Best 9mm defensive ammo?
- Thread starter Greywolf
- Start date
- Status
Scott77
Member
Personally i dont think you can go wrong with Corbon ! It's pretty powerful stuff .
30-06 lover
Member
Gold Dot in the heaviest load you can get.
tronester
Member
Another vote for the Speer Gold Dot. I like the 124 grain +p variety.
MarkW
Member
CorBon 115GR +P JHP. Check out third paragraph under section on 9mm Luger: http://www.chuckhawks.com/ammo_by_anonymous.htm
-Mark
-Mark
LeonCarr
Member
Another vote for Winchester Ranger
Just my .02,
LeonCarr
Just my .02,
LeonCarr
Rotorflyr
Member
Im gonna play the 
's advocate here and say there is no one "best" defensive load. Any of the current load's designed for defensive shooting will do the job if you do. Your best option is see what choices are readily available localy and shoot a couple of boxes of each to see what works best/is most accurate at combat/defensive ranges in your particular gun.
's advocate here and say there is no one "best" defensive load. Any of the current load's designed for defensive shooting will do the job if you do. Your best option is see what choices are readily available localy and shoot a couple of boxes of each to see what works best/is most accurate at combat/defensive ranges in your particular gun.Ken Rainey
Member
Rotorflyr got it right...even the (gasp) FMJ loads will work if you do your part...but if I used a FMJ, I'd prefer it to be the 147 grain load as long as it functioned 100% in your pistol....My G26 don't like the Speer Lawman 147 FMJ load, the nose profile would sometimes hang on the feed ramp when first loading the chamber (didn't during firing). Winchester and Remington worked fine. Like he said, as long as it works in your pistol and you are proficient with it. I use the 147s in the Ranger T load and keep a mag of 147 FMJ for back up but wouldn't feel too bad using the FMJs as primary....
You can argue till the cows come home on stupid ballistics data, but what it comes down to is what you can afford to shoot all the time. It's best to practice with the ammo you will be using for CCW, and for that reason I stick with WWB personal defence rounds.
Get them at Wal*Mart in the heaviest 9mm load of 147gr, and get 50 rounds for something like $11-12. That to me is far more worthwhile than spending almost a dollar a round for the Corbon Pow-R-Ball round, or Gold Dots etc..
Get them at Wal*Mart in the heaviest 9mm load of 147gr, and get 50 rounds for something like $11-12. That to me is far more worthwhile than spending almost a dollar a round for the Corbon Pow-R-Ball round, or Gold Dots etc..
Last edited:
BHPshooter
Member
I'm a big fan of the Speer 124-grain Gold Dot. I also have a good opinion of the Hornady XTP 124-grain. (I'm a fan of the mid-weight slugs).
Wes
Wes
WeedWhacker
Member
I prefer the 124gr Speer Gold Dots, normal pressure. The recoil seems identical to the white box 9mm ammo (115gr?) from Wally World, and at ~10 cents a round, it's cheap to practice with.
Remember that it is preferable that your self-defense load's bullet stops inside the bad guy, rather than overpenetrating. Penetration on 9mm is actually pretty high, relatively speaking, so I don't care to use +P nor +P+ rounds. I figure if 16 or 13 rounds can't solve the problem, I'd better reload. If that still doesn't solve the problem, I probably should have taken more time to practice, or probably should have taken a rifle instead of a 9mm for grizzly hunting.
Whatever you choose: practice, practice, practice.
Remember that it is preferable that your self-defense load's bullet stops inside the bad guy, rather than overpenetrating. Penetration on 9mm is actually pretty high, relatively speaking, so I don't care to use +P nor +P+ rounds. I figure if 16 or 13 rounds can't solve the problem, I'd better reload. If that still doesn't solve the problem, I probably should have taken more time to practice, or probably should have taken a rifle instead of a 9mm for grizzly hunting.
Whatever you choose: practice, practice, practice.
Michigunner
Member
- Joined
- May 14, 2005
- Messages
- 91
I suggest any of these standard premium factory rounds. If you read forums on the Internet, day and night, they seem to be the most desired choices. Of course, practice is another matter if you want inexpensive ammo.
Winchester LEO Ranger
Golden Saber
Gold Dot
Hydra-Shok
Remember to fire several and see if your gun likes them OK.
Bill
Winchester LEO Ranger
Golden Saber
Gold Dot
Hydra-Shok
Remember to fire several and see if your gun likes them OK.
Bill
Rotorflyr
Member
Weed,
You make a good point about penetration and along those lines I know of one or two people who say they load up with higher velocity (ie: +p) ammo in the winter* and use "standard" rounds the rest of the year, based on the fact that heavier clothing is worn in the winter and underpenetration may be a problem.
*Cold climate areas
You make a good point about penetration and along those lines I know of one or two people who say they load up with higher velocity (ie: +p) ammo in the winter* and use "standard" rounds the rest of the year, based on the fact that heavier clothing is worn in the winter and underpenetration may be a problem.
*Cold climate areas
Sport45
Member
Although I'm not speaking from experience, I would recommend avoiding the 147gr rounds unless they are +p. They used to have a bad reputation fornot having enough velocity to reliably expand. Has this changed?
Michigunner
Member
- Joined
- May 14, 2005
- Messages
- 91
Sport45,
I remember when 147 gr rounds were always given negative reviews.
However, the last year or two they seem to be very highly regarded.
I believe many police departments use them for 9mm.
Meanwhile, I understand the overwhelming favorite is a Glock 22 in .40 S&W, according to my reading.
I remember when 147 gr rounds were always given negative reviews.
However, the last year or two they seem to be very highly regarded.
I believe many police departments use them for 9mm.
Meanwhile, I understand the overwhelming favorite is a Glock 22 in .40 S&W, according to my reading.
Although I'm not speaking from experience, I would recommend avoiding the 147gr rounds unless they are +p. They used to have a bad reputation fornot having enough velocity to reliably expand. Has this changed?
I've seen hundreds of autopsies (most were death by gunshot wound) and I've never seen an expanded handgun round. It rarely happens in human tissues, although when it does, it can be disasterous (a certain event involving .357 Winchester Silvertips comes to mind). In any event, the most important factor in handgun wounding effectiveness is sufficient penetration (this presupposes reliability and accuracy) to reach vital organs and/or break bones.
Overpenetration should be a non-issue.
-David
P.S. I carry 147gr rounds in my G19
I've seen hundreds of autopsies (most were death by gunshot wound) and I've never seen an expanded handgun round. It rarely happens in human tissues, although when it does, it can be disasterous (a certain event involving .357 Winchester Silvertips comes to mind). In any event, the most important factor in handgun wounding effectiveness is sufficient penetration (this presupposes reliability and accuracy) to reach vital organs and/or break bones.
Overpenetration should be a non-issue.
-David
P.S. I carry 147gr rounds in my G19
Greybeard
Member
FWIW, the Ranger 127g +P+ loads were smokin' out of LeonCarr's Glock 26 the other night. Chrono recorded 5-shot string as follows: 1270, 1258, 1270, 1276, 1267 (average fps: 1268).) Only slightly better from Glock 17: 1,322.
(I found 'em at Denton gun show last weekend for $22 per 50.)
(I found 'em at Denton gun show last weekend for $22 per 50.)
Glad I caught this 1 before it got out of hand. There is only 1 9mm defensive load that is hands down far and away the best is Black Hills ammo. Check the balistics that include 1250+ velocity, 17" penetration and a whopping .804 in diameter. Nothing else comes close.
EZ CZ75
Member
Wait just a minute...
Y'all had better check out the 115 gr load from DoubleTap Ammo. IRIC, it produces 511 ft/lbs of energy at the muzzle! Don't remember the exact velocity and my work websense won't allow me to check, but it is the hottest I have seen.
I personally use Fiocchi 115 gr JHP that produce 400 ft/lbs at the muzzle. It is only $8.50 for 50 and is accurate and clean. Plus, I have never had a hiccup with that ammo. Cheap enough to practice with and good enough to carry. What more can you ask for?
Y'all had better check out the 115 gr load from DoubleTap Ammo. IRIC, it produces 511 ft/lbs of energy at the muzzle! Don't remember the exact velocity and my work websense won't allow me to check, but it is the hottest I have seen.
I personally use Fiocchi 115 gr JHP that produce 400 ft/lbs at the muzzle. It is only $8.50 for 50 and is accurate and clean. Plus, I have never had a hiccup with that ammo. Cheap enough to practice with and good enough to carry. What more can you ask for?
cookejdr wrote <I've never seen an expanded handgun round. It rarely happens in human tissues....the most important factor in handgun wounding effectiveness is sufficient penetration to reach vital organs and/or break bones>
This is rather an astounding statement in view of the proliferation of hollowpoint and other expanding bullets on the market. What you write about penetration endorses FMJ bullets and by implication smaller caliber weapons as there is less need for speed without expansion. You sure you haven't been looking at entirely at mousegun wounds? Come to think of it, John Browning was indeed the designer of the very popular .380 APC 9X19mm Kurtz round, and Browning was known to get it right the first time around. And certainly British Intelligence, if there is such a thing, could not be wrong in recommending a .380 for James Bond. "Like a brick throught a window" is how they put it. That sounds like the kind of firepower more than adequate for self defense.
I spent years looking at autopsies as a part of my job. The most common calibers (in no particular order) were 9mm, .40, .45, and .357, although I have also seen 12 gauge, 30-30, .25acp , 22lr, .380 etc.
I was reading the famous/infamous FBI report from 1989 that led to the 10mm/.40 S&W development, when I realized I was never seeing expanded hp's in handgun fatalities. I asked one of our ME's (the dr's who perform the autopsies) and she said she rarely sees expanded hp handgun bullets. Keep in mind she sees gunshot wounds almost every day. I asked some of the other ME's, and they all gave the report: they rarely or never saw expanded handgun hp's. Sometimes you see jacket separation, but rarely expansion. Classic mushrooms? Never.
Anyway, I've posted about this before, sometimes to much derision. Whatever. This is what I saw over hundreds of cases, and I asked the ME's about their experiences from thousands of others, and it matched mine. YMMV.
-David
This is rather an astounding statement in view of the proliferation of hollowpoint and other expanding bullets on the market. What you write about penetration endorses FMJ bullets and by implication smaller caliber weapons as there is less need for speed without expansion. You sure you haven't been looking at entirely at mousegun wounds? Come to think of it, John Browning was indeed the designer of the very popular .380 APC 9X19mm Kurtz round, and Browning was known to get it right the first time around. And certainly British Intelligence, if there is such a thing, could not be wrong in recommending a .380 for James Bond. "Like a brick throught a window" is how they put it. That sounds like the kind of firepower more than adequate for self defense.
I spent years looking at autopsies as a part of my job. The most common calibers (in no particular order) were 9mm, .40, .45, and .357, although I have also seen 12 gauge, 30-30, .25acp , 22lr, .380 etc.
I was reading the famous/infamous FBI report from 1989 that led to the 10mm/.40 S&W development, when I realized I was never seeing expanded hp's in handgun fatalities. I asked one of our ME's (the dr's who perform the autopsies) and she said she rarely sees expanded hp handgun bullets. Keep in mind she sees gunshot wounds almost every day. I asked some of the other ME's, and they all gave the report: they rarely or never saw expanded handgun hp's. Sometimes you see jacket separation, but rarely expansion. Classic mushrooms? Never.
Anyway, I've posted about this before, sometimes to much derision. Whatever. This is what I saw over hundreds of cases, and I asked the ME's about their experiences from thousands of others, and it matched mine. YMMV.
-David
Ken Rainey
Member
Can't argue with facts, even though it may not be what we want to believe. My very limited experience goes along with David's and what I've gathered from Doctors and Medical Examiners as well. Makes you say "Hmm" don't it. I know an M.D./M.E. that carried a snub .38 S&W - his ammo: a 158 grain LSWC with an X cut in the nose of the bullet. 
- Status
