Short-barreled handguns offer ballistic challenges to ammunition engineers. These challenges arise because if a bullet is designed to work at the low velocities short-barreled handguns produce, it may not hold together and deliver the desired results when fired from a longer barrel, which will generate more velocity. Design a load that will be optimal out of a 5-inch gun, however, and it might not expand enough out of a short-barreled handgun. Furthermore, ammunition manufacturers have no control over the barrel length from which you shoot their ammo. Speer understands this conundrum, and offers a variety of loads specifically engineered for short-barreled handguns. To let you know, the company marks them as such right on the box. Speer's 230-grain Short Barrel load for the .45 ACP is one of the best performing loads for the cartridge I've tested from a short barrel. It penetrates deep, expands moderately well and the recoil is controllable.
| Load | Handgun | MV (fps) | PEN (inches) | EXP (inches) | RW (grains) |
| .45 ACP Speer 230-grain Gold Dot (Short Barrel) | Colt 1911 (4.25-inch barrel) | 783 | 16.25 | 0.63 | 230 |
