Federal Guard Dog Ammunition

A Home Defense Load Offered in:
9mm Luger, .40 S & W and .45 ACP

by Joe Gorman

Designed to expand without over-penetration.

Simply put, Federal Ammunition markets Guard Dog ammunition as a home defense load offered in 9mm Luger, .40 S & W and .45 ACP. This specialty round features a revolutionary bullet that is light for its caliber (eg, the .45 ACP is 165-gr), that expands reliably, feeds into the chamber like hard ball and penetrates short of the FBI standard in gelatin tests (12- 18 inches).Penetration averaged 9.2" in FBI-spec gelatin tests conducted by Lucky Gunner). Given these qualities, its use for home defense seems logical. It also makes sense as a carry load for us non-LEO types.

It's no secret that e full metal jacket bullet feeds in guns that will not reliably feed jacketed hollow points. That goes a long way toward ensuring reliability in any gun. And while the Guard Dog bullet profile might look like another flavor of hardball, once the bullet strikes, its concealed, blue silicone compresses and forces the bullet to expand (averaging .73 diameter in Lucky Gunner s tests). At the range, this rapid expansion created some very impressive vaporization of colored-water-filled milk jugs. These loads are very accurate at self defense ranges and recoil is noticeably milder than other self defense loads.

The Guard Dog .45 ACP round proved itself accurate in all of my Model 1911 Government models. Five-shot groups fired off-hand from 10-yards are easily kept to under 2 and shoot to point of aim. The reduced weight of the bullet makes it quicker to get off a second shot. Older shooters will find the round's recoil gentler on their wrists. Measured with my Chrony, the .45 ACP, 165-grain Guard Dogs averaged 955 fps at the muzzle.

For an armed citizen like me, who will not be required to engage concealed targets this round seems to perfectly fit the bill for defensive ammunition. I have read accounts of police officers engaging and striking a bad guy with a solid hit only to have the bullet pass through and through and kill an innocent bystander. This ammunition would seem to minimize that risk and obviously that's a very good characteristic.

Federal Guard Dog Ammunition	Specifications
Caliber	Bullet Weight	Bullet Style	Case Type	Muzzle Velocity	Muzzle Energy
9mm Luger	105 Grains	Expanding Full Metal Jacket	Nickel Plated Brass	1230 fps	353 ft. lbs
40 S & W	135 Grains	Expanding Full Metal Jacket	Nickel Plated Brass	1200 fps	432 ft. lbs
45 ACP	165 Grains	Expanding Full Metal Jacket	Nickel Plated Brass	1140 fps	476 ft. lbs