20rds – 45 ACP Federal Personal Defense 230gr. JHP Ammo

Federal Ammunition 230 Grain Jacketed Hollow-Point (JHP) Ammo Details

Looking for the right way to keep a bad guy from tearing you a structurally superfluous new behind? Carrying a 45 is a well-established way to go about it. If your 45 is a semi-automatic, which in all likelihood it is, then you’ll like the way this 45 ACP cartridge by Federal is designed to cycle as smooth as syrup through it. Its bullet’s profile, as well as its new production brass casing, are designed exactly for that purpose.

This round’s bullet is meant to more than promote smooth feeding. A 230 grain jacketed hollow point, it prevents barrel leading and burrows through a target’s protective layers of clothing with ease, and the notches running down from its tip provide preexisting fault lines that enable reliable, deadly expansion during penetration. It’s quite the potent package for what we think you’ll agree is a reasonable price. Get a couple of boxes -- practice with the first, and be glad you’ve got the second one ready to go.

Gel test Results

As you hunt for the best self-defense 45 ACP (Auto) ammo, we thought you might enjoy seeing the results of some testing we recently conducted with calibrated Clear Ballistics gelatin.

We shot five of these Federal Ammunition rounds through a four-layer cloth barrier using a Ruger SR45. The results are detailed in the video you see above as well as the photographs. Through the charts, you should get a great idea how this Federal Ammunition ammo stacked up relative to other 45 ACP (Auto) ammo products available to American shooters.

To get a better sense of our tests, be sure to check out all the protocols we followed when conducting our tests to determine the best self-defense ammo.

Unfired versus Fired Round Comparison

Image detailing before and after firing 20rds – 45 ACP Federal Personal Defense 230gr. JHP Ammo Image detailing before and after firing 20rds – 45 ACP Federal Personal Defense 230gr. JHP Ammo

How do the results for this Federal Ammunition 45 ACP (Auto) compare to other Hollow Point?

20rds – 45 ACP Federal Personal Defense 230gr. JHP Ammo Gel Test Results

  Median
Bullet Depth (in.) 18.7 19.2 20.4 22.9 27.9
Expanded Diameter (in.) 0.45 0.45 0.45 0.45 0.45
Bullet Weight after shot (gr.) 228.4 228.7 229.6 229.9 230
Bullet Velocity (fps) 809 817 825 829 829

Federal Ammunition 45 ACP (Auto) Ballistic Data

Federal Ammunition 45 ACP (Auto) Ammo Details

Barrel Length inches
5
Ballistics Coefficient (G1)
0.193
Ballistics Coefficient (G7)
0.000
Sectional Density
0.162
Muzzle 25 yds. 50 yds. 75 yds. 100 yds.
Velocity fps 850 834 819 804 790
Energy ft lbs 369 355 343 330 319
Bullet drop inch n/a 0 -2.2 -7.7 -16.4

Trajectory Line Graph Federal Ammunition 45 ACP (Auto)

Velocity / Energy Comparisons

Ammo Muzzle Velocity Muzzle Energy
230 Grain Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) Sellier & Bellot Ammunition
#34
814 fps
#31
338.5 ft lbs
230 Grain Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) Winchester Ammunition
#26
841 fps
#25
349 ft lbs
230 Grain Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) Magtech
#35
809 fps
#32
334 ft lbs
230 Grain Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) Fiocchi Ammunition
#30
827 fps
#23
350 ft lbs
230 Grain Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) Remington Ammunition
#32
817 fps
#28
341 ft lbs
230 Grain Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) PMC Ammunition
#42
789 fps
#40
318 ft lbs
230 Grain Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) Federal Ammunition
#20
856 fps
#13
374 ft lbs
230 Grain Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) Tula Ammo
#23
850 fps
#17
369 ft lbs
230 Grain Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) Blazer Brass
#40
794 fps
#38
322 ft lbs
185 Grain Jacketed Hollow-Point (JHP) Federal Ammunition
#15
899 fps
#34
332 ft lbs
230 Grain Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) Winchester Ammunition
#38
800 fps
#36
327 ft lbs
230 Grain Jacketed Hollow-Point (JHP) Federal Ammunition
#13
909 fps
#5
422 ft lbs
230 Grain Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) Wolf Ammunition
#24
850 fps
#18
369 ft lbs
230 Grain Jacketed Hollow-Point (JHP) Federal Ammunition
#21
856 fps
#14
374 ft lbs
185 Grain Semi-Wadcutter Federal Ammunition
#43
703 fps
#43
203 ft lbs
230 Grain Jacketed Hollow-Point (JHP) Speer
#25
845 fps
#20
365 ft lbs
230 Grain Jacketed Hollow-Point (JHP) Remington Ammunition
#22
853 fps
#16
372 ft lbs
230 Grain Jacketed Hollow-Point (JHP) Remington Ammunition
#33
817 fps
#29
341 ft lbs
230 Grain Total Metal Jacket (TMJ) Speer
#41
794 fps
#39
322 ft lbs
230 Grain Jacketed Hollow-Point (JHP) Federal Ammunition
#6
950 fps
#1
460 ft lbs
230 Grain Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) Blazer
#36
808 fps
#33
334 ft lbs
230 Grain Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) Armscor Precision Ammunition
#28
830 fps
#22
352 ft lbs
185 Grain Jacketed Hollow-Point (JHP) Hornady Ammunition
#10
936 fps
#21
360 ft lbs
185 Grain Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) Winchester Ammunition
#19
863 fps
#41
306 ft lbs
220 Grain Jacketed Hollow-Point (JHP) Hornady Ammunition
#11
928 fps
#6
421 ft lbs
230 Grain Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) Federal Ammunition
#29
828 fps
#24
350 ft lbs
230 Grain Jacketed Hollow-Point (JHP) Black Hills Ammunition
#7
950 fps
#2
460 ft lbs
230 Grain Jacketed Hollow-Point (JHP) Federal Ammunition
#31
819 fps
#27
343 ft lbs
185 Grain Solid Copper Hollow Point (SCHP) Barnes Bullets
#8
944 fps
#19
366 ft lbs
230 Grain TSJ Federal Ammunition
#39
800 fps
#37
327 ft lbs
165 Grain Jacketed Hollow-Point (JHP) Federal Ammunition
#4
976 fps
#26
349 ft lbs
230 Grain Jacketed Hollow-Point (JHP) Winchester Ammunition
#9
940 fps
#3
451 ft lbs
200 Grain Jacketed Hollow-Point (JHP) Sig Sauer
#12
918 fps
#15
374 ft lbs
200 Grain Jacketed Hollow-Point (JHP) Speer
#2
994 fps
#4
439 ft lbs
185 Grain Jacketed Hollow-Point (JHP) Speer
#5
955 fps
#12
375 ft lbs
230 Grain Total Metal Jacket (TMJ) Federal Ammunition
#37
803 fps
#35
329 ft lbs
230 Grain Jacketed Hollow-Point (JHP) Hornady Ammunition
#14
908 fps
#7
421 ft lbs
185 Grain Jacketed Hollow-Point (JHP) Remington Ammunition
#3
981 fps
#10
395 ft lbs
185 Grain Jacketed Hollow-Point (JHP) PMC Ammunition
#27
836 fps
#42
287 ft lbs
230 Grain Jacketed Hollow-Point (JHP) Winchester Ammunition
#17
882 fps
#9
397 ft lbs
155 Grain Frangible Federal Ammunition
#1
1008 fps
#11
388 ft lbs
200 Grain Semi-Wadcutter Black Hills Ammunition
#18
875 fps
#30
340 ft lbs
230 Grain Jacketed Hollow-Point (JHP) Winchester Ammunition
#16
893 fps
#8
408 ft lbs
load more show less

The Reviews

Why Shooters and Hunters love or hate 20rds – 45 ACP Federal Personal Defense 230gr. JHP Ammo

Leave a Review Reviews icon
  • ☆☆☆☆☆

    posted on by One man bang

    Junk it does not open like it should for a HP round at all !!

  • ☆☆☆☆☆

    posted on by DAVID DONCHESS

    This round is the civilian defense version of the hishok round. It has low and light recoil and darn good expansion and terrific penetration. This round is extremely good. Get it while you can.

Write a review
Upload complete

For best results, we suggest:

  • max 5 files
  • only jpg, jpeg, png, heic, heif formats
  • max 2MB (per file)
  • max width 5000px
  • max height 5000px
All Categories
Pistol Ammo
Rifle Ammo