Buffalo Bore 45 ACP +P 185gr JHP – Swift Defensive Load

Description

The Buffalo Bore 45 ACP +P 185gr JHP is the fast end of Buffalo Bore’s 45 Auto range. A 185 grain jacketed hollow point at 1150 fps produces roughly 543 ft-lbs, and Buffalo Bore measured 1180 fps from a five inch Colt Gold Cup, which works out to about 572. Flash suppressed powder. Twenty rounds per box, item 45-185/20.

• Buffalo Bore 45 ACP +P 185gr JHP Overview
• 45 ACP +P Defense Ammo Ballistics
• Why The 185 Grain JHP 45 Bullet Trades Weight For Speed
• Specifications
• Recoil Spring Notes For This Flash Suppressed 45 Auto Load

Buffalo Bore 45 ACP +P 185gr JHP Overview

The bullet is a conventional lead core jacketed hollow point, light for the calibre at 185 grains where 230 is the traditional weight. Going lighter is what buys the velocity, and velocity is what makes a hollow point open reliably.

Buffalo Bore loads it to +P. The 45 ACP is a large case operating at famously low pressure, so there is real headroom there, and most factory ammunition uses very little of it. The Buffalo Bore 45 ACP +P 185gr JHP uses rather more.

The powder is flash suppressed, as it is throughout Buffalo Bore’s defensive line. A shooting in poor light is the likely scenario, and a fireball from a five inch barrel takes your vision away exactly when you need it.

45 ACP +P Defense Ammo Ballistics

543 ft-lbs nominal, and 572 from the five inch 1911 Buffalo Bore chronographed. Set that against a standard 230 grain 45 ACP load at 850 fps, which makes about 369 ft-lbs, and this is producing something like fifty percent more energy from the same pistol.

Within Buffalo Bore’s own 45 ACP +P range this is the top of the energy chart. The 200 grain load makes 490 ft-lbs at 1050 fps and the 230 grain makes 461 at 950, so the light bullet wins on paper by a clear margin.

Energy is not the only axis though. The lighter bullet expands faster and penetrates less, so the choice between the three is really about how you want the bullet to behave rather than which number is biggest. High velocity 45 ACP ammunition of this kind is the aggressive expansion option.

Why The 185 Grain JHP 45 Bullet Trades Weight For Speed

The 45 ACP has always been a heavy slow bullet cartridge, and that reputation is deserved. A 230 grain round nose at 850 fps is what the cartridge was designed around in 1911 and what most ammunition still delivers.

A 185 grain JHP 45 bullet at 1150 fps is a different proposition. It arrives with enough speed that expansion is not in question, and it opens quickly and widely rather than relying on the sheer diameter of an unexpanded 45 to do the work.

Recoil is also lighter than the energy figure suggests, because recoil scales with bullet mass as well as velocity. A 185 grain bullet produces a sharper but lighter impulse than a 230 grain one, and most shooters get back on target about as fast.

The trade is penetration. This 45 ACP +P defense ammo will not drive as deep as the 230 grain load, particularly through a heavy coat or an intervening limb. If depth is your priority, the heavier loads in the same line are the better answer and there is no shame in choosing one.

Specifications

Recoil Spring Notes For This Flash Suppressed 45 Auto Load

Think about your recoil spring if you shoot a lot of it. Buffalo Bore suggests that regular +P use warrants a spring roughly four to six pounds heavier than factory, and a shock buffer for extended sessions. That is sensible advice for any 1911 fed a steady diet of high pressure ammunition.

Confirm function with a box before you carry it. A 185 grain bullet is much lighter than what most 45s are sprung for, and the combination of light bullet and high pressure changes the slide timing in ways worth verifying.

Check your point of impact. A flash suppressed 45 Auto load at 1150 fps exits the barrel sooner than 230 grain ball and will often print a little differently in a fixed sight pistol.

Practise with standard 230 grain ammunition and confirm with this. That is the usual pattern with premium defensive loads, and it keeps the wear on your pistol where it belongs.

High Velocity 45 ACP Ammunition Availability

This high velocity 45 ACP ammunition is in stock and ready to ship from MAG5 Firearms, a family owned FFL dealer in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. Ammunition orders ship to most states, and local customers are welcome to pick up in the shop. If you need case quantities or another Buffalo Bore 45 ACP load, call us and we will check what our distributors have on hand.

Manufacturer details are on the Buffalo Bore site. For heavier bullets in the same line, see the 45 ACP +P 200gr JHP and the 230gr JHP. For an all copper bullet, compare the 45 ACP +P 185gr Barnes TAC-XP.