Remington UMC® 9mm 115 Jacketed Hollow Point for Self-Defense??

[Southern Shooter]

I know these are "old" technology and are NOT +P rated and is not the cleanest shooting ammo. But, does anybody have an educated opinion as to whether this ammunition would be acceptable for self-defense in a service size pistol? I have access to tons of this stuff and was just wondering about that. My guns barrels range from 3.5" to 4" in length.

Thanks

 

[Mad Magyar]

have an educated opinion

Now, you might have eliminated most of us... You'll get umpteen opinions about our favorite PD ammo. I think you will do just fine..I've used UMC and found it fired in all my pistols.

My guns barrels range from 3.5" to 4" in length.

I'd be more concerned on how accurate you are on your pistols....

 

[wally]

Where you put the bullet on the target has far more influence on the result than which particular bullet you use.

As long as its reliable in your gun and you can shoot it well, I wouldn't worry about it doing its job if you do your part.

--wally.

 

[woad_yurt]

That ammo should be fine. It has about 340 ft.lbs. of muzzle energy & clocks at around 1155 fps. In comparison, Remington .38SPL +P only has about 250 ft.lbs. & 945 fps. If you go to the revolver forum, almost everyone will say that .38SPL is sufficient for defense so I don't see why your ammo wouldn't be also.

If you're still unsure, use the Remington stuff for practice and keep a single box of Buffalo Bore or something like that around for self defense purposes. Since you have access to a lot of it, you can see how reliably it feeds in your weapon. Unreliability is what will get you in a tight spot.

 

[johnle]

they work ok, they'll expand and they are decent in power.

 

[MTS840]

they work ok, they'll expand and they are decent in power.

Not according to this:

http://www.tacticalforums.com/cgi-b...bb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=78;t=000329;p=2#000037

I would stick to these rounds:

http://www.tacticalforums.com/cgi-bin/tacticalubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=78;t=000964

The following loads all demonstrate outstanding terminal performance and can be considered acceptable for duty/self-defense use:

9 mm:
Barnes XPB 105 & 115 gr JHP (copper bullet)
Federal Tactical 124 gr JHP (LE9T1)
Speer Gold Dot 124 gr +P JHP
Winchester Ranger-T 124 gr +P JHP (RA9124TP)
Winchester Partition Gold 124 gr JHP (RA91P)
Winchester Ranger-T 127 gr +P+ JHP (RA9TA)
Federal Tactical 135 gr +P JHP (LE9T5)
Federal HST 147 gr JHP (P9HST2)
Remington Golden Saber 147 gr JHP (GS9MMC)
Speer Gold Dot 147 gr JHP
Winchester Ranger-T 147 gr JHP (RA9T)
Winchester 147 gr bonded JHP (Q4364)

 

[DerbyDale]

It appears to me that you have your answer in your question.

I know these are "old" technology...

and are NOT...

and is not...

But...

Now are you willing to put your life on the line with above statements?

If you KNOW there are much better choices available. Why would you purposely seek out the poorer choice?

 

[sm]

wally wrote: Where you put the bullet on the target has far more influence on the result than which particular bullet you use.

As long as its reliable in your gun and you can shoot it well, I wouldn't worry about it doing its job if you do your part.

I agree with a fella southern boy on this one folks.

 

[geophysicishooter]

All respect to the above contributor, if you answer yes to all of the following questions you shouldn't be escared to load them in your carry pistol or home defense weapon:

does the round go *bang* when you pull the trigger?

can you hit a coffee can with it from 20 or 30 yds?

does your pistol cycle it effectively?

Can you afford to stock up on it?

good. that's what I thought too.. and bought 200 rounds of it recently in .45 auto.

 

[ashtxsniper]

Works great on feral cats and coyotes

 

[johnle]

Regardless of testing, even the best rounds CAN fail. No round is 100%, so shoot until it's over.

I've seen ballistic testing where gold dots have failed, corbon DPX failing to penetrate deeply and golden sabers separating but hell I'd trust my life on them especially when I know I have more then one bullet or magazine available.

 

[loop]

No matter what you do to it, it is still a 9.

If you get 30 percent expansion it will "ALMOST" equal a .45.

If you don't put it where it counts it really doesn't matter.

btw, 9mm Para has killed more people than any other handgun round. OTOH, it has been issued to more military organizations than any other caliber. Stats don't say whether they died of other causes six months later or not.

I shoot RN lead bullets out of my .45. If a 9 gives optimal performance it will equal my .45 with no expansion.

Got to admit, 9mm is a lot cheaper. I'd go with cheap...

 

[NG VI]

Or you could buy some Georgia Arms Gold Dots. Don't stop shooting the UMC, practice can be lots of fun, but I bought some once-fired brass 124 grain gold dots at 1100 FPS for 14.00 per 50-round bag. They cycled my Sigma just fine, although admittedly I have never seen that pistol malfunction in any way. GA charges shipping by region, regardless of how much you buy, so one bag for me isn't worth it, since Maine is in the 27.00 zone (grrr), but if you spend a little over a hundred bucks you can disburse that shipping charge over a couple-few hundred rounds. Gold Dots are good.