About 5 years ago I attempted to simulate the HPD service ammunition.
This would be Speer 9mm 124 grain Gold Dot Hollow Points.
I just recently stumbled upon a few boxes of ammo so I thought I would analyze this batch and see how it compares with the ammo I tested 5 years ago.
Additionally, I stumbled across a thousand genuine Speer bullets (projectiles) so now I càn simulate the ammo with a higher degree of authenticity.

Testing 123
...
I fired 7 rounds across the Chrono last Saturday.
The result was surprisingly good.
Factory spec is 1150 fps
My test yielded 1151 fps with a standard deviation of 13.
The test gun was a Glock 17 with an aftermarket match bbl.
It is the same length as a stock bbl but has conventional rifling.

Dissecting
====

The specs are:
OAL=1.124"
Mouth dia= 0.375
Powder= 5.8 gr. fine grain flat ball
Sealer= yes
Bullet weight= 124.6 gr.
Bullet dia.=0.355"
Bullet length=0.561"

So, what is going to be your powder of choice?

I look forward to your results.

Testing 123
...
I fired 7 rounds across the Chrono last Saturday.
The result was surprisingly good.
Factory spec is 1150 fps
My test yielded 1151 fps with a standard deviation of 13.
The test gun was a Glock 17 with an aftermarket match bbl.
It is the same length as a stock bbl but has conventional rifling.

great job!   

Still waiting for those gd bullets to arrive.
But judging by previous tests with the RMR 124 jhp, I would say 5.5 CFE PISTOL is about right.
Cfe kind of looks similar and the charge weight is similar.

If you are a newbie to handgunning, you may wonder why this thread is important.

Some people go out and buy a pistol and some cheap round nose ammo and go shooting with that.
But then they would go home and load the gun with hollow point ammo for home defense.

An analogy would be if you are training for a marathon and running every day with your comfy old Adidas shoes.
Then on race day you put on a new pair of Nike running shoes and hit the road...... It might work. It might not.

In the case of this ammo, Genuine Speer Gold Dot ammo costs an arm and a leg.... if you can even find any. (eg. $50 for 20 rounds)
But to make sure your home defense pistol will feed and function reliably when you need it most, the ideal thing to do would be to test it with the actual ammo.
If you can't find or afford to burn hundreds of  dollars for practice ammo, then using this information is the next best thing.
Using this info will allow you to create a pretty close replica of the real thing....and it won't cost too much.
So you can afford to practice and see if your gun will feed and function reliably.
Cost??? factoring in high prices for primers, I estimate the cost per 50 round box at $12.00

If you are a newbie to handgunning, you may wonder why this thread is important.

Some people go out and buy a pistol and some cheap round nose ammo and go shooting with that.
But then they would go home and load the gun with hollow point ammo for home defense.

An analogy would be if you are training for a marathon and running every day with your comfy old Adidas shoes.
Then on race day you put on a new pair of Nike running shoes and hit the road...... It might work. It might not.

In the case of this ammo, Genuine Speer Gold Dot ammo costs an arm and a leg.... if you can even find any. (eg. $50 for 20 rounds)
But to make sure your home defense pistol will feed and function reliably when you need it most, the ideal thing to do would be to test it with the actual ammo.
If you can't find or afford to burn hundreds of  dollars for practice ammo, then using this information is the next best thing.
Using this info will allow you to create a pretty close replica of the real thing....and it won't cost too much.
So you can afford to practice and see if your gun will feed and function reliably.
Cost??? factoring in high prices for primers, I estimate the cost per 50 round box at $12.00

Awesome info here.  The good ole days where GD was $35 for 50 rds.  1 could easily mag dump at the range to test.

Side not, my dad is a runner. And before 1 race, my mom thought he should eat a banana for extra energy. He doesn't do this.  So he listened and had to stop mid race to take a dump.  Since then he learned, never do anything new on race day.

Here's another important question, how many rounds does 1 need to fire to insure they function?  For me, I've mag dumped 1 box (50).  IDK if that's sufficient or not. Then followed by the annual rotation of ammo (shooting HP loaded mags).  But with COVID, I haven't rotated since Jan 2019.

Awesome info here.  The good ole days where GD was $35 for 50 rds.  1 could easily mag dump at the range to test.

Side not, my dad is a runner. And before 1 race, my mom thought he should eat a banana for extra energy. He doesn't do this.  So he listened and had to stop mid race to take a dump.  Since then he learned, never do anything new on race day.

Here's another important question, how many rounds does 1 need to fire to insure they function?  For me, I've mag dumped 1 box (50).  IDK if that's sufficient or not. Then followed by the annual rotation of ammo (shooting HP loaded mags).  But with COVID, I haven't rotated since Jan 2019.

do you have specific home defense mags?
did you test them before taking them out of range day rotation?

if i owned firearms and ammo, i would test fire the mags for several hundred rounds of fmj each before testing a hundred or so rounds of jhp before i would feel comfortable with that mag/jhp combo...

I keep a separate set of mags for HD.  Not sure how many rounds I did to test those mags.  If I had to guess, probably a few hundred FMJ and at least 50 HP, but that's usually say 20 or so here and there.  I recenlty switched from a couple of Glock 17s as "mains" to a couple of Glock 19s, so a bit more vetting with HP ammo is warranted. 

I typically rotate the HD mags and shoot them here and there.  It used to be at least every SSF, with some occasional mag here and there during classes or range days.  I rotate the pistol HD mags pretty regularly, but less so for rifle mags.  I have a comfort level with the mags that I buy.  While I do test, I am ok with loading up new or newer mags without that much worry. 

I keep a separate set of mags for HD.  Not sure how many rounds I did to test those mags.  If I had to guess, probably a few hundred FMJ and at least 50 HP, but that's usually say 20 or so here and there.  I recenlty switched from a couple of Glock 17s as "mains" to a couple of Glock 19s, so a bit more vetting with HP ammo is warranted. 

I typically rotate the HD mags and shoot them here and there.  It used to be at least every SSF, with some occasional mag here and there during classes or range days.  I rotate the pistol HD mags pretty regularly, but less so for rifle mags.  I have a comfort level with the mags that I buy.  While I do test, I am ok with loading up new or newer mags without that much worry.

what are these "mags" you speak of?

what are these "mags" you speak of?

i own none of those either...

what are these "mags" you speak of?

Ask CMO for sample. . .

do you have specific home defense mags?
did you test them before taking them out of range day rotation?

if i owned firearms and ammo, i would test fire the mags for several hundred rounds of fmj each before testing a hundred or so rounds of jhp before i would feel comfortable with that mag/jhp combo...

My range mags and HD mags are all the same. That's why it's such a PITA to go to range days or skill builders. Gotta unload all my mags that have HP in them. 

Gotta do the same for AR mags too. All of them are loaded at home with 29, then gotta unload for range days.  I used to keep some for range only, but Clint Smith had a vid about why he keeps so many AR mags loaded.  And unlike him, I probably don't have as many AR mags that he does.  So gotta load, unload, and load again.

He has another vid of why he keeps AR mags in his car as well.  But Oregon doesn't have a to and from law, so he is allowed to keep ammo in his car.

Ask CMO for sample. . .

They're purple.

My range mags and HD mags are all the same. That's why it's such a PITA to go to range days or skill builders. Gotta unload all my mags that have HP in them. 

Gotta do the same for AR mags too. All of them are loaded at home with 29, then gotta unload for range days.  I used to keep some for range only, but Clint Smith had a vid about why he keeps so many AR mags loaded.  And unlike him, I probably don't have as many AR mags that he does.  So gotta load, unload, and load again.

He has another vid of why he keeps AR mags in his car as well.  But Oregon doesn't have a to and from law, so he is allowed to keep ammo in his car.

Well, get on it. . .

They're purple.

I don't think macsak discriminates.  Could be painted rainbow. . . 

Awesome info here.  The good ole days where GD was $35 for 50 rds.  1 could easily mag dump at the range to test.

Side not, my dad is a runner. And before 1 race, my mom thought he should eat a banana for extra energy. He doesn't do this.  So he listened and had to stop mid race to take a dump.  Since then he learned, never do anything new on race day.

Here's another important question, how many rounds does 1 need to fire to insure they function?  For me, I've mag dumped 1 box (50).  IDK if that's sufficient or not. Then followed by the annual rotation of ammo (shooting HP loaded mags).  But with COVID, I haven't rotated since Jan 2019.

....
I love your banana story so much that I'm going to steal it and tell it to people whom I mentor.

The Speer GD bullets arrived this morning.
They were pulls so that's why they were a steal.
They look real good for pulls.

....
I love your banana story so much that I'm going to steal it and tell it to people whom I mentor.

Add in when doing the Great Aloha run which is about 8 miles, an experienced runner should do it in slightly over an hour.  So my dad had to stop and find a port a potty along the course, then wait in line. Usually there's lots of people lined up.  Then once in, clean as best as you can before sitting down (this sucks in general), then proceed. So this added probably 5 mins to his run time.  Plus the slow down while running while you think to yourself if you can hold it for at least 30 more mins until you finish the race or not.

The Speer GD bullets arrived this morning.
They were pulls so that's why they were a steal.
They look real good for pulls.

Waiting on ballistic gel test. And dont do that mainland 4 layers of denim stuff. This is HI, so 1 layer of cotton t-shirt or 1 layer of nylon/polyester mix to simulate a board short.