April 15, 2024
By Shooting Times Staff
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Speer’s Gold Dot family of ammunition has been a favorite of law enforcement (LE) professionals for almost three decades because it offers exceptional terminal performance and unfailing reliability. Not long ago, Speer began offering their Gold Dot G2 ammunition, which had previously only been available to law enforcement, to the public. Now, the Gold Dot CarryGun ammo features a new version of the G2 bullet. Optimized for compact and subcompact pistols, Gold Dot CarryGun ammo offers the same performance and exceptional barrier performance shooters expect from Gold Dot G2 ammunition out of smaller, lighter concealed-carry firearms.
The Gold Dot Story
In the wake of the 1989 Miami shootout during which LE bullets failed to adequately penetrate and neutralize the attackers, the FBI set out to develop a method by which to evaluate bullet performance and ensure that duty ammunition offered sufficient energy, expansion and penetration capabilities. That test became known as the FBI protocol test. Speer introduced Gold Dot in 1991, and it was a revolutionary step forward in bullet design. Until that point, duty bullets were made of a lead core with a drawn jacket and hollow point nose cavity to initiate expansion. Speer opted to use a different technique. They fused a pressure-formed lead core to a plated jacket. This design created a molecular bond between the jacket and the core and virtually eliminated any risk of bullet separation. The company called the process UNICOR construction. The bonded design also helps Gold Dot bullets retain weight and transfer energy effectively, even when fired through barriers. What’s more, plating the copper onto the lead core allows for precise control over jacket thickness. This offers the ability to provide consistent jacket thickness and, in turn, improve accuracy.
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Gold Dot Duty Bullet G2 The Gold Dot G2 is a recent evolution from original Gold Dot, aimed at achieving better FBI-protocol test scores than its predecessor. Both the standard Gold Dot and the Gold Dot G2 bullets utilize UNICOR construction, but the G2’s unique design is an evolutionary step forward in duty bullet protocol performance. Rather than the traditional hollow point design of the Gold Dot, the G2 bullet features a shallow cavity in the nose of the bullet that is filled with durable elastomer. This prevents barrier materials from filling the nose cavity of the bullet which, in turn, may inhibit expansion. This provides more consistent performance through tough barriers like wood and steel. Fissures cut into the bullet cause the G2 to expand reliably and transfer energy effectively while maintaining straight-line penetration.
“Gold Dot is a more traditional hollow point design,” said Federal Handgun Ammunition Product Manager Chris Laack. G2 is a different style of bullet, and its combination of a shallow nose cavity, new skiving and an elastomer-filled nose cavity allow it to excel in the most difficult barrier tests.
“What the G2 does is keep things like plywood from filling the hollow cavity and preventing other tissue from entering the hollow point cavity and causing it to open,” Laack said. “It just prevents that hollow point from getting plugged. It’s important on some of those harder barriers like plywood or steel where steel can kind of deform the nose of the bullet and collapse the hollow point in on itself. Our G2 design prevents that from happening.”
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“The presence of a proprietary elastomer helps ensure proper expansion through barriers.,” said Laack. “Simply put, we evolved Gold Dot G2 to work even better through barriers than the original proven Gold Dot.”
Speer Carry Gun The Gold Dot G2 is a duty round and, as such, is designed to perform in full-sized handguns. However, many personal defenders and concealed-carry permit holders prefer to carry more discreet handguns with shorter barrels. Speer Gold Dot CarryGun loads are designed specifically for use in compact and subcompact carry guns. The team at Speer developed modified, lighter Gold Dot G2 style bullets that would reach optimum velocity in short-barreled pistols. With Gold Dot CarryGun ammunition you can expect the same performance that made the Gold Dot and Gold Dot G2 an LE favorite. Speer’s Gold Dot CarryGun bullets are lighter than standard G2 duty bullets, allowing the ability to fine-tune these loads for optimal performance out of short barrels. For example, the Gold Dot CarryGun 9mm load utilizes a 135-grain bullet instead of the 147-grain bullet in the Gold Dot G2 duty ammunition.
Most shooters believe that any defensive bullet will perform well in typical self-defense situations. But a duty bullet that is designed for and optimized to a full-sized duty pistol may not perform to the same standard from a short-barreled carry or backup gun. By taking the Gold Dot G2 bullet and customizing it to function in short-barreled defense pistols Speer has created a self-defense load truly optimized for the guns in which it will be carried. The CarryGun cartridge is more than just the bullet though, as it also has features that ensure it will perform reliably under any conditions. That begins with the use of quality nickel-plated cases that feed reliably. That’s coupled with powders that perform consistently and a sealed CCI primer that are sensitive and reliable. It’s important to match an appropriate cartridge to a particular firearm. In the case of the increasingly popular subcompact pistols for concealed carry, Speer’s CarryGun ammo is optimized for exactly that.
