Speer Gold Dot 124 Grain HP +P Ammo: Trusted by Professionals

Speer is a familiar name among shooting enthusiasts. The company has been around for a long time because it puts out quality products, dating all the way back to 1943. Today we’ll be looking at one of their products in particular: the Speer Gold Dot 124-grain 9mm +P hollow point round.

Who uses this ammo?

The better question is, who doesn’t? Agencies that use it include:

  • The Federal Bureau of Investigation,
  • Department of Homeland Security,
  • United States Customs and Border Protection,
  • New York Police Department,
  • California Highway Patrol,
  • New Jersey State Police,
  • Las Vegas Metro Police,
  • Pennsylvania State Police,
  • Palm Beach County Sheriff,
  • and over 3,000 other US departments.

Over 3,000 other US departments use it, as well as police in Norway and Sweden, among others. Without sounding like an infomercial, Gold Dot ammunition is what most other hollow points are judged by.

Recently, Speer was awarded a contract to supply ammunition for the French National Police, the National Gendarmerie, Customs Police, and the Penitentiary Administration. These agencies have adopted the 124-grain Gold Dot Hollow Point as their new duty ammunition. The terms of the contract are for four years and up to a whopping 20 million rounds!

Ballistics

Velocity at the muzzle for this 124-grain +P ammunition is listed at 1220 feet per second. At 25 yards it’s going 1,146 fps, and at 50 yards it’s moving at 1,085 fps.

Speer tests the ammo in several mediums. In their bare gelatin tests, it penetrated an average of 11.78 inches and expanded to .720 caliber.

For the heavy clothing test, it penetrated an average of 14.13 inches and expanded to .60 caliber. Note that in both bare and heavy clothing gelatin tests, the bullets retained all their weight, so nothing was shed during penetration.

They also tested it by firing it through steel, although they don’t specify how thick the steel was (I’m guessing auto-body type steel). The round then penetrated 27.63 inches of gelatin and expanded to .45 caliber.

Wallboard tests showed it penetrating that medium and then penetrating 12.52 inches of ballistic gelatin with expansion to .660 caliber.

During the safety glass test, the Gold Dot penetrated 14.95 inches of ballistic gelatin and expanded to .543 caliber after defeating the glass.

Plywood testing saw the rounds penetrating 14 inches of gelatin while expanding to .594 caliber.

What does all of this tell us? It proves that the Gold Dot round will penetrate various mediums that law enforcement comes in contact with, and still manages to penetrate fairly consistently in ballistics gelatin. And they don’t shed bullet weight, which means the bullet holds together.

Expanded Gold Dot round
Speer Gold Dot ammunition reliably expands through a variety of test mediums, including clothing, auto steel, safety glass, wallboard, and others. (Photo credit: Speer)

Why is it good that a bullet holds together? Because it continues to penetrate. And penetration is what gets the bullet to vital organs, which shuts an attacker down faster. At least when we’re talking about pistol bullets. Rifle bullets are another story because of their higher velocities, which cause more damage.

No, ballistic gelatin is not a perfect simulation of human or animal flesh. However, it’s close enough for government work. And since they get upset when ammunition is tested against live people, gelatin is the next best medium to use. It gives us an idea as to how consistently ammunition will perform on the street.

And Gold Dot ammo has definitely been street tested and approved across the nation and beyond.

FBI Protocol

Many of us are familiar with the FBI 1986 Shootout in Miami, which changed the trends of how handgun ammunition performance is rated. The FBI blamed the death of two of its agents on one 9mm round that they say did not penetrate deeply enough into the chest of one of the bad guys (there were two bad guys in this incident who were heavily armed).

Vehicles used in the infamous FBI Miami Shootout.
Vehicles used in the infamous FBI Miami Shootout. The felons used the Monte Carlo as cover and the agents’ handgun bullets did not penetrate the car. (Photo: Miami Dade Police Department)

Never mind the fact that the felon who was hit suffered a non-survivable wound. That’s the thing about bad guys—despite being fatally wounded, they don’t always cease their criminal activities in an orderly and prompt fashion. Sometimes they don’t get the memo that they’re dying, and so they continue trying to kill the good guys.

Gelatin tests really took off after the 1986 FBI shootout in Florida. From that, they determined that to be effective, bullets need to penetrate between 12 and 18 inches. They reason that, with those penetration parameters in place, the bullets will reach those vital areas regardless of which angle the bad actors are shot from.

Another claim that the FBI made was that the vehicles that the felons were using as cover stopped bullets from reaching them. So the FBI mandated that bullets have to successfully penetrate heavy clothing, 20 gauge steel (simulating auto steel), wallboard (two pieces of 1/2″ standard gypsum board set 3.5″ apart), plywood (3/4″ fir, one piece), and automobile glass. The projectiles have to expand to at least 1.5 times their original diameter and penetrate those magical 12-18 inches.

All in all, it seems that the FBI Protocol has driven ammunition manufacturers to push the envelope on handgun ammo performance. We’re seeing bullets performing at levels that we’d never imagined back in the ’80s and ’90s. Regardless of whether or not we feel the FBI’s protocol is realistic, it has pushed the manufacturers to excel.

How does Speer get the bullet to hold together through various mediums?

The secret is their structural-plated, pressure-formed core as well as their uni-cor bonding. I’m not sure of exactly what type of process they use to accomplish the bonding, but I suspect that sorcery and elves are involved. But it works really well because the Gold Dot rounds typically do not shed any weight during their performance.

The nickel-plated cases are also a plus because they tend to corrode less and help with feeding and ejection.

 Speer Gold Dot bullet tip.
Gold Dots feature a wide cavity in their hollow points. Expansion is very reliable, even through heavy clothing. (Photo: author’s collection)

Ingredients

Speer initially began their business back in 1943 by producing loading components such as primers. These days, of course, they use their own components for all of their ammunition. All the components, from cases, primers, powders, and projectiles are of top-notch quality.

I’ve personally used Speer ammunition over the course of a few decades, and have never experienced a failure of the ammo to fire or perform.

Although it’s rated as +P ammunition, the Gold Dot 124 grain didn’t have noticeably more recoil than most other rounds that I regularly shoot through my Glocks. This is a good thing, because the last thing we need is more muzzle flip.

The higher pressure of the +P ammo does raise the velocity of the bullets, which makes the round more effective.

At the Range

It would be impossible for me to recall all the various pistols and revolvers that I’ve run Speer Gold Dot ammo through. Suffice it to say, it’s a couple dozen of them over the years.

Glock 43 with spare magazines and Gold Dot hollowpoints.
One of the test guns was a Glock 43, which ran the Gold Dot like a champ. Over the years, I have fired Speer Gold Dot through dozens of handguns with success. Photo: author’s collection.

During my most recent range trip, it was in the Glock 43 and 43X. Other trips included the S&W CSX, Sig P228 and P226, Springfield Armory Hellcat, and a host of others.

The Glock 43, being small for a semi-auto handgun, does experience some muzzle flip with any ammunition that’s being used. And the Gold Dot 124 grain +P is no exception. However, as I mentioned, it didn’t seem like much more muzzle flip with the +P ammo than if I were using FMJ range ammo.

Author firing Gold Dots through a Glock 43.
Muzzle flip with the Glock 43 and Gold Dot 124 grain +P was not excessive. (Photo: author’s collection)

In a dire situation, we want the least amount of muzzle flip possible because more muzzle flip means slower follow-up shots on hostile targets.

To date, the Speer Gold Dot ammo that I’ve used in my handguns has batted 1,000. No failures of any kind have been noted.

Conclusion

These days, this is the ammo that I most often seek out to carry in my handguns for self-defense. I’m most comfortable trusting my life to this ammunition, which is the highest endorsement that I can give.

It’s made from top-notch components and the projectiles have been tested to the highest performance standards. They pass with flying colors. And some very prestigious agencies agree with those statements.

Jim Davis served in the PA Dept. of Corrections for 16 ½ years as a corrections officer in the State Correctional Institute at Graterford and later at SCI Phoenix. He served on the Corrections Emergency Response Team (CERT), several of those years as a sniper, and also the Fire Emergency Response Team (FERT). For 25 years, he was a professional instructor, teaching topics including Defensive Tactics, Riot Control and Tactical Operations, Immediate Responder, and cognitive programs as an adjunct instructor at the DOC Training Academy. He was then promoted to the title of corrections counselor, where he ran a caseload and facilitated cognitive therapy classes to inmates. His total service time was close to 29 years. He was involved in many violent encounters on duty, including incidents of fatalities. He is a dedicated Christian and attributes any skills that he has to the glory of God.

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