I am shooting in a little get together next weekend where we will be shooting a handgun course with steel targets. The rules state no FMJ ammo. What are my options in .45 ACP with something that is not FMJ. Even my self defense stuff is JHP? I dont see any soft nosed .45 sitting around on shelves.

Thanks.

Thanks, that makes sense. Is there a cheaper option than going out a shooting a couple of hundred rounds of expensive self defense stuff?

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the rule is being used improperly. True FMJ ammo is just jacketed, with the base of the lead bullet exposed, so that when it hits something hard like a steel plate, it will splatter and not dent or put a hole in the plate. I've shot a lot of FMJ ammo at steel plates, and so do a lot of other shooters, with not consequences to the steel plates. IMO, whoever is running this match doesn't know what they're talking about.

I hope you are right. I generally just shoot the white box winchester stuff that is FMJ. This ruling has a lot of us confused.

It might be worth talking to them and finding out why they said this. It could be that they mean to disallow CMJ ammo, which could do some damage to plates.

I think the range on Luna Rd in Dallas has/had a no FMJ policy too. I never really understood why if you're shooting at paper targets.

If the steel is AR steel, even a FMJ/TMJ out of any pistol round should do little more than leave a mark on the paint. If it's doing anything other than that, it's not AR steel.

Out of a low velocity round like the .45, using even a FMJ round should be jsut fine, so long as the targets are properly set up and properly designed. If that's not the case, all bets are off.

The only reason people freak out about FMJ rounds is because they don't expand nearly to the degree that soft points or HP ammo does - on soft targets. You pop a good steel target with FMJ round out of a .45, and the round is going to deform just like any other round.

Gun ranges don't often allow them because their berms are not necessarily designed for the greater penetration out of rifles that a FMJ round displays versus a soft point or hollow point, and for the sheer fact that ricochets with a FMJ round will usually fly much futher and with more velocity after skipping off the ground than a SP or HP round will do. It's strictly a liability issue.

To the OP, if you can find some lead remanufactured ammo (or if you reload, roll your own with lead projos), you'll save yourself a lot of cash and meet all of the requirements for non FMJ ammo.

That's an odd rule. I think they might be worried about splashback at close range, but if that was their main concern they'd specify frangible, not just ban fmj.

Some ranges have a policy against FMJ since they believe (wrongly) that it is more likely to ricochet off the range.