45acp Aguilla 117gr IQ

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Written by Joseph Canady

I had done an article on this ammo when I first started carrying my Kimber 45, those of you who carry a 1911 can attest to the weight of the gun plus 1 to 3 mags to 230gr ammo. so I am was looking for alternatives. I found this ammo that was 117gr and traveled at 1500fps and delivered 475 ftlbs of energy. That got my attention, it wasn’t until recently that I had the opportunity to test this round. And here are my findings. 

The Sheetrock results show that this ammo can penetrate, but it did not separate like the company claims. It penetrated 9 layers of sheetrock and bounced off the 10th, the cavity of the bullet was filled with sheetrock. No deformation at all. 

The ballistics wax test was a bit more interesting it penetrated 13” and showed a large cavity, upon inspection I found that the ammo did fragment into 3 pieces. From what I have read this is exactly what it is supposed to do.

The water test showed that under extreme situations, this ammo fragments and dumps most of its energy at that time. It did, in fact it blew by first water rig in half at the point that the bullet fragmented. 

My opinion:  Well if you can find this ammo, pick some up. While communicating with the company I have discovered that this ammo has been discontinued. It would make a great ammo for long time carry. If the deep penetration characteristics are what you need, I would not recommend this ammo for home defense, but there are so many other aspects out there, hunting Law enforcement, you name it.  I do carry this, but its not my primary mag in my pistol.