.45 ACP Gold Dot speer vs Federal Hydra shok?

I think the difference is not significant enough to matter. Both are going to ruin someone's day.

both will accomplish what you need. the Gold dots are more reliable about expansion but they wont feed in all guns because of the mouth opening being so big. the Hydrashock will feed more reliable but they dont expand as big as the Gold dots. i would feel more than comfortable with either

Agreed that either one should instill great confidence that a well placed round is going to totally ruin someone's day........and all days that would have come! :mrgreen:

Check out Salty's sticky. viewtopic.php?f=34&t=31709

Both are good to go. I use the Hydra Shock in my Baby Desert Eagle .45 and the Speer Gold Dot in my Desert Eagle .50AE. The .45 is EDC and the .50AE is for home defense. One thing for sure about the Hydra Shock is; it is time tested and proven.

FWIW, Gold Dots are what we have been carrying for years on-duty. Time tested and proven in real-world deadly force encounters across the country. They feed without issue in the Glock 30 and 21. I also carry them in my personally owned .45/.40/9mm/.380 weapons for consistency.
All of the municipal, state and county LE department that I've been in contact over the past years have moved to Gold Dots, and Speer is constantly in touch with our armorers and training department wrt new improvements they are working on in the Gold Dot series.

Hydroshock's are an old design and there are a lot of better options out there currently. I would certainly take Gold Dot's over them any day. Good quality bonded ammo is even better yet. Federal HST's and Ranger T bonded are some of the best. You can find the Civi version of the Ranger T bonded in places like Walmart or Academy it's just more expensive and labeled as Winchester PDX Bonded.

I believe Gold Dots are bonded core as well, aren't they?

Yes it is, I guess I had a brain fart. :shattered:

SongDogSniper said:

I believe Gold Dots are bonded core as well, aren't they?

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yes they are.

I'd have to say Gold Dot would be my choice. I shot a 185gr JHP Gold Dot out my G30 into some wet phone books covered with blue jean denin last week and it expanded good and left a big exit hole also.

Either/Or will get the job done.....very well.

I watched Hydrashocks being shot into a Watermelon. It was less than impressive. I'd go with the Gold Dots, which is what I normally carry if I can't find HSTs.

Which round is 100% RELIABLE??? Which one is AVAILABLE and RELIABLE??? That is the one you carry.....

I've found that Speer Gold Dots feed reliably in both my Kimber Custom II TLE and my Ruger SR9c. They're also available locally, so that's a plus.

SheriffOconee said:

Which round is 100% RELIABLE??? Which one is AVAILABLE and RELIABLE??? That is the one you carry.....

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Sheriff O, always bringing logic into the discussion.

I want my bullet to maintain full weight and jacket so I went with the bonded Gold Dot. Several deer that have struck by cars can tell you that they work very well.

MesaCranker said:

Several deer that have struck by cars can tell you that they work very well.

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Wait wut? You shot a talking deer? :shock: If the round performs so well, why are the deer alive to talk about it? :shattered:

HydroAuto said:

MesaCranker said:

Several deer that have struck by cars can tell you that they work very well.

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Wait wut? You shot a talking deer? :shock: If the round performs so well, why are the deer alive to talk about it? :shattered:

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SHUSH YOU! :evil:

:lol: