[Wolfy]

I am lucky enough to live in NJ (insert joke here). Hollow points are allowed but really looked down upon. So I was wondering what your experiences are with the EFMJ and what calibers you have tried.

[geekWithA.45]

When I was a jerseyite, I kept a few boxes of efmj around in .45acp, and tested it out through my sig. It functioned fine, and impacted where I expected it to.

In terms of terminal performance, the articles I've read seem to indicate that you get super reliable expansion with somewhat dicey penetration.

I'm also down on .45acp bullets < 200 grains these days, unless you have a super short (<= 3 in) barrel.

If I still lived in jersey, {shudder}, and was concerned about HP, I'd probably go with ball.

Flipside, if this gun is your "house" or bedside gun, (and aren't they all in NJ?) there really is no legal problem with HP, and therefore I'd go with >=200 grain name brand HP.

[WT]

Everything I've heard says that EFMJ isn't all that effective in actual self defense situations. Lacks penetration.

[Onmilo]

My experience was the EFMJ Ferderal loads in 9mm and .45 acp were extremely inaccurate and inconsistant.

They may look down on you for choosing hollowpoints but Federal 115 JHP "Classic" and Winchester .45 acp 230 SXT are cartridges that all others should be judged against in my opinion.

[JShirley]

Went through a good bit of deer, when I tested it. (With two other mods present.) About right for SD.

John

[RyanM]

From what I've seen, EFMJ is pretty inconsistent, doesn't penetrate as far as HPs of the same weight, and doesn't expand as wide as HPs of the same weight. So you get a smaller and shallower hole for the same bullet weight and velocity.

If forced to choose between FMJ and EFMJ, though, I'd go for the heaviest EFMJ in the caliber. They're a whole lot better than prefragmented bullets, at least.

[Candiru]

I wonder if there is some confusion due to the dual lines of EFMJ available. Federal makes both a consumer version with a light bullet to make up for being standard pressure, and a +P LEO version. The LEO version, from tests I've read, penetrates very well, definitely satisfying the FBI standards. The lighter bullet, of course, doesn't do nearly as well. I think that the LEO 124-grain +P 9mm averages about 15" through four layers of denim, while the 105-grain consumer version gets about 9".

Expansion size is traded for guaranteed expansion. Federal EFMJ in 9mm expands to only about 50 caliber, but it does it through anything. It expands through sheet metal, windshields, drywall, 20 layers of denim, wood, etc.

If I sound a little biased, it's because I like the stuff. I've found it to be very accurate out of Kahr pistols.

[bpisler]

I tried the 124gr +P after they
first came out.I used a Glock 26
and they didn't seem to be much
if any improvement over the gold
dots i carried.

[RyanM]

Actually, EFMJs do not exhibit very consistent expansion at all. They are inferior in every possible way to premium hollowpoints, and I can only really recommend them if you cannot get any other expanding ammo.

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