[Zoidberg]

Has anyone tried the Winchester white box "Personal Defense" load from Wal-Mart, what other comparable ammunition may be better? I have a 1911 Thanks

[Spartan]

yea, i use it for plinking ammo at the range, lol, if you are going to carry i would reccommend a law enforcement round, something like the HST or the Ranger SXT or the hydrashock, i prefer the HST, i carry HST in my Sigs, and Rangers in my XD9 as a backup. besides, while most gun shops are selling the HST for about 40 bucks a box, streichers sells them for about 15

[1984cj]

For carry in my 1911 officers model I use the Remington Golden Sabre or the Federal Hydroshoks in 230 grain. Try several hollowpoint type loads for your 1911. Some will feel better (recoil) in your hand, some will shoot better on the paper and some may not feed well at all.

[FALPhil]

I shot one box and was not impressed. I end up carrying the same load that I use for combat handgun competition.

[SheGUN]

Mine is loaded up with Federal's Hydro-shock JHP for self defense, but I have used the various Winchester white boxes for target practice. Didn't think that much of them, in fact I think they smoke too much...........

[pioneer461]

I'm outside the box on this topic. In my experience investigating shootings, I've seen too many hollow point bullets, police & criminal, get clogged with denim, leather, etc., and fail to expand. They for all practical purposes, become FMJ's. It doesn't matter who makes them, they all have the potential for failure.

Federal makes a premium personal defense round called Expanding Full Metal Jacket, EFMJ. On the outside it appears similar to a flat nose full metal jacket, but the metal is scored inside. Under the scored copper coating where the cavity of a hollow point would be, is a soft plastic. When the bullet hits something, the metal covering and plastic deform and because of the internal scoring, the bullet expands better than most, if not all hollow points. Because there is no hollow cavity to clog, they are very much more relilable than HPs for expansion. Federal says; "...assures expansion on every shot..." The Federal folks tell me it doesn't matter what lenght barrel you carry, their bullets will expand as advertised.

I carry .45acp, 200 gr. +P EFMJ in my S&W 457. They are currently limited in the calibers available, and surprisingly many dealers have never heard of them. I bought mine on the Internet. They are expensive, but what is your life worth?

Shooters are steeped in tradition and history. For 40 some-odd years we have been told that we need big hollow cavities to take down an aggressor, but they don't always work the way we want them to. It's time we began thinking out of the box. They are not as macho looking as some HP's, but they work much better.

Here's a couple of links on them:

http://www.federalpremium.com/default.asp?menu=1&s1=7
http://www.thegunzone.com/efmj.html
http://www.greent.com/40Page/general/EFMJ.htm
http://www.ammoman.com/40_EP_DESC.htm

[Etho]

HP's getting clogged with clothing, especially in the winter time is indeed a potential problem and well documented from what I understand. Which is the biggest reason Corbon came up with their Power Ball ammo.

I've never heard of those projectiles, wonder if you can buy them seperately so I can load my own.

[bophi]

Gi 45 Ball (round Nose)

[Donn]

Some tests I've seen on line show that Winchester White Box don't always expand on contact, effectively becoming FMJ as someone pointed out in an earlier post. I prefer Cor-Bon Powr Ball for consistent performance. That said, White Box is usually reasonably priced and more readily available than some other PD ammo. I've got some, and wouldn't hesitate getting more.