I've been slowly getting up to speed on my G43x which I am still vastly worse at shooting than my G45 but I can wear my sexy shorts without having them fall off sooooo.

Originally I bought the shields 15 round magazines and catch but I decided to remove it for a number of reasons - 2 mags with a catch and shipping was 150.00 but then the factory plastic base plates started peeling off so it was another 70.00 for 2 aluminum base plates shipped. The finish on the magazines was rubbing off and I dropped one during a reload and it dented and was unusable. A friend has proper trained with his alot more than me and his were shredding his hands they were so chunked up. Also I had alot of ftf issues with them so I went back to plastic and was happier.

Then I got it magna ported which they use EDM wire to cut out ports in the barrel and matching ones on the slide - which they did not re-coat on my slide, bare metal - fun. I used a bluing pen for now and will refinish the slide once I get an optic cut.

Anywho it was supposed to take a week and cost 160.00 - it took 3 weeks and they tried to charge me 240 claiming there was 40.00 in some finish charge and 40.00 in shipping charges etc I was supposed to know about different from the phone call before shipping - ok.

The ports do work extremely well and I was alot faster to put rounds on target https://goo.gl/maps/PpPXH2tgXFn3Tnps9

Finally I saw WTH video about civil defense 50gr 9mm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAnf-Gd1298

I had seen those rounds before but never considered them so I bought some to try - first of all they are 3oz lighter per mag - 6oz for 2 mags which I carry which actually feels like alot. The Ultra light cased ones are even lighter.

I didn't get a chance to do any watermelon targets but I fired one off at an ar500 steel plate 100 yards away and it did more damage than the 2 147gr 300 BLK rounds I also shot  but with a 16 inch barrel - also, its very accurate at 100 yards which was surprising, since my sights are not.

https://goo.gl/maps/viY7eqCbPuAovfiW8

The round in the upper left shoulder is a 147 +P+ Speer Gold Dot btw

https://goo.gl/maps/VE4r1op5n3ZtsA828

That ammo is a gimmick.

Get hsts, gold dots, ranger, or critical duty

There is an awful lot to unpack in that post.

That looks good OP. Have you run any 124s through the gun yet?

Anything you don't like about the port job besides the lack of finish?

Lol

lolz

How is it a gimmick exactly? its a super fast 9mm round apparently capable of generating hydro-static shock with a bullet design that is going to take alot of meat with it by default, there is plenty of testing to choose from.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=liberty+civil+defense+9mm+ballistic+gel


I have all of those rounds and the +P+ Gold Dots, I don't have access to do my own tests so accuracy and effect on steel are all I can measure and they perform as advertised.

Critical defense only and very few rounds since I have no real way to test them vs IMI razor core or ball ammo etc for effect.

The gun has significantly less recoil - JM did a video on it awhile back and 30% seems realistic, the gun is way too small for my hands so recoil control has been a challenge, from draw the gun would be pointed 10-11 oclock using my g45 grip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRW_M--O98U

If this was your everyday gun I would go for it.

I've also switched to using SOLGW Spec 76 lube and especially on the trigger it works very well to smooth the actions out.

Hydrostatic shock.

You laughing at me, bruh? It's a thing!

That ammo severely under-penetrates. Hydrostatic shock doesn't exist in 9mm. I'm sure that ammo would wreck someone's day, but it cannot reliably reach vital organs. Throw in any barrier and you are fooked.

If I was going to carry a "gimmick" round in 9mm it would be Underwoods 68gr +P extreme defender. Instead, I HST or GDHP. Proven.

Maybe, maybe not.  I have it in my 10mm: it is accurate, has relatively low recoil, feeds reliably, and seems to make really nice holes in things I've shot with it.  I'm willing to bet that anybody on the wrong end of my gun is not going to be very happy if they catch 4 or 5 of these bullets (and they will, because there's very little recoil, making follow-ups easy).  

Now, we can debate for weeks about just how unhappy the unfortunate asshole would be, compared to catching 4 or 5 rounds of Ranger or HST, but I'm willing to bet the debate will be mostly academic.

ETA: it seems to go through this car door pretty well:



All hype aside, I think the biggest advantage of this ammo is the massively reduced recoil (.22 TCM is similar), especially in smaller guns.  You're not getting hydrostatic shock velocities out of a 3" barrel (especially a ported one), but being able to double and triple tap easily hopefully makes up somewhat for the potential lack of penetration.

https://www.gunsholstersandgear.com/ammunition/liberty-ammunition-review/

I hate to burst your bubble, but you are not getting hydrostatic shock velocities from this ammo with your gun.  3.4" ported barrel will be lucky to break 1800FPS, and that 9mm looks like it needs at least 5" of barrel to get close to 2200FPS.  Personally, Civil Defense would not be my first choice of ammo for a ported G43x.

Why not just use a lower recoiling round that will penetrate better?

This x 10000%

Because unlike the OP, I'm shooting 10mm out of a 5" barrel. The ballistics are a little different.

The tests I've seen aren't too impressive, i.e. lack of penetration, fragmentation, etc. I don't buy into energy dump, though, so there's that.

I can't speak for 10mm but .357 drops coyotes much faster than 9mm.

And heavier faster .45 drops deer faster than normal.45

I was speaking specifically about light and fast rounds like the Liberty ammo.

Gotcha

I wouldn't mind trying them on yotes but nothing bigger

Liberty ammo is a complete gimmick round that uses marketing voodoo for the uninformed.  

Tests performed by competent people without a conflict of interest (i.e. testers who aren't being paid by Liberty) show the 50gr 9mm penetrates a whopping 5" to 6" in properly calibrated ballistic gelatin.  

That's laughable.  It's basically giving you Glaser performance.   This ammo should be given the hardest pass possible for defensive use.  You'd be better using any 115 gr FMJ over this Liberty crap.

I'd try them on something like a raccoon or a groundhog.