One of LeHigh Defense's goals is to create effective defensive handgun ammo that will work in compact handguns and not generate excessive recoil. By using light-for-caliber bullets and driving them at high speeds, it has accomplished this task, but high velocity is not the only thing that makes these loads effective. The LeHigh Maximum Expanding bullet is an all-copper variety that opens wide with four petals. This load was tested in a 5-inch-barreled 1911, and while the bullet did lose one petal, the wound cavity was still impressive. According to Mike Cyrus, who does most of the testing for LeHigh, the bullet has since been tweaked and will expand and retain its petals regardless of whether it is fired from a short- or long-barreled .45 ACP.
| Load | MV (fps) | PEN (inches) | EXP (inches) | RW (grains) |
| .45 ACP LeHigh Defense 174-grain Max-Expanding | 1,200 | 10.00 | 0.80 | 151 |
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