Remington Golden Saber Ammunition
Lewis Creek Shooting School 09.06.12
As a shooting instructor, one of the things I do is teach concealed carry certification here in North Carolina. It’s been interesting how the demographic of my classes has changed in the last couple of years. When I began teaching the certification class, most of my students were shooters who wanted to carry or avoid having to continually get pistol permits. Now, things are different.
Now almost all my students have little or no firearms history: I estimate about 40% have never fired a gun when they come to me. They come with a desire to have the ability to defend themselves and little else. In my class, I discuss choices for guns and ammunition and I often get calls with questions afterwards. I tend to be more aware of trends and reports on the effectiveness of ammunition and developments in concealed carry issues like new concealable guns, ammunition for self defense, and holsters.
When I heard Remington has launched a line of defense ammunition, I was intrigued and asked for some samples. Recently, I read the test of penetration and expansion in the current issue of The American Rifleman and decided to try some of the Golden Saber. I choose to carry a revolver, sometimes a Smith & Wesson 637 and sometimes a Charter Arms Bulldog. Since Golden Saber isn’t available in .44 Special, something I wish Remington would correct, I decided to test the .38 Special 125 Grain +P load. I was impressed.
The NRA test involved ballistic gelatin and reported numbers on expansion, weight retention, and penetration. I decided to test accuracy in my tiny microcosm of journalism. It began with an innocent pot shot at a plate on my plate machine at 50 yards. I’m fully aware that half a football field is considered extreme range for a two inch barreled, 12 ounce revolver but I hit the plate on the third try. I did have the advantage of late evening and a Crimson Trace grip Crimson Trace grip. At 25 yards, I could hit the 8” plate every shot single action. I decided to get more scientific and set up a one inch target paster on the back side of a SR1C target center. I suspected I’d use a lot of the center but I was wrong.
At 25 yards using the Crimson Trace to aid my hold, I put the first shot within an inch of the paster. The resulting five-shot group measured less than four inches at 25 yards. I tried it again on a Caldwell Orange Peel target and got an under-three-inch group. This is impressive accuracy for a snub gun. I realize the group would be a lot larger without the Crimson Trace but it demonstrates the accuracy of Golden Saber. This is serious ammunition with penetration, weight retention, excellent expansion and, as my little test proves, real accuracy. Good work, Big Green.
Dick Jones is an award winning outdoor writer and a member of the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association Board of Directors. He writes for four North Carolina Newspapers as well as regional and national magazines. He’s hunted and fished most of his life but shooting has been his passion. He’s a former High Master, Distinguished Rifleman, and AAA class pistol shooter. He holds four Dogs of War Medals for Team Marksmanship as shooter, captain and coach. He ran the North Carolina High Power Rifle Team for six years and the junior team two years after that. Within the last year, he’s competed in shotgun, rifle and pistol events including the National Defense Match and the Bianchi Cup. He’ll be shooting the Bianchi, the NDM, the National High Power Rifle Championship, The Rock Castle AR15.com Three Gun Championship and an undetermined sniper match this shooting season.
He lives in High Point, North Carolina with his wife Cherie who’s also an outdoor writer and the 2006 and 2011 Northeast Side by Side Women’s Shotgun Champion. Both Dick and Cherie are NRA pistol, rifle, and shotgun instructors and own Lewis Creek Shooting School.
