Speer has been producing quality products since way back in 1943. Vernon Speer began making bullets because reloaders couldn’t get the components they needed from ammunition companies during World War II. Initially, his focus was on hunting bullets, but he then also turned to self-defense bullets. In the 1960s, he introduced the Lawman line of ammunition, in which he put those bullets into loaded ammunition.
Over the years, Speer has expanded their product line into some of the best ammunition on the planet.
What agencies use Speer Gold Dot ammunition?
Over 3,000 law enforcement agencies in the US issue Gold Dot ammunition for duty. A partial list of agencies using Gold Dot includes:
- Palm Beach County Sheriff
- Las Vegas Metro Police
- New Jersey State Police
- Department of Homeland Security
- Federal Bureau of Investigation
- New York Police Department
- California Highway Patrol
- US Customs and Border Protection
- Pennsylvania State Police
Additionally, agencies in Norway and Sweden also use it. Not long ago, Speer was awarded a contract to supply the French National Police, the National Gendarmerie, Customs Police, and the Penitentiary Administration with Gold Dot ammunition. The contract is for up to 20 million rounds.
You don’t get contracts like these, with thousands of agencies, by doing shoddy work. This is among the very best ammunition that money can buy, anywhere.
Aside from all those agencies, droves of civilians also choose Gold Dot ammo for their defensive carry needs as well as hunting. Aside from their pistol rounds, they also make rifle ammunition, both for defensive use and hunting. I’ve used Speer Gold Dot ammunition for a very long time and have never experienced a single issue with it. It is utter perfection. I’ve also used their Lawman line of ammunition with the same results.
The focus of this article is Speer’s Gold Dot Hollow Point 115 grain ammunition. How well does it perform, and is it worth the money? Read on, we’ll take a close look at this ammunition and see how it stacks up in today’s market.
Ballistics
Speer states that the velocity for the 115-grain hollow points is 1210 feet per second from a 4-inch barrel. I really like the fact that they publish, upfront, the barrel length that it is tested from. Some other manufacturers use longer barrels, so when you see a very high muzzle velocity from their rounds, most people don’t realize that it comes from an unrealistically long barrel. Not so with Speer.
At 25 yards, velocity is 1,133 feet per second, and at 50 yards it is 1,071 fps. At 75 yards, it is 1,022 fps, and at 100 yards, it’s down to 981 feet per second.
It’s important to note that this particular load is not a +P load, but a standard pressure one. Why? Sometimes people just don’t want extra pressure, recoil, and muzzle blast. I think many have become programmed to think that we have to have +P loads in order to be effective. But in many cases, the increased pressure doesn’t necessarily yield a lot more velocity or performance.
Matching The Platform
These days, micro-9s are becoming much more common for carry. They’re light, small, and carry a lot of rounds. What’s not to like?
Well, for one, the recoil on these small pistols can be a little snappy for many people. Adding +P ammunition to the equation can increase that snappiness.
Muzzle flip means it takes longer for our sights to return to target, slowing our rate of fire. Using lighter projectiles and standard-pressure ammunition can reduce that muzzle flip. For that reason, these Speer Gold Dot 115-grain hollow points are a desirable choice for smaller carry pistols. Of course, the 115-grain rounds work very well in medium and full-sized pistols as well.
Despite the standard velocities, the Gold Dot ammo will still perform very well. Speer does exhaustive testing in ballistics gelatin to make certain their rounds are up to snuff.
Nickel Plated Brass
Gold Dot ammunition is loaded into nickel-plated brass. Aside from looking pretty, why is this important? Because brass can corrode, especially in humid climates. That corrosion can cause feeding issues with ammunition in pistol chambers. With the nickel plating, there won’t be any corrosion, nor feeding issues. This is some of the slickest-feeding ammo that I’ve ever used.
Speer also seals the primers so that moisture can’t penetrate and interfere with ignition.
The Projectile
Most police agencies seem to prefer 124 and 147-grain bullets for department issue. The slightly heavier bullets penetrate slightly deeper. In fact, the 124-grain projectile is the most widely issued Gold Dot round for law enforcement.
Does that mean the 115-grain rounds are inferior? Not at all. I believe they will penetrate deeply enough to stop an assailant. Why do I think they’ll penetrate? Because that’s what Gold Dot is good at — reliable expansion and good penetration.
Their structural-plated, pressure-formed core and uni-core bonding ensure that the bullet doesn’t break apart when it enters flesh. Instead, it holds together, refusing to shed weight. Both the core and jacket are bonded in such a way that they won’t easily come apart. Bullets that hold together tend to penetrate more deeply. Deep penetration helps to reach vital organs.
These factors are what attract so many law enforcement agencies to Speer. They are consistent and reliable, penetrating deeply and expanding reliably.
Stopping Attackers
There are a couple of ways to stop attackers:
- Lowering blood pressure. When the pressure falls low enough, unconsciousness results. That stops that attack. This basically happens when enough holes are poked in the body’s circulatory system and it leaks enough blood. It’s the slower method of stopping attackers.
- CNS (Central Nervous System) hits. That means the brain or upper spinal column. This is the only way to reliably and instantly stop a violent attack. Unfortunately, the CNS is a small, difficult target to hit.
People who are shot sometimes fall down and stop the attack without either of the above things happening. The reason is often psychological. Many people believe that when they are shot, they’re supposed to fall down, and so they do exactly that.
Even if the heart is destroyed, there is still enough oxygen remaining in the brain for a person to fight for 10 to 15 seconds. On duty, I’ve personally seen mortally wounded criminals continue to fight for an extraordinarily long time, well after they should have been dead. The point is that people can be hard to kill. Because of that, I want the rounds I’m using to penetrate deeply into the body, causing the most leakage possible.
At the Range
We retired to the range to run the Gold Dot 115-grain ammo through its paces. The test pistol we used was the Springfield Armory Hellcat. With its three-inch barrel, the listed velocity of the Gold Dot 115 grain ammo was undoubtedly a little less than the 1210 listed velocity, though we did not have a chronograph available to check the speed.
We also ran some of the 115-grain Gold Dot through an H&K USP Compact, which has a 3.58-inch long barrel.
Feeding from both of these pistols using the Gold Dot 115 grain rounds was, as expected, flawless. As mentioned, the nickel-plated brass really feeds well through pistols. In fact, all the pistols I’ve ever fired Gold Dot ammo through have been perfect, including the Glock 43X and 19X. Not only the 115-grain fodder, but also the 124-grain Gold Dots.
It’s not surprising, given that the Gold Dot line is specifically intended to be 100% reliable in duty pistols as well as smaller pistols.
We used several steel targets of varying sizes and shapes (some circles, and a few animal shapes) at ranges of 10, 15, and 25 yards. The ammo was perfectly accurate when we did our part.
The next platform that we plan to run this ammo through is the Hellcat Pro on a future range session.
The Bottom Line
The fact that this ammo is 100% reliable in a variety of platforms comes as no surprise, given its nickel-plated brass and other top-notch components.
Muzzle flip was pleasantly low, especially with the larger pistols. But even in the micro-9, it seemed tamer than some of the hotter hollow points we’ve tried.
The fact that Gold Dot holds together when it hits bad guys is, perhaps, the most attractive aspect of this ammunition. It won’t shed its jacket from the core due to the structural-plated, pressure-formed core and uni-core bonding.
We’re happy to see (but not shocked) that Speer’s reputation is still intact as far as their ammunition performance is concerned. We will continue to buy it with confidence. I have a lot of Gold Dot ammunition in the magazines of my carry pistols. Betting my life on it is the highest endorsement that I can possibly give.
You can find 115-grain Gold Dot hollow point ammo at GunMag Warehouse for $26.99 per box of 20 as this is written. Compared to some other hollow point ammo on the market, that is an extremely reasonable price.
