budget vs premiun defense ammo

[FIVETWOSEVEN]

I just use Remington bulk JHP. Even FMJ will do the job out of my .40 so these when they expand will do the trick.

 

[mcdonl]

Im in the buy what you can afford to shoot a lot of...

I do have a couple of questions though that someone may care to answer...

Let's say I buy WWB 9mm, or load with equivalent supplies to get the same load.....

Is there a good HP that would cycle/shoot the same as the load I practice with?

My other thought is regarding situation using the ammo in...

In my rural, low crime area I would most be concerned with home invasion or strong armed robery... both of those are likely going to be badguys who really do not want to get shot. Criminal mindset if you will.... for the most part they have a pretty high sense of self preservation and go to great lengths to NOT get caught.... But, conversley LEOs or folks who live in areas with a higher percentage of "drugged out whackos" and others who are intent on harming you even if you are shooting at them... might benefit from a hi-tech defensive round be more effective in the later scenario where in the former any old round will do.... Just wondering...

 

[Lee D]

depends on which guns im buying ammo for....
premium ammo for my 9mms and .380s, but i do tend to stock up on ball ammo for the .45s

 

[oldfool]

I just get cannot get myself real excited over boutique

me more like CPE and sirsloop, I guess ?
shoot lots, practice, enjoy
misses are equally effective with whitebox as with boutique

If worried enough about the caliber/cartridge you use/carry for whatever you do, they make bigger/badder caliber guns for the same reason they make better-badder-boutique-ammo, and "bring enough gun" always struck me as much about bringing enough gun for the load you shoot through it, at least as much as ballistics of of what you load it up with
(as good an excuse as ever there was for owning multiple calibers, you know)

but I have less than zero interest in telling you that you are doing it "wrong"
nobody gets to decide what's best for you, except you
freedom of choice, what's not to love about that ?

 

[bluethunder1962]

I shoot the cheap stuff for having fun but first thing I do when I ge home is load everything up with the good stuff.

 

[SHR970]

The generally accepted standard for effective stopages is the FBI protocol.

I just knew the Miami shootout would surface sooner or later.

 

[tomaz45]

I shoot the cheap stuff for practice. However, when it comes to my defensive rounds, I stuff my gun with as much research and know-how as I can buy. When and if that "I thought this might happen" moment occurs, I will have the ability to do what needs to be done, and my lawyer will have an open box of ammo with "DEFENSE"!!! colorfully printed on all sides by a well repected manufacturer. I want my jury to understand that this was not "tactical", not "home made real killers", but mass marketed "Defense".

 

[wally]

Where you place the bullet on the target is far more important in determining handgun effectiveness than which bullet it happens to be.

If you ammo goes BANG! every time and you are fast and accurate with it, don't worry about what brand it is.

 

[Loosedhorse]

I am surprised they do not come up with black painted ammo and call it tactical

When Hornady first came out with it's TAP ammo, they did in fact use "tactical" black-nickel cases:



Folks (like me) complained that black cases have traditionally been used for action-proving dummy rounds:



So, the new ammo defeated the point of using black cases for dummy rounds. Two things happened: Hornady when back to brass-colored cases, and dummy rounds got colorful:

And so a company called Natec decided that colored polymer case LIVE ammo would be a great idea.

Now THAT's tactical.

 

[Jaymo]

FBI protocol and ammo are great for the FBI, but not for CC citizens. Our requirements are diffferent than theirs.
LE has a potential need to shoot through light barriers to hit a BG. We do not.

 

[fatcat4620]

Check ammunitiontogo.com they often have top of the line ammo at budget prices

 

[NG VI]

FBI protocol and ammo are great for the FBI, but not for CC citizens. Our requirements are diffferent than theirs.
LE has a potential need to shoot through light barriers to hit a BG. We do not.

Dunno where you're getting that, law enforcement people carry handguns for personal defense, just like anyone else. Notice that any time they expect there could be shooting they show up in big groups carrying AR-15s and shotguns? The chances that a police officer is going to someday be involved in a shooting is definitely higher than your average bear's, but that doesn't mean that personal defense shooting has substantially different requirements.

What works best for the last-ditch defensive weapon of people who sometimes have to protect their lives from various disturbed individuals, is the best thing for anybody carrying a weapon in case they are ever targeted by a disturbed individual.

And the FBI protocols aren't strictly about performance through barriers. Besides, the barrier performance of rounds that do well in the FBI tests do so because they are less sensitive to the barrier, not because they are any better at penetrating it. Every conventional bullet you can stuff into a service caliber handgun is absolutely going to be lethal and capable of penetrating lots of human after passing through auto glass, wallboard, sheet metal, or heavy clothing.

The bullets that are said to do 'well' in the FBI tests are the ones that behave the most like an unobstructed shot, regardless

 

[coalman]

I'd skip a meal or two if that's what it took to afford premium SD ammo.

 

[buck460XVR]

I think what we experience is the manufacturer trying to sell more product and to do so they have to convince us our old standbys are not as good as we thought, but these new ones work twice as good...do they? I don't think humans have gotten any tougher either. A chunk of lead, even if it doesn't expand perfectly is still something the human body doesn't tolerate well.

Where you place the bullet on the target is far more important in determining handgun effectiveness than which bullet it happens to be.

If you ammo goes BANG! every time and you are fast and accurate with it, don't worry about what brand it is.

Wally and jhco50 have a good handle on it. That said, I'm the first person that will tell folks to use what they are most comfortable with when it comes to SD/HD. This is for both the firearm and the ammo they use in it. It is your life and the lives of your loved ones you are trying to protect, and if the firearm or the ammo does not perform and someone gets hurt because of it, you can only hold yourself responsible. Myself, I'm most comfortable using premium handloads.......

 

[JRH6856]

IMO, premium ammo may perform differently than standard ammo, but shot placement determines which one performs better. YMMV with your accuracy.

 

[rwilson37643]

The terminal performance of ANY handgun round leaves a lot to be desired. Premium ammo may outperform standard ammo, but the difference is not phenomenal. I test carry ammo by shooting at a row of gallon jugs, If it will go through at least 3 but less than 6 with some expansion i'm happy. If it violently disrupts the firs 2 I'm happier. Before ammo even makes it to this test it has to run through at least 500 rounds without a malfunction and give acceptable groups (3 inch at 25 yards for a standard carry gun).

 

[JohnBiltz]

I keep hearing this same theme come up. Shot placement is more important, this is of course true but in the context of this thread its pretty meaningless. You are not going to shoot better with cheap ammo. If anything cheap ammo is less accurate and less reliable. The cheaper the ammo the more I see solidly dented but unfired primers. You can load up with ammo that has proven so ineffective at stopping things that it is banned for hunting pretty much everywhere if you want but its penny smart and pound foolish. For another $10 bucks a year you can buy something a lot more effective.

 

[hardluk1]

Georgia arms new 9MM 124gr+p. better price great speer bullet at a price thats hard to better

 

[JRH6856]

Shot placement is more important, this is of course true but in the context of this thread its pretty meaningless.

The day shot placement becomes meaningless in any context is the day I start carrying hand grenades for SD.

 

[raubvogel]

The day shot placement becomes meaningless in any context is the day I start carrying hand grenades for SD.

I thought hand grenades was just to help thinking, as Peter Griffin has demonstrated.

 

[JRH6856]

??? Who is Peter Griffin?

 

[fatcat4620]

You dont know who peter griffin is? Click link
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...pOXxAQ&usg=AFQjCNHMtA4g1Jo8fcubFDdeU-bZusZ57g

 

[JRH6856]

Family Guy? Whatever. I've never watched that show. I may have watched the Simpsons once or twice.

 

[mrvco]

I'm with Cartman regarding "The Family Guy".

I bought enough Corbon 9mm +p SD ammo to load two mags and make sure it ran in my pistol. I didn't notice any difference in accuracy over my normal range ammunition at HD/SD distances, so I certainly don't feel compelled to spend a buck a round to practice with it.

Edit: And who came up with the logic that "shot placement" DOESN'T matter? Are they hoping that a really loud gun will be enough to scare away a BG?

 

[JohnBiltz]

The day shot placement becomes meaningless in any context is the day I start carrying hand grenades for SD.

Its meaningless when its not in context. When the question is whether cheap ammo is as good to carry as quality ammo, then yes its pretty meaningless.