Looking for a new 9mm carry load.

I'd be tempted to look into the Fiocchi if you're going to buy a lot.. I know the FMJ is loaded hotter than "normal" and it's good stuff, for FMJ.
It seems I remember seeing the "old" 115gr JHP Remington's at Malwart for very reasonable recently. That's good performing ammo.

I like the Rem Golden Saber. It seems to be accurate and reliable. The 147 gr seems to kick a bit harder than the 124 gr and gives up some velocity over the 124 gr. I like the 124 gr better, but would use either one.

Back in my day as a LE and we switched from revolvers to Autos in 9mm, we were issued Remington 115 gr JHP. Never has a problem and totally reliable. Recently I stopped carring my 1911 (sorry but the weight was finally getting to me), and swtched to a pocket 9mm. The prices for the 20 round boxes of specialty self defense rounds are rediculous in my opinion. I went to one gun store and asked if they had an old box of the Remingtons lying around. They did, but wanted to charge me better than $37.00 for the box. I went to Walmart and found a box of 100 Remington 115 gr. jhp for about $25.00. They shoot better than the 147 gr JHP SD loads I had purchased, have a softer recoil, and I have every confidence in them.

LuckyGunner.com right now has 124gr +p Golden Saber Bonded for $32.50/50 rounds. It shoots very well for me, and that is a pretty decent price for 50 rounds of bonded +p. They also have it at $315.00 for 500 rounds.

I really like the bonded and non-bonded Golden Saber +p's. Also (I may have mentioned this in another thread), if you look on youtube, there is a guy called tnoutdoors9 who tested the non-bonded 124gr +p GS and it expanded and penetrated very, very well.

Saddlebag Preacher said:

Back in my day as a LE and we switched from revolvers to Autos in 9mm, we were issued Remington 115 gr JHP. Never has a problem and totally reliable. Recently I stopped carring my 1911 (sorry but the weight was finally getting to me), and swtched to a pocket 9mm. The prices for the 20 round boxes of specialty self defense rounds are rediculous in my opinion. I went to one gun store and asked if they had an old box of the Remingtons lying around. They did, but wanted to charge me better than $37.00 for the box. I went to Walmart and found a box of 100 Remington 115 gr. jhp for about $25.00. They shoot better than the 147 gr JHP SD loads I had purchased, have a softer recoil, and I have every confidence in them.

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They whap stuff pretty good. The profile is perfect too.

A lot of shooters are ignoring Federal Hydra-Shok ammo. If it's available in your area you should take a good hard look at it. Hydra-Shok ammo shoots well in all our 9mm pistols and the bullet design is very good...
http://www.federalpremium.com/products/details/handgun.aspx?id=393

i alternate hp/ball using the geco 9mm ball outa shotgun news

If you can order online, don't buy single boxes if you can do anything to afford more at once. It gives up one of the major advantagesof ordering online, and that's ease of price shopping. You can spend an hour online and find extremely reasonably priced ammo, especially compared to the prices you listed.

I like www.ammunitiontogo.com, www.tds-us.com, and www.mahdistributors.com or www.mahsupplies.com. All of them are great, Streicher's and I think Weidener's get good reviews too. I also really like www.georgia-arms.com, they load good ammunition, price is great, and you often get an ammo can with your order. And they are great people as well, if they end up short on a given component they're great about getting to you and finding out what kind of swap you'd like.

All bullets will 'work', it's just that the better designed ones will work more reliably and consistently. It's the reason that designers are moving away from the 115 grain and other lightweight bullets in their newer designs. The Hornady Critical Defense is the main exception, and it's designed to penetrate a little less than people generally expect of a defense/duty bullet.

Personally I really like the 147 grain HSTor Ranger-T bullets, HST is cheaper and I found it to feed very well. In a little gun the standard pressure would probably be a better choice, in a bigger one standard pressure delivers a bit more penetration and the +P version gives slightly more expansion, just a bit. I do like it because a little more vigor in a cartridge means the gun should be a little more tolerant of a crappy grip, like you might have shooting one handed into someone you're wrestling with.

I simply carry what I practice with; 115-124 grain anything that cycles well and is proven with my platforms.

If you are hooked on the Hornady stuff, start reloading.

I went to Walmart and found a box of 100 Remington 115 gr. jhp for about $25.00


I been using these in my PF-9 as a carry round and shooting them for practice also.

When we transitioned to 9mm handguns "back in the days", the best round available at the time was the Federal 9BP, 115gr hollowpoint. Better rounds available now, but it is still a good standard pressure round, and can be found at a reasonable price.

Speer Gold Dot JHP or Winchester Ranger-T 147gr. JHP are what I recommend to everyone, especially the Ranger-T, they have consistently good expansion and are my primary defensive round. Also, you shoudl be able to get a box of 50 rounds from $23-$30, depending on where you go. Gold Dots come in a close second, though not as cheap as the Ranger-Ts.

johnsack2001

Yep, that's them, but I spent a whole lot less at wallie world..

Cheap enough to practice with also. So you get the best of both worlds, practice with what you carry.

Michael T,

That's what my pocket pistol is, a PF-9. Bought a S&W mini light for the rail and it wanted to fail to feed on 147 grains HP with the light on it, but not without. I bought the Remmingtons and have had 100% feeding and the recoil isn't as sharp. Little guns require some testing if you add any accessories. I guess the weight can have effects on things.

There are a lot of good ammo out there, so I'm only going by experience.

I like Speer Gold Dots myself.

Ive been using Winchester Ranger 127gr +P+ T-Series RA9TA for awhile now.

http://www.sgammo.com/product/winchester/50rd-9mm-winchester-ranger-127gr-p-t-series-ra9ta

I must admit I have been looking into reloading as of late but the initial investment of ~$700 to reload 500000 rounds

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There, I fixed it for you.

Reloading is really the way to go if you want to shoot a lot. The days of cheap 9mm surplus are long gone. You wont really save money, youll just shoot a lot more for the same money.

My SR9c is loaded with Federal Hydra-Shoks.

http://www.ammunitiontogo.com/index.php/cName/9mm-hollow-point-ammo
The prices on this site are very competitive, and they list both Gold Dots and Ranger-Ts.

http://www.prestostore.com/cgi-bin/store.pl?ref=hotpig27&pd=249882

What are you shooting this ammo out of? I have different pistols that like different ammo. In my LC9 I like Remington standard preasure 124gr Golden Sabres. In a glock 19 I like Seer Gold Dot 124+P. In a Glock 34 or Steel framed full-size pistol I go with Remington 147gr+P Golden Sabres. I find the Golden Sabres in standard preasure have a lot less flash than many other brands. Just my experiance.

Look up federal HST. Thats what I carry in my 17, 19, and 36. Local LE uses them and the expansion is impressive. Cheaperthandirt is a good website. fast shipping and good prices. Ive bought stuff from them maybe 25 times and never had a problem with anything.