hey everyone, just bought a xd-9 od green and the sales clerk talked me into buying 2 boxed of the remington golden saber my question is is this a good home defense round?  How reliable is it? and if anyone has had experience with this round?
-sam

The Golden Saber round is a good round, but I am not that fond of the 147 grain 9mm.  It tends to overpentrate quite a bit and for that reason, I personally would not use it for a home defense round (or for defense purposes for that matter at all).  You would be better suited with a 115 grain round or if you are willing to spend the money, a good frangible like Magsafe or Glaser Safety Slug would be good, especially if you have children or others in the next room.

I don't like the 147 grain bullet weight in 9mm, but if you're really want that bullet weight, the Golden Saber is one of the better loads.

If I had to rely in 9mm for home defense, I'd use the 115 grain Quik-Shok either the original version from Triton, or the newer version from Americal Ammo.  Other loads high on my list are the 115 grain Cor-bon, and any of the +P+ loads.

Michael Courtney

Use FMJ.  That way you get to shoot them 19 times before they die.....

Quoted: I do not trust Remington ammo. I have seen so damned many misfires and failures to fire with it in years past that I simply will not use it for serious purposes. Assuming they have resolved their QC issues...I have a huge problem believing they have...

Same here.  I used to use GS as my carry ammo till' I had a couple of misfires on 1 box.  I use Ranger T's now.  

556man

I use the Remington 147 grain Golden Saber as the primary defensive round in my Kahr PM9. I am a fan of the "at least 12 inches of penetration" line of thinking and I like the size of the PM9 for carry in the heat here in AZ. I would prefer Winchester Ranger 127 gr ammo but those are hard to come by. Out of the short barrell of the PM9 I would expect the Remington round to have some overpenetration due to failure to expand issues. However, the Rem GS147gr is one of the few recommended rounds for 9mm that is not +P.
I also subscribe to the AmmoLab which is an independent test site for ammo that has been up and down lately due to security/computer issues. The Remington 147gr Golden Saber is one of their recommended rounds. That said, the spec from their testing showed what some would consider slightly excessive penetration. It was around 16 inches if I remember correctly.
I have heard good things about the Barnes hex bullets (solid copper) in handgun loads. Apparently they expand even at low velocities and have sufficeint penetration as well. Bottom line: It is better than most, but probably not the best available.

Don't listen to the misfire crowds.  If you did you'd have no ammo choices since in ONE box of Speer .45acp I had 2 duds and 1 squib(luckily it didn't get stuck in the barrel).  Winchester misfires every once in a while but Golden Sabers haven't.  I'm not saying to avoid these others, just saying don't avoid Remington based on a couple misfire reports.

If you carry a kahr K9 you should not use the remington golden saber 124 gr .  I have consistently had failures to feed on the second round in the magazine with two different Kahr K9.  I tried six different magazines and they all consistently had FTF.

The funny thing was that my MK9 did not have the same problem with the 124 gr ammo.  Even using the same magazines.

When I emailed Kahr arms about the problem the ever helpful Ms Herrold simply quoted the manual and pointed out that "all ammunition does not work in all guns"

I was disappointed in Kahr Arms response and will no longer recommend their weapons.


Steve

Quoted: Quoted: I do not trust Remington ammo. I have seen so damned many misfires and failures to fire with it in years past that I simply will not use it for serious purposes. Assuming they have resolved their QC issues...I have a huge problem believing they have... Same here.  I used to use GS as my carry ammo till' I had a couple of misfires on 1 box.  I use Ranger T's now.   556man

i have shot MANY thousands Remington rounds and not one misfire! I love Remington

Same here.   Shot all kinds of Remington products, from rifle ammo, to shotgun shells, to handgun rounds, to Golden Saber and never one dud.  Never had a dud or malfunctioning load in any of the big three domestic makers.

Only time I've had a dud was with some cheap Russian manufacture.  Bernaul I believe, about 10 years ago.  I was getting a dud or two in every box of 20  7.62 x 39mm and that's their bread and butter round.