9mm: 115, 124, or 147 grain?

[KJS]

If all 3 bullet weights were the same price, which 9mm round would be your personal preference and why?

If your favorite of these 3 most common varies by use (targets vs defense I'd love to hear why. Or perhaps you have numerous 9mm pistols and your favorite varies by specific gun?

In the real world, 115 is almost always the lowest cost and no doubt selected for that reason, but simply ignore the price issue for this as I'd like to dig the into non-monetary differences.

115 is the only one of them I've fired as I've have always answered with "the cheapest is my favorite" when buying ammo in the real world.

 

[tarakian]

147 due to less felt recoil.

 

[Rail Driver]

I preferred the 147gr JHP when I carried a 9mm (Glock 19, then 26). Slower, but heavier and harder hitting in my opinion.

 

[KJS]

147 due to less felt recoil.

Exact opposite of what I'd have guessed. I'd have thought weighing substantially more would give it the most recoil. Though you did specify FELT recoil, so I guess it could actually have the most recoil but be perceived as less.

Is that the case?

 

[Certaindeaf]

I kind of like well built 115's going 1500+fps.. 1500 is the old 1200 these days. They hold together.

 

[Telekinesis]

I'd have thought weighing substantially more would give it the most recoil.

147s are typically slower (and a lot are subsonic), so that could have something to do with felt recoil.

For practice, I usually pick up 115s because that's the easiest to find, but I wouldn't be opposed to using 124s or 147s for practice. For defense I'm using 124gr +Ps because I think it provides a good balance between velocity and weight. But when my suppressor comes in, I'm likely going to be shooting more 147s due to them being (mostly) subsonic. I'm not sure if I'll change my carry ammo, but I'll definitely start stocking more 147s for practice.

 

[777TRUTH]

My order of preference is 124gr, 147gr, 115gr.

My reasons are the feel and POA/POI of the rounds.

 

[Lothar]

The heavier a bullet is, all else being equal, the deeper it will penetrate. So I use exclusively 147gr for my defensive round, and I prefer to practice with the same for the sake of consistency.

 

[Tcruse]

124 seems like the sweet spot. The 115g would be second choice since I think speed is more important than a small amount of extra weight.

 

[dagerv]

I get the best results with 124 with my g19

 

[meanmrmustard]

115 for practice or plinking. 147 for defense.

 

[heeler]

In my Kahr PM9 I tried some Hornady Critical Defense 115gr and I thought they were mild.
Also tried the 124gr Gold Dot Short Barrel and thought they were snappy.
I settled,at least for now, on Winchester Ranger Bonded 147 gr.(RA9B).
It's weird to describe but they dont fill snappy but they do fill robust coming out of the short Kahr.
Very controllable feel.

Edit to add...I use 115gr. fmj for plinking at the range with a couple of mags loaded with the 147's to make up the difference on the shooting difference.

 

[Byrd666]

My tastes follow 777TRUTH, 124gr, 147gr, 115gr.
I like 124 gr. in the house and on my hip
147 gr. at the range first and last
115 gr. middle range time

 

[9mmepiphany]

I personally prefer to stay closer to the original design weight...so, my choice is usually 124gr or 127gr for defense. Luckily CCI Blazer makes a 124 gr practice round.

Having said that, my default function round is the old Federal 115gr 9BP...which is what I run in a gun that doesn't seem as accurate as it should be, it eliminates a varible.

I shoot a lot of 115gr Blazer in practice and when teaching, because it is the cheapest round that functions in all my guns and burns very cleanly.

The old 147gr sub-sonic was a poor experience when our department used to issue it...and I just can't seem to shake the taste enough to shoot it

 

[MCgunner]

Whatever the gun likes. My Kel Tec likes a 115 hornady XTP moving at 1263 fps. It shoots POA and 3.5" at 25 yards accurate off the bench and is 100 percent reliable. Whatever works in YOUR gun. Don't sweat the details otherwise.

 

[browningguy]

I prefer the 147's for target and IDPA, the recoil impulse is much smoother to me and both of my XD's really seem to shoot better with them. For HD all of them are loaded with 124's.

 

[tarakian]

Exact opposite of what I'd have guessed. I'd have thought weighing substantially more would give it the most recoil. Though you did specify FELT recoil, so I guess it could actually have the most recoil but be perceived as less.

Is that the case?

Pretty much. The recoil from 115 is more of a snap, while 147 is more of a push. Powder charge is usually actually a little less for 147.

 

[dprice3844444]

i use whatever works best in my mp5,and i can buy bulk

 

[PRM]

Guess it would depend on the gun being used. I shoot older Walther(s) that were designed for the 124/115 grain bullets. They have always worked great for me... no reason to change. With proper shot placement, they will all do the job.

 

[Okiegunner]

124gr. To me it is the best of both worlds with the proper load and bullitt design. Big enough to count, yet small enough to still get the proper fps.

 

[Sig Bill]

124 +P for me.

 

[redbeardsong]

124 +P for me.

+1

115 or 124 FMJ for the range.

 

[BBDartCA]

147g = +p 115g performance without the 115g stresses on the gun or recoil or noise.

 

[Wildbillz]

For Practice I shoot 124grn reloads cause I got a good deal on 5k of them a while back. If I carry, I like to have 124grn JHPs of one sort or another. I have a bunch of 124grn Fed HydraShoks that I got years ago that I normaly carry. I also got a box of 127grn +P+ of Winchesters Ranger brand. They have the same sort of bullet design as the old Black Talons. So once I can confirm that there good to go in my pistol that will most likly be the round I stock in my G-19.

WB

 

[TrailWolf]

Speer Gold Dot or Remington Golden Saber:

124gr +P JHP