I had never heard of ammunition designed for short barrels.

I came across this video, he was testing some different brands out of a short barrel.

Does anyone have any opinion if this is marketing hype or makes a difference.

Is there a difference in the gold dots for regular or short barrels.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw__ZHIXUeg

Speer Gold Dot short barrel loads are good to go. There's been many tests run and it performs well.

It's not hype. They differ from regular Gold Dot loads in that the bullet design differs and they use a powder with a flash suppressant. It cuts down on the fireball and helps give a full powder burn. The bullet on these differs in that the hollow point cavity is deepened/widened and the bullet expansion lines visible are punched differently, it helps give more reliable expansion in the 3" and under barrels.

Bottom line, they work and they are what I carry in my compact or shorter barrel firearms including my Glock 43, Glock 26, Smith and Wesson J-frames, or Colt Agent.

Just remember, it's specifically designed for short barrels, if you run them in longer barrels over 4" you can get over expansion or too much fold back which isn't a good thing.

It's what I carry in my M&P 340, I'm a big fan of the round in general.

Use these for my Kahr K9. They are a little hard to find but worth it IMO.

I have them in my 642. While I haven't shot it at night, I do notice less muzzle flash when shooting under a roof.

I use them interchangeably in my short barrels, with regular gold dot...because when they get mixed together, they look the same. They're supposed to have a lower muzzle flash. They do have lower velocity and muzzle energy.

The new Sig 365 9mm ammunition is along the same lines; under 300 ft. lbs energy, supposedly designed specifically for the 365 an firearms of similar stature.

Yeah, if you look closely at the 124gr Gold Dot projectiles, the SB have a slightly different HP construction.

Hard to see, but it's obvious when you compare the two bullets head on.

Pictures worth a 1000 words.

HST usually does good in short barrels and service pistol size barrels... Soooooo, I just run HST since I can buy it in 50 rd boxes. Short barrel ammo is almost universally sold in 20 rd boxes.

quote:

Originally posted by bubbatime:
HST usually does good in short barrels and service pistol size barrels... Soooooo, I just run HST since I can buy it in 50 rd boxes. Short barrel ammo is almost universally sold in 20 rd boxes.

Same here - except you can find the 38SPL 135gr+P Short Barrel in 50rd LE boxes.

But the 9MM is just 20rds boxes - I used it in my PPS for awhile when I carried that as a single stack 9MM and still have maybe 25 rounds left, but the G43 eats 147gr+P HST just fine.

Federal has some HST "micro" loads for short barrels , too; but they're heavy for a 9mm (150 gr) and didn't perform as normal HST's from the same gun in the tests I saw. I feel like their short barrel loads seem to be aimed more for controllable shots than for better bullet performance? I'll have to check out the GDHP short barrel ones.

Not worth the effort of finding. I've shot both the SB GDs and HSTs through several of my subcompacts and they do exit the respective muzzles. But after watching videos and reading subsequent reports about these loads, I came away thinking that they're actually kind of useless.

For instance both the 'short barrel' GD and HST loads tend to overpenetrate due to lack of expansion, as shown in denim tests performed by TFB in 2017. The GD at least stopped in their second gel block (avg depth of penetration around 22"); but the short barrel HST 150gr load went all the way through the second block. Ironically, when TFB denim tested the standard HST 124gr +P load earlier this year, it also overpenetrated but by an lower average distance (approx. 19"), just over the FBI standard. Unlike the 'short barrel' stuff, it DID expand reasonably well, though not like it would have had it been shot through a longer barrel.

Regular HSTs is what currently is (and have always had actually) in my G43, ready to go if and when I decide to carry that gun again. I won't bother hunting down and buying any more of the 150gr short barrel stuff again.

135 gr. carried in all my 38 snubbie revolvers.

I like the 124 gr GD SB +P in my Walther PPS.
The surprising thing to me is the reduced muzzle flash in low light conditions.

Check out performance of these short barrel wonder loads posted in the extensive tests at Luckygunner.com, where the gelatin data compares 2" and 4" barrels.

The performance is actually sort of disappointing in terms of velocity, energy, and expansion out of shorter barrels, versus Speer's claims, although I cannot speak to decreased muzzle flash. The short-barrel Gold Dots actually look like they'd be quite outstanding performers out of 4" and 6" barrels. Speer, ironically, warns against using these loads in exactly such longer barrels! I don't understand the disconnect between outcomes and their recommendations.

If you use the short barrel Gold Dots, hunt down the much cheap LE packaging of 50 at online vendors to save a significant cash.

I have always bought them for my 38 jframe.

recently bought a box of supervel

https://www.supervelammunition...-gr-jhp-20-count-box

quote:

Originally posted by Brianm14:

...If you use the short barrel Gold Dots, hunt down the much cheap LE packaging of 50 at online vendors to save a significant cash.

For 9mm, the 124 gr short barrel only comes in a 20 rd box (23611). A 50 rd box would be 53611 but I've never seen this packaging for 9mm.

quote:

Originally posted by Sigmund:

quote:

Originally posted by Brianm14:

...If you use the short barrel Gold Dots, hunt down the much cheap LE packaging of 50 at online vendors to save a significant cash.

For 9mm, the 124 gr short barrel only comes in a 20 rd box (23611). A 50 rd box would be 53611 but I've never seen this packaging for 9mm.

As far as I know, the only SB-GDHP loads available in 50-round boxes is the .38 Special version.

Just my opinion, but I think they're worth it in .38 Special, but not in the other calibers. I'd suggest you save some money and get the regular GDHP, or HST, in the 50-round boxes.

It's all I load in my J frame and is our issue .38 load. It works very well out of the 2 inch barrels.

I run 147 gr HST in my personal sub compacts. We issue the standard pressure 124 Gold Dot for the 9mm BUGs. I wish they'd go with the Short Barrel load, but for some reason the powers that be decided that 9mm +p was a no go and since our duty ammo is Gold Dot, what we got for our BUGs was also Gold Dot...

It's my favorite in my Walther PPS with a 3.2 inch barrel. The amazing thing about it to me is how little muzzle flash it has.