Favorite Self Defense AMMO

H

Hoskins

New member
What is yalls favorite SD ammo? It doesn't matter what caliber, brand, type, etc... I just want to hear yalls thoughts.

Being a Marine, we are limited to carrying the Beretta M9 (92F) 9mm & FMJ rounds. My personal carry weapon is a Glock 23....40 S&W. I currently use Federal Hydra=Shocks...I think they are 180 gr. rounds. I'm not exactly sure because they were a gift from my best friend given to me about 10 years ago.

Since I had these I never ventured into looking for anything else. I've never had to use them so I can't really say just how good they are. I don't know if I just like the cool design because of the rod/stick/whatever that thingy is called in the center of the jacketed hollow point in the Hydra-Shocks.

So what's yalls personal choice? I'm looking for the best out there, price doesn't matter as these rounds will be used for the protection of my family. Also, what is yalls view points on the .40 S&W caliber for personal protection. I looked up the ballistics years ago & from what I could see, The .40 has just slightly less velocity of a 9mm & just slightly less energy than the .45 ACP.
 
Speer Gold Dot is my choice... and is quite possibly the most highly regarded self defense ammo out there. Winchester Ranger is excellent, too.

The 40 S&W is a fine choice of caliber for SD/HD as long as you are comfortable with it, can make hasty follow up shots accurately, and don't mind paying for it.
 
Speer Gold Dot.
Federal HST.
Winchester Ranger.

I use Speer Gold Dots in a S&W 637 .38 J-frame revolver.

I'm still deciding between Federal HST and Winchester Ranger ammo for my Glock 23. I'm getting slightly better velocity, accuracy, and expansion from the Federal HST, so that's likely what I'll stick with. That said, the Winchester Ranger ammo is very good IMO.

Daryl
 
Buddy...really? 10 year old defense ammo? My department is cheap, yet, we get new carry ammo at least once a year. Shoot it up and get some new stuff. The Hydro shock was (is) a decent round, but, there has been some advancement in ammo in the last 10 years. The Gold Dot really is a good round.
 
Semper Fi.

I don't own a G23 anymore, but when I did, my favorite SD ammo was anything in the 155gr group. Speer GD, Federal JHP, etc.. All of them seem to hit with real authority and seemed to be more powerful in terms of pure energy than any of the 180gr loadings.
 
Depends on the caliber

.22 Long Rifle- CCI 40grn Velocitor
.32 ACP- S&B 73grn FMJ
7.62x25 Tokarev- S&B 85grn FMJ
.38 Special- Speer 135grn +P Short Barrel Gold Dot
9mm- Winchester Ranger T 127grn +P+
.357 Magnum- Remington Express 158grn JHP
.45 ACP- Federal 230grn +P HST
10mm Auto- Double Tap 180grn XTP
.44 Special- Federal Champion 200grn LSWCHP
.44 Magnum- Speer 240grn Gold Dot

I can't comment on any other calibers as the above are the only ones I've ever owned a handgun chambered for.
 
1911A1 plain Jane 230 gr hardball will cause all the damage I need, it worked a 100 years ago and it still makes a near 1/2" hole.

357 and 38 spcl both use the Kieth style 158 gr LSWC. Standard loads only for each, super hot tree knocking house breaking car destroying power not needed on soft skinned 2 legged varmints at HD/SD distances.
 
Corbon DPX
Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel
Hornady Critical Defense

In that order.
There's also Buffalo Bore, Win. PDX1, and several others.

There is no "best". Choose any of the top brands and decide which is most accurate and most reliable in your gun with you shooting it.
 
Buddy...really? 10 year old defense ammo? My department is cheap, yet, we get new carry ammo at least once a year. Shoot it up and get some new stuff. The Hydro shock was (is) a decent round, but, there has been some advancement in ammo in the last 10 years. The Gold Dot really is a good round.
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True, but the USMC isn't supplying me with my personal ammo for my personal weapon. I shot a mag of them a few months ago & thier performance was the same as they were 10 years ago...in terms of accuracy & reliability.

I figured there had been advances & that was the purpose of the thread. Is the Gold dot what you use in your dept.?
 
I still like the Hydra Shok ammo ....

in .40 S&W I carry their 180gr
( in .45 acp / 230gr )
( in 9mm 147gr )...

most of the time, I carry a .45 acp in a 5" 1911 / but I'll occasionally go to a .40 or a 9mm for a smaller platform in a 4" 1911 or a Sig 239 ...just depends ....

effective rounds on target are a lot more important than caliber / but I take the bigger is better approach usually too .
 
I figured there had been advances & that was the purpose of the thread. Is the Gold dot what you use in your dept.?
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I would bet that in all calibers combined, the Gold Dot line is likely the most popular duty ammo for cops out there. TX DPS uses it in the .357 SIG as does the Air Marshals and Secret Service. NYPD uses the 9mm 124 GR +P (and, there are damned near 40,000 of them alone)

We issue the 180 Gold Dot .40. It seems like a perfectly good round.

In reality, I think the top tier ammo from the major manufacturers is about as good as it gets. If we issued Golden Saber from Remington tomorrow, I don't think it would bother me in the least.

I'm just afraid that 10 year old ammo that I carried everyday would start to turn kinda green. Also, I would worry that with all the jostling around and chambering, the bullets could get a little loose in the cases and lose a little reliability.

If you have several hundred rounds of the stuff and rotate out the carry load every year or so, I think you would be good to go though. Old ammo that has been stored properly should have no problems at all. There is nothing inherently WRONG with the Hydra Shock at all. If I had a fresh supply of it free, I would carry it in a heartbeat.
 
True, but the USMC isn't supplying me with my personal ammo for my personal weapon. I shot a mag of them a few months ago & thier performance was the same as they were 10 years ago...in terms of accuracy & reliability.

I figured there had been advances & that was the purpose of the thread. Is the Gold dot what you use in your dept.?
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A friend of mine, a couple years ago, shot a buffalo with a 1917 Enfield (30-06) that had been given to him. A fellow church member's dad had died, leaving him the rifle, and he didn't want it.

Don used that rifle on the buffalo, and used some of the ammo he was given with it. It was marked with a purchase date of 1953.

It worked flawlessly.

I've shot up old ammo here and there, usually given to me by friends. As long as it's factory stuff, I'll shoot it up regardless of age...or if I loaded it myself, and somehow didn't shoot it up.

That said, I don't have any trouble with having old ammo on hand. Ground squirrels and jackrabbits are just too much fun to pass up for me, and my carry gun is sometimes the only option.
 
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