How do you Choose your Defensive Load?

S

SigfanTN

New member
So for any given caliber where you have available to you different bullet weights, and regular, +P or +P+ flavors how do you select the loading that you feel the most comfortable with?

I'm interested to know if everyone tested several loadings prior to selecting one, or if you went with your favorite brand. What specifically made you decide what bullet weight you prefer?

I guess it would be most enlightening to see everyone's different thought process in this topic.

I'll go first: I like 124g +P Federal HST and Speer Gold Dot in 9mm. It's the 125g +P Gold Dot in .38 Special. Those are my primary carry guns. I have always liked Federal, but the Gold Dot has a good reputation also. I chose 124g because it's the middle weight for the typical 9mm, and I feel should pack a little more oomph and still goes fast. I don't mean for this to end up a fast and light vs. heavy and slow either because I'm pretty sure I'll go for the heavier weights in my new .45. I'm also not convinced I'll gain much with +P loading for this caliber, but I have little experience with it. Also, the proponents of the FBI load (158g +P?) for .38 spcl have me rethinking my carry ammo for it, so other folk's opinions is what is needed here. :)
 
I select my ammunition by the following criteria:

Reliability in my gun
Documented proven performance on human adversaries
Availability (if I can't get it by the case it does me no good to carry it)

Biker
 
Reliability in my gun
Documented proven performance on human adversaries
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Those are my two top criteria as well. I don't buy carry ammo by the case but I do like to have 100-150 rounds of my chosen carry ammo for each gun on hand. I test my carry ammo for expansion from the gun I'm going to carry it in too since I sometimes carry a 3" 9mm or a 3.25" .45acp.
 
I ran the golden sabers through the 45, and then watched and read lots about comparing expansion. I feel they are the best I can get. The expansion is just nasty
 
i prefer speer gold dot 115gr +p hollowpoints for my 9mm when i carry, but i use a normal pressure 135gr federal hydroshok hollowpoints at home just in case, i dont want to shoot anyone unintentionally through a wall. thats no guarantee of course.
 
I select mine by finding out which of the major designer rounds has the cheapest price at the time I'm buying. I know that they are reliable in my gun and there isn't enough difference between them to worry about.
 
I'm with David on this one. What ever top end round is the most affordable. I load my guns with 'Dots and 'Sabers mostly. I like the idea of a "Golden" bullet. I do have some of those DPX .45 rounds floating around.

I know some brands have some measurable advantage but if you come across a crackhead that can tell a DPX from a Gold Dot when they go through his chest, you have bigger problems.
 
Given the ongoing lack of consensus on what's the most effective handgun caliber in the typical service pistol/SD/HD class (which is clearly NOT due to the huge differences in performance between the various choices), it's hard for me to get too worked up about the even smaller differences between a few loadings in a single caliber.

The rules I follow when buying SD ammo are:

Must be reliable.
Must penetrate 12" in testing.

That means I don't do "magic" ammunition--you know, the stuff that comes in little packs of 5 or that is marketed as having bullets as being smarter than the person shooting the pistol. First because it costs too much to shoot enough of it to determine reliability and second because it doesn't have sufficient penetration.
 
1) Reliability.
2) Reliability.
3) Reliability.
4) All that other stuff.

While the best hollow points money can buy are fine, they suck if your gun won't feed 'em. There are expanding FMJ's and Hardball, and you'll have to use then 'till you get a different gun.

Now, assuming your gun feeds HP ammo, look at such things as:

What does your local PD use? Does it meet your needs? Is over penetration an issue where you go, or not? Will your ammo blind you if fired at night. Do you go from rural to urban carry? Just humans? Or animals, too? What size animals?

Now that you bought something, does it work reliably in YOUR actual gun?


Lots to consider.
 
reliability as everyone is echoing is #1
the rest of my criteria goes like this
#2 accuracy it's got to shoot POA if I have a gun that shoots heavy bullets POA then it gets heavies.
#3 avaliability got to have enough to function test and I like to have a small stock pile to keep fresh ammo in gun.
#4 proven performance I don't put alot of stock in this but especially in major calibers.But I spend so much $ on my shooting addiction I figure what the heck so most of mine are loaded with some brand of premium ammo.
Golddots,Golden sabers, Ranger Ts or Fed HSTs.
 
I buy all of my ammo (when they have it) at Wal-Mart. I shoot .38's, so I bought the Winchester .38+p stuff that they had. I have one box of that for primary carry loads and then some extra boxes of standard .38's set aside for the decline of society.
 
I carry a Glock 19 loaded with Federal 9PBLE +P+ 115 gr JHPs.

My main reason for picking that load is the excellent record it racked up with the Border Patrol and many PDs, SDs and other LE organizations. Of course, I would have gone with something else if it hadn't run 100% and shot where I wanted it to in my Glock.

IMNSHO, there are no bad premium self defense loads being produced by any of the major ammo companies. In 9mm, I'd carry any of them, from 115 to 147 gr as long as they were +P or +P+.
 
They know what they're doing, and it minimizes legal problems.
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As Ayoob recently pointed out, a good round will not magically turn a bad shooting into a good shooting. As for "what the cops carry", their criteria may be different from a private citizen's.

I look at ballistics testing for reliable expansion and penetration. If this round works well in mygun, I carry it.

Currently, I use Corbon DPX in 9mm and .40 S&W, Corbon JHP in .380 ACP, and Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel or Hornady Critical Defense in .38 spcl.
 
So for any given caliber where you have available to you different bullet weights, and regular, +P or +P+ flavors how do you select the loading that you feel the most comfortable with?
Click to expand...

These days: whatever is actually on the shelves. Often I'm lucky to find any defensive loadings in a given caliber, let alone two or more varieties.

That said, I'm happy with just about any premium JHP from a major manufacturer. If I couldn't find those, I'd go for economy JHPs from a major manufactuer. If I couldn't find those, I'd go with FMJ from a major manufacturer. If I couldn't find those, I'd go with a big rock. If couldn't find a big rock, I'd go with Extreme Shock, Glaser Safety Slugs or some other exotic mall ninja ammunition.
 
Interwebz lore. It's all that matters. I plan to have a conversation with the BG.

"Do you have any idea what load is in this gun? It's Speer Gold Dot.... tear your head clean off.... surely you must have read the stories on-line... Do ya fell lucky punk?"


Seriously, what ever has a good reputation and hopefully a few semi-verifiable tests, formal or otherwise. The requirement for reliability in the gun is a given.
 
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