention (I like that the box states that it is made in "The People's Republic of California" - sad but true) and it would be a great self-defense round - It would shoot through any two-legged critter and leave a big hole.
I'm not saying it is the best SD ammunition in .45 Colt but it would work real good - I like cast lead bullets for SD as the .45 Colt is "pre-expanded" 11.5mm caliber.