Best Self Defense ammunition

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Byrd666

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Here's my question, what is and who makes the best self defense ammunition that will not go through the designated target? Meaning the round will stop the threat, and or stop inside the the threat without causing damage or danger to other parties close by. Or will not go through the threat and through the walls into my neighbor's abode. I've read and heard about some types of hollow points that get "caked" with stuff and ends up acting like a FMJ round. The ammunition I'm asking about in particular is .40, .380, .357, .38, and 9mm.

I'm almost positive this has been asked before, just not sure where to look.
 
You're looking for something hand crafted by minotaurs, forged in the fires of mordor and put together by the elves of never-never land.

You have a spectrum: At one end, the glasser "safety" rounds, made of plastic and snakeshot. And like snakeshot, they create very shallow, messy wounds that aren't able to stop a determined attacker since they almost never reach vital organs. On the other end, you have FMJ or super tough hard-cast hunting bullets that will penetrate the attacker, your car, your neighbor's car, the guy robbing your neighbor and your neighbor. The sweet spot is somewhere in the middle. You're looking for a modern, well designed JHP or SWCHP (for the revolver) that shows good clogging resistance. Look for independent tests of the chosen round. The FBI standard of 12" of penetration is a good place to start.

Weirdly enough, high velocity rifle rounds like the .223 or 5.45 are the "safest" when involving a house since they often fragment when hitting drywall (or the criminal actor in front of the wall) and still provide enough energy to be highly effective. But... a handgun is far easier to grab and hold in one hand with a flashlight in the other while you check if that bump was your cat or your neighbor's meth-addled kid trying to do a little shopping.
 
Just as a side note, glazer over-penetrated several drywall sheets in box of truth tests, suggesting quite the opposite. Google will provide you the link I don't have time to hunt down so barring the study that says it has inadequate penetration (I always see it mentioned, never linked or substantiated) you might want to take it for internet heresay versus actual live fire drywall tests.

And lol at the dwarven crafted +5 five slugs of smiting.
 
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Shot placement. You do your part, the bullet will do its job.

Money is better spend on more inexpensive ammo for training than the "magic" bullet at 4 x the cost (meaning less training).
 
+1 leadcounsel

fmj, hp, slug, buckshot. Doesn't really matter if you can't place the bullet where it is intended to go. And please don't start another caliber war.
 
Caliber is a hedge against accuracy. As long as you know that going in, there's no problem with these sort of discussions.
 
There is some very bad news I must tell you. Any round which can kill a person can also go through a wall and kill a person. Walls are not so solidly built as you might think. If you are that worried about overpenetration, then use a knife or some other melee weapon. As broadsidebarn said, I'm not going to get into a caliber war of different shot loads vs rifle rounds vs pistol bullets. I'm just stating the simple truth. It could very well be quite different if you live in a solidly constructed old home, but a modern suburban subdivision type housing is pretty flimsy. Do yourself a favor and do not make wall penetration the deciding factor in whatever you choose to purchase. The probability of making an overpenetration kill against someone by accident is much lower than the probability that an insufficiently damaging bullet wound will get you killed by an intruder.
 
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It depends on the wall, every person has a different situation, I live in a house that was built over 100 years ago with solid tongue and groove walls made from old growth timber, I dont know what bullet penetration would be through them, but I can tell you it is nearly impossible to drive a nail into them.
 
The best home defense cartridge is the one in the chamber at the time it's needed. Like everyone else said - there's a lot to be said for the "well-placed shot".
 
 
First off, I have no intention whatsoever of starting another caliber war. The calibers in question are my personal carry/home defense weapons variants. And shot placement was already taken into account by me. But, I've read on quite a few occasions where a well placed round will still only follow the path of least resistance and exit cleanly through soft tissue. Like a guy I knew from years ago that was shot nine times with a 9mm and only had some hole scars to show he'd been shot at all. And yes, I did see them myself. Granted that was over twenty years ago. And I'm sure advances in munitions have been made.

I'm not asking for, or looking for a magic bullet. I just want to know that the round I put in the BG is going to stay in him/her and not pass through and hit an innocent bystander.

And Tony, that's what I am hoping for but...
 
Byrd666 said:
.The ammunition I'm asking about in particular is .40, .380, .357, .38, and 9mm..
I'm almost positive this has been asked before, just not sure where to look.
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That's a lot of calibers. A lot of calibers equals a lot of logistics and or money.
Were I you, I'd find out what rounds many professional police agencies carry.. often it's not only very effective but much more reasonable in cost than the "new and improved" gee williker whompers. This can be a differnce of $30/20 compared to $20/50.
You need to fire about 200 of any given load out of any given gun to prove its reliability with that load and then loaded magazines etc are more useful than empty ones, so you might as well figure on getting 300 for each caliber. The cost difference of just getting set up is substantial.
Oh, and as for not knowing where too look, are you kidding? Maybe try the.. nevermind.
 
Prefragmented rounds provide the least potential for shooting through a person. No pistol caliber round that I'm aware of will not shoot through at least the 2 layers of drywall in a standard interior wall without the energy to put someone on the other side at risk. If you live in an apartment with thin walls between the apartments there's nothing you can use that won't endanger the people on the other side of the wall. OTOH, if there are brick/block/concrete walls between the apartments then you haven't mentioned any normal ammunition that won't be stopped.

If you're talking about free standing structures with exterior walls and at least OSB sheathing with siding over them, then none of the prefragmented rounds will penetrate your exterior wall and the neighbor's.
 
I like Buffalo Bore.............their 38 Spl +P Outdoorsman I believe has more FPS at 50 than a 158 gr. 357 Mag...but the Kieth style bullets and hard Cast Wad Cutters are terriffic defensive rounds.
 
Hornady Critical Defense are designed to not plug up and have uniform expansion. They are aslo designed to not over penetrate and feed reliably.
 
I just want to know that the round I put in the BG is going to stay in him/her and not pass through and hit an innocent bystander
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what about your misses?

Anything that has the energy to give you a chance of causing an involuntary stop will go through walls. Seriously, have you never heard of "the box o truth"? They demonstrate over and over that anything capable of going through fluid will go through drywall and common barriers. Frangibles don't give good terminal ballistics in meat, and sail through drywall nicely ... failing both of their marketing claims. HP ammo may or may not shed energy in drywall, as they are designed to expand in fluid/meat. Ball will penetrate meat and drywall, as will wadcutter or semiwadcutter ammo.

Choose the most effective rounds you can afford to stock up on, and try to limit the number of shots fired, or at least shoot into the best available backstop if at all possible (example, shooting down a flight of stairs will use your foundation as a backstop if you don't have downstairs neighbors, shooting towards a cinderblock or brick wall rather than drywall and siding)
DO NOT nerf your ammunition, it will either lead to you firing more shots in a less controlled manner or it could lead to you being DEAD. Applying half-assed deadly force is a terrible idea.
 
"...that will not go through the designated target?"

Weirdly enough, high velocity rifle rounds like the .223 or 5.45 are the "safest" when involving a house since they often fragment when hitting drywall
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Not that I know of. While a 40 or 55 gr HP in .223 has a low likelihood of exiting a human attacker hit well (not just in an arm), it will buzz through dry wall nicely and be lethal on the other side.
You have a spectrum
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Agreed. However, if the OP were to choose a pre-fragmented or other low-penetration round (and there are reasons to think carefully before making that call), I'd advise a pretty high energy delivery to try to compensate. Like a .223 or 10mm...or a WHOLE lotta T shot.

:D

OP, I don't think there's a short answer to your question: you're asking for the most dependably expanding bullet in handgun calibers, and that is hotly debated--and it probably varies with caliber. I think that many .357, .40, and .45 HPs are comparable; that selecting the right 9 or .38 load takes care; and that, for me, there is no great .380 load.

And what any of them do at the target is secondary to whether they run in your gun, and whether you can hit well with them.
 
Huh. Well, since you're basically asking for a magic bullet, here are my two answers:

Don't miss.

Live in a brick/masonry/concrete house.
 
load with what your local and or state police use.

and do not miss
which means practice with what you carry
---thats very expensive; so re-load and replicate with lead
the feel and poi of your carry round.

lots of reasons to carry what the police do including the DA would have a hard time tearing into you for your ammo if its what 'his' police use.
 
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