Good 45 JHP?

Stephen: Yes, I was surprised that Golden Saber didn't meet the FBI criteria when tested by 2 independent labs. Keep in mind that I have friends in LE who refer to the FBI as "postmen with guns", although I would never dream of using that terminology. The same friends have a much more positive attitude toward the U.S. Marshals and the Border Patrol, mind you. Just as an observation, mind you.

As I understand it the failures by the Golden Saber ammo in .45 ACP were marginal. I would not hesitate to carry GS if that's what I had (and I had tested it for reliability in my gun, of course).

I am like most people, I don't have time to test every brand in every caliber annually to see what (still) works or not. I rely on people who test ammo for serious LE agencies to tell me what is currently workable. For the past 3 to 4 years, Gold Dot and Ranger Talon have topped my favored testers' lists in 9mm, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP.

Your friend's experience with his Colt Gov. model underscores the IMPERATIVE to test your carry ammo in YOUR gun before you carry it. I have found that GDHP's and RaT's will not necessarily feed in Govt models due to their precipitous ogive. However, spending an hour or two with a sheet of 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper in front of the TV will usually address that problem nicely. There are few 1911's that couldn't benefit from a little feed ramp polishing.

Hello. I tend to agree with the "postmen" thing for most, but the few HRT folks I've met were in fact shooters. In any event, your information is appreciated and serves as another source of "food for thought."

I still sort of have less than a lot of faith in gelatin or other homogeneous test media and I understand that now some of the lab guys have said that it is merely way to uniformly compare one bullet's performance against another in a realistic medium, but I continue to see very, very different results when using the same bullets, sometimes from the same box, in larger living animals.

One example would be Corbon's .45ACP PowRBall. It is a rapid expander reported to penetrate 12" minimum. Yet, others and myself are seeing considerably less penetration than that in deer. I like some Corbon products, but now consider this one only for low penetration and as a substitute for the Glaser.

A bullet that generally garners lower rankings from both major sides in the "stopping power" issue is Hornady's XTP. I reckon I've seen more "one shot stops" on animals (not men) with this one in 9mm and .45 ACP than I have with any other. One gent I was in email contact with yesterday reported using the factory version 9mm TAP 124-gr. against a felon and it worked fine.
(By "fine" I mean that the guy staggered on the first chest hit and toppled over dead as a hammer with the second.) Now this one case that I'm aware of is not statistically valid to be sure, but it matches what I've been seeing over and over again with this bullet.

Likewise, I have never shot any human with a Golden Saber in any caliber nor seen one shot, but have shot some fairly big Texas deer with them. Expansion was consistent and penetration was always through and through on broadside. Angling shots showed the bullet penetrating roughly 14 to 16". In about 20 to 25% of the shots, the jacket did separate from the lead core, which was expanded to sort of an XTP profile. The jacket/bullet separation occurred within the last few inches of penetration, usually about 2".

The thing I like about all of the expanding ammo is that most of it actually does now; I can sure remember when such was not the case. With the selection out there, we should be able to find a load that meets our perceived needs.

Best.