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View Poll Results: Which do you consider most important when choosing carry ammo?
Expansion? 6 6.25%
Penetration? 9 9.38%
Muzzle Velocity 1 1.04%
Muzzle Energy? 4 4.17%
Bullet Design or Composition? 3 3.13%
A good balance of all of the above? 73 76.04%
Voters: 96. You may not vote on this poll

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  #1  
Old 06-29-2013, 08:56 PM
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Default Choosing Carry Ammo

What do you consider to be the most important factor in choosing handgun carry ammo?

The parameters are as follows:
Caliber - 380 ACP or bigger
A presumed distance of 10 feet or less.
Revolvers or Semi Autos only. No derringers or the like.
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Old 06-29-2013, 08:59 PM
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A good primer and plenty of powder. Larry
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Old 06-29-2013, 09:09 PM
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Kind of a strange poll.

I pick ammo that meets FBI standards.
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Old 06-29-2013, 09:27 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Waywatcher View Post
Kind of a strange poll.

I pick ammo that meets FBI standards.
While that may be a good way to do it, you would be surprised at the number people that count on one aspect over the other.
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Old 06-29-2013, 10:15 PM
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I think penetration is still the central theme for what the FBI considers good defensive ammo performance. It certainly plays an important. The FBI, because of poor penetration by 115 grain 9mms used during the Miami Shootout, selected the 147 grain as their duty load while they still carried 9s. Most everyone else cussed the 147 grain for overpenetrating while failing to expand. The 115+P+ rounds that were considered king of the 9 mm hill by everyone else back in the early 90s performed poorly in FBI tests. Anyway, shot placement is where we should ground ourselves.
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Old 06-29-2013, 10:22 PM
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Being horrible at math I go for expansion and penetration.
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Old 06-29-2013, 10:24 PM
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Penetration with reliable expansion.
Speer Gold Dot

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Old 06-29-2013, 10:26 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by walkin' trails View Post
I think penetration is still the central theme for what the FBI considers good defensive ammo performance. It certainly plays an important. The FBI, because of poor penetration by 115 grain 9mms used during the Miami Shootout, selected the 147 grain as their duty load while they still carried 9s. Most everyone else cussed the 147 grain for overpenetrating while failing to expand. The 115+P+ rounds that were considered king of the 9 mm hill by everyone else back in the early 90s performed poorly in FBI tests. Anyway, shot placement is where we should ground ourselves.
I believe every round fired during the Miami shootout occured at a distance greater than 10 ft, making it a poor comparrison for the poll. Though I chose "a balanced mix of them all" ,if I had to pick only ONE I would probably go with expansion, because at less than 10' penetration would not be a problem.
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Old 06-29-2013, 10:35 PM
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I had certain parameters I felt I needed to satisfy when choosing carry ammo for my snubby. One of those was the weakness in my right hand and wrist from my neuropathy. I decided on Federal Hydro Shok low recoil 110 grain hollow points. It satisfied all the above factors plus it was easier for me to get follow up shots. Works for me.
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Old 06-29-2013, 10:39 PM
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I don't use any of those criteria. I put reliability first and accuracy second. Because if the gun don't like it, nothing else matters.
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Old 06-29-2013, 10:40 PM
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EXXXXXXTRRRRREEEEEMMMME NYTRILLLIUM OPERATOR-GRADE FANGFACE TACTICALITY!
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Old 06-29-2013, 10:46 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Grayfox View Post
I don't use any of those criteria. I put reliability first and accuracy second. Because if the gun don't like it, nothing else matters.
Good point. I assumed that people would consider that first and foremost before considering the criteria I chose.
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Old 06-29-2013, 11:27 PM
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Actually, none of the factors listed on your poll are all that critical to me. The gold standard for me is ammunition that functions 100% of the time (feed, fire, extract, eject, etc) and strikes at point of aim at a reasonable distance (usually 25 yards).

Lots of good things can be said about muzzle velocity, energy, bullet construction, terminal ballistics, etc, etc, etc. But if the cartridge doesn't work as intended in my gun (including all magazines to be carried) or doesn't hit where I aim it, that ammo is useless for defensive purposes.

Best regards.
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Old 06-29-2013, 11:36 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LoboGunLeather View Post
Actually, none of the factors listed on your poll are all that critical to me. The gold standard for me is ammunition that functions 100% of the time (feed, fire, extract, eject, etc) and strikes at point of aim at a reasonable distance (usually 25 yards).

Lots of good things can be said about muzzle velocity, energy, bullet construction, terminal ballistics, etc, etc, etc. But if the cartridge doesn't work as intended in my gun (including all magazines to be carried) or doesn't hit where I aim it, that ammo is useless for defensive purposes

Best regards.
.

Well said. Don't worry about the numbers or the pretty pictures of balistic gel. It has to work every time and you have to hit what you're shooting at
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Old 06-30-2013, 08:11 AM
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I was taught that the #1 criteria is reliability, if it don't go bang when you pull the trigger, extract the fire round, eject it, then feed another round from the mag to the chamber EVERY TIME the other criteria mean nothing.
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Old 06-30-2013, 11:09 AM
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I think the OP assumed we would understand that reliability and shot placement was a given.

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Old 06-30-2013, 12:15 PM
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Since none of my handguns are loaded with RN bullets, I guess I'd have to say the most important factor (disqualifier) is bullet design. That said, I'm not chasing the latest and greatest JHP designs. For example, I've got Fed 230gr Hydra-Shok in both my 1911s. It's an old design that Marshall/Sanow scored highest in 'stopping power'. By current bullet design hype, it's probably not even capable of stopping a sleeping gopher... just not enough penetration.

Last edited by ChattanoogaPhil; 06-30-2013 at 12:25 PM.
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Old 06-30-2013, 01:11 PM
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My most important criteria for carry ammo: Qualified Immunity

I only carry issued duty ammo so I'll have fewer issues to worry about if I have to use my sidearm in the line of duty.
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Old 07-01-2013, 09:11 AM
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Quote:
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EXXXXXXTRRRRREEEEEMMMME NYTRILLLIUM OPERATOR-GRADE FANGFACE TACTICALITY!
It's out of stock.
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Old 07-01-2013, 10:49 AM
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Issued duty ammo - .357 Magnum Federal Tactical 158 grain Hydrashoks in my issued S&W Model 686.

Personal primary concealed carry - .357 Magnum Speer 135 grain Short Barrel GDHP in my S&W Model 13.

Personal backup/secondary concealed carry - .38 Special +P Speer 135 grain Short Barrel GDHP in my S&W Model 37.

ECS
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Old 07-01-2013, 09:51 PM
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I haven't given a lot of thought to it. Since I'm kind of old school, I roll with JHP"s. I don't mess with any + or +p as I feel it's hard on a pistol & not needed. I'm open to suggestion, though. Both of my carry's are 40S&W, so if anyone has a suggestion I'd like to hear it.
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Old 07-01-2013, 09:58 PM
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Of the 7 auto 45 pistols and 2 revolvers, all but 1 shoot Federal Hydro-Shocks to the sights, the 1 (a Springfield Officers sized) shoots STHP's to the sights. If the bullet didn't hit the target, performance won't matter! If you're shooting a big fat bullets and you hit where you aim your in good shape, unless you need 15+ rounds per magazine (and some places you do!) Ivan
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Old 07-01-2013, 09:59 PM
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Quote:
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I haven't given a lot of thought to it. Since I'm kind of old school, I roll with JHP"s. I don't mess with any + or +p as I feel it's hard on a pistol & not needed. I'm open to suggestion, though. Both of my carry's are 40S&W, so if anyone has a suggestion I'd like to hear it.
The good news is that .40 S&W was designed from the ground up to accommodate JHPs, and it is rare to find a truly bad load.

The best, in my opinion, is the current FBI load: Winchester Ranger Bonded 180 grain. It is what I load in my .40s.

The best bang-for-the-buck load, in my opinion, is the Remington 180 JHP commonly available in 100 round packs for a very decent price at big box retailers.
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Old 07-01-2013, 10:05 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Waywatcher View Post
The good news is that .40 S&W was designed from the ground up to accommodate JHPs, and it is rare to find a truly bad load.

The best, in my opinion, is the current FBI load: Winchester Ranger Bonded 180 grain. It is what I load in my .40s.

The best bang-for-the-buck load, in my opinion, is the Remington 180 JHP commonly available in 100 round packs for a very decent price at big box retailers.
Remington 180 JHP is what I carry.
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Old 07-01-2013, 10:08 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cracker57 View Post
I was taught that the #1 criteria is reliability, if it don't go bang when you pull the trigger, extract the fire round, eject it, then feed another round from the mag to the chamber EVERY TIME the other criteria mean nothing.
That's why I carry a revolver. Mine's a .38 Special J-frame. I load it with Remington +P 158 grain LSWCHP, but may try the Gold Dot 135 grain short-barrel +P if I can find it.

All the ammo factors except reliability come down to compromises, unless somebody has come up with one load that does everything perfectly and no one has told me. The compromise I'm comfortable with is the FBI load--I'm pretty old school myself.
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Old 07-02-2013, 01:09 AM
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I voted for a balance of all of the above, even though MV/ME were never huge selling points for me.

Back when my EDC was a 9mm (Glock 19), right before my dalliance with autoloaders ended, I tended to favor heavy-for-caliber loadings like Winchester's RA9T.
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Old 07-03-2013, 03:30 PM
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Any modern designed JHP that is on sale. There isn't that much difference in them any more.
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Old 07-03-2013, 05:33 PM
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I am not sure what it says about me but when i carried a .45acp
i used 230 gr ball ammo but now that its a model 66 i chose 158gr jhp. I know i didn't want light faster bullets like 125's so the 158's were easy to go to.
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