Does anyone NOT use expensive hollowpoint ammo in their defensive handguns?

[Airman193SOS]

I keep JHP on hand for defense purposes, and practice mainly with FMJ. Whenever I rotate the JHP rounds out for newer ammo (every 8-12 months) I shoot the old stuff.

That is exactly what I do as well.

[Airman193SOS]

I keep JHP on hand for defense purposes, and practice mainly with FMJ. Whenever I rotate the JHP rounds out for newer ammo (every 8-12 months) I shoot the old stuff.

That is exactly what I do as well.

[apollosmith]

I'm kinda surprised at the number of people that are pretty lackadaisical about their defensive ammo. Yes, shot placement is important, but the chances of me shooting a threat are pretty darn slim, and if I have to, I sure want to have ammo that's going to get the job done right. If a slightly larger, slightly deeper, slightly more damaging bullet wound could mean the difference between the bad guy stopped or me dead, by damn I'm going to load the best ammo for the job.

It's Winchester SXT (Black Talons) for me.

[rich0372]

Don't you have to worry about over penetration with fmj?? I use glasers with my first two shots then golden sabers or ranger for the rest in my 9mm and 40 s&w

[jmancini]

I use specially machined lathe-formed hand-loaded 50BMGs for home defense.

No, seriously, it's mostly Ranger T's for my home defense gun, which I guess count as 'expensive hollowpoint ammo' at nearly $1 a round.

[Killian]

Self Defense:

1. Running
2. If option 1 fails, harsh and threatening language
3. FMJ
4. Butt end of pistol
5. Sincere prayer

[The Lone Haranguer]

I do use JHP bullets for carry/defense and generic FMJ for practice. I may not necessarily use the latest, greatest, most expensive JHPs, however. I am rather fond of the Federal "Classic" and WWB JHPs.

[sm]

Old Fuff's post number 10 , I can relate to.

[1911RjB]

I too keep the hydra shocks load when my gun is left at home. All though i believe placement is keep, expansion seems to help a little bit too.. i keep it loaded with the best rounds i can find. but my wife might be in the situation to use the gun, and i don't care if she kills the person as long as he/she is not comming after her any more.

In my carry. 230gr FMJ's in .45 ACP.

[zxcvbob]

I don't carry a gun. In my HD gun (a S&W model 15, sometimes switched out for a Ruger Security Six) I use hand loaded 158 grain swaged LSWC HP's. I pratice with them some, but I mostly practice with the 158 grain cast bullets loaded with the same powder charge.

[BlindJustice]

I like the Leadhead Hardcast bullets in the same
weight and approx. same velocity as JHPs so they
will be close to same P.O.A. The Leadhead hard
cast are a dime or more a bullet cheaper and this
is for
.357 Mag.( 158 gr.)
.45 ACP / .45 Auto Rim ( 200 gr. or 225 gr. )
.400 CorBon. ( 155 gr. )

Main thing is to know where the
bullet is going,

If I wanted to rent a THompson I'd buy
the cheap 230 gr. FMJ

[Erik]

What ever they give me.

[FM12]

Wadcutters in my .38 snubbies, or whatever else is lying around when I load up. Lacadasical? Yeah, but I'm a pretty good shot. And wads just help me get back on target quicker, with less recoil and noise. Same load I practice with, no surprises.

[perpster]

Can't have Hollow Points in NJ. Go figure.

[kingpin008]

I'm kinda surprised at the number of people that are pretty lackadaisical about their defensive ammo.

I dunno that I'd use the word "lackadaisical" to describe .45 ACP slugs flying towards an attacker, no matter what shape they may happen to take. I have no problem with hollow points - I just believe in using the right ammo in the gun I shoot. As far as the 1911 goes, that's hardball. I don't care what modern tweaks have been made, the pistol was designed for hardball, period.

And besides - there is plenty of evidence out there of various brands of hollowpoint rounds filling up with clothing material or what-have-you and not expanding, or just plain not working properly for whatever reason. With hardball, you have a .45 caliber (or whatever caliber you're working with) hole, every time. That's good enough for me.

[sm]

I'm kinda surprised at the number of people that are pretty lackadaisical about their defensive ammo.

No. As Old Fuff said in his post 10...



I had Mentors & Elders. Ladies and Gents that had BTDT and survived.
MASH nurse, killed with hardball from a Gov't 45 when the enemy decided to come visit.

Another, in another Country, Preferred 32ACP FMJ, again he survived and others took a dirt nap.

Cops, when I coming up, shot qualification out to 50 yards , not feet, yards.

I get bigger, and am working in the Main OR.
One patient stuck a .357 revolver in his mouth and pulled the trigger on a .357 loading, and lived.

Another patient had been shot 14 times. He lived.
Still we did not know what all he had been shot with, until we got into him and officers investigated the scene. Ammunitions ran from 32ACP, .380ACP, 9mm, .45ACP, .38spl , .357 .
The two most life threatening wounds, the .32ACP FMJ and .380 FMJ because of where they were "placed".

Hey even the fella shot with a standard load of Nine Pellet 00 buck lived.

No magic guns, no magic ammo. Shot Placement, and Lady Luck is just about it. Oh and being real darn quick about it.

[makarovnik]

I use inexpensive S&B FMJ in my .45acp and 9mm and .380acp. I use Wolf FMJ in my makarov. I would use Wolf in all of them except the steel casings are hard on extractors. Makarovs can handle it and the extractors are cheap and easy to replace anyhow. I don't risk it on my American made pistols.

[skeeter1]

Nope. The FMJs and cast SWCs are strictly for the range. When it's my butt (or a family members butt) on the line, I reach for the most expensive ammo I can get my hands on. My personal favorites are Winchester Silvertips and Hornady XTPs. When it comes to SD/HD, I'm not about to cheap out on ammo.

[Old Fuff]

skeeter1:

The Old Fuff and others that don't happen to use current-cult ammunition aren't necessarily tightwads, and I can say that with certainty when it comes to me. We aren’t foolish either. I could post a fair sized list of honest-to-goodness 20th century gunfighters who didn’t need some kind of magic bullet to feel warm and fuzzy.

What protect me and mine is marksmanship, and the knowledge of where to place the bullet where it will do whatever it’s supposed to do. In discussions with emergency room surgeons I’ve been told that they can’t tell what kind of a bullet made a wound (other then it was big or small) until they recover the slug. More so, it’s not unusual for someone who has been hit by (so called) high performance ammunition in a non-vital area to make it to the emergency room under there own power.

Rather then bullet expansion I worry more about penetration – not too much but too little. To disable an assailant who is in the process of trying to end your life, or that of someone else, you have to be able to reach that particular vital organ the will instantly stop the attack, and to do this you may have to get through some light barrier material or heavy bone or muscle. In handguns with concealable barrel lengths effective hollow-point bullets are usually lighter weight so that they can be driven at higher velocities required for expansion. Further they are designed to limit penetration – which is what I don’t want.

You can pick whatever you want, but if others and I pick something else it’s for good reasons, not because we are too cheap to buy a box of ammunition.

[Whirlwind06]

I could never afford the top shelf ammo. I use WWB JHP from Walmart 147 grain 9mm and 230 grain .45. If they open up great if not it's still a heavy round, which seems to me to be the best.

[Cannonball888]

I use FMJ only in my P3AT. In .380 you are better off with deeper penetration rather than expansion with less penetration.

[DWARREN123]

I use Rem JHP's in my hand guns. Wal-Mart 100 round boxes, not that expensive but they run thru them pretty good and are bad guy accurate.

[mavracer]

You can pick whatever you want, but if others and I pick something else it’s for good reasons, not because we are too cheap to buy a box of ammunition.

there are more reasons I use good SD ammo than just bullet design.most use nickel plated cases which don't tarnish which may cause feeding issues.they also seal the primers and some even seal the bullet.many use flash suppressed powder(shoot some remmi umc 115 jhp and then shoot 124+p golden sabers,the GS are a bigger bullet going faster yet have less muzzle flash).I agree that bullet placement is more important which is why I choose the best ammo that performs well both function and accuracy.JMHO YMMV

[40SW]

I love how everyone become a ballistics criminologist in threads like these. I usually wait several pages before chiming in.

Consider these facts.

1. Consider the climate where you live. Look at how people dress. Colder cliimates generate more layers of clothing, hence the requirement for greater penetration.

2. Examine the barrel length and caliber of your weapon. Velocity output is important for said penetration , expansion, and bullet weight retention requirements. Choose your ammunition accordingly.

3. Overpenetration can happen with any ammunition choice you make. Make sure you identify your target with 100% certainty. Apartments, adjacent housing, and densly populated areas carry more risk, but there is no such thing as 100% risk free. Know your target and whats beyond.

4. Your grandfather did plenty well with a full wadcutter and his Smith and Wesson police issue. Not much has changed. Shot placement still rules the day, marketing gimmicks don't

5. If you enjoy spending $50 on a box of defensive frangible ammunition, then join the United States Marshalls and get them for free.

[lance22]

My daily carry -
.40 - Gold Dots, Golden Sabres, and Hydrashoks depending on what's laying around

.45 - Gold Dots, WWB FMJ. Won't use hydrashoks in .45

Home defence - 00 Buck !