Personal defense

M

MINSH101

New member
What caliber and type/weight of bullet do you use for personal defense? This is just a general question to see what others are using.
 
It really just depends on how I feel. I rotate between 124 grain 9mm and 158 grain .357. I also have a shotgun nearby.
 
The mail point of self defense with a concealed handgun, bullet placement, the second (to me, your bullet going deep) so. 9mm Ranger T 147g non plus P.

I have carried this loading, since it was called Black Talon.

Very accurate, controllable recoil.
 
Remington Golden Sabers, bonded JHPs.

9mm -- I think they're 124 gr, but they might be 147s.
.38 -- I think these are 125s.
 
380acp-Speer Gold Dot 90gr.
9MM Lugar-Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel +p 124 gr.
38 Spcl-Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel +P 135gr.
40 S&W-Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel 180gr.
44 Spcl-Speer Gold Dot 200 gr.
And now for something completely different!
45 Colt/410-Winchester PDX1 Bonded 225 gr./Federal Premium Handgun 000 Buck
 
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Any decent quality hollow point in any caliber 9mm and up.

Mostly either 180 or 165 grain .40 HST or 124 grain +P Gold Dots.

HST Or Gold Dots are my preference these days but really I am fine with SXT/PDX1, Golden Sabers, Hornady etc. they are all handgun calibers and I have no illusions about effectiveness.
 
Mine, not that it matters much, is the tried and true .38 special.
For home defense, the adage "the gun is the least of it" seems more important.
 
Use what you can use the best.

If you are not proficient with a larger caliber, but you want a larger caliber,
then you need to practice and train until you are proficient with it.

Concentrate more on skills and less on tools.

As skills become more abundant and fluid you will open up a whole world of choices. But no matter what you choose, you owe it to your self, your loved ones and your society to be skilled in it's use.

There are differences in the "grade" of guns and the effectiveness of ammo.
But all that is in a distant 2nd place to skills.
 
The gun I'm carrying now: 9mm, 124JHP. I can't tell you the brand, or model, as I'm not sure it really matters. I have more trust in marksmanship than bullet expansion.
Six months ago, I was carrying a .45, with 185gr Hornady Critical Defense, because the plastic-tipped bullet is friendly to alloy feedramps.
 
In 9mm mainly 124gr. HST, Speer Gold Dots. Sometimes 127gr +p+ Winchester Ranger T.

The only 115gr bullet I trust for self-defense is Corbon DPX. And I'm not just saying that cause I'm good friends with them. The standard bullet consists of a mainly soft lead with a copper jacket, whereas Corbon is 115gr of solid copper.


In 45ACP, I usually prefer 230gr with a longer barrel and 185gr with a shorter bullet. Same manufacturers as stated for 9mm.
 
As for 115 grain that old school Federal +p+ round seemed to have a pretty good real world track record even being old tech. 9BP or something to that effect.
 
Constantine.

Years ago, I influenced the Firearms Instructor of the Orlando PD, to move to the 127 g +P+ hot round, great for their 226 pistols. Good results were obtained with that fast round all over.

I was flirting with that round! But I went back to my 147g rounds.

Down side, he used those same rounds in the SWAT teams MP 5s. They battered the bolts to bits! I never got blamed (but I have broad shoulders anyways)
 
Either 9mm with 115g critical defense (FTX bullet). For my .380 90g American gunner (XTP bullet). Both have been shown to perform well in multiple gelatin tests so between that and proper shot placement I have every confidence in my chosen loading.
 
In 9mm, primarily Speer Gold Dots in 124 gr but, bought a whole bunch of them in the 115 gr loading a while back because they were plenty in stock and the price was right.

In .380 I use 90 gr Hornady XTP.

In .40 Winchester Ranger 165 gr Bonded.
 
I've never had to fire a gun in self defense. So whatever I think would be good for the job would be, mmmm....presumptuous, since nothing has ever had to stand up to the test of actual experience. I would guess that the most failure prone part of the formula would be the inexperience of the defender who has never been-there-and-done-that. It is so ingrained in us to not harm others that, if we really had to, for the first time, we might be highly prone to fail. I suppose those with actual experience who survived would probably be better prepared mentally, even with a 22 rimfire, to come out on top of a bad situation. I keep my Vaquero loaded with my main woods load, 255 grain cast bullets at 1075 fps. Probably not the best for home defense against a violent intruder, but at least I'm familiar with it. And I don't feel the need to go around armed for trouble where I live, so it's put away where only I would find it. I only open carry in the woods. If society in these parts were to substantially degrade, perhaps I would change my carry habits.
 
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