124gr. +P or 147 gr. 9mm

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ColtraneM3

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I just got a Springfield XDM in 9mm as my first handgun (typically I'm a Sig guy, but I'm too poor for a Sig at the moment, so I went for the next best thing). Now, I'm just going to run no-frills Winchester target rounds at the range for practice, but for home defense I'm a little inexperienced with selecting ammunition.

If I had my choice in a self defense situation I'd just get my Rem 870 tactical out of the closet, but understanding that I might not be able to or have time to get to my closet, I want to make sure I have something close by that's easily grab-able.

I did a little browsing and selected a box of Winchester 124gr. +P hollow point rounds over the 147gr. hollow points in the interest of velocity and energy on impact, but I'm curious what everyone else has to say. Do you prefer the lighter, faster rounds or the heavier, slower ones?
 
I use the 147 grain for SD that is what the police in this are used before going to the 40
 
I gave serious consideration to the 147, but I read that it has more potential to over penetrate, which concerned me a bit for use in my house...
 
They're both fine. I prefer the 124 grainer myself, partly because it's easier to find training ammo in the same weight. NYPD seems pleased with that load.
 
I haven't tryed but have loaded some 147gr Rem GS to +P data, have tryed the 124gr GS loaded to +P data for crude expansion tests in stacked wet cardboard and also Longdayjake's 124gr JHP - believe me you don't want to take either anywhere near COM.:eek:
 
i prefer the Rem Golden Saber 147gr. according to brassfetcher it penetrates 12" and expands to .60+. thats good enough for me.

also....it has a rep for feeding in pistols that wont normally feed HP.
 
my department issues the Ranger 127gr +P+ and have been very happy with it's performance.

i carry it in my personal guns too, but have also had good lucky with the Speer 124gr +P Gold Dots which seem to have a good record too
 
i carry a Model 39 smith. It does like hollow points to well. Tried the Federal EFMJ they are 124+p's and havent had a problem in 100rds fired.
 
Ammo selection for PD's is reliability first, "EXTREME SHOCK" effect second.

Everybody uses high quality (expensive) hollow-points nowdays.

Choose whatever works best in your gun.
If both loads function equally well, you can consider them equally effective.

Handgun_gel_comparison.jpg
 
According to Internet test, 9mm 147 gr HST did better job than 124 gr/ 124 gr P+.

and i have 500 rd of 147gr HST.:evil:
 
I use the Federal 115 gr. +P+ or the Winchester Ranger 127 gr. +P+ simply because my pistol prefers the light to medium weight rounds, and these have a good track record. There are a number of good 124 gr. +P loads that I would also be very comfortable with. I wouldn't mind any of the current top-tier 147 gr. loadings either, as they seem to work quite well, too.

All the data seems to indicate that, especially between the mid-weight +Ps and the 147 gr. loads, they are really just tweaking different parts of the formula to get essentially the same results. The heavier bullets appear to go through barriers a bit better, the lighter bullets might tend to overpenetrate a bit less…or so they say. In the end, it looks like all top quality 115-127 gr. +P and +P+, and 147 gr. loads do just about as good in the vast majority of scenarios. Which is great, because you can pick what works best in your gun, and not worry whether or not you're missing out on something.
 
There was a time (10 to 15 years ago) when 147gr. loads were considered garbage out of a pistol. The reason that was given... the 147s were designed to be reliable in semi and full auto guns like the MP-5 (many of which are configured to be sound surpressed). The lighter rounds would not cycle the action on these guns and the high velocity rounds and were "louder" than desired. Thus the birth of the 147gr. In pistols, the 147s were deemed as being inferior to the lighter loads in 9mm.

I guess that line of thinking has been largely put down as it seems there are many who have settled on the 147. For me, I still use the classic Federal 9BP load (115gr. JHP) in all of my 9mm pistols. It has proven to be the most accurate and reliable load I have used and is not going to punish my guns, like some of the +p stuff can do.

Call me old fashioned...

I guess those
 
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