fmj vs. hollow points

A

ammo first

New member
currently using a 9mm witness full size steel for self defence at home and in the car. would appreciate any feedback on the pluses and minuses of each type of bullet fmj vs. hp, also recently picked up 1000rnds of magtech 9mm in 115gr. fmj anyone tried this stuff?
 
FMJ will generally feed more reliably than hollow points, although in many modern pistols that is no longer true as they will feed a wide variety of FMJ and jacketed hollow point (JHP).

On the downside, FMJ is less effective at stopping an assailant, has less potential for expansion and is likely to overpenetrate. It has the potential to hit the assailant and continue on through the typical interior wall with enough energy remaining to injure or kill.

I believe that Federal now makes an expanding FMJ round that has an FMJ profile; but functions much like a hollow point.

There is a ton of written word on which hollow point is the most effective for self-defense; but I think you will find that almost nobody recommends regular FMJ for defensive use.
 
FMJ -
pro: high feed reliability, high penetration of targets, normally quite accurate, inexpensive.
con: high penetration of targets; will frequently go through a human target and adversely effect non-targets (i.e., bystanders); tend to deflect off glass at oblique angles (from FBI tests).

JHP -
pro: excellent at "dumping" its energy into a target via expansion; controlled penetration; less tendency to deflect off glass at oblique angles; reduced tendency to go through targets; slightly reduced tendency to ricochet.
con: some guns are finicky with certain hollowpoints; penetration may not be as deep as desired; reduced performance against heavy clothing, barriers, or body armor; more expensive.

For the average Joe on the street carrying CCW in 9mm, the consensus sees to be to choose a quality JHP that functions perfectly in your particular gun. Corbon 115gr +P loads are a favorite of mine, as are 124gr CCI Gold Dots. Frequently recommended JHPs here include the Federal 9BP 115gr JHP, Remington 124gr JHP Golden Sabre, Federal 124gr and 147gr Hydrashok, etc. There are MANY good hollowpoints to choose from and the debate as to which is best could go on for years. Find one that works 100% in your gun and stick with it.

For a really fun debate, ask someone here whether in 9mm you should use the light-and-fast 115gr JHP or the deep-penetrating 147gr JHP. The resulting firestorm may take weeks to extinguish!
 
I would avoid using 9mm FMJ for defensive ammo. The stuff REALLY overpenetrates. Big time liability if you wing one of your neighbors on the block...

Also JHP's offer much improved stopping power.

An example of the poor stopping power of 9mm FMJ is that case (Aiyallo sp?) in NYC where NYPD shot the guy with lots of FMJ before he went down, making a bad shooting even worse...

There are plenty of JHP's these days that feed well, unlike back in the olden days, when selection was more limited...
 
Ammo First-

There's a pretty extensive article on FMJ ammo in the December 2000 issue of 'Gun World' magazine.
It's the one with the picture of Kimber's Pro CDP .45 on the cover.
It might answer some of your questions.
 
IMHO, there are a few factors to consider before deciding between FMJ and JHP. Now, these are my own opinions, and unless I am carrying a good personal defense round, I always carry FMJ when available but here is my opinion on the matter:

1) Consider reliable feeding. Some autos have problems feeding anything but FMJ ball ammo, but not always. Practice with what you are gonna carry to be sure there are no hiccups, even if the stuff is $1 a round.

2) Consider the area. Where are you going to be? I live in a desert so over-penetration is rarely an issue. If I am going to be in town, I carry Hydro-Shoks a lot but not religiously. If I am going into the middle of nowhere, I can punch through my target and not worry about hitting something behind it.

3) Consider the weather. Cold weather means people will usually be wearing thick clothing and jackets. Rumors say that a hollowpoint clogged with a chunk of leather coat may not expand as desired.

4) Consider the most likely scenerio. If this is a car gun, a fire fight may break out with a few layers of metal in the way. A FMJ may help punch through without as much of an energy loss.

5) Taking all of this into account, and knowing it is hard to plan for something you want to avoid, you may try an old trick. If you get reliable feeding, stagger FMJ, JHP, FMJ, JHP, FMJ, JHP, FMJ, JHP, FMJ, JHP, FMJ, JHP, FMJ, JHP, FMJ, JHP.

Hope this helps!
 
Magtech, made in Brazil IIRC, good range ammo and that's it, I find it burns somewhat dirtier than something like Win white box making cleaning a chore. Its also the only ammo that ever choked my BHP, I think its a lil weak sometimes on the power. In 9mm my non-expert opinion for ammo is Speer gold dot 124gr +P, never had a reliability problem, good bullet design. If you must use FMJ for personal reasons or you move to NJ, be all that you can be, buy a .45 and make big holes w/ it.
 
Personally, I don't buy into the whole stopping-power deal spoken of verbosely by both the Facklerites and the Marshall-Sanow disciples. Everything spoken concerning the issue of stopping power is moot if a bullet doesn't get to where it needs to go.

However, having said that, I must admit to carrying Federal Hydra-Shoks simply because I don't want to risk injury to innocents because of a through-and-through wound to a bad guy. If I lived in a sparsely populated area, more than likely I would use FMJ.
 
3) Consider the weather. Cold weather means people will usually be wearing thick clothing and jackets. Rumors say that a hollowpoint clogged with a chunk of leather coat may not expand as desired.
Click to expand...
...although if it doesn't expand from the sump clogging, then it'll act more or less just like ball, right? I've always figured it better to have some chance of expansion than no chance. ;)

With the heavy brass-jacketed Golden Sabers, the "reverse taper" jacketed Talon/SXT/Rangers and the bonded-jacket Gold Dots, deep penetration and bullet weight retention have become much closer to a sure thing; remember, all three of these bullets were designed to compete for law enforcement contracts that involve ever more baroque barrier protocols ever year, it seems. Also, CAD-designed sumps shaped by our ever-expanding (pun intended ;) ) knowledge of terminal ballistics and the fluid dynamics involved have made JHP expansion the norm, rather than the exception it used to be.
 
I read in American handgunner that the HP's can fill with dibries (ie drywall) and then will behave like fmj.
 
For self-defense against humans, use hollow points unless they are unreliable in your firearm. FMJ is out-and-out inferior at stopping a human attacker.
 
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