Ammo opinion

If it's Hornady factory ammo, it's good ammo, and I have a fondness for the XTP bullet. What exactly are you concerned about?
 
Just new to the handgun ownership and looking for good home defense round. In my area ammo is very hard to find and expensive. I found these online for $19 per box for 25 rounds.
 
XTP's generally don't expand well at handgun velocities.
I realize good SD ammo is rare/pricey right now but for 9mm I'd suggest the CorBon DPX all-copper round for 115gr or any good 147gr bonded (I prefer the Winchester offerings but YMMV), I find 147's have a little more push but less snap for faster followup shots.
Tomac
 
115/127 grain 9MM are perfect. The others are too heavy for reasonable velocity.

All of the premium 115/125 grain loads will work well for HD.
 
115's are fine. I prefer the heavier bullets. Pistol velocities tend to be too slow for serious hydrostatic shock. That's the idea behind a high velocity, rapidly expanding round. Even with light rounds, pistols have rather slow velocities and will never offer the serious hydrostatic shock that you get from rifle rounds. The lighter bullets also have lower BC's and SD's so they will lose that velocity more quickly, over a shorter range, and also penetrate less and are more prone to deflection when shooting through light cover. A car window for example.

I'll take a 147 grain @ 1050 over a 115 grain @ 1188.

Both develop the same muzzle energy... The 115 grain is barely 130fps faster. That is not a substantial amount of velocity to be sacrificing for that bullet mass, IMO. Also 147 grain HP's have no problems expanding at their operating velocities and often have larger expansion.
 
Hornady

I've got some 135's and really like the way they shoot. Hope I never find out how effective they are.
 
JMHO, so many people are concerned about the quality of the Bow and Arrow, and not nearly concerned enough about how to use a Bow and Arrow. I'm of the old school and believe that shot placement trumps all. Of course that is my old fashioned opinion and is perhaps outdated:)
 
There is not a thing wrong with the Hornady ammo, but others probably do just a good for less money. A lot of ammo is packaging. No plain white box stuff sells for the big money. You get a catchy phrase like "Bull Moose XYZ blah de blah" ammo and if it catches on you're in business. Probably some of the commercial reloads will do just as good...just not have as much style. I shot thousands of rounds of ammo from the Miwall company and it performed just as good as the high dollar ammo.
 
so many people are concerned about the quality of the Bow and Arrow, and not nearly concerned enough about how to use a Bow and Arrow. I'm of the old school and believe that shot placement trumps all.
Click to expand...

This ^^^

A bullet that has the word "Tactical" or "Extreme" or "Bulldog" in it's marketing label will perform just as well as one that does not, except in court. There they will perform better for the opposing side's attorney.

They will both MISS their target with the same probability.

"Damn, I could have saved everyone's life if only I'd had 147 gr bullets instead of 115s"


Sgt Lumpy
 
it's not what I think of any particular load, it's what my gun thinks of it. Does my weapon function reliably with it? How accurate is it? If my gun is happy, I'm happy. My only other concern is how its packaged and priced. It MUST come at least 50 to a box, and be priced no more than $.50/round.

Unless it's loaded to either a werewolf hunter's or the Lone Ranger's specifications with genuine sterling silver bullets, there is absolutely no way any manufacturer can justify a price higher than that.
 
not a big fan, had good penetration but poor expansion. I personally prefer 124g Federal HST, or 115g speer gold dot, but there are lots of other good rounds out there as well.
 
I'm not such a fan of Hornady as I once was.
IMO, they tend to load their ammo a little weaker than most of the other brands...

Hornady 115g 9mm XTP = 341 ft. lbs. (muzzle energy).

Hornady 115g 9mm Critical Defense FTX = 332 ft. lbs.

Speer 115g 9mm Gold Dot = 374 ft. lbs.

Winchester Super-X 115g 9mm Silvertip = 383 ft. lbs.

Winchester USA (white box) 115g 9mm JHP = 383 ft. lbs.

Black Hills 115g 9mm EXP JHP = 400 ft. lbs.

Federal Personal Defense 115g 9mm JHP = 356 ft. lbs.

Sellier & Bellot 115g 9mm JHP = 393 ft. lbs.


The differences aren't huge, but the Hornady is definitely a bit weaker than its rivals.

There has also been some negative talk on the net about bullet setback, especially with the Critical Defense ammo.



Gary
 
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OP, the 115-grain XTP is a good choice. It is not my preference in weight or manufacturer, but that doesn't change the fact that it is a good design and generally manufactured well. It'll serve your purposes just fine. :)

If you'll forgive me offering my personal flavor like the other posters, I tend to prefer Federal or Speer ammunition, both made by ATK, as I find the quality control generally fantastic. My favorite 9mm loads are 147-grain Speer Gold Dot or Federal HST. Modern 147-grain bullets do not suffer from the poor expansion like 147s of yesteryear. The 147-grain HST is particularly impressive. 124-grain +p Gold Dots and HSTs do very well also. The Remington Golden Saber is another pretty solid performer in 124 +p.

They are on a vacation now and their inventory is falsely labeled as 'everything out of stock', but after the 7th try www.sgammo.com for pretty solid prices on 50-round boxes of defense ammo.
 
Most XTP bullets begin expanding deeper into the wound channel which means they normally penetrate well but with so-so expansion (compared to some other bullets). That's one reason Hornady designed the Critical Defense and Critical Duty lines of defensive ammo. That said, I would not hesitate in using 9mm XTP, especially if choice is limited.

Here's an article from the late Stephen Camp that discusses the XTP in 9mm. http://www.hipowersandhandguns.com/HornadyXTP.htm.
 
Hornady is my choice...but with many options. Since you talk of "defense" then what you should look at is the Hornady Critical Defense round. It was developed in partnership with Hornady and the CIA. What it is designed to do in defense is to penetrate outer clothing and bone before it begins to open, rather that fragment before entry.

NRA Certified Instructor Pistol, Rifle, Shotgun, RSO
Louisiana Wildlife & Fisheries Hunter Safety Instructor
 
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