Best self-defense ammo?

See what cops in your area are issued. Chances are, its decent ammo that meets the basic requirements for defense. It amazes me that one Department will swear by a particular brand of amm, next bid, somebody comes in cheaper and its decided that THAT is better ammo. Not to mention, after exhaustive testing, it seems that the results show that lots of different agencies can't agree on what the best round out there. We used to issue CorBon 135 GR in .40. It actually worked pretty well until an Officer had to shoot through a vehicle. The rounds came apart. Now we issue the Gold Dot 180. Is it the best? I dunno. But, it feeds reliably and is controllable.
 
I use nothing but federal,I have used them for years with no problems.

Sig 239 9mm gets 147gr fed hydra-shok
S&W 686 .357 gets fed 130gr Personal defence Hydra-shok/unless hunting
S&W 4046 .40 cal gets fed 180gr hydra-shok
Rossi's get fed 110gr low recoil hydra-shok in .38
Mossberg 500 gets fed 12g 2 3/4 tactical hollow point

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it's better to have a gun stuck to your hip than to your head
 
The heaviest and fastest bullet with the widest meplat for the cartridge that you shoot...and that your gun likes. The rest is marksmanship and luck.
 
From everything recently tested, looks like you really can't go wrong with the Federal HST.

Lots of police departments are starting to carry them, and well the Speer Gold Dot has been the benchmark for years and is STILL excellent.
 
clarity

Energy is different than force, and is wildly over-represented in ammunition effectiveness discussions (even the good Colonel agreed, even many years ago, and stated something very similar, because velocity gets squared in the energy formula).

I wrote "When in doubt buy Winchester" NOT because I think it 'best', but because I recognize its consistency, and availability, and affordability, and that its offerings are good enough.

There is no "best"; there is only "best at hand".
Since we will not get to choose our encounter, there is no way to know beforehand what might be the most appropriate "best" choice for the immediate need, so we compromise.
Winchester offerings might be the best for that, they might not, but they will be good enough.


What do I use?
Winchester Super-X 22LR (yes, I wear 22LR-chambered defense guns), or I make my own.
I no longer care that much about what specifically is in my guns, except that it be reliable in function, controllably accurate, and of sufficient weight.
Delivery will be the most important component......
 
Use what the tugs use 99 out 100 times wal-mart white box, it kills very good, the one time high doller ammo use jag player shoot 14 times he is still alive
Click to expand...


Can someone translate this to English for me?
Click to expand...

I think I have part of it.


Use what the thugs use. 99 out 100 times wal-mart white box. It kills very good.

That's all I got. :confused:
 
I think I have part of it.


Use what the thugs use. 99 out 100 times wal-mart white box. It kills very good.
Click to expand...


I think your translation is right. The advice is probably bad, though. The thugs are unlikely to have analyzed their choices very well.
 
I love the 10mm for home self-defense and also hitting something in a 40 to 50 yard radius around my house incase the perp thinks he can run off. I'm in the suburbs and have quite a bit of distance between my house and my neighbors'. I use the 165gr DoubleTap Gold Dot HP for self-defense. I've used the 10mm for hunting deer and black bear, I use the 10mm 200gr DoubleTap WFNGC Beartooth for that. The 10mm 200gr Beartooth WFNGC I put straight through a telephone pole from 30 yards away. The 10mm is sort of like a 40S&W+++P ultra. It's a great round, I think it's the most versatile round I ever used. You can also stock up on practice rounds from DoubleTap.

Double Tap Gelatin test results:

All of these tests were done using 10% ballistic gelatin provided by
Vyse gelatin using all FBI protocols and 4 layers of denim and two layers
of light cotton T-shirt in front of the gelatin.

DoubleTap .40 S&W Penetration / expansion
165gr Gold Dot JHP @ 1200fps - 14.0" / .70"
180gr Gold Dot JHP @ 110fps - 14.75" / .68"

DoubleTap .357 Sig
125gr Gold Dot JHP @ 1450fps - 14.5" / .66"

DoubleTap .357 Magnum
125gr. Gold Dot JHP @ 1600fps - 12.75" / .69"
158gr. Gold Dot JHP @ 1400fps - 19.0" .56"

DoubleTap 10mm
135gr JHP @ 1600fps - 11.0" / .70" frag nasty
155gr Gold Dot JHP @ 1475fps - 13.5" / .88"
165gr Gold Dot JHP @ 1400fps - 14.25" / 1.02"
165gr Golden Saber JHP @ 1425fps - 14.75" / .82"
180gr Golden Saber JHP @ 1330fps - 16.0" / .85"
180gr Gold Dot JHP @ 1300fps - 15.25" / .96"
200gr XTP @ 1250fps - 19.5" / .72"
230gr Equalizer @ 1040fps - 11.0" and 17.0" / .62" and .40"

DoubleTap .45ACP
185gr Gold Dot JHP @ 1225fps - 12.75" / .82"
200gr Gold Dot JHP @ 1125fps - 14.25" / .88"
230gr Gold Dot JHP @ 1010fps - 15.25" / .95"

DoubleTap 9X25
115gr Gold Dot JHP @ 1800fps - 10.0" / .64" frag nasty
125gr Gold DOt JHP @ 1725fps - 15.0" / .74"
147gr Gold Dot JHP @ 1550fps - 17.5" / .68"

In 10MM it looks like the Gold Dot 165gr expanded the best. Even though the Gold Saber went 3/4" deeper it didnt open up as much. On a side note, the XTP in the 10MM might make a good hunting round. DoubleTap told me for hunting I should stick to the 200gr or 230gr Beartooth WFNGC.
 
There is no best as others have mentioned. Every single bullet design and powder charge is a compromise. Your application (more specific than "self defense") will drive your choice. The idea of compromise really comes into play with hunting, where things like ballistic coeficients are a big deal as you will be shooting from various distances.

In reality, I am not extremely picky with self defense ammunition. I pick one that uses a proven bullet design with enough powder underneath to let the bullet do its best.
 
We switched from Gold Dot to Fed HST but only because the SWAT team was whinning that the GD beat up their Glocks and HK5's, but then they shoot 10,000 rounds a year:eek:....We have always carried the heavy bullet rounds 180 and 147 grains. The .40 180 has been VERY good to us on the street.
Personally I liked the GD, fast burn and good thump, but "the indians carry what the chiefs buy". Sigh.
 
Sulaco what ammo is in your HK's and Glocks? Is it 9mm or 40S&W? Have you guys ever tried the GoldenSabre ammo? On that DoubleTap list I posted earlier the 2nd best ballistic results were from the GoldenSabre's.
 
The thugs are unlikely to have analyzed their choices very well.
No, the thugs are just that.....THUGS!!!! They don't have the ability to think about what they use. They'll shoot anything and everything they can STEAL!!
 
Any brand name (Remington, Federal, Winchester, etc) JHP will get the job done. I personally use Federal Hydra-shoks in all my S/HD handguns (.380, 9mm, .40, .45) because they state "Personal Defense" right on the box. Stay away from "exotic" ammunition 9 out of 10 of them don't even expand and may damage your firearm., they just look cool. Ask what the local LEO's carry or are issued, but I would stay away from anything that says "Law Enforcement Only" on the box. That's just to cover yourself if you have to in court.
 
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In 9mm, I like either 124 or 147 grain bullets from Remington, Speer, Hornady, Winchester, and others for their "premium" ammunition for self-defense. For practice, I load a generic similar bullet to approx specs.
 
Here's a list of rounds that did well in ballistic gel media with, IIRC, four layers of denim. I believe this list comes from testing done by Ammolab.

9 mm:
Barnes XPB 105 & 115gr JHP (copper bullet)
Federal Tactical Bonded 124gr+P JHP (LE9T1)
Speer Gold Dot 124gr+P JHP
Winchester Ranger-T 124gr+P JHP (RA9124TP)
Winchester Partition Gold 124gr JHP (RA91P)
Winchester Ranger-T 127gr+P+ JHP (RA9TA)
Federal Tactical Bonded 135gr+P JHP (LE9T5)
Federal HST 147gr JHP (P9HST2)
Remington Golden Saber 147gr JHP (GS9MMC)
Speer Gold Dot 147gr JHP
Winchester Ranger-T 147gr JHP (RA9T)
Winchester Ranger Bonded 147gr JHP (RA9B/Q4364) FBI Load

.40 S&W:
Barnes XPB 140 & 155gr JHP (copper bullet)
Speer Gold Dot 155gr JHP
Federal Tactical Bonded 165gr JHP (LE40T3)
Winchester Ranger-T 165gr JHP (RA40TA)
Winchester Partition Gold 165gr JHP (RA401P)
Federal HST 180gr JHP (P40HST1)
Federal Tactical Bonded 180gr JHP (LE40T1)
Remington Golden Saber 180gr JHP (GS40SWB)
Speer Gold Dot 180gr JHP
Winchester Ranger-T 180gr JHP (RA40T)
Winchester Ranger Bonded 180gr JHP (RA40B/Q4355) FBI Load

.45 ACP:
Barnes XPB 185gr JHP (copper bullet)
Federal HST 230gr JHP (P45HST2)
Federal HST 230gr+P JHP (P45HST1)
Federal Tactical Bonded 230gr+P JHP (LE45T1)
Speer Gold Dot 230gr JHP
Winchester Ranger-T 230gr JHP (RA45T)
Winchester Ranger-T 230gr+P JHP (RA45TP)
Winchester Ranger Bonded 230gr JHP (RA45B)
 
I use 147g Winchester Ranger Ts because that is what my local Sheriff Dept. uses and they are relatively inexpensive for SD ammo.

True, you can't find them on store shelves easily, but I have never had a problem picking them up at the gun shows. They run about 50 cents per round and I have not seen any evidence they are inferior to those costing 2-4 times that much.

Edit: Local Sheriff uses Ranger Ts, but they use 230g 45ACP.
 
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