His goal was to market a round that offered the reliability of FMJ round nose with better terminal performance.
It needed to be controllable and ballistically efficient; it had to penetrate adequately.
So, did he succeed?
The D&L Sports .45 ACP GSP offers an interesting approach to self-defense ammunition that might be exactly what you are looking for. Image: Carson McDaniel
As a little background, Lauck received the 2012 Pistolsmith of the Year award from the American Pistolsmiths Guild.
Hes renowned for his custom work on rifles, 1911 pistols and revolvers.
The .45 ACP has always enjoyed a strong reputation for its large caliber and heavy bullet.
D&L Sports .45 ACP GSP is designed to feed reliably in all standard 1911 pistols chambered for the classic caliber.
Keiths bullets shined in revolvers, but werent always reliable in autos.
Cooper acknowledged the effectiveness of Keiths bullets, but carried hardball for reliable function in 1911s.
He experimented with truncated cone flat points that were rounded and radiused to improve feeding.
Short-barreled pistols frequently launch bullets at lower velocities than longer-barreled handguns. This can create issues with expansion in typical hollowpoint bullet designs.
This negatively affected feeding reliability and outweighed the terminal improvements the truncated cone provided over round-nosed bullets.
Cooper and Lauck discussed improving bullets for the .45 service pistol while on a 1997 hunting trip.
The tendency of 230-gr.
Sizedifferences between .45 and 9mmare obvious. Shown here is the .45 GSP between two 9mm loadings. However, diameter is not the only indicator of potential performance. Bullet design is often more important than size.
Neither felt that increasing velocity was the answer.
A Nod to Browning
Its interesting that both Cooper and Lauck favored a 200-gr.
projectile the weight John Browning chose when he invented the cartridge.
Quality ammunition will perform well in both classic designs like the 1911 and modern models like this Springfield XD-M.
It was only changed at the request of the Army Ordnance Board.
Lauck ran over 100,000 of his bullets through a single pistol during testing in 2017-2018 with ZERO stoppages.
The slippery coating eases cleaning and greatly lessens lead exposure.
Is the D&L Sports .45 ACP GSP the perfect defensive round? It offers some compelling reasons for consideration. Image: Carson McDaniel
Its meant as an all-purpose load, with no need to swap practice ammo for service/duty ammunition.
This eliminates differing recoil levels and point of impact shifts between practice and carry ammo.
cast bullet at 875 fps is controllable for most shooters from almost any .45 pistol.
Lauck partnered with Mitch Thomas from the Colorado West Firearms Institute to produce the ammunition.
The sample ammo provided was clean and flawless in appearance.
Primers were properly and uniformly seated.
The price is very reasonable, consistent with the cost of factory 230-gr.
FMJ from the big online retailers.
As loaded, the D&L GSP load makes USPSA major power factor.
My chronograph spoke volumes about Thomas attention to detail in loading.
Velocities were higher than advertised, and extreme spreads were consistently low.
The load produced single-digit standard deviationsfrom every gun it was fired through.
Shooting the XD-M from 25 and 50 yards confirmed Laucks claim that holdover wasnt required at those ranges.
The load produced significantly less smoke than other uncoated cast loads I fired the same day.
Feeding was 100% through all guns tested.
The smaller round is experiencing a surge in popularity greater than at any time in its history.
With its combination of performance and reliability, it might just be the ultimate EDC solution for defensive ammo.
