Defensive Carry Ammo

[Guest JeepMonkey]

I'm curious to what everyone uses for EDC ammunition and what y'all think is the best to carry. Currently, I'm using Hornady 38Spl. JHP's (125 GR, 900 fps, seen below) but I want to go to a .38Spl. +P or a .357 Mag. Any suggestions?

[Guest Todd@CIS]

For .38Spec +P...I'd use Speer's 135gr+P Gold Dot.

For .38Spec non +P...I'd use Hornady's 158gr XTP (my current choice) or any 148gr WadCutter.

LOL...I have no interest in .357Mag snubbies. Yes, I'm a Wuss.

Edited: Sorry, I thought you were just asking about .38/.357. I'll add,

.380ACP...S&B's 92gr FMJ.

9mm...Speer's 124gr+P Gold Dot.

.45ACP...Speer's 230gr Gold Dot (issued).

Edited February 13, 2009 by Todd@CIS

[Guest nraforlife]

I carry only Remington Golden Sabers in .38 .40 and .45

[Schadenfreude]

Make sure it functions in your gun, make sure it is accurate in your gun, practice enough that you are accurate with your chosen weapon - shot placement, shot placement, shot placement, shot placement!

BTW currently golden saber .45 230 gn

& if I was buying a snubbie I would preffer the .357 even if i only shot .38 through it as it will be built stronger.

[Guest JeepMonkey]

Make sure it functions in your gun, make sure it is accurate in your gun, practice enough that you are accurate with your chosen weapon - shot placement, shot placement, shot placement, shot placement!

BTW currently golden saber .45 230 gn

& if I was buying a snubbie I would preffer the .357 even if i only shot .38 through it as it will be built stronger.

I've got a .38Spl +P SP101 that I've shot both .38Spl +P and .357Mag. through, and I don't really have much of a preference as to which caliber I carry. Either way, the gun can take either caliber without a problem

[G27]

180 gn Speer Gold Dots in .40S&W here.

[Oh Shoot]

dupe, oops.

Edited February 13, 2009 by OhShoot

[Guest Traumaslave]

For self defense/SHTF, I have Hydrashocks in both my CCW and carbine. A good friend gave me a thought to chew on, should you have to go to court to defend a shooting, the question of choice of ammo could come into play. "You shot him with x brand ammo and premeditated killing". The only defense that we could come up with would be to carry LE approved ammo.

[Oh Shoot]

I've got a .38Spl +P SP101 that I've shot both .38Spl +P and .357Mag. through, and I don't really have much of a preference as to which caliber I carry. Either way, the gun can take either caliber without a problem

I settled in on Golden Saber .357 for my SP101. Also use GS 9mm +p for my XDs.

Very little flash, no smoke. Performance plenty good enough, and could get them very reasonably priced from CTD for a good while, so I built up a small stash. But no longer, so there are probably better combos of performance/price out there.

- OS

[Guest krater]

Exactly what my local popo carries. If they use it, it must be good enough for court.

[Oh Shoot]

Exactly what my local popo carries. If they use it, it must be good enough for court.

Yeah, meant to mention, was told that Knoxville LEOs carry the GS in 9mm. That fact couldn't hurt, seems, if second worst thing ever happens.

- OS

[Guest Ggun]

Exactly what my local popo carries. If they use it, it must be good enough for court.

Should be, but the other side of that is some prosecutor ranting that the self defense shooter was a rambo type wanabe police officer...

however, my thinking is sorta like yours, that if it's reliable for LE then it's reliable for me, so I have a lot of LE gold dot duty ammunition.

[canadienmike]

For self defense/SHTF, I have Hydrashocks in both my CCW and carbine. A good friend gave me a thought to chew on, should you have to go to court to defend a shooting, the question of choice of ammo could come into play. "You shot him with x brand ammo and premeditated killing". The only defense that we could come up with would be to carry LE approved ammo.

This has been brought up before, but has type of ammo ever been used against a person in a defensive shooting? I would say that unless you are using some exotic type of ammo this will not be an issue. I can't imagine someone thinking 'I'm in the mood to kill today so I think I'll go with the Gold dot instead of the hydrashocks'.

[Guest truthsayer]

To get it back on track, I carry Golden Sabre in my .45s, Hydrashocks in my 9s, and either +P Federal Nyclads or Hydrashocks in my .38s.

[Guest Ggun]

To get it back on track, I carry Golden Sabre in my .45s, Hydrashocks in my 9s, and either +P Federal Nyclads or Hydrashocks in my .38s.

I'm using 9mm Speer LE Gold Dot 124+p now. I'm experimenting with the Speer LE 147 Gr GDHP and Hornady 147 Gr TAP FPD.

I filled up the 33mag with the Speer LE 115 GDHPs.

[oldblue1981]

I carry Golden Sabre in my .45, TAP FPD in my 9mm, and i am trying to find a load that shoots straight in my S&W .357.

[Guest Ggun]

snip

... and i am trying to find a load that shoots straight in my S&W .357.

Those are tough little guns to shoot.

[RoDan]

I tend to stay away from Hydrashocks, they supposedly "clog up" with fabric and do not expand properly. I have Cor Bon 124gr +P JHP in my G26 right now. Next batch will be Double Tap 147gr with Speer GDHP bullets.

This is good reading:

http://ammo.ar15.com/project/Self_Defense_Ammo_FAQ/index.htm

[Guest Todd@CIS]

So is this...

http://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=19887

[wjh2657]

Everybodys' guns and shooting concepts will differ, so will the ammo. I carry snubbies and shooting practice is all in close, <25 feet. I prize accuracy and control over ability to expand to silver dollar size or penetrate 36" of gelatin.Just my warm fuzzy zone, yours can be different. I tried most of the different brands and weights. I found that what you are already carrying works best for me.

I carry Hornady 125gr JHP/XTP .38 Spl and I practice with 130 gr WWB 130 gr FMJ (same point of impact for me and feels like same recoil.)

[RoDan]

sure, I agree that shot placement is the most important, but if you have shot placement and poor bullet performance, you will just make it harder on yourself. Can you kill a BG with a BB gun? Sure, if the shot placement is the jugular. However, a WHOLE lot more variables need to align themselves in order for you to be successful. I like to err on the side of caution and load up with the best performance bullet I can get away with, without affecting my shot placement. In 9mm for me, that's either 124gr +P or 147gr in a high performance JHP bullet such as the Gold Dot that is much less prone to clogging up with clothing fiber. Bottom line. it really needs to be a balance of shot placement and bullet performance, obviously leaning more towards placement.

Edited February 14, 2009 by RoDan

[Ridgerunner665]

Ballistics...my favorite subject.

For a 38 Special I'd go with the 135 +P Gold Dots already mentioned.

For a 357...any of the factory loads that use a quality 125-135 grain bullet.

I'm the oddball that carries reloads...but my load EXACTLY duplicates the ballistics of Hornady's 230 grain XTP +P TAP ammo out of my pistol (Baer Stinger). My load does have a tad more muzzle flash than the factory load though.

Edited February 14, 2009 by Ridgerunner665

[Rambo]

I've got Extreme Shock's in my 9mm and when I get a pocket pistol like a little .380 it will have the same.

[Guest RISC777]

Found it interesting that Hornady was mentioned in one of the links (in .44 mag) and Corbon in the other. Is it that they are not that "popular," or is it that their performance doesn't match the others?

Hornady TAP in my .40.

Corbon in my .45 (my particular .45 won't feed Hornadys, heh).

[Guest bkelm18]

For my .38 snubbie I carry 135gr Speer Gold Dot Short barrel. For my 9mm I carry 124gr Federal HST.