Recommendation for 9mm defense ammo

[jimmiepoison]

I'm on my last mag of Winchester USA 147 grain JHP 9mm and its time to order some new defense ammo. I'm trying to decide if I should go +P and if the cost of Speer, CorBon, etc is worth it over just the white box Winchester which is pretty reasonable, when I can find it. Anyone have a thought on what ammo to carry and where to purchase it at a reasonable price. The ammo shortages seem to be mellowing out a little, but 9mm jhp is still hard to come by. I am breaking in a new Taurus 709 slim and plan on it being my primary carry piece. I have been carrying Springfield XD9 but find it too big to conceal with most of the clothing I wear and the slim single stack of the Taurus is much easier for me to conceal, but may be a little more difficult to be accurate with hot loads. I know everyone has an opinion on what's best, I'm just still trying to figure out mine.

 

[utimmer43]

Buy a box or two of each. Run a mag or two of each brand through your gun and see which one you like the best. You could try testing them against each other by shooting them through gallon jugs of water or stacked phone books. Compare penetration and expansion.

Or you can just flip a coin and buy either Gold Dot or CorBon and be done with it. I doubt you'll be unhappy with either of their performance.

 

[Glock Fan]

SD ammo selection is a personal choice. Whatever you choose, make sure it functions properly and consistently in your firearm, is some kind of "expanding" round, and is affordable enough for you to be able to put a box or two down range at least a few times per year. Practicing with FMJ "target" ammo is o.k., but you should practice with your SD ammo as well to ensure that it functions properly in your firearm and you're able to hit your target.

From a personal perspective, I'm a fan of Speer Gold Dot 124 grain ammo. It's a round that I'm comfortable with, is readily available and is widely used by local LE (which tells me that it should be adequate to do the job it's intended for). As I said earlier, ammo selection is a personal choice. YOU will be the one who should ultimately decide what you carry for SD.



gf

 

[theicemanmpls]

pick one

For carry in 9mm, I prefer the Federal Hi-Shok 115gr JHP +P+ (9BPLE) .

Here is a guide to help you choose.

Link Removed

 

[jessepeakdotcom]

ok, im warning you this round is not for the faint of heart, LOL dont know why i wanted to say that but i did- ok i have a GLOCK 29 -10 mm and no matter what im shooting, hollow points FMJ, this gun shoots fire. I just purchased 8 boxes of the EXTREME SHOCK rounds- 4 boxes of EPR and 4 of the AIR FREEDOM- all i have to say is - LAWD HAVE MERCY UPON THE BAD GUYS SOUL that i have to use this against- read the stats, and watch some of the youtube vids on these rounds-

 

[jtg452]

What works best in one of my pistols may be the worst thing to shoot through yours.

I've owned about a dozen 9mm's over the years and every single one liked a different load. That includes 4 Browning Hi Powers that all liked very different loads. Find out what works best (from both a reliability and accuracy stand point) from YOUR gun and run with it. To do that, you need to shoot some different loads and find out what works best.

To start, pick a bullet weight you prefer and start seeing what offerings there are from the ammunition manufacturers like Speer, Hornaday, Winchester, Remington, Federal, ...

At one time or another (including right now), I've used self defense ammunition from all those listed above and a couple companies that aren't. It just depends on what that particular gun likes the best.

 

[HK4U]

There are a lot of very good choices out there. Hornady TAPS or Critical Defense, to name a couple but a lot of others. Most of them do a pretty good job of expanding so the main thing will be does it function reliably in the gun you carry.

 

[Bighouse Doc]

I like the Gold Dot 124gr. +P preferred.

I am not sure what the obsession is with the 147 gr bullets.

They were originally designed for suppressed SMG use. THey seem too slow for this cartridge.

-Doc

 

[Ed Hamberger]

For carry in 9mm, I prefer the Federal Hi-Shok 115gr JHP +P+ (9BPLE) .

Here is a guide to help you choose.

Link Removed

I carry a PT709SS and I feed it Federal Hi-Shok JHP +P+ and I haven't had any problems out of my 709. I prefer carrying it to my PT145 for EDC. leasantry:

 

[jimmiepoison]

Has anyone had a bad experience with the whitebox Winchester JHP? I have yet to have a failure in my XD9 with this ammo and at about $15 per box, it is soooo much cheaper than most of the other loads. Cheap enough to practice with which seems to be worth something to me. I guess I'm just wondering what I really get by moving to a more expensive bullet. Aam I just gaining more consistent expansion? I can't decide if all of these high end loads are just a bunch of marketing excuses to jack the prices up so we feel better about what we are carrying, or if there is actual legitimate ballistic advantages. Most of the comparisons I can find on the web are expensive ammo vs expensive ammo. I can't find any decent quality brand name, affordable ammo compared against the high quality "defensive" ammo with the same configuration (grain, tip, etc.) The real question to me is how much of the "defense" ammo's superior capability is just marketing and how much is legitimate data that matters. Even if there is a small difference in expansion, will a tiny fraction of an inch really make a difference? If it goes bang, penatrates, and expands then how much will it really matter whether you have $1.00 per round or $.30 per round ammo, except to the people who sold you the ammo. I'm not ready to jump ship on high end ammo yet, I just wonder if we are truly getting that much more for our money. Does anyone have any hard data on this stuff?

 

[melloyello]

Has anyone had a bad experience with the whitebox Winchester JHP?

I've had some issues with WWB 115gr FMJ in my Taurus PT-709, failure to feed. However, all my other 9's have had no problems with them. My Taurus actually liked the heavier rounds 124/147 gr. She's well broken-in now so I guess should try some different ammo again. The problem is finding practice rounds at the weights that are reasonable.

 

[Dingly Thing]

I assume that you are going to shoot regularly, in which case you might want the new Winchester loads which come in a training load and an equal personal defense load.

 

[Mobuck]

Two loads which I've had good results with are Black Hills 115 JHP standard load and Gold Dot 124 HP standard load. The BH functions a little better in finicky pistols due to the more rounded profile of the bullet. The 124 GD has proven to be a good performer when finishing off vehicle struck deer and has knocked off a couple of foolish coyotes, too. I don't care for the 147 GD in pistols and reserve it for carbine use.

 

[kn1080]

Ive been researching this week and have decided that I have narrowed down to the Hornady critical defense 115grain and the federal 124 hst. I chose these particular rounds because from what I gather, they penetrate comparatively less than their counterparts. I ordered several boxes of each last night to see which works most effectively with my m&p 9c.

 

[Pixx]

Golden Saber, Hydrashock, etc. They all do what they are designed to do. We all know what their expansion is. I don't under stand why everyone has to shoot boxes of them downrange. Personal defense 95% of the time is within 15 feet. Instead of spending hundreds on ammo, stand in front of a mirror and DRAW YOUR WEAPON effeciently and effectively. You can have the best cannon blaster on the planet, but if you can't get to it you might as well use a stick. Most of the power mongers looking for the best ammo around, at least that I have met, love to show, brag, and talk, but then can't even clear leather in under 15 seconds. In the real world you will be dead then. Practice, practice and practice then you will find out that even FMJ will do the job, you just have to get it there.

 

[oldvet53]

i have a Bursa thunder9pro ultra compact, i use either Magnatech 124gr guardian gold or DRT 95gr jhp. as i only have a 3.5" bbl i am not going to be shooting more than about 30 ft. most of the time. i realy like the DRT rounds as they penatrate about 2-3" and leave a wound channel about the size of a soccer ball!

 

[DepOne]

Has anyone had a bad experience with the whitebox Winchester JHP? I have yet to have a failure in my XD9 with this ammo and at about $15 per box, it is soooo much cheaper than most of the other loads. QUOTE]

If it doesn't work in an XD, one of the most reliable and least finicky guns out there, I wouldn't ever buy it. Like everything else in life, with ammo you get what you pay for. If your life, or your family's isn't worth a few extra bucks when you buy ammo, go ahead and buy the cheap stuff.

For info on stopping power of different bullets, there are all kinds of studies out there. Does it matter? Study the old FBI shooting that took place in Miami in the 90s. For carry you want something like Speer Gold Dot, Hornady Critical Duty, Federal Hydra Shock. For practice the only advantage to White box garbage is it teaches you how to clear the different kinds of malfunctions you don't get with quality ammo. Save money somewhere else!

My comments come from experience, not gunshop commandos.

 

[schadenfreude]

Has anyone had a bad experience with the whitebox Winchester JHP? I have yet to have a failure in my XD9 with this ammo and at about $15 per box, it is soooo much cheaper than most of the other loads. Cheap enough to practice with which seems to be worth something to me. I guess I'm just wondering what I really get by moving to a more expensive bullet. Aam I just gaining more consistent expansion? I can't decide if all of these high end loads are just a bunch of marketing excuses to jack the prices up so we feel better about what we are carrying, or if there is actual legitimate ballistic advantages. Most of the comparisons I can find on the web are expensive ammo vs expensive ammo. I can't find any decent quality brand name, affordable ammo compared against the high quality "defensive" ammo with the same configuration (grain, tip, etc.) The real question to me is how much of the "defense" ammo's superior capability is just marketing and how much is legitimate data that matters. Even if there is a small difference in expansion, will a tiny fraction of an inch really make a difference? If it goes bang, penatrates, and expands then how much will it really matter whether you have $1.00 per round or $.30 per round ammo, except to the people who sold you the ammo. I'm not ready to jump ship on high end ammo yet, I just wonder if we are truly getting that much more for our money. Does anyone have any hard data on this stuff?

When it comes to the defense of "me and mine", I am not so sure that "economizing" is the wisest thing to do. If you shop around, you can find decent 9mm JHPs (in the weight that you prefer) for just a few bucks more per box. Just my personal "take" on it, my life is worth a lot to me, so scrimping on SD ammo is simply not an option.

If you are absolutely determined to buy the WWB 147 gr. JHP, all is not lost. Although it is a fairly dated design, it should do "OK" since it used to be part of the Winchester SuperX line, meant for LE use in the 1990s.

 

[Tea Man]

Youtube is full of ballistic tests on several ammo brands so have a looksee on what ammo you're interested in. I buy my ammo at walmart and tried several loads for 9mm and 40sw. Right now I have a box of Remington UMC 9mm 115 grain HPs and a box of Winchester USA 40sw 180 grain HPs (Personal Defense) for stock. Both of my 9mm and my 40sw are loaded with Winchester PDX1s. 124 +P for the 9mm and 165s for the 40sw.

 

[kerb]

Youtube is full of ballistic tests on several ammo brands so have a looksee on what ammo you're interested in. I buy my ammo at walmart and tried several loads for 9mm and 40sw. Right now I have a box of Remington UMC 9mm 115 grain HPs and a box of Winchester USA 40sw 180 grain HPs (Personal Defense) for stock. Both of my 9mm and my 40sw are loaded with Winchester PDX1s. 124 +P for the 9mm and 165s for the 40sw.

Yup. Check out tnoutdoors9's channel.

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