Back in the day, I did not have a lot of respect for 45 ACP Hand Loads. Get some bullets, didn't much matter, some sort of cast, or FMJ, what have you, stuff some Bullseye or Unique in the case and go shoot. Really dull and monotonous loading. Bullets were just common, as far as terminal performance, did it really matter if it was a 230 FMJ or 200-230 cast at 800-850 fps? No, it did not.
Over the years I have seen and used many a magic 45 ACP Hollow Point. I have loaded, and I have used Factory Magic 45 ACP ammo. Well, nothing really magic about any of those, even when they test good. I once put a 230 gr Black Talon frontal chest shot of a Cougar in Utah. Cat jumped out of the tree, ran like hell, fell over dead in about 25-30 yards. Recovered the Black Talon Magic bullet, and low and behold, zero expansion, none, could easy load it again and shoot it. Still have that bullet somewhere in my test inventory. No magic there. As always, it has been hit and miss with hi performance 45 ACP bullets.
Make no mistake, handgun bullets are not very impressive in the field hunting, basically drilling holes, even the big powerful common handguns, such as 44 Mag and heavy loaded 45 Colt and 454 Casull. I had a Winchester Lever gun in various African countries several times, in 45 Colt, and loaded HEAVY. Shot a few animals, and those animals were not impressed at all. Using big hard cast bullets, hollow points, did not matter, just not impressive at all. Poke a hole and that is about it. No impressive knock outs.
Lesser thin skinned critters I don't have any experience with, critters one might encounter when walking the streets. We know that 45 ACP has always been a "Go To" cartridge for this application, and it has always received Hi Marks!
The last 5-10 years of Bullet Technology has taken us places we have never been before, both rifle and hand gun. How does one increase the effectiveness of any cartridge? By Bullet Technology of course.
Some of the work that has been done with Rifle Bullets has finally made its way over to the hand guns. In 2016 I decided it was time for me to upgrade my end as well. After 30+ years of Bullseye and Unique, I was quite sure there had been great strides in Powder Tech as well as Bullet Tech. And if I was spending $1 + per bullet, I should at least investigate the powder side just to see if I could make some improvements.......
After many years of working with new Bullet Tech in Rifle Cartridges, I felt like I needed to put some of that energy into the handguns as well. The work that had been done with the rifles ended up flowing downhill to the Hand Gun calibers. I was not directly involved with the hand gun bullets, but the same technology we had put into the rifle bullets should, and would work with hand gun bullets as well, even to a lesser degree, but we should see an increase of terminal effect over old tech none the less.
Over the years I have seen and used many a magic 45 ACP Hollow Point. I have loaded, and I have used Factory Magic 45 ACP ammo. Well, nothing really magic about any of those, even when they test good. I once put a 230 gr Black Talon frontal chest shot of a Cougar in Utah. Cat jumped out of the tree, ran like hell, fell over dead in about 25-30 yards. Recovered the Black Talon Magic bullet, and low and behold, zero expansion, none, could easy load it again and shoot it. Still have that bullet somewhere in my test inventory. No magic there. As always, it has been hit and miss with hi performance 45 ACP bullets.
Make no mistake, handgun bullets are not very impressive in the field hunting, basically drilling holes, even the big powerful common handguns, such as 44 Mag and heavy loaded 45 Colt and 454 Casull. I had a Winchester Lever gun in various African countries several times, in 45 Colt, and loaded HEAVY. Shot a few animals, and those animals were not impressed at all. Using big hard cast bullets, hollow points, did not matter, just not impressive at all. Poke a hole and that is about it. No impressive knock outs.
Lesser thin skinned critters I don't have any experience with, critters one might encounter when walking the streets. We know that 45 ACP has always been a "Go To" cartridge for this application, and it has always received Hi Marks!
The last 5-10 years of Bullet Technology has taken us places we have never been before, both rifle and hand gun. How does one increase the effectiveness of any cartridge? By Bullet Technology of course.
Some of the work that has been done with Rifle Bullets has finally made its way over to the hand guns. In 2016 I decided it was time for me to upgrade my end as well. After 30+ years of Bullseye and Unique, I was quite sure there had been great strides in Powder Tech as well as Bullet Tech. And if I was spending $1 + per bullet, I should at least investigate the powder side just to see if I could make some improvements.......
After many years of working with new Bullet Tech in Rifle Cartridges, I felt like I needed to put some of that energy into the handguns as well. The work that had been done with the rifles ended up flowing downhill to the Hand Gun calibers. I was not directly involved with the hand gun bullets, but the same technology we had put into the rifle bullets should, and would work with hand gun bullets as well, even to a lesser degree, but we should see an increase of terminal effect over old tech none the less.