Lighter and faster or heavier and slower? Which load is a better self defense round?

[ericyp]

Both are Speer gold dots.

One is 115 grains moving 1400 fps.

The other is 124 grains moving 1300 fps.

A 147 grain loading is also available at 1120.

I think one of the first two would be best to be sure I'll get enough speed up for reliable expansion, right?
The 2nd seems to mimick a light or reduced recoil .357 mag pretty well, like the 130 grain reduced recoil hydrashock which also moves at 1300.

 

[Kind of Blued]

How long is your barrel, and how long is the test barrel?

 

[ericyp]

The same length. 4" and 4"

 

[Kind of Blued]

I think anything over 1000 fps should have no problem expanding. I'd go with the 147gr. load simply because they usually penetrate further due to energy retention.

 

[deacon8]

.44 Mag! Faster AND heavier.

240 gr. Gold Dots=no bad guys

 

[deacon8]

ok...sorry. That was unrelated. Personally, I would take the 147 gr.

 

[Rmac58]

I would think in self defense, you're talking 50 feet at the most, right?
What difference will 100 fps make? Go with the heavier round.

 

[Jason_G]

Out of a "standard length" barrel, the heavier loads tend to do a couple of things better than their lighter counterparts when looking solely at JHP ammo:

1) They penetrate better due to a slightly less abrupt expansion rate.

2) They open up to a slightly larger diameter, because the heavier bullets tend to be longer, which makes for longer "petals" on most JHP designs.

Of course this is a generalization, and there may be exceptions, but overall, I prefer the heavier loadings out of a barrel that is long enough to get them up to speed.

Jason

 

[jon_in_wv]

The conventional wisdom is to go with the heavier loadings in most calibers. I usually prefer the faster middleweights in 9mm but a 147 gold dot at 1000fps is a pretty formidable load. I would try all three and see which your weapon feed reliably. You may find one load works better in terms of accuracy or muzzle blast also.

 

[MTS840]

 

[CoRoMo]

I vote for the heft.

 

[Steve C]

The Marshal/Sanow data in the only attempt to statistically analyze actual street shooting shows that in .38/9mm caliber pistols the lighter bullets are slightly more effective than heavier bullets. This gets more even as the caliber get larger. In the .40 S&W the 165gr is the top of their chars with some of the 135gr following just below and the 180 gr falling to the rear but only by 5 to 6% difference in rate.

While you can argue about theory vrs stats all day in the final analysis it doesn't make that much difference. Accuracy, perseverance and plain dumb luck probably have more to do with survival in a gunfight than which bullet has a 5% advantage.

 

[Gun Slinger]

I've always been issued and always preferred "heavy for caliber" loads.

Use whatever "floats your boat".

 

[Matrix187]

124gr at 1300. Really good track record. But, all are fine IMO.

 

[MartinFA]

Either one can do the job. This argument has been around longer than the hills. Do not rely to heavily on hollow point expansion. There are very few naked bad guys. By the time a hollow point gets through a leather jacket and other clothing that hollow point gets plugged and is a soft point. Bullet placement and distance is critical . Remember that even when a persons heart has stopped, they can have a good 5 to 10 seconds of action left before they go down. A bad guy can do a lot in 5 to 10 seconds.

 

[Gryffydd]

The Marshal/Sanow data...

Aaaaaand it's open!

 

[1SOW]

Go with the one that the gun and you shoot the best.
I practice with slower 124s so I shoot slower 124s.

 

[lechiffre]

either the 115 or 124 witch ever shoots better in your gun.

 

[Agent-J]

i carry 124gr's in my 239 9mm and 165gr's in my 229 .40

i feel perfectly safe with either.

 

[sgt127]

The argument can become a circus in pretty short order. I promise you, I can set up a test with ballistic jello and by changing what the bullet has to go through, T-shirt, leather jacket, windshield etc "prove" that one is superior to the other. Then we can find real world shootings where one round failed and the other dropped the guy like a bolt of lightening.

Agencies spend all kinds of time and energy deciding what the best load is and, they can't decide on caliber or bullet. If one was truly superior, every law enforcement agency in the US would be carrying the Speer Gold Dot 125 GR .357 SIG.....Or, the 165 GR Gold Dot .40....or the Extreme Shot Uber Devastator .45...or, fill in the blank....

For all practical purposes, A good hit, with most any recent loads by a major manufacturer, is going to do as well as you could hope for. The NYPD really seems to like the Speer Gold dot 124 +P. If I carried a 9mm, I would likely carry that and feel fine about it.

 

[skinewmexico]

Which do you shoot best?