Chasing speer 200grain 44 gold dots

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Chasing speer 200grain 44 gold dots

Post by mickb » 14 Jun 2022, 11:01 pm

Hi All, chasing any remaining stocks of the Speer (4427) 200 grain gold dot projectile in 44 cal. Its a low velocity expander meant for 44 special speeds. If anyone knows of any out there or wants to swap some for other 44 mag projectiles I would cover the postage and add a few from my side( maybe a 10 for 9 swap). Might seem a strange request but one of the few bullets that expand at low subsonic speeds which is what I run for certain jobs. A lot of fellas buy these up thinking they are regular 44 bullets and disintegrate them at 44 mag speeds. Horrifying waste of a specialised bullet :D .
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Re: Chasing speer 200grain 44 gold dots

Post by Blr243 » 15 Jun 2022, 9:24 pm

I never tried gold dots but have known About them for years. How’s the performance on game compared to the xtp ? Or sierras ?
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Re: Chasing speer 200grain 44 gold dots

Post by Blr243 » 15 Jun 2022, 9:28 pm

I stopped useing sierras long time ago in my Rossi because in a scabbard that ran down the forks of my motorcycle, I got really bad nose deformation from the tube mag impacts riding over rough ground all the time. As soon as I switched to xtp that problem was fixed ... from memory gold dots are protected up front as well
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Re: Chasing speer 200grain 44 gold dots

Post by JimTom » 16 Jun 2022, 7:05 am

Mate cleaver has those projectiles on his website. Problem with that is you won’t actually know if they’re in stock until you try and pay for them.
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Re: Chasing speer 200grain 44 gold dots

Post by mickb » 16 Jun 2022, 11:09 am

Thanks fellas. Cheers Jimthom, yep I bought Cleaver out of them. Well it was only half a dozen boxes, should keep me going a while.

As to performance, manufacturers may do low speed( for revolvers like 38 and 44 special), and high speed options. Eg Speer does gold dots in standard thickness and then what they call their 'SB-short barrel' bullets with lighter jackets for 38 special and 44 special revolver speeds( 800-1000fps).

The short barrel stuff is good for low power or subsonics as you get full expansion at low speed. Pushed faster, about 1200-1300fps impact they start to disintegrate like bombs.

Full power at normal hunting ranges, better options are the standard gold dots, deep curl, XTP's etc. I have never tried seirras.

at very low speeds( something low velocity guys like myself worry about) you need to test a bullet to see what it does, EG the .357 158XTP opens at lower speeds than a 125XTP, and also penetrates deeper at high speed. Its both a better low and high velocity bullet. I havent used 44 much, but from tests see the 180 and 200xtp also have that wide velocity envelope, aka subsonic as well. whereas the 240 and 300xtp are tougher bullets and need more speed.

Good resource in 357 and 38 bullet performance is luckgunner. The guy tests every brand he can at both speed levels on gel and puts them in a table. (scroll down about half way)

https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/revolv ... tics-test/
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Re: Chasing speer 200grain 44 gold dots

Post by bladeracer » 16 Jun 2022, 1:57 pm

mickb wrote:Thanks fellas. Cheers Jimthom, yep I bought Cleaver out of them. Well it was only half a dozen boxes, should keep me going a while.

As to performance, manufacturers may do low speed( for revolvers like 38 and 44 special), and high speed options. Eg Speer does gold dots in standard thickness and then what they call their 'SB-short barrel' bullets with lighter jackets for 38 special and 44 special revolver speeds( 800-1000fps).

The short barrel stuff is good for low power or subsonics as you get full expansion at low speed. Pushed faster, about 1200-1300fps impact they start to disintegrate like bombs.

Full power at normal hunting ranges, better options are the standard gold dots, deep curl, XTP's etc. I have never tried seirras.

at very low speeds( something low velocity guys like myself worry about) you need to test a bullet to see what it does, EG the .357 158XTP opens at lower speeds than a 125XTP, and also penetrates deeper at high speed. Its both a better low and high velocity bullet. I havent used 44 much, but from tests see the 180 and 200xtp also have that wide velocity envelope, aka subsonic as well. whereas the 240 and 300xtp are tougher bullets and need more speed.

Good resource in 357 and 38 bullet performance is luckgunner. The guy tests every brand he can at both speed levels on gel and puts them in a table. (scroll down about half way)

https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/revolv ... tics-test/


I've seen videos testing cast hollow-base wadcutters in ballistic gelatine, including reversed bullets, out of .38 Special pistols. Reversed wadcutters (massive hollow-point) deform very nicely down to 900fps. Could be worth considering, especially for subsonic loads, as you can cast them yourself so don't need to rely on outside supply. Berry's do Copper-Plated HBWC which might hold up better to rifle velocities. Check out "Gun Sam" and "MannyCA" on Youtube.
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Re: Chasing speer 200grain 44 gold dots

Post by mickb » 16 Jun 2022, 3:59 pm

thanks Blade. I'm actually subscriber of Gunsam and saw some his work with the wadcutters. Didnt know about MannyCA though, will check him out. :thumbsup:
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