Shield .45 folks - What's your carry load?

January 04, 2018, 08:50 PM

joatmonv

When I had the pistol, I loaded up Gold Dot short barrel rounds. They are specifically made for short barreled pistols and are a little hard to find.
I didn't really shoot the pistol all that much so that's the load I had.

January 04, 2018, 10:20 PM

ARMT Guy

Yes, I haven't seen any GD-SBs around here, so I figured I'd try HSTs and Winchester PDXs initially.

January 05, 2018, 05:37 AM

sigarmsp226

ARMT - I have shot 50 rds of 230gr HST thru mine with no cycle or function issues. Here is a lnk for a great review of over 150 different SD rounds in various calibers...The 45ACP test data is shown at the bottom of this link....Mark

https://www.luckygunner.com/la...mmo-ballistic-tests/

January 05, 2018, 06:58 AM

Jus228

Currently I'm using 200gr +p gold dots. I need to order some more. Some of the 230gr stuff doesn't appear to perform that great in short barrels from all the videos I've watched and I had these on hand already as a bonus.

January 05, 2018, 09:59 AM

gruntjim

Standard pressure HST.

Insanely accurate and controllable.

January 05, 2018, 01:57 PM

Kampy

I’m using 230 grain HST standard pressure. I only have 50-75 of the HSTs through the gun, but the combination has been accurate and reliable with manageable recoil.

January 06, 2018, 06:48 AM

Tgrshrk99

quote:
Originally posted by gruntjim:
Standard pressure HST.

January 06, 2018, 07:59 AM

MWC

Short barrel Gold Dots and a small amount of Gold Dot 200 gr +P.

January 06, 2018, 08:04 AM

jdmb03

Federal 185gr. JHP

January 06, 2018, 08:36 AM

Wreckless

I'm going to try these rounds and see how they work. Since I travel through NJ often I can't use hollow points since they are verboten for RPO's. Won't get to the range to test them out till next week.

Underwood Xtreme Defender Ammunition 45 ACP 120 Grain

January 06, 2018, 09:21 AM

taco68

230gr Golden Sabers here.

January 07, 2018, 11:35 AM

GroundedCLK

220gr. Critical Duty Flex Lock

January 07, 2018, 11:51 AM

gunguru123

I like 230gr rounds, generally HST or Ranger. Also like Speer Gold Dot 200+p and Hornady Critical Duty 220+p. I have plenty of TAC-XPD and Black Hills 185+p but worry about its ability to penetrate and/or expand out of such a short barrel. So soft shooting though, very easy to shoot.

January 07, 2018, 12:11 PM

BBMW

In a short barrel, I'd want the +P, to get back some of the velocity lost to the short barrel.

And the barrel on the Shield is REALLY short for a .45.

quote:
Originally posted by gruntjim:
Standard pressure HST.

Insanely accurate and controllable.

January 07, 2018, 05:31 PM

ARMT Guy

quote:
Originally posted by BBMW:
In a short barrel, I'd want the +P, to get back some of the velocity lost to the short barrel.

And the barrel on the Shield is REALLY short for a .45.

Back a couple years ago when I was packin' .45s, I often went with +P loading, but some advised against it and generally recommended standard velocity loads instead.

Now, it always gave me a warm fuzzy to use +P .45 loads, especially for the commander and officer model size .45s I typically carried. I just can't readily get a hold of +P HSTs or Speer Gold Dots-SBs, so standard velocity HSTs will be what I load my PC .45 Shield once I get her home.

I will be keeping my eyes peeled for +Ps/SBs though.

January 07, 2018, 06:02 PM

BBMW

The ammo choice for a 5" 1911 would be different than a 3.3" subcompact. The problem with .45 ACP out of small guns is that most loads are designed for 5" barrels, and even at that .45 is a lower velocity cartridge to begin with. So when using it out of a 3-ish inch barrel, the just don't have the velocity to perform correctly. So picking up some velocity from a +P round may be called for.

quote:
Originally posted by ARMT Guy:
quote:
Originally posted by BBMW:
In a short barrel, I'd want the +P, to get back some of the velocity lost to the short barrel.

And the barrel on the Shield is REALLY short for a .45.

Back a couple years ago when I was packin' .45s, I often went with +P loading, but some advised against it and generally recommended standard velocity loads instead.

Now, it always gave me a warm fuzzy to use +P .45 loads, especially for the commander and officer model size .45s I typically carried. I just can't readily get a hold of +P HSTs or Speer Gold Dots-SBs, so standard velocity HSTs will be what I load my PC .45 Shield once I get her home.

I will be keeping my eyes peeled for +Ps/SBs though.

January 08, 2018, 09:04 AM

GusMcCrae

Golden Sabre 185 grain vs 200 grain 'social work' round due to abbreviated barrel length

January 08, 2018, 07:25 PM

Tgrshrk99

I had a few boxes of +P HST rounds and tried them in my Shield 45. Not fun. Not fun at all.

January 08, 2018, 07:33 PM

Jus228

quote:
Originally posted by Tgrshrk99:
I had a few boxes of +P HST rounds and tried them in my Shield 45. Not fun. Not fun at all.

I can say the same about the +p 200gr gold dots. Thankfully that rough grip texture really helps hold onto it. Worth it for the velocity gain. I can't rapid fire anything this small it's only good for point blank range so I don't worry about it.