What is the best .40 cal ammo?

F

FirearmFan

New member
Hi Everyone,

Getting ready to buy some ammo in bulk and after reading all the threads realized there are too many choices out there. I wanted to get suggestions from you guys as to what is the best .40 ammo and your reasons why.

Any and all help much appreciated!

Thanks
 
what for? plinking, more accurate practice, presumably defense?

for all my practice shooting i use the cheapest, winchester white box. i understand the small additional cost for the remington cheap stuff is a big quality difference though. i get a dud round maybe every 500 or so out of WWB, and there is admittedly more accurate stuff on the market. i just like to put a lot of shots down the tube though.

defense for .40SW i go with federal hydrashok 165gr jhps. a lot of people will argue there's better stuff, there might be, i haven't tested much, but hydrashoks are in wide use and fairly well accepted as an appropriate defense round. it's almost all shooter and very little to do with the ammo anyway, place your shots well and any .40 caliber round, even fmj, should stop any threat that you could expect to take on with a handgun.
 
I'm sure there are as many good answers as there will be posts since there are so many good choices.

Personally, I use the 165 gr Blazer for practice and carry the 165 gr Gold Dot from Double Tap - at 1200 fps & about 530 ft/lbs muzzle energy. I have nailed the targets frequently with the Blazers so I know they work but have never had to use the Gold Dots for protection so I accept those on faith but the write ups have been good.:)

:) :D
 
Wolf for plinking, Federal 180gr hydrashock for HD. WHen I got my .40, I bought about 8 brands of cheap ammo to see which I like best. I like the Seller and belloit best, but the Wolf was a close second and cheaper, so I bought a bunch of that.
 
I bought some wolf, for all of my pistols. NONE fed relaibly in any of them, exept my SKS.

I use WWB now, Very Dirty, Like Wolf.

I have gone through around 1100 rounds of WWB through my XD
about another 1200 through my CZ
and about 800 through my Colt 1911

No failures, or duds of any kind.
 
defensive 40cal ammo

I've read alot of post pertaining to defensive ammo. First my personal choice is winchester elite. This is a 180 grain jacketed hollow point ( standard issue for the FBI). Now if the FBI uses this round than common sense would dictate that this is a perfect self defense round. I have read multiple post about the weight of the bullet. Most saying that the 165weight grain bullet is the best. Ie: better accuracy down range 50 75 and 100 yard shots. However if you are shooting in defence of your life and firing at an assailant at those distances. You are most certainly going to jail. A self defense situation is more like 10 yards and under. And inside your home. Now try this on for size people worry about over penetration. Well I have a Glock 22 40cal. With 15 round magazines. And for home defense I load my mags with what I call a grab bag. A few hollow points a few speer fmj's. The theory is and this goes back to over penetration. If some would be rapist. Murderer or any nutty criminal with the balls to come into my home and try to harm my wife daughter or son I want the option of shooting thru the wall and killing the attacker. Tees I said killing the attacker. Killing them means that there is only one side of the story to be told. So go with 180 grain bullets in a grab bag formation. Its the best. And if your shooting targets at a 100 yards get a rifle
 
GlockTwoTwo...if you shot through the wall, how do you know it will hit the Bad Guy and not the member of your family he's assaulting?

I'm not arguing against the 180 gr bullets (I've got a .40 myself). And close range accuracy isn't the issue at all with self-defense (the less accurate low-pressure .45 is fine for self-defense).

But shooting through walls? Dude, can you see through them?
 
"Best" is a subjective term. Best for what purpose?

"40cal" is an insufficiently specific term. The following rounds are all .40 caliber:

.40 S&W
10mm Auto
10mm Magnum
.40 Super
.40 G&A
.40 G&A Magnum

There are also 5 rounds that are .401 caliber, which some people may refer to as .40 cal:

.400 CorBon
.41 Short Colt
.41 Long Colt
.38-40 Winchester
.401 Powermag

Which one do you mean specifically?
 
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Assuming .40 S&W,

For practice, I go with Winchester White Box from Wal-mart. 100 rounds, about $31 here in the Dallas suburbs.

For self-defense, I go with Remington Golden Sabers, box of 25 for only about $15 at the local Cheaper Than Dirt gun store. Way cheaper than the rest...and from my research, they're at the top along with the other best hollow-points.
 
No apologies necessary. I like all of this stuff.

Let's see...but the low-pressure .45 generally has less kinetic energy than the high-pressure 40.

Even a .223 rifle can beat all of the handguns in stopping power due to it's high kinetic energy.

Can you tell I'm into kinetic energy?!
 
FirearmFan, My choice is Winchester USA, or White box as it's commonly called for practice, and Winchester Supreme Elite PDX1 for carry in my Springfield XD40 Subcompact. I refresh my carry rounds every several months, and use up the old as practice also. I have also heard that the less expensive Winchester Ranger is the same as the PDX1 without he nickel plated brass.
However!, That's my gun, and my shooting. You should pick a round that you shoot well in your gun!
 
Arontol. The shooting thru a wall thing is not for every situation look at it it like this is the bad guy is around the corner down hallway that leads to your bed rooms. He's in the living room next step is to come down the hallway. That is a situation where shooting thru walls would come in handy. Im sorry if my post made it sound like I was a gun slinging madman. Only half that is true. In the middle of the nite if a badguy was in my home my german Sheppard would be barking like crazy the kids would be alerted by the barking and hiding un der their beds and wife would be waiting in the bedroom in a defensive position with the 12 guage
 
IMO, 180 grain Federal HST is THE best self defense ammo for the .40. Because I carry Federal ammo for self defense, I shoot Federal ammo for practice as Federal 180 grain FMJ ammo is similar to HST in terms of how it shoots and where it hits.

If you are serious about self defense, pick your self defense load then practice with cheap plinking ammo of the same brand.
 
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