Federal HST vs Speer Gold Dot (2026): 90 Shots From the Same Guns

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Federal HST vs Speer Gold Dot is the oldest argument at the ammo counter, and most answers online rest on one 9mm string or none at all. I shot both lines through the same four layers of heavy clothing, from the same carry guns, in five calibers: nine pairings, 90 shots, and every one is charted below.

The short version: HST opened wider in eight of nine pairings. Gold Dot kept about as many shots in the FBI’s 12 to 18 inch window, 32 of 45 to HST’s 31, and it won the .40 S&W outright. Neither line’s .380 passed.

Last updated October 15, 2026

Table of Contents

HST or Gold Dot? The Short Answer

Pick Federal HST for 9mm and .45 ACP, where it opened wider from the same guns. Pick Speer Gold Dot 180 gr for .40 S&W. Skip both lines’ .380 loads, which failed our clothing test.

• Compact 9mm: HST 147 gr. It kept 4 of 5 shots in the window at 0.61 in wide; Gold Dot 147 gr kept all 5 but opened to only 0.42 in.
• 9mm 124 gr: a tie on depth. Both ran deep from our 3.5 inch gun, 18.28 and 18.14 in, with 2 of 5 in the window each. HST opened wider, 0.61 in against 0.54.
• .40 S&W: Gold Dot 180 gr, all 5 in the window at 14.50 in. HST 180 gr went 18.50 in with 2 of 5.
• .45 ACP: HST 230 gr, all 5 in the window and 0.85 in wide, the widest result on this page.
• .380 pocket gun: neither. HST Micro went 22.48 in and opened to 0.35; Gold Dot 90 gr stopped at 11.00 in.
• .38 Special snub: HST Micro 130 gr tested better, but Federal no longer lists it. Gold Dot Short Barrel +P is the one you can buy.
• Car doors and glass: by the makers’ own FBI tables, Speer’s loads, mostly G2, stayed in the window more often. Those are their tests, not ours.

HST vs Gold Dot: Head-to-Head by Caliber

Here is every pairing we shot from the same gun: average depth through heavy clothing, average expanded width and how many of five shots stopped between 12 and 18 inches.

Pairing	Our gun	Federal HST	Speer Gold Dot
9mm 124 gr	S&W M&P9c 3.5 in	HST 124 gr: 18.28 in, 0.61 in wide, 2 of 5	Gold Dot 124 gr: 18.14 in, 0.54 in wide, 2 of 5
9mm 124 gr +P	S&W M&P9c 3.5 in	HST 124 gr +P: 18.28 in, 0.66 in wide, 3 of 5	Gold Dot 124 gr +P: 16.78 in, 0.52 in wide, 4 of 5
9mm 147 gr	S&W M&P9c 3.5 in	HST 147 gr: 15.24 in, 0.61 in wide, 4 of 5	Gold Dot 147 gr: 16.06 in, 0.42 in wide, 5 of 5
.40 S&W 180 gr	Glock 27 3.42 in	HST 180 gr: 18.50 in, 0.72 in wide, 2 of 5	Gold Dot 180 gr: 14.50 in, 0.65 in wide, 5 of 5
.45 ACP 230 gr	Kahr CW45 3.64 in	HST 230 gr: 14.02 in, 0.85 in wide, 5 of 5	Gold Dot 230 gr: 12.86 in, 0.71 in wide, 4 of 5
.45 ACP 230 gr, hotter loads	Kahr CW45 3.64 in	HST 230 gr +P: 14.94 in, 0.79 in wide, 5 of 5	Gold Dot Short Barrel 230 gr: 14.38 in, 0.70 in wide, 5 of 5
.380 ACP	Glock 42 3.25 in	HST Micro 99 gr: 22.48 in, 0.35 in wide, 0 of 5	Gold Dot 90 gr: 11.00 in, 0.49 in wide, 0 of 5
.38 Special, 2 in snub	Kimber K6s 2 in	HST Micro 130 gr: 13.02 in, 0.73 in wide, 5 of 5	Gold Dot Short Barrel +P 135 gr: 13.64 in, 0.44 in wide, 4 of 5
.38 Special, 4.2 in revolver	Ruger GP100 4.2 in	HST Micro 130 gr: 14.14 in, 0.71 in wide, 5 of 5	Gold Dot Short Barrel +P 135 gr: 13.28 in, 0.53 in wide, 3 of 5

Two rows need a note. The .45 hotter row pairs HST’s +P against Gold Dot’s Short Barrel 230 gr, the two loads a short .45 owner tends to weigh, so it isn’t the same load type. The two .38 rows are the same loads from two revolvers, a 2 inch snub and a 4.2 inch GP100.

Totals from those nine rows: HST put 31 of 45 shots in the window and Gold Dot 32. HST opened wider in eight of nine. The one exception was the .380, where Gold Dot reached 0.49 in and HST 0.35.

Every Shot, Side by Side

Averages hide strings. This chart puts all 90 shots on one scale, so you can see which loads cluster mid-window and which ones scatter toward 20 inches.

Both extremes are .380s. The Gold Dot .380 string was the tightest on the chart, 10.8 to 11.3 inches, and every shot stopped short of 12. The HST Micro .380 was the loosest, 20.1 to 28.7.

The 9mm 124 gr rows tell the other story. HST’s five shots sat in a tight cluster from 17.3 to 19.1 inches, just past the window. Gold Dot’s spread wider, 15.1 to 20.4, with the same 2 of 5 inside.

How They’re Built: Locked Jacket vs Bonded Core

Both are jacketed hollow points in nickel-plated cases, but Speer bonds the jacket to the core and Federal doesn’t claim to. That’s the one real construction difference, in the makers’ own words.

Federal describes HST as “a specially designed hollow point with co-aligned skiving and a jacket locked to the bullet core” on its Personal Defense HST page, and promises “nearly 100 percent weight retention through even the toughest barriers”. Locked isn’t bonded, and Federal never uses the word for HST.

Speer says “Gold Dot was the first handgun ammunition loaded with true, bonded-core bullets,” made with its Uni-Cor process. Per Speer’s Gold Dot page, that “virtually eliminates core-jacket separation.” Its catalog adds a two-stage hollow point that leaves memory lines for the petals to follow.

Some retailer blogs call both bullets bonded. Federal doesn’t, so I don’t. What you can check is weight retention in each maker’s own FBI tables, further down this page.

Speer also sells Gold Dot G2, a different bullet with a shallow dish filled with elastomer instead of an open cavity. Our gel results here are for original Gold Dot only. Speer’s own FBI tables for the 9mm 147 gr, .40 and .45 +P are G2, and I label them that way.

9mm: 124, 124 +P and 147 gr

In 9mm, HST opened wider in all three pairings and Gold Dot kept more shots in the window in two of them. From our 3.5 inch S&W M&P9c, both 124 gr loads ran past 18 inches.

Standard 124 gr first. HST averaged 18.28 inches and 0.61 inches wide at 1,135 fps. Gold Dot averaged 18.14 inches and 0.54 wide at 1,067 fps. Each put 2 of 5 in the window, so neither is a mid-window load from a compact.

The +P loads split the difference. HST 124 gr +P went 18.28 inches, 0.66 wide, 3 of 5 in. Gold Dot 124 gr +P, item 23617GD, went 16.78 inches, 0.52 wide, 4 of 5 in. Speer used that same load for the FBI table in its catalog.

The 147 gr pairing is where I’d make my call. Gold Dot 147 gr kept all 5 in the window at 16.06 inches, but it opened to just 0.42 inches. HST 147 gr went 15.24 inches with 4 of 5 in and opened to 0.61. For a compact 9mm, I’d carry the HST.

Our best 9mm ammo guide ranks both against the rest of the 9mm field. The cards below carry today’s price per round for each 20-round box.

.40 S&W: Gold Dot’s Clearest Win

From our 3.42 inch Glock 27, Gold Dot 180 gr put all five shots in the window and HST 180 gr put two there. That makes the .40 an easy call.

Gold Dot 180 gr averaged 14.50 inches and 0.65 inches wide, every shot between 13.4 and 16.8. HST 180 gr opened wider, 0.72 inches, but averaged 18.50 inches with three shots past 18. If you carry a .40, buy the Gold Dot.

One warning on the Gold Dot side. The 165 gr .40 Gold Dot went past 26 inches and stayed about 0.40 inches wide in our test, so don’t grab it thinking it’s the 180. Our Speer Gold Dot review covers that load.

.45 ACP: HST’s Clearest Win

From our 3.64 inch Kahr CW45, HST 230 gr put all five shots in the window and opened to 0.85 inches, the widest of the 18 results on this page.

HST 230 gr averaged 14.02 inches, every shot from 13.1 to 16.7. Gold Dot 230 gr averaged 12.86 inches and 0.71 wide, with one shot at 11.5, just short of 12. Both opened well; HST did it a little deeper and wider.

The hotter loads tied on depth, all five in for both. HST 230 gr +P went 14.94 inches and 0.79 wide. Gold Dot Short Barrel 230 gr went 14.38 and 0.70 wide, and it read 806 fps against its 820 fps rating, only 14 fps slow. The +P read 844 fps against 950.

For a compact .45, I’d carry HST 230 gr. Our best .45 ACP ammo guide ranks the field.

.380 ACP: Neither Line Passed

Neither .380 put a single shot in the window from our 3.25 inch Glock 42. They failed in opposite directions, which makes them a useful lesson in what a pocket load has to balance.

HST Micro 99 gr never opened. It averaged 22.48 inches and 0.35 inches wide, every shot past 20 inches. Gold Dot 90 gr opened to 0.49 inches but stopped at 11.00 inches on average, every shot short of 12.

In the same .380 test, only Hornady Critical Defense 90 gr kept all five shots in the window. Our Hornady Critical Defense review has the details, and our best .380 ammo guide ranks the rest.

.38 Special Snubs: HST Micro vs Gold Dot Short Barrel

HST Micro 130 gr beat Gold Dot Short Barrel +P from both revolvers we used. The catch is that Federal no longer lists the .38 Micro, so Gold Dot is the one you can still buy new.

From the 2 inch Kimber K6s, HST Micro averaged 13.02 inches and 0.73 wide with all 5 in the window. Gold Dot Short Barrel +P averaged 13.64 and 0.44 wide with 4 of 5. From the 4.2 inch Ruger GP100, HST went 14.14 and 0.71 wide, all 5 in, against Gold Dot’s 13.28, 0.53 wide and 3 of 5.

Speer rates the Short Barrel +P at 860 fps from a 2 inch vented barrel, and we read 821 fps from the K6s. If you find old HST Micro .38 stock, it tested well; if not, Gold Dot Short Barrel is a sound snub load. Our best .38 Special ammo guide covers the field.

Short Barrels: Who Lost More Speed

Against each maker’s own box velocity, HST lost less speed from our carry guns in six of seven pairings. The one exception was Gold Dot Short Barrel .45, which held almost all of its rating.

• 9mm 124 gr: HST 15 fps under, Gold Dot 83 under
• 9mm 124 gr +P: HST 32 fps under, Gold Dot 79 under
• 9mm 147 gr: HST 27 fps under, Gold Dot 32 under
• .40 S&W 180 gr: HST 46 fps under, Gold Dot 70 under
• .45 ACP 230 gr: HST 68 fps under, Gold Dot 138 under
• .380 ACP: HST 42 fps under, Gold Dot 103 under

Each maker rates its loads from its own test barrel, mostly 4 or 5 inches, and ours were 3.25 to 3.64 inches for the semi-autos. So the gap is partly barrel length and partly how each load is tuned. Speer says its Short Barrel line is built for barrels as short as 1.9 inches. Federal’s small-gun HST is called Micro.

What Federal and Speer Publish: Their Own FBI Tables

Both makers publish six-event FBI protocol tables. On matching loads, Speer’s numbers landed in the 12 to 18 inch window more often, but three of its four tables are for G2, not original Gold Dot.

The 9mm 124 gr +P is the one true pairing, original Gold Dot item 23617GD against Federal’s P9HST3. Federal’s went 21.0 inches through steel and kept 56 percent of its weight through auto glass. Speer’s went 27.63 inches through steel and kept 83.5 percent through glass.

Federal’s .40 180 gr kept 69 percent of its weight through steel. Speer’s G2 tables never dropped below 85 percent. These are each maker’s own tests with their own guns and gel, so read them as their claims, side by side, not as our results.

Which One for Your Gun

Match the load to the barrel and the caliber. These picks come straight from our test, from carry guns with 2 to 3.64 inch barrels.

• Glock 19 or M&P9c size 9mm: HST 147 gr. 4 of 5 in the window and 0.61 in wide from 3.5 inches.
• Glock 27 or Glock 23 in .40: Gold Dot 180 gr, all 5 in. See our Glock 27 review.
• Compact .45 like a Kahr or Commander: HST 230 gr; Gold Dot Short Barrel 230 gr if speed loss worries you.
• Glock 42 or other pocket .380: neither line. Hornady Critical Defense 90 gr. See our Glock 42 review.
• .38 snub: Gold Dot Short Barrel +P, unless you have HST Micro .38 on hand.
• Full-size 9mm duty gun: our data stop at 3.5 inch barrels, so I won’t guess. Both 124 gr loads ran deep from ours.

Known Problems With Both Lines

Neither line is perfect, and the problems we hit were the same kind on both sides: loads that ran deep, loads that didn’t open, and retail listings that blur one load into another.

• Deep 9mm 124 gr. Both averaged past 18 inches from our 3.5 inch gun.
• The .380s. HST Micro never opened; Gold Dot stopped short.
• Gold Dot .40 165 gr. Past 26 inches and about 0.40 inches wide. Carry the 180.
• Gone loads. Federal no longer lists the HST Micro .38, the 9mm Micro 150 gr, the 9mm 147 gr +P or the .40 155 gr. Speer no longer lists the Gold Dot .40 155 gr or the .45 200 gr +P we shot.
• Mixed-up listings. We found the HST 9mm +P, part P9HST3S, under a plain 124 gr title, and a Gold Dot .40 Carry Gun listed under the 9mm item number. Match the part number on the box.
• G1 vs G2. Gold Dot and Gold Dot G2 are different bullets. Read the box.

My Recommendation

If you made me pick one line for every caliber, I’d still split it: HST in 9mm and .45, Gold Dot in .40 and for a .38 snub. That’s what our data says, not brand loyalty.

HST’s edge is width. It opened wider in eight of nine pairings, and its .45 ACP 230 gr was the widest result on this page. Gold Dot’s edge is staying in the window and the bonded core Speer documents. It put 32 of 45 shots in against HST’s 31, and won the .40 cleanly.

Whatever you pick, shoot a box through your own gun to confirm it feeds. Our Federal HST review and Speer Gold Dot review go deeper on each line, and our Hornady vs Federal page compares the companies behind them.

FAQ: Federal HST vs Speer Gold Dot

Short answers to the HST vs Gold Dot questions buyers ask most.

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