I'm new to this, but what self defense ammo works best and what do i need to stay away from?

Winchester PDX-1, Federal HST, Remington Goldensaber, Speer Golddot, Winchester Ranger, Federal Hydrashok, Corbon Powrball, All good choices.

All of them work. I'd stay away from 185 swc's Target loads probably won't cycle.

I've got the Federal HST's in mine. No certain reason other than after watching a ton of reviews on 45 ammo on youtube I felt it was the best to go with.

230 gr speer gold dots

its an older 45, will that change anything?

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230 grain will probably work best, as that is what they are designed to shoot.

Personally, I like the Speer Gold Dot.

Make sure you use quality magazines. I use Wilson Combat.

I always alternate hornady critical defense and a heavy full metal jacket in my clips

Winchester White Box 230gr. JHP or maybe some Silvertips.
Yes, I'm old. Love those Silvertips.

I'm glad you said that. It came with some mags but they're old and probably been loaded and not shot for 25 plus years.

Do those clips stay in your hair when you put those heavy bullets on them?

They are magazines, NOT clips.

Magazines r something u read

Peter id get some of the federal HST. If you ever cruise on youtube look up TNoutdoors9 I believe it is. He does some pretty extensive testing on different manufactures. There is also another website I think I may can find ill shoot to ya.

Brassfetcher dot com.

I like the hst, i just wasnt sure about hp in 45, always heard they jammed. Didnt know if there was any truth to that or not.

Winchester Ranger T is the old reliable and notorious Black Talon ammo without the black coating. It's wicked.

Right on. I can never seem to find it though.

These are proven and very hard to beat.

I lucked up and got my uncle's ol colt m1991 a1 series 80. I haven't shot it yet. But I like it. I mit change the sights, but thats it.

Post up a pic

I handloaded some 230gr XTPs in my 1944 M1911A1 and it feeds them fine.

picture host[/[url=https://postimg.cc/56gqS5s0]

Posting for Goodman

I’m a fan of Hornady Critical Defense.

I give grandad’s 1911 nothing but ball ammo. Loves it.

That’s a cool ORM (old roll mark)1991 right there Goodman....I love the patina. Congrats on acquiring your uncles Colt!

I'd stay away from the 230 grain Gold Dots. I've personally seen them fail in two different shootings. Both involved multiple hits to areas in the upper torso, that should have had the desired result. Neither suspect was immediately stopped and the first caused significant damage after receiving three solid hits and one peripheral hit. In the second shooting, the involved officer was shot and killed, though I am not positive if the officer or offender fired first. The bad guy was hit twice in the upper torso and is now serving a life sentence. I realize my sample size is small, but two failures in a row is enough for me to go with another round. I'll stick with the HST's.

Thank you, I was pretty young when he got it. It was his baby. I feel honored that he let me get it. The Browning hp was my dad's. So both of them have sentimental value to me. They were special to those 2 men because that's what they used in the military (not those exact guns). My uncle in us military and my dad in the British military.

Not picking on you Kp but Speer gold dots are issued by Lapd&NYPD that's probably 50,000 officers not including federal branches and who knows how many small departments. I've loaded Speer GD's since 1999 and I've yet to separate one using standard normal pressure loads. Yes I "broke" a .357 outta a .35 Remington but that was planned. Sanow&Marshall Massad Ayoob John Farnum Clint Smith of Thunder Ranch Roy Huntingdon of American Handgunner have never written of GD "failure". Handguns aren't rifles which is why we tote them.

They do make a mighty fine pair.

The failures weren't due to separation, but lack of adequate penetration. As I said, my sample size was very small, but large enough for me to make professional decisions for my department and personal decisions for me. We stopped carrying them after the second failure. I'm also familiar with the processes larger federal and municipal departments use for purchasing. Actual field performance is difficult to measure when listing requirements in Request for Proposal or Request for Quote documents and agreements used during the purchasing process. So, it doesn't surprise me that LA and NY use Gold Dots as they probably met the standards (bullet type, weight, and velocity requirements) listed in the RFP or RFQ.

Deciding which ammo to trust is a personal decision, use what you're comfortable with.

Anything. It’s a 45. Once they realize it’s a 45, bad guys just fall over. LOL

But seriously, even ball works defensively in a 45 ACP...maybe good hollow points are better, but anything 200+ grains and -45 wide, is pretty effective.

Also, no, it doesn’t penetrate well.... it’s a big, slow chunk of plated lead that’ll bounce off of lots of things.....hardwood stumps, doors, thick glass....seen it. Great for soft tissue. Not the best at getting through anything hard to get there or staying on a straight line if it does get through. Just pick a quality HP load that shoots good in your gun, and don’t sweat if it’s a gold dot or hydra shock or critical defense.

What's a clip? 🤭

I rarely carry my 45s but when i do it's Black Hills 230 HP or Hornady 230 XTP.

Congrats! But he should've put a little oil on his baby from time to time 😀

August 2006 it was $0.60 per round if you bought it by the case. Free shipping on that too. I have no idea what it cost now.

Found some for around 77 cents a round online

I like the HST and the Ranger T.

The last Ranger T i bought came from Ammo To Go.

Hydra Shock is good too.

Had a buddy that loaded his own Gold Dots and they performed well on pigs, FWIW

True that, it ain't as bad as the pic makes it look, the safety is rusty and I'll probably replace it. I hope tomorrow I can shoot it and an old colt Sporter 1 I got from him a few weeks ago.

All my guns are self defense guns first and foremost, but I plan to carry this one hog hunting. A few years ago while deer hunting the deer dogs had a sow bayed and I put about 7 9mm's into her before she ran off. I think this would be a fine gun to carry while hunting.

I got a chance to do some shooting with the 45 and must say I'm impressed. It shot some cheap remington hollow points i picked up at walmart as well as some aluminum cased ammo without a problem. I'm gonna pick up some new mags for it because some of the older mags didnt drop free.

Is it safe to carry these guns chambered with the hammer down or in half cock?

No.1911's were designed for condition one or three. C1 chamber loaded hammer back thumb safety engaged. C3 chamber empty mag loaded. If condition one makes you uncomfortable get another design. Every speed shooting world championships been won with a 1911 or deritive. Nothing's faster first shot not sig glock ruger walther glock s&w cz or sccy keltec. Think I'm off my rocker? Look it up or try it at range from low ready safety on finger off trigger.

A Hi Power with a good trigger is darned close on its heels.....but it ain’t a 45.

Locked loaded and hammer back.