Buffalo Bore 45 ACP +P 200gr JHP – Ideal Middleweight Load

Description

The Buffalo Bore 45 ACP +P 200gr JHP sits between the fast 185 grain load and the traditional 230 grain one, and that is exactly where a lot of people want to be. 200 grains at 1050 fps produces roughly 490 ft-lbs, and Buffalo Bore measured 1078 fps from a five inch Colt Gold Cup, which works out to about 516. Flash suppressed powder. Twenty rounds per box, item 45-200/20.

• Buffalo Bore 45 ACP +P 200gr JHP Overview
• 45 ACP +P 200 Grain Ammo Ballistics
• Why The Middleweight JHP 45 Auto Bullet Splits The Difference
• Specifications
• Recoil Spring Notes For This Balanced 45 ACP Carry Load

Buffalo Bore 45 ACP +P 200gr JHP Overview

The bullet is a conventional lead core jacketed hollow point. At 200 grains it is a well established defensive weight in this calibre, heavy enough to carry momentum after expansion and light enough to be driven to useful velocity.

Buffalo Bore loads it to +P. The 45 ACP runs at low pressure by modern standards and has real headroom that almost no factory ammunition uses, which is the whole basis of this line.

The powder is flash suppressed. A defensive shooting happens in poor light far more often than not, and a fireball from a five inch barrel costs you your night vision at precisely the wrong moment, which is why flash suppressed 45 ACP ammunition is worth the premium.

45 ACP +P 200 Grain Ammo Ballistics

490 ft-lbs nominal, 516 from the five inch 1911 Buffalo Bore chronographed. A standard 230 grain 45 ACP load at 850 fps makes about 369, so this is producing roughly a third more energy out of the same pistol.

Within Buffalo Bore’s 45 ACP +P range the ordering is what you would expect. The 185 grain load makes 543 ft-lbs at 1150 fps, this one 490 at 1050, and the 230 grain 461 at 950. The differences are real but not dramatic, which is a clue that energy is not how to choose between them.

Behaviour on impact is how to choose. The light bullet opens fastest and penetrates least, the heavy bullet the reverse, and 45 ACP +P 200 grain ammo lands between the two on both counts. If you do not have a strong view about which end of that spectrum you want, this is the sensible default.

Why The Middleweight JHP 45 Auto Bullet Splits The Difference

Arguments about bullet weight in the 45 ACP have run for a century, which is usually a sign that the differences are smaller than the arguing suggests. Light bullets open faster and shallower, heavy bullets drive deeper and expand less dramatically, and 200 grains lands in the middle of that.

The middle is a defensible place to be. A middleweight JHP 45 Auto bullet at 1050 fps has enough speed to expand reliably and enough mass to keep going afterwards, which means you are not optimising for one scenario at the expense of another.

Frontal area is the quiet advantage that comes free with the calibre. Even before expansion a 45 bullet is making a wider hole than a 9mm or a 40 ever will, so the starting point is good regardless of which weight you pick.

Recoil sits between the two as well, and rather closer to the 230 grain load in feel. The Buffalo Bore 45 ACP +P 200gr JHP gives a firm push rather than a sharp snap, which most shooters find easy to manage in a steel framed 1911.

Specifications

Recoil Spring Notes For This Balanced 45 ACP Carry Load

Consider your recoil spring for regular use. Buffalo Bore suggests a spring roughly four to six pounds heavier than factory for a steady diet of +P, along with a shock buffer for longer sessions. That is sound advice for any 1911 fed high pressure ammunition.

Confirm function with a box before you carry it. 200 grains is lighter than the 230 grain weight most 45s are sprung and regulated around, and the higher pressure changes slide timing, so this is worth verifying rather than assuming.

Check your point of impact. A balanced 45 ACP carry load at this weight usually prints close to where 230 grain ball does, but close is not the same as confirmed, so put it on paper at your realistic distance.

Practise with standard 230 grain ammunition and save this for carry. Flash suppressed 45 ACP ammunition is priced as a premium product and there is no training value in burning it by the box.

Flash Suppressed 45 ACP Ammunition Availability

This balanced 45 ACP carry load 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 faster expansion see the 45 ACP +P 185gr JHP, and for deeper penetration the 230gr JHP. For an all copper bullet, compare the 45 ACP +P 185gr Barnes TAC-XP.