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Old 12-26-2016, 06:59 PM
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Default Personel Defence ammo

I believe in changing out my Personel Defence ammo once a year and fire off the old ammo I for one am changing my SD ammo from Hornady SD to Federal Hydra Shock for my .380's and will change my 9mm later in the week.SO I AM WONDERING WHAT KIND OF SD ammo are you guys in this forum using and why did you pick that particular ammo?? Thanx for any response.
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Old 12-26-2016, 07:11 PM
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Default Hornady.

I like Hornady SD, followed by Federal Hydrashock in 9mm because of how the Hornady performs on ummmm...frozen pumpkins. I think you're well protected with any of the higher quality SD ammo made these days. As always, ensure your selection cycles well in your particular S&W.
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Old 12-26-2016, 07:27 PM
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I'm very old fashioned.

I use 200 gr H&G # 68 hard cast in my Colt 1911's at around 1,000 fps for everything.

I've shot enough modestly large animals with this to be quite satisfied with the performance.

I'm a skeptic when it comes to ballistic gel demos.

No doubt some expanding ammo has become more reliable over the years, but a 45 with a sharp cutting shoulder never gets smaller and creates huge damage.
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Old 12-26-2016, 07:40 PM
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Federal hst
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Old 12-26-2016, 07:47 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by garddogg56 View Post
I believe in changing out my Personel Defence ammo once a year and fire off the old ammo I for one am changing my SD ammo from Hornady SD to Federal Hydra Shock for my .380's and will change my 9mm later in the week.SO I AM WONDERING WHAT KIND OF SD ammo are you guys in this forum using and why did you pick that particular ammo?? Thanx for any response.


With respect, you lost me at .380---


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Old 12-26-2016, 07:55 PM
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I use Hornady 240gr JHP in a 4 inch 44 special. These will expand up to
to .83 inch and penetrate several inches in wet packed typing paper and
cardboard. When carrying a 4.25 inch 45acp 1911, I use off the shelf
Remington 230gr JHP which will expand to .75 inch in the above media.
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Old 12-26-2016, 08:21 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by garddogg56 View Post
SO I AM WONDERING WHAT KIND OF SD ammo are you guys in this forum using and why did you pick that particular ammo??
I choose Buffalo Bore for all things but plinking. It's high quality, works every time, burns clean and both Tim and Suzie are great guys to deal with.
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Old 12-26-2016, 08:51 PM
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My choice for .380 is the HPR hollow point for consistent penetration. Bullet expansion is somewhat inconsistent though.
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Old 12-26-2016, 09:42 PM
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I personally don't consider the .380 as a primary SD caliber, more like a second gun/last ditch caliber.

My only carry caliber is 9mm and the only load I use is Federal's 9BPLE 115JHP+P+.

Whatever load one chooses to use in their SD pistols it is important to test that ammo with all magazines that is intended to be used and my philosophy is at a minimum 200 rounds thru the pistol with zero malfunctions before I'll trust my life to that specific pistol/mag/ammo combination.
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Old 12-26-2016, 09:56 PM
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With respect, you lost me at .380---


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Well thanx for the input but I am only concerned about the .380 round
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Old 12-26-2016, 10:06 PM
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Quote:
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My choice for .380 is the HPR hollow point for consistent penetration. Bullet expansion is somewhat inconsistent though.
I hear ya old cop,I looked at the u tube videos and it seems the Buffalo bore at 1045 fps and the Federal HST were the most consistent tested in jell ..
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Old 12-26-2016, 10:09 PM
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Federal HydraShok low recoil and Speer Gold Dot are my go to rounds for the .380 ACP. Both are very accurate and have fed well from every modern .380 pistol I've owned including a Sig P238 and my wife's new Browning 1911 .380.

If you'd asked about .38 Special the answer would be Winchester PDX LE 135 grain. 9mm And 45 ACP, well it's the Speer Gold Dot or Federal HydraShok loads.
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Old 12-26-2016, 10:30 PM
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I like Hornady and Federal
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Old 12-27-2016, 12:23 AM
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Winchester 127 Gr +P+.
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Old 12-27-2016, 01:42 AM
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Default Because of improvements to bullets.....

Quote:
Originally Posted by garddogg56 View Post
Well thanx for the input but I am only concerned about the .380 round
The .380 may be minimal to some, but improvements have led it to be taken much more seriously as an SD round.

In another post I mentioned that Mr. and Mrs. Archduke Franz Fernand were both done in by a .380.
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Old 12-27-2016, 07:41 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by garddogg56 View Post
... WHAT KIND OF SD ammo are you guys in this forum using and why did you pick that particular ammo??
For .380, my choice is based on a series of tests conducted by Shooting The Bull, leading me to Fiocchi Extrema, and Federal Hydra-Shok.

Final Results of the .380 ACP Ammo Quest | Shooting The Bull
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Old 12-27-2016, 08:21 PM
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Groo here
For both guns , whatever feeds/fires as close to 100% as possible!!!!!
I tend to go with hardball in the super short barrels.
100% feed and drives like a drill.
So in the 380 , use a full pressure FMJ [ like S&B etc.]
In the 9mm , with the short barrel, a hot load, with a flat point
or a Hp.[ but don't expect it to open much.
The short barrel guns reduce the speed to where a hp
may or may not open.
Big problem in the 9mm, where the performance depends on speed.
"When it works .it works well. When it dose not, it fails badly"
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Old 12-27-2016, 09:17 PM
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All I run in my 380s is ball. 9, I run Federal HST 115 or 124.
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Old 12-27-2016, 11:12 PM
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Groo& fdw I'm hearing that from lots of people.in my own test I've taken a 15" square box and stuffed a old wool hunting jacket folded tight in to the box and fired HST,SIG AND Hornady into the box and they have fully expanded,I know it's not the scientific jell but it convinced me a seven yards at that valosity there is ample expansion

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Old 12-27-2016, 11:34 PM
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380 I'll I will use is XTP as all others produce poor penetration.. in all other semi Carl bet a I use federal HAT and gold dot in revolvers
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Old 12-27-2016, 11:38 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Groo01 View Post
Groo here

The short barrel guns reduce the speed to where a hp
may or may not open.
Big problem in the 9mm, where the performance depends on speed.
"When it works .it works well. When it dose not, it fails badly"
This is no longer true f you mach the ammo to the gun. Speer gold dot and federal hat open very well from short barrels and in fact too much speed would be detrimental to its performance. For 380 xtpbullets perform well
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Old 12-27-2016, 11:46 PM
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For the last 3 1/2 years, my carry .380 gets fed 115 gr FMJ.

I'm comfy with that.
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Old 01-03-2017, 03:56 PM
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Whatever goes bang every time you pull the trigger and you can put every round in a 5" circle at the longest distance you would have to shoot in your home.
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