Guys and Gals, pick your self defense ammo.

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#18indycolts

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Back it up with evidence, or not. Hear say, whatever...what do you like for your self defense ammo....also post your weapon.

Me? 9mm Glock 26 with 147 grain Federal HST, and a Walther P99 AS .40 with 180 grain Federal HST.
 
Whatever feeds reliably. I am not planning to depend on expansion. If it does great, if not that is OK too.

For 9mm and .45acp I have some old Federal Hydrashok that are proven reliable in my FEG HP clones, Glocks and 1911. The .40 has Golddots since I got than more recently and Remington is more available at the shop I am now near.

Most backup mags just have Remington FMJ or LRN handloads.

The .38 Special has Federal Nyclad HP for first cylinder and backup rounds are 158 gr LSWC.

Here is my evidence in the same degree of detail as the OP:






:D
 
Gold Dot projectile, loaded as hot as I can get it. Currently carrying Doubletap 357s with 125gr Gold Dots. Wish I could afford a good batch of Buffalo Bores; might switch to the 158s when I can.
 
Kahr PM9 147 Grain HST, though I'm thinking about American Eagle 147 grain flat points for more penetration.

45 Super Gold Dots: 230 grains, 1100 fps.

400 Grain XTP, at 1350 fps.

182 grain soft point, at 2750, 308.

22 short, CCI something.
 
9 mm....powerbal 100 grain polymer tip
40 cal.... hornady 155 gr.tap fpd hollow points.

bought both for defensive carry..... its all i carry,and all i need
everything else is for range plinking.
 
Self Defense Ammo??

Cor-Bon DPX in all calibers, 9MM. 40Short and Weak, and 45ACP. Moved up to these last year from Federal Hydro's which I had been carrying for many years. YES, there are better Personal Protection (Self Defense Rounds) available now from yesteryear!!!! You just gotta stay current in Today's Technology!!!
 
If carrying the P2000SK it's loaded with 115gr +P+ Gold Dots, if carrying the P32 it's loaded with 73gr Fiocchi FMJ.
 
Hornady 200 gr +P XTP's out of a Springfield champion. 12 ga 2 3/4" #4 buck out of a Winchester 120 Ranger. If that doesn't solve the problem, I surrender.
 
As pilgrim mentioned, it depends on the gun. I truly believe that you can not say that "X" brand and type of ammo is the best. It's not a matter of taste, or preference, or opinion. It's a matter of how that particular gun; not even brand and model of gun, but actual individual gun; relates to the ammo. For plinking, I have shot whatever was the cheapest or reloaded or available. But for ALL of my guns, I have shot at the MINIMUM; 5 different brands/style of ammunition for each gun, and at LEAST 2 box of each ammo. And then I chose which one I wanted for that particular gun. Based on recoil, accuracy, comfort, and editor's test results. I haven't done gelatin tests or similar, so that is one area I am trusting the editors and professionals as far as penetration and expansion goes. Having said all that; here are my defensive loads.

S&W Model 13-1 357 magnum: Federal 158 grain Hydra-Shok HP
SigSauer P220 45acp: Remington 230 grain Golden Sabers HP
CZ-82 9x18 9mm Makarov: Hornady 95 grain XTP HP
FEG AP-MBP 32acp: Fiocchi 60 grain JHP

I have quite a number of other pistols, but these 4 are the only ones I use for personal/home self defense. Would I say that any of these is "The Best" and can be argued? Hell no. They are PERFECT ONLY for my individual gun and ME. I can say that the above listed rounds in those particular guns has NEVER EVER has a negative result. Never a misfire. Never failed to feed. Never missed my point of aim. For me and my gun, they are the perfect round. But there are some rounds that are fantastic, but not for these particular individual guns. E.g. Corbon 32acp HP will NOT FIT in my FEG pistol. Physically won't happen. Yet others have had no problems. And I consider Corbon to be EXCELLENT ammo.
 
Federal FMJ for now untill I've had enough range time with some JHP's but until this shortage clears up... I'll carry what I'm comfortable with.
 
#18indycolts
Back it up with evidence, or not. Hear say, whatever...what do you like for your self defense ammo....also post your weapon.

Me? 9mm Glock 26 with 147 grain Federal HST, and a Walther P99 AS .40 with 180 grain Federal HST.
Click to expand...

Since the primary method of incapacitation of a human threat is by blood loss. The bullet chosen must be capable of crushing as much tissue as possible. This requires that the bullet encounter the tissue. Diameter and depth are the two components. This is a matter of volume.

Thus a bullet that is the largest you can launch into a threat's body accurately and quickly and that penetrates 14" - 18" is preferable to lighter, smaller, lower penetrating bullets. Lighter bullets that expand to twice their diameter tend to upset and penetrate edge on and do not crush tissue equal to their maximum diameter for the full depth of penetration.

This crushing requires energy. The more tissue that is crushed the more energy required. The formula for volume of a Cylinder is pi * radius2 * depth.

I like both the 230 gr .45acp +P and the 200gr 10mm auto at maximum velocity; as they are reasonably large diameters and penetrate well destroying a large volume of tissue thereby causing more bleeding than smaller diameter rounds. It should be useful to calculate the surface area of a cylinder and one end as those are the areas that will be hemorrhaging and causing blood loss. Of course it gets complex if you have to account for the complex structures in a human body. So I'm assuming a homogeneous tissue mass like a tst medium of ballistic gelatin.

I have DoubleTap 200gr XTP 10mm auto cartridge in my carry gun now. I am disappointed to have found that the average velocity of 10 rounds out of my Colt Delta Elite is only 1075 fps rather than the 1250 they claim.

I may need to try a stiffer recoil spring. The lower velocity may be cause by the spring allowing the barrel to prematurely unlock and allowing pressure to escape before it is supposed to.
 
SWC's, appropriate for caliber, based on a heaping pickup load of game and reviewing lots of police/autopsy reports/photos.
 
I have 3 rounds I prefer. which of them I carry depends on what I can get my hands on at the time. My 3 choices are


1. federal HST
2. ranger T(currently in my ccw gun)
3.gold dots(should change the rounds name from gold dot to old faithfuls)
 
WWB generic HP for the .357 sig barrel of my sig (Not bothered to get new stuff yet, as I been carrying my .40).

Fiocchi 155 XTP's in .40 S&W.
Fiocchi 115 XTP's in 9mm.
Fiocchi 230 XTP's .45ACP.
Winchester JHP's in .357 Magnum.
PMC 210JHP in .41 magnum.
230 FMJ in .45 (THis is for the old 1917 .45 revolver. the XTP's are for the 1911).

Not all carry guns, but all within arm's reach of my bed.

I plan on getting doubletap for the .40 and .357, then maybe getting a heavier spring, and some for my .45. I just don't carry my 9mm so I've held off buying any better ammo for it.
 
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