What 9mm ammo do you choose to carry?

remington golden saber

Remmington Golden Sabre, 124 gr. +P

I carry Hornady Critical Defenses 115gr 9mm and Cor Bon 115gr +p for my Glock and Speer gold dot 115gr 9mm for my Kel tec p11.

OCglock1988 said:

Right now I am using Winchester pdx1 9mm +p 124 gr JHP. I was just curious what you all think about this round and what you choose to carry for personal protection.

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None. I don't carry anything that small and under powered.

:cuss:

Puddin99--that link is very informative--thanks!

I carry Speer Gold Dots and/or HydraShoks, if for no other reason than those are the only two types I've test-fired extensively in my carry weapons. Both have fed flawlessly and are more accurate than I am, so I've stuck with 'em. I tend to use the lighter loads (124) in my 3" conceal gun and the heavier (147) in my 4.25" OC gun, though I'm not sure if there's any logic to that.

I'm eager to try some of the new rounds, like Hornady Critical Defense or the Federal HST, but living here in the boonies, there isn't a wide availability.

Eeyore said:

Puddin99--that link is very informative--thanks!

I carry Speer Gold Dots and/or HydraShoks, if for no other reason than those are the only two types I've test-fired extensively in my carry weapons. Both have fed flawlessly and are more accurate than I am, so I've stuck with 'em. I tend to use the lighter loads (124) in my 3" conceal gun and the heavier (147) in my 4.25" OC gun, though I'm not sure if there's any logic to that.

I'm eager to try some of the new rounds, like Hornady Critical Defense or the Federal HST, but living here in the boonies, there isn't a wide availability.

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Order HST online: http://www.ammunitiontogo.com/index.php/cName/9mm-hollow-point-ammo

It usually sells out quickly, I just bought another 500 rounds.

I like the Remington Golden Saber 124 grain +P round. In fact, I also favor the Golden Saber in my .40s and .45s.

Main mag: Winchester Ranger T 127gr +P+ JHP
Backups: Winchester 108gr Standard

Can't really afford 30 bucks a magazine >_>

Never tried Federal's +P loads, their base 9mm rounds are garbage compared to Winchester.

HST 147gr +P in everything except the PM9 which I use Gold Dot SB rounds!

Had a guy come over tonight, he had Winchester Black Talon 170+ gr 9mm rounds... shame they're discontinued.

When I had occasion to use a S&W 5906, I loaded it with Federal Hydra-Shok 124gr +P+ in it. Seemed to cycle reliably, but the +P+ rounds had a LOT of "punch" to them. I generally used regular pressure ball ammo on the range, but would cycle y +P+ ammo out every 6 months or so.

The 5906 is an all-steel gun, so recoil was pretty manageable. The 5903 had an aluminum slide, and was a little lighter, but also had snappier recoil...

So as it the case with any gun/caliber/load choice, there are trade-offs. High power, small caliber rounds give you good "stopping power", but at the cost of being more expensive, harder to find, and having a LOT sharper recoil. The lower-power 9mm rounds lose a lot of recoil, but they also lose a lot in terms of terminal energy transfer...

The 9mm is a perfectly acceptable self-defense round. Millions of people carry 9's, and have used them to great effect. Don't let anyone talk you out of a 9mm, if that is what you want. But be aware of the trade-offs. To get "stopping power" like a .357 magnum or .45acp, you need to use +P or +P+ ammo, which is going to negate the light recoil you get in standard 9mm loads...

But I think there are plenty of Beretta M9A1-toting service men and women who trust the 9mm with their lives...

I carry Speer Gold Dots, 124gr +P in my Glock 19. I used to carry the 147gr but after examining expansion tests on Youtube. I found the 124gr +P expand the most. While the 147gr is heavier, I feel it is better to use a round that hits harder and expands wider to take advantage of the higher velocity offered by 9mm. My personal expansion tests of the 124gr +P yielded over 2x expansion and Speer's ballistics tables say at muzzle they hit with 410ft/lbs. GD's are bonded, and my personal tests confirmed no core/jacket separation.

I carry the Federal EFMJ in the original weight of 124 gr. Also have some of the 105 gr for my wife (lower recoil).

This round expands every time, regardless of any material that might plug other rounds as there is no exposed cavity to act like a cookie cutter.

Feeds perfectly in any 9mm I own.

the ballistics given by winchester put it's 147 GR. RA9T MV at 990 f/s, it's mass is 147 grain which results in ~433.65 Joules of KE
it's 124 GR +P cousin (RRA9TA) gives a MV of 125 f/s, it's mass is 124 grain which results in ~583.18 Joules of KE

Well that's impressive, but they had to add MV to overcome the lower mass, what about a standard pressure 124 grain round? Well winchester doesn't have one in Ranger-T but We'll look at a comparable JHP round, like Federal HST 124gr JHP (P9HST1).

the stated MV is 1150 f/s, it's mass is 124 grain which results in ~493.61 Joules of KE. clearly still more energy that the 147 grain RA9T

So now lets examine the law of kinetic energy. Basically, the amount of work needed to stop an object in motion is equal to the amount of work needed to put the object into motion. The standard pressure rounds likely use the same amount of work to put them in motion so we can surmise that it will take the same amount of work to stop them, but the +P will take more work to stop them.

Please keep in mind that there are more complicated factors involved because these objects are rotating about a center of mass, and that makes calculation much more difficult to calculate. So much so, that it is beyond my mathematical skill to do.

My conclusion is that the +P round could result in over penetration unless the target was covered in many thick, dense layers of clothing. however in ballistics tests where they were fired at many layers of denim, they all exhibit adequate penetration into ballistics gel. Ballistics gel does not account for bone tissue, so considering that we are trained to shoot at center mass, take that for what it's worth.

I don't have any chambers for 9mm, but my girlfriend does. Because every 9mm ballistics gel test shows no issue penetrating several layers of denim and still making its way well into a block of ballistics gel, I see no real advantage to +P or +P+. I only see risk of over penetration and/or increased wear and tear on the firearm. The only instance I see the use of +P+ ammunition to be worthwhile is when you are shooting into an angry mob, where over penetration may be an asset rather than a liability. For practical self defense situations, I believe a good quality 147 grain hollow point slug is adequate to get the job done! For my money it's gonna be Winchester Ranger-T series 147 GN, standard pressure.

SPEER Gold Dot® 124gr GDHP +P is what I carry. But, getting hit with 3 or 4 of any of the name brand hollow-points and you won't be doing the Irish jig!!!!!

I think any jacket hollw point will work! As far as stopping power, to me its all about shot placement.

I've got CorBon's Pow'R'Ball in all of my carry guns. I am, however, tempted to swap it out to their DPX line of personal defense ammo. 9mm, btw.

the .40 caliber kind.

I've started buying 147 grain subsonic for my glock 32.

Daylen said:

the .40 caliber kind.

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