minimum 124gr. the best performers are 147gr.
I don't like 147s at all, inefficient with the small 9x19 case. Fact that they're not 100 percent reliable and don't hit POA in my Kel Tec (a fantastically accurate, reliable gun with 115 and 124s) is enough, anyway, just sayin'. You CAN over-penetrate and threaten bystanders which will get you prison time. Texas law specifies it as a felony crime. I'd rather err on the side of expansion and less penetration. I'll put another shot into him if necessary, but I doubt it would be necessary in a frontal exchange. I'm not law enforcement. I don't have to worry about barriers.
But, really, if you were to get hit with a 115 grain XTP at 1263 fps (avg 10 shots from my P11, 1330 from my Ruger P85), do you really think you wouldn't feel it? Do you really think you could return fire, let alone accurate fire, from a frontal hit from such a load?
Neat thing, my gun is 3.5" at 25 yards accurate and dead on POA with this load and it's 100 percent reliable. All else doesn't matter to me, to tell ya the truth, penetration, expansion, energy, none of it. If I can hit CM and follow it up, who cares about nuance?
Yes, I like XTPs. I load the 90 grain in .380 (don't carry much at all), the 115 in 9x19 (carry a lot), the 180 in .357 magnum (killer on deer and hogs from my Blackhawk), and the 300 grain in .45 colt (a real hog stomper). The one thing they all have in common is superb accuracy. I like that.