What is the deepest penetrating 9mm loading?

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KBintheSLC

KBintheSLC

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My wife and I do a lot of wilderness ventures, and I usually carry my 10mm for SD. She also brings along her 9mm just in case. So, I am wondering what loading you guys think would produce the deepest penetration. I have been loading her up with 124g Golden Saber +P for daily carry in the city, and I put 147g WWB standard pressure in there for the woods.
My reasoning for the 147g WWB is that the slower, heavier round will not expand as rapidly as the lighter, faster round. Thus penetrating deeper as a result of more mass and less friction. However, I am assuming the difference won't be more than an inch or so.
So, what do you folks think is the best 9mm round for deep penetration? I wish someone made a 147g FMJ-FP +P. That might make a viable woods round. However, I can't seem to find anything that even comes close to that.
 
WHo is loading the 147 gr. Gold DOts you use?

I found Double Tap loads Speer Gold Dot 147 gr. JHPs
to 1,135 FPS - Glock 17 = 4.5" Bbl. so, I ordered
them for my carry load in my CZ 75B. It's +P

Another thought would be to find a loading using the
Hornady XTP JHP with the controlled expansion
I'm not sure what Hornady offers, but check their web site.

Randall
 
WHo is loading the 147 gr. Gold DOts you use?
Click to expand...

Randall,
Those 147's are WWB (Winchester White Box) from Wally World. They have been reliable, and seem to expand nice and slow. I would like to avoid using +P in a hollow point. They tend to expand faster, and penetrate less than standard pressure loadings. If I could find a 147g FMJ, I might use a +P loading in that to push it deeper.

What about standard pressure Federal HST 147g JHP?
 
Check out Buffalo Bore. I found my solution (.45 ACP +p FMJ FN) from them. It's what I load up when in the woods.

Checking their product listing, they make a 147gr 9mm +p+ load using Speer's Uni-Core bullet, which appears to be a FMJ-FN. That may be exactly what you're looking for. The heaviest they make in regular +p is 124 gr.

My 2nd choice would probably be the 147gr XTPs from Hornady.

*edit: If you need buffalo bore stuff and don't order online, I know Cabela's carries it. In fact, it's the only place I've seen Buffalo Bore products.
 
Check out Buffalo Bore. I found my solution (.45 ACP +p FMJ FN) from them. It's what I load up when in the woods.

Checking their product listing, they make a 147gr 9mm +p+ load using Speer's Uni-Core bullet, which appears to be a FMJ-FN. That may be exactly what you're looking for.
Click to expand...
bdg146,
I think you may have found an answer to my prayers. The Uni-Core bullets are TMJ and they load the 147g to +p+ levels... 1165fps. That would certainly make for a deep penetrator.
I will try a couple of boxes. Thanks a bunch for the advise.
 
KB,

You might wish to check with BB prior to ordering the 147's you are talking about. The Unicor is a JHP and whereas the TMJ is essentially an FMJ with an electro-deposited jacket and an enclosed base courtesy of that process. I have ordered and shot the load that you are discussing (Item #24C) and it is not a FMJ-FP style bullet. It remains however, an excellent load for HD/SD/CCW.

Additionally, I would second bdg146's suggestion that you take a look at the 147 gr. Hornady XTPs. They are serious penetrators that operate at standard pressure (SAAMI) if that is important to you and typically offer moderate expansion with deep penetration. They are very tough bullets (it was the first bullet design to successfully pass the F.B.I. test protocols which are kind of a "worst case" scenario for what defensive loads can be expected to encounter) and seem to offer exceptional accuracy regardless of what type of gun they are fired from. The Hornady 147 gr. XTP JHP is my preferred carry load in my CCW pistol (Glock 17) due in large part to both its exemplary accuracy and considerable penetration.

Although I am certain that you are most likely aware of its existence, another possibility is the (Federal) American Eagle 147 gr. FMJ-FP that operates at standard pressure also. While not screaming hot, it does manage to get through about 28-30 inches of calibrated ordnance gelatin depending on what barriers it encounters prior to its entry into the test media.
 
Barnes all-copper XPB bullets have excellent penetrating performance. You would probably need to reload for it though.

Cameron
 
Might also try some NATO spec 124gr, they are supposed to loaded pretty hot, and since they are fmj you won't have to worry about over expansion and under penetration.

HST's are good people rounds because they are good expanders, I wouldn't think that is a beneficial characteristic in this case.
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys. I decided to order a couple of boxes of DoubleTap's new 147g FMJ-FP 9mm +P. They run at over 1100fps compared to about 980 for standard pressure 147's. I like the flat nose FMJ for penetration. I will take some out for a test run and let you guys know how they do.
I think the American Eagle 147 FMJ-FN would do the job as well... much cheaper too.
 
I noted last night while checking out different 9mm loads that Fiocchi has a 124 grain flat point truncated cone bullet that according to their website runs 1200 fps...on ammunitiontogo.com they run around 12.85 a box. Although the 147 @ 1100 fps should do better or as well ???
 
You might wish to check with BB prior to ordering the 147's you are talking about. The Unicor is a JHP and whereas the TMJ is essentially an FMJ with an electro-deposited jacket and an enclosed base courtesy of that process. I have ordered and shot the load that you are discussing (Item #24C) and it is not a FMJ-FP style bullet. It remains however, an excellent load for HD/SD/CCW.
Click to expand...

Could you explain this a little more? I was basing my FMJ-FN understanding of the uni-core based off of the picture from Midway's website:
here

Other pictures show a JHP though, so I guess I'm confused what they are. Also, what is a TMJ? I've never heard of that...

Thanks!

Oh, and good choice KB. Didn't know they made such a load, but there are tons of manufacturers out there. One can usually find what they are looking for.
 
Could you explain this a little more? I was basing my FMJ-FN understanding of the uni-core based off of the picture from Midway's website:
here

Other pictures show a JHP though, so I guess I'm confused what they are. Also, what is a TMJ? I've never heard of that...
Click to expand...

http://www.speer-bullets.com/default.asp?s1=3&s2=7&s3=10

For the info on Speer's site, it looks like TMJ means something like total metal jacket. The jacket completely surrounds the bullet... even the tail end of it. Here is what they had to say...
Speer TMJ handgun bullets represent the highest evolution of the full metal jacket bullet. Uni-Cor® technology bonds the jacket to the core for terrific uniformity, and eliminates the opening found on the base of "other" FMJ bullets. This means reduced airborne lead because the lead core is encapsulated in copper. No trick "base covers" — our jackets are one-piece. Conventional FMJ bases can deform under pressure, and that hurts accuracy — TMJs won't let this happen.

Accurate and economical, TMJ bullets are available in calibers from 25 to 50, including three tack-driving match bullets in 9mm and 45 caliber and three silhouette match bullets in 357 and 44 caliber.-Speer
Click to expand...

Uni-core is just the bonding technology from what I gather. Uni-Core bullets can be TMJ or JHP.
 
bdg146: said:
...based off of the picture from Midway's website.
Click to expand...

Midway, and other distributors for that matter, often use "generic" or "file" photos that may or may not match the product being advertised. Rest assured that the #24C item is indeed a JHP and not a FMJ-FP. "Unicor" is an electroplating process that predates the "Gold-Dot" nomenclature although it uses the same method to bond the jacket to the bare lead core of the bullet.
 
I'd think AP ammo would be the deepest penetrating, good luck finding any.

Hardcast lead or FMJ ammo loaded to +p+ would probably be the next best thing.

This 147 grain +p loading from double tap would probably get the job done.
 
Ahhh, so Uni-Core describes the process they use to bond the lead core to the jacket, and has absolutely nothing to do with describing the actual type of bullet that it is (besides that it HAS some sort of jacket, of course). Thanks for the clarification.

Rest assured that the #24C item is indeed a JHP and not a FMJ-FP.
Click to expand...

I hate the internet b/c you can't tell tone. If you somehow took my comments as challenging what you were saying, I wasn't. I meant no offense. Just was a little confused and was curious what was actually going on. Thanks again for the clarification.
 
bdg146,

I was neither offended nor "challenged" by your post.

We're cool! :D

Glad that I could help.
 
From what I understand its one of the double tap loads..I myslf use cor-bon 115 +P.
 
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