Current 9mm Defense Loads

[MiddTennTaco]

I'm sure this kind of post has been made before, but I'd like to see what everyone else carries in their CCW.

Post what kind of ammunition you carry and your reasoning for carrying that load.

Right now I'm carrying CCI Speer Gold Dot 124gr in 9mm. I like the brand mostly because of it's reputation. The round is bonded and it expands very consistently. I picked the 124 gr version because I am paranoid about over penetration compared to higher grain rounds. I do not use +P as I do not want additional penetration and especially recoil. My carry gun has a 4.25" barrel so I don't need the extra velocity anyway. The only complaint I have is that I cannot find this ammo locally. What's the deal with that?

Edited September 11, 2012 by w0lfattack

[Guest whamonkey]

Federal 124 +P HST.

Probably the best performing handgun round made. Like the transferred energy and the spread. Carry in a G19.

[daddyo]

Federal HST 147gr. I believe in going heavy.

[surfabilly]

federal hst in 124gr. carried in an m&p compact.

did a lot of reading before deciding on a defense load. came down to the hst and ranger t.

[Jonnin]

Nevermind the debate, but I made my own. I loaded a speer 90 grain gold dot to my own specs and tested a lot of them. Running in the sig 938.

[Smith]

Federal HST 147gr. I believe in going heavy.

In a 9mm handgun the 147g generally don't do well. They were developed for submachine guns and not for shooting out of modern handguns. The 9mm works best with a good balance of weight and velocity, which the 124g +p is about as good as it gets. The 9mm needs a certain amount of velocity to get all the good benefits of the 9mm and the 147g generally scrubs too much velocity.

HST, Gold Dots, Ranger T's are my favorites. I'll also use the Hornady 124g Critical Duty because it's cheap and everyone has it when i can't get the better stuff.

Edited September 11, 2012 by Smith

[Caster]

Winchester Ranger SXT 124g +P+

Reason: They work.

[daddyo]

In a 9mm handgun the 147g generally don't do well. They were developed for submachine guns and not for shooting out of modern handguns. The 9mm works best with a good balance of weight and velocity, which the 124g +p is about as good as it gets. The 9mm needs a certain amount of velocity to get all the good benefits of the 9mm and the 147g generally scrubs too much velocity.

HST, Gold Dots, Ranger T's are my favorites. I'll also use the Hornady 124g Critical Duty because it's cheap and everyone has it when i can't get the better stuff.

Thanks for that, but I did my own research, and I'm comfortable with my choice.

[xRUSTYx]

Damn, I must be cheap...

Wally World Green Box Remington 115gr JHP

Why: 100 rounds for $25 bucks.

At the end of the day, shot placement is key. Never had a single issue with these JHP's in any firearms, and I probably have shot 2000+ of these JHP's

[JReedEsq]

In a 9mm handgun the 147g generally don't do well.

I've seen this idea all over the internet. It may have been true years ago but I don't think it's true with modern loads like the HST or Gold Dot.

Check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpO5kPuQYrA

Personally, I have 124 grain Gold Dots loaded up right now but I wouldn't hesitate to use 147 grain ammo. As a matter of fact, I bought some 147 grain Ranger T that I need to try out. Personally I think way too much is made of ammo choice (or caliber for that matter). Pick a quality, modern JHP design, put enough through your pistol to ensure reliability and then worry about being able to shoot well enough to hit the target.

[peejman]

Damn, I must be cheap...

Wally World Green Box Remington 115gr JHP

Why: 100 rounds for $25 bucks.

At the end of the day, shot placement is key. Never had a single issue with these JHP's in any firearms, and I probably have shot 2000+ of these JHP's

Ditto, except I use the Winchester version. Technically, it's my home defense gun and not my carry gun (which is a .45 because everyone knows it's better ) but I figure it's still applicable.

Edited September 11, 2012 by peejman

[Caster]

In a 9mm handgun the 147g generally don't do well. They were developed for submachine guns and not for shooting out of modern handguns. The 9mm works best with a good balance of weight and velocity, which the 124g +p is about as good as it gets. The 9mm needs a certain amount of velocity to get all the good benefits of the 9mm and the 147g generally scrubs too much velocity.

HST, Gold Dots, Ranger T's are my favorites. I'll also use the Hornady 124g Critical Duty because it's cheap and everyone has it when i can't get the better stuff.

I can only relate my own experiences but I disagree. I load a 147g HP I get from David and they work incredibly well. Expansion is reliable and healthy. I carry the Ranger 124's because......well when they are gone I will switch.

[xRUSTYx]

Ditto, except I use the Winchester version. Technically, it's my home defense gun and not my carry gun (which is a .45 because everyone knows it's better ) but I figure it's still applicable.

lol ... great minds think alike peejman!

anyways.... this thread got me thinking .....

Watched This Video:

Feel fine with my choice still. The 115gr JHP will do just fine for all intended purposes

[Smith]

Thanks for that, but I did my own research, and I'm comfortable with my choice.

I've seen this idea all over the internet. It may have been true years ago but I don't think it's true with modern loads like the HST or Gold Dot.

Check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpO5kPuQYrA

Personally, I have 124 grain Gold Dots loaded up right now but I wouldn't hesitate to use 147 grain ammo. As a matter of fact, I bought some 147 grain Ranger T that I need to try out. Personally I think way too much is made of ammo choice (or caliber for that matter). Pick a quality, modern JHP design, put enough through your pistol to ensure reliability and then worry about being able to shoot well enough to hit the target.

I can only relate my own experiences but I disagree. I load a 147g HP I get from David and they work incredibly well. Expansion is reliable and healthy. I carry the Ranger 124's because......well when they are gone I will switch.

What exactly are you disagreeing with? Muzzle energy in a 147g drops by 30-100 ft lbs. as opposed to 124g/115g and velocity generally drops 200-300 ftps across the board. Applying .45 ballistics to 9mm doesn't translate. Ballistically it's turning a 9mm into a heavy .380 ACP. There is some excellent 147g stuff out there but "generally" they are not the better option. BTW - I don't have a problem carrying any of them. Just making an analytical point.

Just a couple quick ones.

http://www.ballistics101.com/9mm.php

http://www.ballistic...com/9luger.html

Edited September 11, 2012 by Smith

[Caster]

What exactly are you disagreeing with? Muzzle energy in a 147g drops by 30-100 ft lbs. as opposed to 124g/115g and velocity generally drops 200-300 ftps across the board. Applying .45 ballistics to 9mm doesn't translate. Ballistically it's turning a 9mm into a heavy .380 ACP. There is some excellent 147g stuff out there but "generally" they are not the better option. BTW - I don't have a problem carrying any of them. Just making an analytical point.

Just a couple quick ones.

http://www.ballistics101.com/9mm.php

http://www.ballistic...com/9luger.html

I don't put much in numbers on paper. I do put faith in what I see and shooting into milk jugs full of water, the 110g 124g bullets I have do not expand to the size or as reliable as the 147's. YMMV.

[Smith]

Here's a couple more I like. They are getting a little old, but still interesting.

http://frag.110mb.com/

http://stevespages.com/page8f9mmluger.html

[Guest bkelm18]

147gr in 9mm not being effective is old news and not really true anymore with modern ammo. Plenty of data to back it up. Just about any modern 147gr JHP will easily penetrate deeper than 12" in calibrated gelatin.

Personally I carry 124gr +P HSTs because every test I have seen has produced good results.

[Dolomite_supafly]

We, as in my wife and I, carry PMC Starfires in our daily carry guns. They are 124 grain and feed reliably. Up until the change she carried FTX rounds, again 124 grain, and I carried 124 grain Speer Gold Dot. Once a year we go out and buy carry ammo, picking up what is reasonably priced, then shooting up our old ammo.

I once carried handloads. They were 147 grain Gold Dots at 1,200 fps out of a Glock 17. I was getting 357 magnum performance out of a 9mm. It was a published load that is NOT considered +P. Thanks to the thieves at the Expo Center I moved on to factory loaded ammo.

I would never carry FMJ in public. My wife's home defense carbine in 9mm has FMJ to ensure it is 100% reliable. It has had issues with certain HP's in the past. We don;t mind having FMJ's in it because the likelihood of hitting an innocent bystander in our house in practically zero. Even if you hit the bad guy you are still responsible for the bullet if it passes through. The 124's out of a 16" barrel are probably approaching 1,400 fps

Here is a video of a FMJ against a 13" geltin block showing little signs of slowing down:

And another:

Compare those to almost any HP and you will see a dramatic difference in penetration as well as would channel, both temporary and permanent.

Almost any HP or SP is going to perform better than the FMJ when expansion and overpenetration is a concern. FMJ are designed to feed reliably above all else.

Federal actually made a 90 grain soft point bullet at a pretty stout 1,450 fps. I had several hundred rounds and although I never carried them I would have had no reservations. Overpenetration is not going to be an issue and the hydrostatic shock is going to be substantial as well. They were a government contract bullet that I suspected were for those who carried on aircraft.

I have done some small amount of testing lightweight bullets. It started out with someone telling me that FMJ will pass through no matter what. So I decided to load some 90 grain FMJ rounds at different velocities. At 1,200-1,300 fps these bullets passed through several jugs. It actually expected that but what was odd was when I pushed this little bullet. I slowly loaded it to 2,000+ fps out of a blowback carbine. And at that velocity the bullet never made it out of the first jug. I did find jacket material as well as lead "dust". The ony reason why I put that out there is you need to be within the range of velocity of the bullet performance. Too fast or too slow and the bullet will perform miserably, even FMJ. And don't ask, I will never reveal that recipe as in any locked breech gun it would be a hand grenade.

Quality defense ammo is cheap considering you are not going to be shooting 100's of them every trip to the range.

Dolomite

[MacGyver]

147gr Federal HSTs here.

[bbeck]

Hornaday 115g Critical Defense is what I have today.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

[Oh Shoot]

124+p Golden Sabers.

When I started carrying, GS was what Knoxville cops carry (in .40), they got plenty good testing reviews. No longer among the top in testing, but I figger plenty good enough.

Oh, and they aren't at all prone to setback from lots of re-chambering.

- OS

Edited September 11, 2012 by OhShoot

[JAB]

I currently carry Winchester PDX1 124 grain +P in my P95. One reason I am carrying it is that this is the same type of ammo that the FBI has chosen for their handguns and it appears to have done very well in their tests. Another reason - and probably a bigger factor, truth be told, is that it is premium SD ammo that I can buy at most Walmart locations, meaning it is readily available at a good price without having to hunt it down, order online, etc.

Feel fine with my choice still. The 115gr JHP will do just fine for all intended purposes

The UMC 115 grain is what I used to carry in my P95 (and in my Kel Tec P11 before I traded it.) It is still my choice for a defensive load in my Hi Point 995 as it feeds and functions reliably and, especially out of the longer carbine barrel, I suspect it will open up and penetrate admirably. I would use it as a 'back up' carry load for the P95 in the event that I didn't have a 'premium' SD load on hand. I haven't seen it at Walmart as much lately - especially in the 100 round packs - and the last time I saw it the price had gone up.

Edited September 11, 2012 by JAB

[greyofk]

Russian police has regiment OMOH (both O mean letters, not zeros). They are sturmtroopers licensed to kill. They killed a lot of terrorists, criminals and bystanders. They use 7N21 9mm ammo. As much as I know it has composite bullet, however it is NOT hollow point ammo

[Guest Travtastik]

124gr Hornady custom ammo is what I use right now. I want to try some of the critical duty ammo.

[quietguy]

There are a ton of good 9mm loads available, and I try to stick with what my platform likes. As a general rule, i try to stick with Hornady Critical Defense. The one exception is the HK P7, and it likes a heavier load - 124g+p is ideal. It really likes the Winchester Ranger LEO loads.