bamaranger
New member
9mm
When my agency went to semi pistols, initially everybody (well nearly) got a SIG P228 with a bunch of 124 gr NATO ball for training and transition, and 147 gr JHP for duty. The duty load may have been +P, perhaps even +P+, I just do not recall. What I do recall is that from the shorter barrel of the P228, the 147 gr bullets (of the day) were not particularly impressive in what shooting we did of dispatching wildlife unsavable from collisions with motor vehicles , in my world, whitetails. The story circulating was that the FBI was using that load in MP5's with longer barrels and it was just not cutting it from our abbreviated SIGS. I am not certain, but I do not think the USNPS had a gunfight with the 9mm 147 load.
The FBI Miami shootout with 9mm was fresh on everybody's mind. Poor bullet performance was one factor in the calamity. Prior that, the duty load had been .357/125 and THAT load was impressive. Most all the old hands believed we had taken a step backward. I was one of them. Policy did not prohibit using non-issue ammo, stipulating US manufacture and bullets from 115-147 gr. I promptly acquired a couple of boxes of 115gr 9BP as it was recommended by the sages of the day as noted by others. Shortly thereafter Rangers were authorized a 3 caliber choice (9mm/.40/.45) as long as chambered in the approved SIG pistols. I promptly went P220/.45acp, but a goodly number of P228's and P226's remained on duty. But I digress......
These days, though still a .45 acp guy at heart, I do not feel undergunned with a G17/9mm and 124 gr HST +P
When my agency went to semi pistols, initially everybody (well nearly) got a SIG P228 with a bunch of 124 gr NATO ball for training and transition, and 147 gr JHP for duty. The duty load may have been +P, perhaps even +P+, I just do not recall. What I do recall is that from the shorter barrel of the P228, the 147 gr bullets (of the day) were not particularly impressive in what shooting we did of dispatching wildlife unsavable from collisions with motor vehicles , in my world, whitetails. The story circulating was that the FBI was using that load in MP5's with longer barrels and it was just not cutting it from our abbreviated SIGS. I am not certain, but I do not think the USNPS had a gunfight with the 9mm 147 load.
The FBI Miami shootout with 9mm was fresh on everybody's mind. Poor bullet performance was one factor in the calamity. Prior that, the duty load had been .357/125 and THAT load was impressive. Most all the old hands believed we had taken a step backward. I was one of them. Policy did not prohibit using non-issue ammo, stipulating US manufacture and bullets from 115-147 gr. I promptly acquired a couple of boxes of 115gr 9BP as it was recommended by the sages of the day as noted by others. Shortly thereafter Rangers were authorized a 3 caliber choice (9mm/.40/.45) as long as chambered in the approved SIG pistols. I promptly went P220/.45acp, but a goodly number of P228's and P226's remained on duty. But I digress......
These days, though still a .45 acp guy at heart, I do not feel undergunned with a G17/9mm and 124 gr HST +P
