.45 Hornady Z Max and Golden Sabre ammo test.

[EBK]

I decided to go to the range today and test Some ammo I forgot my camera and it was muddy an raining so maybe that was for the best.

Any way to the point

The setup was that of "back yard" ballistics 1 gallon jug of water wrapped in a thick thermal type shirt for about 6 layers of fabric backed by a box full of phone books to catch the bullet. This was more to test expansion than penetration and to see if the designs would get clogged (I had a fairly good idea the Z max would not clog due to the polymer ball in the HP cavity). All shots taken at roughly 7 -10 yards

Ammo tested:
.45 ACP Test gun Taurus PT 845 4.2 inch BBL
185 grain Hornady Z max
185 grain Remington Golden Sabre +P HPJ
Hornady 230 grain TAP FPD +P Shot on previous range trip Also with PT 845 same set up to catch bullet


.357 Magnum Test gun EAA Windicator (dumbest name ever) .357 mag 2 inch bbl
158 grain Blazer JHP


First up Will be the Z Max ammo

These are fairly new and have not seen them tested well... I cant lie, yes I have because they are basically just critical defense with a green tip (as far as I can tell)

The box of 20 cost $19.99 at my local gun store (Lgs) prices may vary in your location I picked them up for a novelty item but as you will see they look to be very effective for self/home defense.

Muzzle velocity on the package is listed at 1000FPS at muzzle, 936 at 50 yards and 883 at 100 yards shot was taked from roughy 7 to 10 yards.

As you can see it expanded rather well however I was very surprised to find the slug resting on the front of the box after passing through the jug. I suspect this is because when it expanded it still had three layers of fabric to penetrate before hitting the box. I will have to do further testing to determine penetration.







Second is the Golden Saber 185 grain +P HPJ (no thats not a typo its High Performance Jacket)

I have seen this type of ammo at my LGS for a while but have always been a fan of hornady products. Today for some reason I decided to take a closer look. I noticed they were packaged in boxes of 25 instead of 20. This peaked my interest because the 845 has 12 round mags and although this box is $5 more it will actually save me money as one box will fill 2 mags and leave one for the chamber vs having to buy 2 boxes of 20 to fill both mags.
so I picked up a box of 25 for $24.99.

No velocity information given on the package.

This round was found just in side the front of the box about a half inch into the first phone book again I had Excellent expansion.






Next is the Hornady TAP FPD 230 grain +P


This has been a long time favorite for me the two main reasons being. 1: every time I have "tested" it I have gotten good results. 2: my local scheels sells it routinely for 17.99. They are packed in boxes of 20.


Muzzle velocity is listed on package as 950 FPS, 908 at 50 yards, 872 at 100 yards.


Again we have acceptable expansion although it seems more controlled than the previous two. However in the first tests I did I got very similar results (sorry no photos of the other test slugs)




last is the .357 158 grain blazer JHP
These are 18.99 a box locally so its not exactly high quality Self defense ammo.

They are packaged in boxes of 50
No velocity information given on the package.

As you can see they didn't do so hot. This could be because of the lower velocity due to the short BBL.



Notice the plug of material in this slug



And finally a family photo of the tested ammo in front of their respective boxes.




Here are the test guns.




Hope you guys enjoyed and if you have any questions just ask.

Disclaimer: This is "back yard" unscientific testing. This is just a single data point on expansion not penetration. I Don't have a lot of money to spend on this so I can not use gel.


oops lost my train of thought and hit post to soon had yo finish the last sentence LOL

[MilProGuy]

Great thread!

The pics speak volumes!

Thanks for taking the time to share this information with us.

[Montkun]

Very good testing you did there, very informative. The 230 gr. Golden Sabre's are listed at 875 fps with 391 ft/lbs of force from the muzzle. I've carried these rounds before and had exceptional performance in my 945, which has a similar length in barrel to your 845. Currently i'm carrying Winchester PDX1 230 gr BHP reounds that i've seen have similar expansion even thru 4 layers of denim with little to no loss of weight. I just wish prices would roll back a bit on. 45 ACP overall, but it doesn't seem like that will happen anytime soon.

[whodog]

Thanks for the pics and info!!!

[Harrychl]

What a post...The pictures were just story tellers by themself! you spent some time an money on this. Thanks!!!

[Slakev]

Very nice post, good job on the pictures too. Thanks.

[EBK]

Thank you for the kind words folks

I know its not some fancy lab test done by FBI guys or something but it was extremely fun to do and provided some good Information regarding expansion to compare against other tests.
I will be testing other brands of ammo in the future and if you have any requests feel free to let me know and i will see if I can find that brand locally.

[gyro_cfi]

Great pictures. Are those Hornady Z-Max rounds the same as their Critical Defense rounds, just packaging changes?

[bmbroker]

Excellent! Great information thanks for posting this.

[EBK]

Great pictures. Are those Hornady Z-Max rounds the same as their Critical Defense rounds, just packaging changes?

That is my take on them.