well after much thinking, looking, and reading, I picked up my new M&P shield in 9mm today. Got some range ammo from my son in la but want to know what some of you feel is the best personal defense ammo and what weight works the best for you. Now, I have been a long term glockaholic in .380. Loved the g42 but just always felt it a little puny for defending myself and family, so I upped to 9mm. I watched all of shootingthebull410 9mm but they are more tilted to micro guns not something with a barrel over 3" so, wanted to ask you guy what works best for you. thanks in advance.

-Lol @ long term Glockaholic in .380, didn't the 42 just come out last year?
-Shootingthebull's vids use a Kahr PM9 or some such. That's a 3.1" barrel. Same as the Shield. You may see some literature here and there that just calls it 3", but regardless the Shield's also 3.1" barrel (3.13" if you want to split hairs) doesn't move it into a whole new category and invalidate those results.
-Buy a few types of ammo, see what shoots reliably and most accurately in your gun. There's no shortcut around this.

January 06, 2014
Glock Inc. announced today the launch of the company’s first pocket pistol, the .380 caliber Glock 42.
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Now how long after that it was before they actually became available I can't say because I was never interested in it.
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As for the difference between .380 & 9mm for personal self defense I say there is close to none.
Even as a long time S&W owner much of the time I depend on a LCP .380 IMO the best pocket pistol.
If I am going with 9mm it would be my M&P9c or SD9VE.
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As for deciding what ammo , you tube is your friend.

Service Caliber Handgun Duty and Self-Defense Ammo from Dr. Gary Roberts
ShootingTheBull410's 9mm Ammo Quest on Youtube

After you choose something run at least a hundred rounds for reliability, accuracy, and muzzle flash testing and checking zero.

The AmmoQuest previously mentioned was my resource for 9mm and .380 SD ammo data. Very thorough. The top-rated Federal 147gr HST is marketed as Law Enforcement ammo and generally in short supply, and only available on-line. ShootingTheBull410 has more info on his website, that expands on the data in the video.

I am running Hornady CUSTOM 147 gr. XTP in my Shield 9. Not a +P round and that's what I prefer. Very accurate to 10 yards and functions with no issues. I found out from suggestions here on the Forum that heavier bullets could be/are more accurate in the Shield; must be true in my gun-115 gr. shot very well, 124 gr. & 147 gr. shoot amazing in my gun!

You'll just have to find what works well in yours. I carry my Shield every day with an extra mag support side. Excellent choice, BTW :-)

here is another great link showing all types of bullets combined and their results.

Handgun Self-Defense Ammunition - Ballistic Testing Data

for me, though, I prefer Speer Gold Dots. Running 147gr now, but after looking at the data will probably switch to 124gr +P

Thanks that was a great link.
My 9mm is the Fed. for the most part not the best but I will stay with it.
My .380 Fed. went past the Green, I will have to keep that in mind.

124 golden sabre used for yrs all others hype

How many people did you shoot with the 124 golden saber* stuff in all those yrs? Bonded or not?

I am a reloader and an instructor. In CC classes, the question often comes up about whether 9's are better than 380's. That depends upon your point of view and what is most important to you. As a reloader, I can assure you that there is NO appreciable difference between the projectile (bullet) fired from a .380 or a 9mm. In essence, they are the same. Both are .356 inches in diameter. The standard .380 bullet is 95 grains while the standard 9mm is 115 grains. Trust me, without a sophisticated scale, you will not be able to tell the difference. There is however, a difference in the charge or the amount of gunpowder. Generally speaking, the charge for a 9 mm will be about 40 to 50% greater than a .380 but that is to accommodate the slightly larger mass of the 9mm.. There is, however, a significant difference in felt recoil. Every 380 I have fired has a lot of 'snap' and as such, takes longer to re-aquire the target. Most 9mm pistols, are larger than the .380's and as such, muffle or offset the felt recoil. The trade-off to this is that the 9mm pistols are typically larger and heavier. So to sum up....The size of the projectile is the same, the weight is almost identical, the recoil from the .380 is greater but the .380 is lighter and far easier to conceal on a day to day basis. So...Which is better? Like others have suggested, try out several types of quality defensive (hollowpoint) ammo and see which cycles the best in your weapon. Good luck and shoot straight!

In terms of semi-auto's, I like double stack 9mm Glock's usually loaded with Corbon DPX. The smallest being the 10+1 capacity Glock 26, which can also accept the larger capacity magazines is usually my go-to concealed carry choice whereas I prefer either the 19 or 17 with standard and 33 round G18 mags for home defense.

Any 9mm ammo from Dr. Gary Robert's (aka DocGKR) list is a good choice IMO https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....f-Defense-Ammo

I'm just not a real big fan of the single stack micro semi-auto's(especially in .380 which I view as being extremely marginal) primarily due to the low capacity. The main reason I ever carry an autoloader is to have more rounds on board. Otherwise I usually choose to go with a revolver for reliability and ECQ advantages. The small single stacks simply don't offer enough gain in capacity IMO to make me chose them over a snub. Carrying mags does not equal having the rounds in the gun since reloads are exceedingly rare in civilian defense encounters.

I'm going to take a step back. You need to ask "What should ammunition do and how is it tested?" I recommend the following resources:
Handgun Wounding Factors and Effectiveness from the Firearms Training Unit of the FBI
Basic Wound Ballistic Terminal Performance Facts by DocGKR
Ordnance gelatin test assessment for rifle and pistol calibers by DocGKR

Why you worried about shooting people you the next nut case I'll be watching you .You dont ever want sgoot anyone if you can avoid it.

Good luck with sheild ,and nice step up.I do run with a .380 alot also but do the m&p thing in 40c

BUFFALO BORE SUBSONIC HEAVY 9MM STANDARD PRESSURE

https://www.buffalobore.com/index.ph...t_detail&p=341

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Jorge

You said you've been using that defensive ammo for years. I'm just wondering how effective it was at defending, for you to claim everything else is hype.
But it seems all you've ever used it for was to shoot books.

Federal HydraShok or HST.

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MSP - Retired