Choice of 9mm Rounds

[emb]

I'm new to this forum and am impressed with what I have been reading on the posts. I'm not new to handgunning, but I finally decided that a CCW license might be in my best interests. I recently purchased a CZ 9mm Rami P for my carry weapon. Now comes the choice of ammo. The choice is rather confusing to me.

For no real reason except that it is a big bullet, I have loaded my 9mm's with some version of a 147 grn hollow point. Now they make "personal defense" rounds with lighter bullets and more velocity. The practice fodder from Winchester and Remington is 115 grn. Someone then reccommended that I go with a 115 grn bullet for reasons that I don't understand.

Is the lighter bullet going faster better than the bigger bullet going slower? Is there any practical reason to choose one over the other?

 

[usp9]

Someone then reccommended that I go with a 115 grn bullet for reasons that I don't understand.

Possibly they said this so that your practice shooting would closely mimmic your carry ammo characteristics.

I choose carry ammo based on how well I shoot it in a particular pistol. The characteristics I look for are;
1) Quality...it must be a reliable round. Most top manufacturers have excellent QC.
2) Does it feed well in my pistol?
3) Is it any more accurate than another?
4) Is the bullet a good design? I admit I'm partial to Hornady XTP and Speer Gold Dot. There are other good bullets.
5) Muzzle flash...the lower, the better.
6) Cost...has no influence. Quality and reliability are primo.

I avoid the high tech, go faster, wiz-bang round of the month club. Find a round that works and stick with it. There is no magic round that saves you from 400 pound maniacs. Practice may however.

My personal choice is HornadyTAP FPD, 124 gr. I get excellent accuracy and reliability from them. Bulk, cheap ammo for practice, lots of practice and quality ammo for carry. IMHO.

 

[emb]

Thankyou. I've been using Federal Hydrashok and more recently Winchester hollow points. I did not know that Hornady had an XTP bullet for this caliber.

 

[strat81]

usp9 hit it right on the head, including my choice of carry ammo. Another plus for Hornady TAP FPD is the black coating which is very slick and seems to aid in feeding.

Be careful, some 9mm pistols don't do very well with 147gr ammo. Head over to brassfetcher.com to see some gelatin tests.

That being said, almost any commercially made JHP should serve you well. Often, the differences in velocity and expansion are academic, and no round is 100% guaranteed to feed in your gun, expand perfectly every time, and achieve advertised velocity with every shot.

If you want velocity, check out Double Tap Ammo, Buffalo Bore Ammo, and Winchester Ranger T Law Enforcement Only (+p+) Ammo.

 

[skinewmexico]

Whatever feeds reliably. It's all shot placement.

 

[swabjocky]

It all depends on what I am doing.

 

[Japle]

Ten years ago, this was a serious problem. Not now. If you buy any of the current premium JHP ammo, you’ll be OK as long as it functions 100% in your gun and shoots to your preferred point of impact.

Cor Bon, Gold Dots, XTP, TAP or whatever, the major ammo companies have done their research and nobody you shoot will ever be able to tell the difference.

Personally, I carry 115 gr Federal 9PBLE in my Glock 19. It has a long-standing reputation for excellent performance, it runs 100% and shoots right on the sights. Ammoman often has it on sale.

John
Cape Canaveral

 

[Geno]

Japle said:

Cor Bon, Gold Dots, XTP, TAP or whatever, the major ammo companies have done their research and nobody you shoot will ever be able to tell the difference.

That's not a very THR comment.

Doc2005

 

[1 old 0311]

If you look at the target that came with your CZ you will see that the ammo used in testing was S&B. I use any 115 gr junk ammo for practice, but my carry ammo is S&B 115 gr JHP.

 

[shamus]

lighter hollow points are faster, expand more reliably. Heavier bullets penetrate deeper and historically have not expand as reliably. Though the ammo companies have apparently jiggered their 147 grain jhps to reliably expand.

I'd feel comfortable with either. It seems rather apples/oranges to me. I don't believe in magic bullets. The most important thing is shot placement.

 

[emb]

Thanks guys. I ran some Whinchester 147 gns Hps today. They did not feed reliably. The 124s and 115s did. They feed just fine in my S&W 59, but not the Rami. I just assumed that they would feed in the Rami as well. I'll keep trying. I'm already loading the XTP bullets in my .45 Blackhawk, and really like that bullet. I think I'll try the Hornady TAPS in either 115 or 124 grns.

Thankyou.