Speer Gold Dots

[rodwhaincamo]

Are Speer Gold Dots a bonded bullet? I'm interested in trying their short barrel ammo in my 4" 44 Mag. It's the only round I know of that doesn't carry too much umph for personal protection that is designed to have no/limited flash in the magnum case. I'd prefer not to use Spl cases. I read somewhere a report on major defense bullet performance, and I recall one didn't fair so well (jacket seperation) after striking glass.

[Brian Pfleuger]

http://www.speer-bullets.com/product.../gold_dot.aspx


"Gold Dot® Hollow Point Handgun Bullets

Police officers know the best handgun bullet because they use it in their service ammo. It's Speer Gold Dot®. Handloaders can get the same premium Gold Dot bullets in component form. We're committed to reloading; unlike some other ammo manufacturers, we make our premium handgun bullets available to those who prefer to load their own.

We created the first bonded-core handgun bullet. Our method is so innovative that we hold patents* on the process. Using our proven Uni-Cor® technology, we bond the copper jacket to the lead core one molecule at a time. We've virtually wiped out the cause of most bullet failures — core-jacket separation. In the process, we've assured high retained weights and excellent penetration.

What about expansion? We have you covered. Most bullet makers add the hollow point cavity at the very last operation. This is not very smart if you want premium performance. We, however, form the cavity in two distinct steps. Very smart.

The first cavity operation establishes the limit of maximum expansion--a bullet isn't very effective if it rolls back so far that it falls apart--and precuts both the jacket and the core for symmetrical expansion. The final cavity operation establishes the rate of expansion. The flexibility of this two-step proces lets us tune each bullet to its intended velocity range. Bullets for low-velocity cartridges have a deep cavity; those for high-velocity have a shallow cavity. Very smart, indeed.

We put a lot into Gold Dot. Accuracy. Penetration. Incredible terminal performance. Now you can put all that in your handloads.

*US Pat. Off. Reg. No. 5,079,814 and all applicable foreign patents."

[12GaugeLosAngeles]

Ha ha, check out my review on handgun ammo on youtube.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9E501xpvY0 SORRY ABOUT THE RAP MUSIC.... I show how the Speer Gold Dot has sort of a "semi-bond" at the tip bonding part of the jacket with the lead core... Enjoy.

[B. Lahey]

I don't know if the Gold Dot is bonded in the same way other projectiles are, but I would not worry about core/jacket seperation. People have done some goofy stuff trying to get them to fail (pistol bullets at rifle velocities), and the worst that has happened has been expansion so extreme they end up looking like mangled frisbees.

[Jim March]

The Gold Dot jacket is really a heavy electroplate on top of the lead. It STRONGLY resists copper/lead separation, better than anything else on the market. A superb design. They're one of the best if you're going to "overdrive" a round past it's normal speed, either with a longer barrel or bigger shell. Example: take a 158gr 357 Gold Dot and load it in either a 357Maximum shell at 1,800fps or shoot it out of a 357 rifle at 2,000fps or better and it will likely still hang in there.

Allegedly, somebody DID once manage to get a Gold Dot to separate. Cor-Bon loaded some experimental 60gr slugs meant for 32ACP (and about 800-850fps) and shot them in a 32H&RMagnum shell, heavy charge and fairly long revolver barrel at around 1,400fps or more. And yeah, they blew up . But that was pretty extreme...

The only other "really high speed" design I like is the Hornady XTP. It *needs* to speed to open as it uses as heavier brass jacket.

[sakeneko]

I use Speer Gold Dot Short barrel 38 +P loads for self defense. When I've tested them, they've performed beautifully every time. I'm not enough of an expert to say that they're the best of the top-quality loads out there, but they are definitely one of the best. You won't go wrong with them.

[KyJim]

The Gold Dots perform well in about every caliber I've seen tested. They're my first choice in a defense round for that reason.

[Elvishead]

I just like them because they are pretty. Just kidding, but they are a good looking round and they feed in all me 9mm's even the revolver, un-like Corbons.

[rc]

No disrespect, but some of your discriptions are a bit off.
Gold dot as far as I know is your only true bonded bullet because of the way it's made one molecule at a time. The gold bands in the hollow point are left over from when the TMJ bullet is punched into a hollow point.
Wolf is not WWII surplus. It's just cheap new manufacture. I agree with you steel cases isn't good.
Magtec's good practice ammo, I agree! I can't believe they are going for $25/box!!!
Remington HP is brass jacketed and no they won't scratch your barrel. Any jacket material by nature must be softer than the barrel or it would scratch.
Oh and silvertips are not made of silver They are lead core with an aluminum jacket so you'll be out of luck if a true wearwolf shows up
There is nothing wrong with any of that ammo for defense except the crappy wolf. Oh and nickel plated cases being better is debatable. They are harder on extractors than plain brass but do look nicer. The flip side is they resist tarnishing and discoloration better than plain brass and do feed better than tarnished brass. Much much better! Nothing wrong with regular brasss cases as long as you rotate your ammo. rc

[win-lose]

I use gold dots as defensive loads in:
38 +p
44 special
45 acp