1KPerDay
Member
AK103K for presidentMaybe if people spent as much time in practice as they do worrying about stuff like this, the guy they were shooting at, wouldnt make it to cover.
Stacking HPs Over FMJ In A Carry Gun?
- Thread starter WrongHanded
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Charlie98
Member
I do that... but not like the OP says. I have a FMJ round on top of my spare mags, so there won't be any issues chambering a round off a fresh mag... my Kahr will sometimes hiccup a wee bit dropping the slide on a fresh mag with a HP on it.
I think that article is a little Hollywood... you are drawing your arm to defend yourself, not to get into a protracted engagement. Although not absolute, if the bad guy is hiding behind a barrier, the immediate threat is diminished, this would be a good opportunity to retreat and regroup. Also, and I've been recently criticized for this opinion, there is no way you can plan for every type engagement... my opinion is to stick with one type of ammunition, proven in your weapon, and call it a day.
I think that article is a little Hollywood... you are drawing your arm to defend yourself, not to get into a protracted engagement. Although not absolute, if the bad guy is hiding behind a barrier, the immediate threat is diminished, this would be a good opportunity to retreat and regroup. Also, and I've been recently criticized for this opinion, there is no way you can plan for every type engagement... my opinion is to stick with one type of ammunition, proven in your weapon, and call it a day.
BSA1
member
After studying some shootings I have come to believe in needing covering fire as a armed citizen.
Remember the Pulse Nightclub shooting a few years ago? The gunman barricaded himself and it took the Police something like 45 minutes before they could get organized and figure out where to enter the building. I am not claiming that I could keep a barricaded gunman from doing anymore shooting for that long of time period. What I am saying is by having a high capacity pistol with a spare magazine may allow me to cause the gunman to hide behind cover giving more people a chance to escape.
As far as mixing ammunition I currently carry 115 gr. Critical Defense in my pistol and 124 gr. +P XTP in my spare magazine. That gives me over 30 rounds of firepower. I have been giving a lot of thought of quitting carrying the Critical Defense and going with heavier bullets. I want to try 147 gr. bullets to see what I may be missing.
Remember the Pulse Nightclub shooting a few years ago? The gunman barricaded himself and it took the Police something like 45 minutes before they could get organized and figure out where to enter the building. I am not claiming that I could keep a barricaded gunman from doing anymore shooting for that long of time period. What I am saying is by having a high capacity pistol with a spare magazine may allow me to cause the gunman to hide behind cover giving more people a chance to escape.
As far as mixing ammunition I currently carry 115 gr. Critical Defense in my pistol and 124 gr. +P XTP in my spare magazine. That gives me over 30 rounds of firepower. I have been giving a lot of thought of quitting carrying the Critical Defense and going with heavier bullets. I want to try 147 gr. bullets to see what I may be missing.
Charlie98
Member
I carry the 135grn CD in my Kahrs, currently... although I'm toying with the idea of switching back to 147grn GoldDots. My usual inclination is to favor heavy bullets... but the 9mm is one of those 'no man's land' cartridges... where you can have velocity, or mass, but not a whole lot of both, like you can with the .45ACP. The 135grn CD seems to straddle that fence... at least in my mind.
If I can't see what I'm shooting at, I'm not shooting at it. Civilian self-defense shootings aren't happening in free-fire zones. If the cover is heavy enough to be impenetrable to JHPs, it's almost certainly thick enough to be impenetrable to my vision. I'm not blasting at a dumpster or a cinder block wall just because I saw "the bad guy" duck behind it... I have no idea what else is back there.
And in about 99.9+% of civilian self-defense cases, if you have driven the assailant behind cover, you have accomplished what you need to do.
And in about 99.9+% of civilian self-defense cases, if you have driven the assailant behind cover, you have accomplished what you need to do.
Jack Ryan
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I carry a 10mm jam packed full of kickass and don't worry about it. I've seen it go through 6 inch gas pipe like a drill through butter, with CAST LEAD. Nothing some hop head it gonna dodge behind on the spur of the moment is going to feel very safe for very long.
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Maybe this is highly unusual, but in many instances I'm loaded with practice ammo, FMJs, because it's more likely that I'll be shooting with somebody, than at
anybody. We'll meet, somewhere near the property, and head to the shooting berm. So real life is, if I loaded hollow points, I just wasted them, punching paper,
with a neighbor or acquaintance. Many times when I'm out and about, especially during rainy season, when the venomous snakes are about, my first round or three is ratshot. I imagine they would suffice, if the need for self defense arose. Ennh, maybe not.
IANAL, I didn't even sleep in a Holiday Inn Business Express last night, so I have no idea how a prosecuting attorney, judge or jury would react to my using whatever I had in my firearm, in order to defend myself, if the situation ever came up.
anybody. We'll meet, somewhere near the property, and head to the shooting berm. So real life is, if I loaded hollow points, I just wasted them, punching paper,
with a neighbor or acquaintance. Many times when I'm out and about, especially during rainy season, when the venomous snakes are about, my first round or three is ratshot. I imagine they would suffice, if the need for self defense arose. Ennh, maybe not.
IANAL, I didn't even sleep in a Holiday Inn Business Express last night, so I have no idea how a prosecuting attorney, judge or jury would react to my using whatever I had in my firearm, in order to defend myself, if the situation ever came up.
OP
OP
WrongHanded
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Having read the replies and after thinking on it a while, I agree that mixing different types of ammo in a magazine is a bad idea.
Perhaps the origins of this idea stemmed from a belief in the superiority of none expanding bullets in a rural setting. And the idea was to mainly use FMJs, but with a few HPs first for the increased effectiveness they may have on an unarmored assailant in the open. But whatever his reasoning, it seems too much of a liability for general carry in a more populated setting.
Though I think carrying a spare mag with FMJ-FN might not be the worst idea for me personally. That's based on my daily and weekly movements through various environments.
Perhaps the origins of this idea stemmed from a belief in the superiority of none expanding bullets in a rural setting. And the idea was to mainly use FMJs, but with a few HPs first for the increased effectiveness they may have on an unarmored assailant in the open. But whatever his reasoning, it seems too much of a liability for general carry in a more populated setting.
Though I think carrying a spare mag with FMJ-FN might not be the worst idea for me personally. That's based on my daily and weekly movements through various environments.
Garandimal
member
Carry Speer Lawman 230 gr. +P FMJ-FP in the woods.
Otherwise...
GR
Otherwise...
bdickens
Member
I've done it. Not for any kind of supposed tactical advantage, but after a hurricane or when those Occupy Wall Street morons were wandering around threatening to block off streets b/c I don't typically keep extra JHP ammo around & wanted to load up all of my extra magazines.
Trey Veston
Member
I actually do this for my woods carry 10mm. I have both 200 grain hard cast loads mixed with 180 grain XTP loads. No real reason; just different critters with different bone structure. Or I guess if the first round of XTP doesn't penetrate adequately, then pretty sure the hard cast 200 grain boolit will.
But for self-defense around town? No way.
But for self-defense around town? No way.
GBExpat
Member
Priority here is hit what you are shooting at on the first shot. Practice practice and more practice there is no substitute for practice. All the different ideas that we as shooters come up with, will not make any difference on the day we have to use the gun if we cannot hit the intended target. I am church security and just the thought of having to use my gun in the midst of 70 children and there parents scares me a lot, then to have to question is a HP or FMJ going to go off next. So I practice with a hand load that shoots to the same POI as my carry loads and I verify that almost weekly, during twice a week practice sessions.
JW
JW
I don't know any officers that mix ammo but I have heard that the local special tactics guys have Bonded JHP, AP and Frangible in various magazines for the MP5 for different applications.
Also if I'm not mistaken FMJ sometimes sheds it's jacket when encountering hard barriers where as the modern bonded rounds are designed not to.
Also if I'm not mistaken FMJ sometimes sheds it's jacket when encountering hard barriers where as the modern bonded rounds are designed not to.
WTBguns10kOK
member
Wouldn't it just be simpler to carry LeHigh Xtreme Defense rounds
if you want to do that - why not? do whatever you want for whatever reason makes sense to you. some people will carry a hollow point first/chambered, and then ball after, and a couple hollow points at the bottom of the mag because the last couple rounds usually feed more reliably than the first ones. I don't bother with this, my take is if a mag full of whatever doesn't cut it should the situation arise, I'm probably just out of luck on that day. Being a good shot with any ammo is better than being a mediocre shot with the worlds most special ammo. It does not self correct no matter how expensive it is.
OP
OP
WrongHanded
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I just watched a few videos on these. Very interesting.
jonnyc
Member
Well.............when I'm not carrying a gun, I do carry my KelTec P32. Since I have experienced Rim-Lok with mags full of JHP, I load it with a JHP in the chamber and on top of the mag, and the rest FMJ. Spare mags are all FMJ below with a JHP on top.
YMMV, but it works for me.
YMMV, but it works for me.
LaneP
Member
A better strategy might be to alternately load JHP and FMJ in the magazine. That way when the bad guy exposes himself to fire at you then ducks back behind cover you'll have the right bullet available to fire depending on the circumstance. At least in theory, if you time it right
nofendertom
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1---You shouldn't shoot unless you see your target and what is behind it.
2---You shouldn't want to kill anybody, just make him/her stop what they are doing.
Do 1 and 2 and you probably will go to jail.
2---You shouldn't want to kill anybody, just make him/her stop what they are doing.
Do 1 and 2 and you probably will go to jail.
Trunk Monkey
member
I wouldn't carry that gun unless that problem was 100% solved.
Until it doesn't.
I'm sorry but it's mind boggling to me that anyone would carry a gun that they know isn't 100%. I realize that any gun (except a Glock) can malfunction but why would you bet your life on a gun you know has issues.
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Do you really believe that? I can make.a G19-2 or G19-3 FTE on almost every cycle. Glocks are great pistols but they are not invincible.
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