I'm more than a little confused about this bullet. I just bought a 20 round box of Speer Gold Dot factory ammo (US$30) on the recommendation of the salesman, who seemed very knowledgeable, and also based on the advertising I have read for this stuff - the regular GDHP (Gold Dot Hollow Point) ammo in the smaller calibers seems like very hot stuff in the law enforcement business, being standard issue ammo in many departments. The box I purchased doesn't mention a single word about being "Hunting Ammo", and it does say "Law Enforcement" in prominent letters.

I want a light load for camp use for personal protection against humans, so the bullet needs to be lightweight and expand well in a thin skinned target at close range. I know that my 400 gr cast handloads will definitely be as effective, but I would rather have an easier shooting round with less over-penetration risk.

The Speer website calls this loading suitable for hunting. It uses a "GDHP" bullet, but it looks quite different from the others I have seen - it has a very shallow conical jacketed recess with 6 notches in the copper around the perimeter. There are also 6 radial lines showing the lead core in thin bands. The jacket visually appears to be quite thin compared to the heavy 325 gr Hornady JHP bullets. I would call this a "serrated sunken flat point", for lack of a better term. It's definitely NOT a regular hollow point.





So what is this round? Is it intended for deer or humans? What's with this weird GDHP variation? Does anyone know what the minimum velocity for reliable expansion is? I would be shooting in a 2.5 inch Alaskan (assuming I ever find one), so I need to know if they will expand at 25 foot distance.

Would the Barnes 275 gr bullet in a Federal (1450 fps) or CorBon (1650 fps) loading be a better choice?

BTW: 1450 fps muzzle, 1284 ft lbs muzzle, 7.5 inch barrel.
http://www.speer-ammo.com/ballistics/ammo.aspx

BTW, I already emailed Speer saying "What the?" and hopefully they will help.

Thanks for any info, links, comments, cash, or humor.

John Davies
Spokane WA

You have a bullet that is almost ONE-HALF inch in diameter before it leaves the muzzle. Why in heaven's name are you worried about expansion?

Why are you trying to make a .480 Swift of your revolver? Your 400 grain cast bullets can be loaded to around 900 to 1,000 fps for a relative easy shooting load that will be effective against anyone or thing you put it against.

Any bullet your shoot from your .480 should have no trouble completely penetrating a human or other thin-skinned animal on broad-side ribcage shots.

quote:

Any bullet your shoot from your .480 should have no trouble completely penetrating a human or other thin-skinned animal on broad-side ribcage shots.

I'm not looking for complete penetration, I'm looking for rapid expansion and _lack_ of penetration! I know I could easily kill any human attacker with any .480 hunting round, but I am concerned about colateral damage.

I could just carry my Glock .40 S&W but I would rather leave it at home when camping, so I don't have to worry about it getting stolen when I am away from the campsite. Maybe I am looking for a load that doesn't (or can't) exist....!

I edited my post to include pics, so you can see what the bullet looks like.

That's just it; I don't believe you are going to find a bullet for your .480 that is not going to completely penetrate a human, or anything else you decide to shoot with it until you get up into big game.

The bullets you show are different from the 400 grain Speer GDHP bullets I shoot in my .475. I got 5.5 feet of penetration with one of those in an elk.

About your best means to determine what level of penetration/performance you are going to get with this load is to soak a bunch of newsprint and set it up in a row. Fire into this and then check to see how deep the penetration is and what the wound cavity looks like.

Basically though, I beleive that if necessary; once you pull that hogleg and show someone the business end there won't be much fight left.

Here's what I got back from Speer:

QUOTE:
the 480 Ruger must have a solidly constructed, read thicker, jacket or you will destroy the forcing cone on the firearm. About the only option I see is to reload the performance you desire, understanding that bullets have a designed performance range. My guess is that our tested data in a 7.5" barrel will not be near what you'll get in the 2.5" and about all of the factory loads will provide marginal bullet expansion in your gun. You still get a near half-inch hole from the gun and that should do for most all "camp problems".......maybe not the rogue chipmunk!
UNQUOTE

So I guess I will just have to start saving newspapers and see what happens in testing. Maybe I just need to load some low velocity 300 gr cast lead bullets. They would be very easy to shoot and will still punch the same sized hole in a two legged varmint as a non-expanded JHP.

BTW, that is the first I have heard about "destroying the forcing cone". Is that for real? Would a thin jacket peel back in the .480 Ruger?

Thanks.

John Davies
Spokane WA

Damage to the forcing cone by jacket/core seperation started showing up in .454 Casulls when people started overdriving bullets from their revolvers. The high pressures and velocities require thicker jackets, just as the nice man from Speer said.

It is real.

I handload this bullet to 1711 fps out of a 9.5" barrel. I use it on deer and the results have been great so far. It still penetrates a good deal as in complete pass throughs at 60-70yds on deer. I love this caliber, but for self defense grab a 9mm, .40, or .45 so you don't end up shooting the bad guy, the 4" tree behind him, and the nice guy standing on the other side of the tree. Way too much penetration.

quote:

Originally posted by jpothof:
I handload this bullet to 1711 fps out of a 9.5" barrel. I use it on deer and the results have been great so far. It still penetrates a good deal as in complete pass throughs at 60-70yds on deer. I love this caliber, but for self defense grab a 9mm, .40, or .45 so you don't end up shooting the bad guy, the 4" tree behind him, and the nice guy standing on the other side of the tree. Way too much penetration.

Thanks for the input, but I was really wondering about it's performance at the other end of the spectrum from how you load it - like at 1100 or 1200 fps out of a 2.5 inch barrrel. If it won't expand at that velocity there isn't any advantage to using it. I'd be better off with cheap 300 gr lead plinking loads.

I do carry a Glock Model 23, I just would like to be able to leave it at home.

John Davies
Spokane WA