ProLoad - 165 or 180?

D

Darth

New member
I am a newbie to TFL, and am confused about which grain to choose for carry ammo.

:confused:

I own a SigPro .40 and have been reading a lot of good things about ProLoad (reliability, accuracy, etc.) I'm undecided as to which grain to carry, however. Penetration is most important to me, but expansion is important as well.

Which should I choose? Does the 180 have enough velocity to expand reliabily? Will the 165 penetrate enough?? :confused:

Any help will be much appreciated. Also, please pardon the "newbie-ness" of my first post. :)

[This message has been edited by Darth (edited January 05, 2000).]
 
Have you ruled out 155 grain? I've found the ballistics of several rounds in 155 grain to be slightly superior to most 165 grain. For example, the 155 grain silvertips produce 500 ft lbs of energy whereas the 165 grain produce around 460 ft lbs or less. If you must choose between the 165 and 185, I would personally prefer the 165 grain (produces significantly more energy than the 180 grain). Bottom line is that both will get the job done. I personally prefer Hydrashoks or silvertips in 155 grain just because they both have over 90% succes rates for one shot stops in real shootings. I think proloads are estimated to be around 88% (estimated because not enough shootings have occured with them for any analysis). I know its a trivial difference, plus, those proloads are beautiful looking little cartridges.
 
Since you state that penetration is your most important concern, this would probably dictate the heaviest bullet. I personally like the light bullets in short barrels - 135 grain(Pro Load makes some of the best)and 155 or 165 grain in longer barrels. I don't think you can do better than the Pro Load Ammo. Impeccably made, very accurate, low flash.
 
I would say go with a 180 grain bullet. Either prolaoa ot hydra-shok for me. Kinetic energy doesn't become a factor unless we are talking about high powered rifles, so a lighter, faster bullet doesn't neccesserily mean a better round. I prefer the 180 grain because it will definately give more penetration and that is good in case when you may have to fire, you may well have to shoot through an arm or other obsticle. Also Pro load and hydrashok expansion is pretty reliable even with the heavier grain bullets

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"what gives a government that arms the whole world the right to disarm it's own citizens?"
 
I agree that kinetic energy can be a bit misleading when choosing a defensive round for a handgun. However, my main reason for choosing 155 grain is that the one stop shot data from actual shootings shows the 155grain of almost every ammo manufacturer to significantly outperform 165 grain, and the 180 grain in particular. Granted, the one stop shot data must be taken with a grain of salt, but at least it can serve as a starting point for ammo selection. I should say that my backup ammo is all 180 grain speer gold dots...its cheap (when bought in bulk) and effective. My pet round just happens to be 155 grain (usually in silvertips cuz they are also relatively cheap, highly effective, and widely available). I don't know if any of this is any help, but its fun to talk about nonetheless :) Selecting good ammo is almost as fun as selecting a good gun.
 
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