What is a current dependable round for a 9mm Pistol

Get ready.

I have 15 rds of Federal HST non-+P 124 gr in my CZ P07. I feel it is adequate for it's intended purpose. +P gives about an extra 100fps if'n that makes for more sound sleep. The 147 gr are excellent also, I just happen to have 11 boxes of 50 of the 124 gr on hand. Joe

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Wisdom chases me; I'm faster

I recommend the Hornady Critical Defense 115 grain or Speer Gold Dot 124 grain (current duty load NYPD).

Pretty much anything from a major manufacturer. I tend to prefer the +P offerings, as much US ammo still isn't loaded as stout as the products overseas.

If you're looking for exact examples (all the +P versions), the Speer Gold Dot 124 gr, the Hornady Critical Duty, Federal HST, Remington High Terminal Performance (115 gr), Golden Saber Defense (124 gr) and so forth. I don't happen to be a big fan of 147 gr ammo.

I'm using 124 gr MPR bullets from RMRBULLETS.COM in my reloads.

Haters in 5....4....3....

My issue duty ammo when I retired: Hornady Critical Duty 135 grain +P.

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No good deed goes unpunished.

[QUOTE=WR Moore;141544918]Pretty much anything from a major manufacturer. /QUOTE]

This.

In my .38, I carry Speer Gold Dot +P.
In my .357 Magnum, I carry Remington Golden Saber.
In my .45, I carry Winchester Ranger T Series.
In my .357 SIG, I use Winchester PDX1 Defender.
In my .380, I carry Hydra Shock Deep.

I don't carry 9mm, or depend on it for self defense, but I've got a box of Federal Hydra Shock if I need it.

You can see I don't care about brand loyalty. If it always goes bang, cycles reliability, and hits to point of aim, I'm good to go.

My two favorite 9x19mm defensive loads are the Federal HST 147gr JHP and the Winchester Ranger-T 147gr JHP, both in standard pressure loads.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

Lucky gunner has done a very thorough test of all the popular carry rounds and calibers available. I always reference that information when purchasing any defensive rounds. https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/sel...llistic-tests/

There are just too many decent loads out there for me to say, "I would recommend X over Y." If I have favorites it is mostly because of their accuracy and reliability in my guns. Bullet performance has become routinely pretty good across the board, driven by customer expectations, and I would not feel particularly concerned with any load designated for personal defense by any of the major makers, as long as it works reliably in my gun.

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Pisgah

Federal Personal Defense 147gr HST,
P9HST2

"50 Round Box - 9mm Luger Federal HST 147 Grain Hollow Point LE Ammo P9HST2 | SGAmmo.com" 50 Round Box - 9mm Luger Federal HST 147 Grain Hollow Point LE Ammo P9HST2 | SGAmmo.com

Sent from my motorola one 5G using Tapatalk

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Slava Ukraini!

Barrel length matters, and not all 9mm hollow points perform well in short barrels while other can over expand and under penetrate when fired from a long barrel.

The following do pretty well across the normal range of 9mm barrel lengths:

The Speer 124 gr Gold Dot
Sig 124 gr V-crown
Federal 124 gr HST

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I got involved with the 124 gr V-Crown when one of my friends at a local gun shop asked me to do some ballistics testing for him in my CZ Compact as he carried one.

It was impressive out of the CZ Compact with excellent expansion and penetration around 16”.

I bought a bunch of 124 gr V-Crown bullets and did more testing in my 3.1” Kimber Micro, 4” Kimber Pro Carry and 8” MP5. I was impressed that the penetration remained fairly constant in the 16-17” range while the expansion just increased as the velocity increased from about 1025 fps to 1120 fps to 1350 fps.



If you have multiple 9mms and want one self defense load for all of them, it’s hard to beat.

Federal HST 124gr or Hornady Critical Defense if you like 115gr ,

I have always liked the heavier bullets in any caliber. Any of the current 9mm loads are OK. The key is you have to hit the target.

I have an ammo-picky 1.0 Shield 9. I tested it with various rounds to find self-defense ammo that it would fire reliably. I settled on Hornady Critical Duty 135g +P. To date, my Shield has fired nearly 400 of the Critical Duty rounds without a single failure, so that's what I carry. It also has fired over 200 rounds of Federal HST 147g without a failure, so I can recommend those, too. But don't just take my word for it. Make sure that whatever round you choose works reliably in your gun. I suggest that any round you consider should fire a minimum of 100 times with no failures before you carry it. Good Luck!

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What, me worry?

Any full power 115 gr or 124 gr FMJ ammo.

Any of these are cool with me.

Find the latest version of Doc Roberts' list and pick one that you can get consistently and in quantities of 500+. Test it for function and the like in your platforms.

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NHI, 10-8.

I have a couple of mags full of Norinco 124gr. ball that works pretty good around here.
The gray boxes say "Made To Military Specifications".

I tend to favor heavy for caliber so I go with the 147gr HST and carry it in my 9mm guns all the time. Many PD's seem to like it but almost any of the good quality HP ammo listed above is just fine and will do the job.

This is probably the best post yet.

My own preference leads toward 147 Ranger or HST, depending on whether my agency or I am buying. Either one of these are fine.

I preferred the 147gr types, Ranger, HST, and Hydra-Shok. All shot a bit low. Then I discovered the 115gr Winchester M1152 Active Duty. Shoots very near POA in all of my 9mm's, and I believe the gel block and chrono tests shows it very effective, even through barriers.

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Heavily armed old man.

To echo the theme ; any of the current Duty loads , and most of the Self Defense loads from mainstream mfgs are fine . Likewise the better of "classic " loads if you're not obsessed about shooting thru car windshields .

For micro pistols a couple more variables , chiefly control , in a few instances reduced velocity .

I have a stack of 124 HST , primarily because of good price for a bulk deal at the time .

FWIW , my preference is 124 and 115 , and avoid 147 , but that's me .

From the informal testing, chronographing and research on this subject, my choice is Federal HST 124 grain standard velocity. That is what is in my P365. The Speer Gold Dot 124 grain is also very good, however I feel the HST has a slight edge.

+P's will give you greater velocity but my feeling is that the faster bullet will actually expand too fast and not penetrate as far. I am splitting hairs here because the two are not that far apart, but the standard velocity loads (at least as far as the HST is concerned) seems to have a slight edge in short barreled pistols.

Federal Hst 147 gr. 👍🇺🇸

Poor over the research on your own and only use our "opinions" as just that our opinion. There are many different loads out there and what works for me and my weapon(s) may not necessarily work for you and your weapon(s). My choice which I won't name was chosen after I looked at data , bought some different manufacturers then went to the range for function tests as well as how I managed the recoil. I feel as confident as I can with the choice I made.

My former agency issues the Federal Premium LE 147 grain HST. Every retiree gets a free box of 50 at LEOSA certification. While the city does go low budget on most things our duty ammo is the exception.

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Old Cop
LEO (Ret.)

Lately I’ve been shooting/carrying Norma NXD 65gr penetrators. I’ve never chronographed but it’s listed at 1730fps. I assume that’s a 5” barrel. It’s funny because when my P365 has 11 rds in it , it is noticeably lighter than with traditional 115gr. They have functioned perfectly and are very accurate shooting to POA. There are some discussions and videos of it online actually defeating some lower level body armor. You know the cheap stuff the bad guys wear.

There are LOTS of good SD ammo out there for the 9mm.

Plus lots of test to show how the ammo does plus, expand and penetrate.

Even though it is a winner, in our family, it all comes down to, how well
the shooter and gun do with a certain ammo and if it can "Do the job", if needed.

We use everything from a little 115 gr all the way up to the large 147 gr bullets
and what you feel comfortable with.

To summarize the above :

Every gun is different, so testing several loads may be needed.
The load has to be 100% reliable with the gun and magazines.
All other factors being equal, an expanding bullet load is a better choice for defensive purposes.
If it is reliable, the load used by your local PD or sheriff’s office will be a good choice.

Good luck in your decision.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

I'm sticking with Buffalo Bore and they work extra hard to keep stuff in stock.

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Jorge

I’ve started carrying my 6906. 115 and 124 grain loads shoot about 4” low at 20 yards. 147 grain loads shoot almost to point of aim.

So now I have 147 grain Sig V-Crowns in it.

If something else shot to the sights I’d carry that.

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“What you got, ain’t new.”

All of my 3rd Gens shoot to point of aim with 147gr. They are pretty close, just a touch low with 124gr. 115gr just shoots too low for my likes.

My CS9 shoots well enough with 124gr that I feed it Federal HST JHP, while my 3913s get 147gr Federal HST JHP.

My occasionally carried Mossberg MC1sc also gets 124gr Federal.

I just picked up a couple of boxes of Federal 9MS 147gr for a pretty reasonable $20.00/Box of 50. It's subsonic, but gets pretty good reviews.

I'm not sure what I'll do with that, but the price was good. At least I thought so.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

I had the experience with my 6946 shooting 115 and 124 grain loads hitting well below point of aim, but 147's hit point of aim at 25 yards.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

I run Federal 124 Hi-Shok with zero problems at all!

I've been using Federal 124gr HST for a few years, but I'm going to buy Norma's NXD or MHP ammo after reading an article in the September 2022 Gun & Ammo magazine.

I'm leaning toward their non-expanding NXD round rather than their pre-stressed MHP round.

Depends on the barrel length. Anything 3.5” or longer and I carry 147 Federal HST or Win Bonded Ranger or Ranger T. In every gel test I’ve seen they’re the most consistent for good expansion and penetration. HST is easy to find - Rangers are a little harder, but they’re out there.

I carry 124gr (not +p) HST in my Hi Powers because they seem to be the most accurate and the recoil is marginally better. In my 365 I carry Federal Micro HST 150gr.

Overall, 147gr is the most consistent performer across all barrel lengths because it’s not as velocity sensitive and heavier weights in any caliber penetrate better. Lighter bullets perform worse the shorter the barrel because they dump energy quicker and were designed to expand at higher velocities. 124gr is a good compromise if you’re really worried about over-penetration, especially from shorter barrels.

I would tend to agree, but the Speer 124 +p Gold Dot has a heck of a record. I just don’t see a clear benefit to +p over standard pressure in newer designs.

I prefer Federal 147 grain HST for self defense.

These days, there are many good loadings from the various manufacturers like Federal, Winchester, Speer, SIG, and so forth; without very much to distinguish between them.

In the unfortunate event that someone needs to defend themselves with their handgun, I don't believe which bona-fide hollow point service load is in the gun will be a determining factor in the outcome.

I'm going to echo what a few people have already posted - any JHP ammo from large/mainstream manufacturers that functions well in my particular guns is fine. There's nothing wrong with +P. I'm generally reluctant to use +P+ since it doesn't actually conform to any industry standards, but may have been developed for a specific agency using a specific firearm.

I'm not into "boutique" ammo from small brands, off brand ammo, or exotic bullets.

One question I do have (I don't know the answer) is this: is there any forensic pathologist or trauma surgeon out there who can identify the 9mm JHP ammunition used in a shooting just by examining the wound without recovering the actual bullet or bullet fragments? If the answer is "no" that suggests ammo performance is pretty similar across the board. If the answer is "yes" I'd like a link.

For a while I followed the ammunition fads in various magazines, but overall I think that any 147 or 124gr JHP round will do.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

I’m thinking I have to worry first about hitting my target wear it counts. After that all I need is a quality factory loaded hollow point.

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Two Handguns every day

Thinking like that, you're a step ahead of many. Try several good ammos and stick with what you shoot best.

I would refer back to the paper back novel: "Point of Impact", not the one the Beatles made a hit song of. A conversation was: "...another guy who walked on a nine." Gun writers have made many livings on controversy, "Use Enough Gun", etc. Hit bone with one, what is the worry?

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"Don't Give Up the Ship"

The DoD likes their M1152 FMJ FP ball.

Currently Using Federal HST 124 grain non +P

This. That said, I use Sig V-Crown, 124 gr.

A longtime standard has been Federal 9BP. That being said…bullet technology is constantly changing…the ammunition you bought last year isn’t always the same as what you’re buying today. The makers are always looking to improve their products based upon field use…requirements of law enforcement agencies and the military.

In the end…there’s little difference between different loadings…marginal at best when you’re comparing JHP to JHP. Formal testing does help but it has to be remembered that’s in a controlled media…the real world is something different altogether.

Plus one for 124 grain HST standard load.