Your Choice For Self-Defense Ammo

Speer Gold Dots and Winchester Ranger SXT's in .45, .40, .38/.357, 357Sig and 9mm. Also Winchester Ranger +P+ in 9mm and Federal +P+ 110grJHP in 38Spl
 
SFsc616171 I choose the following rounds for my .38 Special revolvers, based on the fact that my revolvers were designed for lead bullets.

1. 158 grain standard pressure, standard design lead semi-wadcutters.

2. 148 grain standard pressure wadcutters, preferring double-ended, but will use hollow based, if that is what is available, at the moment.

Semi-wadcutters have been shot out from revolvers, prior to 1928, when Elmer Keith and his particular deisgn semiwadcutters became the rage. So why trade perfection, for an engineered piece of metal, which is designed to fail at certain parameters, and may not, due to someone's tailor?

Wadcutters, being 'soda cans of lead', are mistakenly and solely assigned to punching holes in paper. Now, it is on the record, from the 1950's, that inner city plainclothesmen utilized these rounds in their service snubnose revolver. It is also on record that Civil Defense officials issued S&W Model 15's, with full wadcutter loads. These 'soda cans of lead' are recorded to function as personal defense rounds, again, without an engineered 'designed to fail' ogive, that may or may not 'work as advertised'.

Lastly, both rounds deliver a manageable amount of recoil, and allow a quick return to second shot, that other rounds might not.
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Very well said.

.38 Spl. LSWC, .40 S&W LSWC and .44 Spl LSWC carried here.

I've seen what they do and appreciate the failure rate.
 
I use Winchester PDX1s in my .45s, because I've always heard its the same thing as the old Black Talon ammo, just a different colored bullet, and if California banned it, then it must be good.
 
I don't discriminate. I use regular all ammo or critical defense in my kimber .45. I have a few boxes of each of the top brands for at caliber I own. They all shoot well and feed well. I don't go too crazy with the ballistics. At a self defense distance it's gonna hurt no matter what ammo you shoot
 
For self-defense use, strictly Hornady Critical Defense. They're loaded in my 1911 nightstand gun, my .357 living room gun (.38 +p's), my EDC (Kahr PM9) and my walking-around-the-house pocket gun (NAA Pug .22WMR) ... Just really like the round for accuracy, at least for me in my guns ...
 
There is a wide selection of ammunition suitable for SD. Currently, depending on which gun I carry, I could be carrying Corbon Pow'rBalls, Remington Golden Sabers, or Winchester Rangers. I've shot all of them, and they all feed properly in their respective pistols.
 
First the why.
Function. Any round I use for carry has to prove itself as 100% reliable in the firearm It will be used in. With the ammo shortage, and increased prices this process has been mostly reduced from 100 rounds to 40 or 50.

Accuracy. Most any quality ammunition will meet this standard. Not bench rest, long range accuracy, but rather rapid fire, off hand at a reasonable SD distance of 7 to 10 yards. A full cylinder, or magazine placing all shots center mass in a B27 target passes the test.

Penetration, bullet expansion, and retained weight results from a multitude of ballistic gel tests shown in videos, and written reports of similar tests.

These requirements have led me to the following.

380 Ruger LCP= Hornady Critical Defence.
9MM KAHR CM9= Speer Good Dot Short Barrel +P
40 S&W Springfield XD40 Sub Compact= Winchester PDX1 Bonded 180 gr. HP
38 Spcl. Ruger LCR= CCI Blazer +P 148 gr. LSWCHP. This one is tough with a lack of available ammo. I already have a lot of this ammo, and It shoots well in my revolver. If and when Speer GD Short Barrel +P becomes available I will give It a try, and most likely change to It.
 
im not picky. ill run what i have on hand. Im not expecting to be playing nice if i have to save my butt from some wannabe home invader.
 
Because it gets decent reviews, is generally available in my area, and because I've had such good luck with their hunting rounds, I use Hornady Critical Defense in pretty much everything.
Or, in 9mm, .45ACP, and .357Mag (all of my center fire handguns)

If it's not available, I get whatever reputable load is available, but that doesn't happen often.

I don't really use my MkIII for defense, but if I did I guess I'd use CCI MiniMags or Velocitors - it's a little bullet, so something fast.
 
My handloads because I'm not spending a fortune for 20 overpriced SD bullets and I don't buy the using handloads for SD will get you a prison sentence argument.
 
Any of the Big 3 (Ranger, Gold Dot, HST) for 9mm or .45 ACP, although I tend to use 124 gr for 9mm and 200 or 230 gr for .45.

For .357 Mag, I like the milder Golden Saber 125s, still quite powerful, but not nearly as punishing to the shooter! :eek: Otherwise high quality 158 gr JHPs of moderate velocity.
 
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