9mm Defense Ammo.

[Always Faithful Holsters]

I have carried several loads over the last 40 years. From handloads to Speer Gold Dots. All performed well and, as one member here used to say:
"Shot placement is King, adequate penetration is Queen and everything else is Angels dancing on the heads of pins.”
P.s. I seldom carry my handloads anymore. Once apron a time, cops carried them every day on duty. We had a local Police Inspector that carried his engraved M629 with 180gr 44Mag handloads. When he qualified with his revolver, (early 2010’s) he had a bucket with ice in it to plunge it into between courses of fire.
He was a one of a kind, no two ways about that. His name was Dennis Riechard.

Dennis Reichard | Borden | Ooley Law

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[cougar015]

One criteria for what ammo you use is how well does it shoot in your gun. I don't get caught up in the ballistic testing rhetoric that gun writers and Bullet manufacturers love to spout out. Unless you are in a fire fight with radicals in body armor, any current load from 115 gr to 147 gr will stop just about anyone with the first shot and most of us have 8 or 14 shots at our disposal.

 

[J. W.]

Anecdotally, my agency used Hornady Critical Defense for several years. We carried both the .40 175g and later 9mm 135g standard pressure. Both rounds performed poorly in real world shootings. I was assigned to the detective bureau at the time and had the fortune to examine autopsy results and see recovered bullets. Our experience with the loads were that they failed to expand in soft tissue and over penetrated. They expanded nicely if they struck bone.

We moved to 9mm Federal 124g +p two years ago. In that time we’ve only had one OIS with it, (thankfully!) but it performed well. It occurred in county jurisdiction so I’ve not been able to see the recovered bullet, but it was a center mass one shot stop. I’ve put several deer down with it and they’ve all expired quickly with one round behind the shoulder. Too soon to really say, but so far we’re happy with the HST.

As an aside, I spent 4 years of my time in the detective bureau assigned to a federal task force. They were using Winchester Ranger in the 147g + P variety. They then switched to the Hornady 135g +P and that’s still the current load. My personal opinion is that the standard pressure 135g we were carrying lacked the velocity for reliable expansion.

 

[CW3RDL]

Looking for a recommend load for a 9mm.
1. Speers Gold Dot
2. Winchester Ranger
3. ??

Chronograph even HST and Gold Dots if you can; minimally shoot them through some sweat shirt material into a couple water filled “milk jugs.” Catch them in a bag of rags. When a police trainer, I discovered each lot number of name brand ammunition left the barrel of 4-4.5 inch service pistols at velocities as much as 100 fps different from another batch and sometimes below advertised. And from a 3.1 inch barrel expect a lot less. The reduced velocity may fall below the expansion window for a given bullet’s design parameters. Reduced velocity also reduces the foot pounds of energy deposited in one’s target. Bottom line: you can’t assume giving $35 for 20 rounds of 9mm (or any caliber) guarantees advertised performance when “the chips are down.” Retired Detroit Homicide Sergeant Evan Marshall, the author of numerous books and treatises on stopping power, once said he was a lot happier before he bought his chronograph. Me too.

 

[Kframerbluvr]

The agency I retired from was exclusively Winchester since the early 90's...during that period we had several OIS all of which resulted in the demise of the offender. Since retirement, I've found that Winchester LE ammo has been much more difficult to obtain on the civilian market than Federal and others. But, when available to me, the bonded 124 or 147 is my preference...followed by HST.
There are numerous new offerings in multiple calibers which may prove effective, but the top 3, Winchester, Federal & Speer are the brands with the most consistent "street proven" results.

Those with LE or retired credentials can buy Ranger from a LE distributor, I believe still.
I bought two cases of Ranger T 124 grain +P and a case of Ranger T .45 auto just before the pandemic.

 

[PPC'r]

Federal 9BP is a long-time defense standard round but newer designs might be better...but probably only marginally. Winchester Silvertip is also a very viable round for the purpose.

Bullet technology is alway improving...what's the best today might be an also-ran next year. Most are quite good...and the real world differences are usually pretty minor. It all depends on shot placement and tactics. Find the round your gun likes and you can best control under stress.

Federal 9BPLE, for me. I know, I know! They’re +P+. I don’t feed my 9mm pistols, a steady diet of them. The most accurate defensive ammunition that I’ve ever shot!

 

[Gutshot1]

Man I feel behind the times. I still carry CorBon +P in my 357 and on the occasion when I carry a 9.
Jeff

 

[bigggbbruce]

Depending on where one lives...an assailant can be wearing think clothing or overcoat that could fill a hollow point up and make it expand sooner than desired. You might want a deeper penetrating round for that. In summer weather that wouldn't be a factor.

Wait.....what are you wearing? Hang on, let me change mags.....

 

[bigggbbruce]

Man I feel behind the times. I still carry CorBon +P in my 357 and on the occasion when I carry a 9.
Jeff

I found some 357mag 180gr Black Talons in the drawer so I loaded them up.

 

[BoulderTroll]

Our issued rounds went back and forth (simply based on availability, since they had pretty much identical performance) between Speer Gold Dots in 147 grain and Winchester Ranger T-Series in 147 grain, but my personal preference is 124 grain +P. I would buy Gold Dots, Ranger T-Series, or HST without a second thought; just pick your favorite grain weight. I think the primary reason we went with the 147's was because our MP5's seemed to like it, and when we switched to 9mm Glocks and 5.56 M4's, it was sort of tradition at that point. With our earlier .40 cals we went back and forth between 165 and 180 grain Gold Dots. I would say that Gold Dot has been the most popular LE round in the country for several decades (not to say it is the best, but still a pretty compelling argument for quality).

 

[Taj]

I would add: Federal HST, Hornady Critical duty and Hornady Critical Defense.

I do wound ballistics workshops for a living for a major ammo maker. I've shot a lot of gel in the last 10 years and have seen a lot of anecdotal details of real world shootings from the PDs that I deal with. Those shooting back the results we see in FBI protocol gel testing. We see really great results with Federal HST, Speer Gold Dot and God Dot2. Great performance with the 147 grain HST's in standard duty gun barrel lengths but the 124's seem to be a little better in the really short barreled guns. The HST's and GD get about the same penetration but the HST's get a little bigger. A major Kalyfornya agency tested and went to the GD2 and are extremely happy with it. Their major crimes unit, which has traditionally carried .45 acp pistols, were so happy with testing they have recently gone to a high cap 9mm. This agency shoots a lot of bad guys and they indicate the GD2 are extremely effective. All I can say is, do your research and look at major agencies that do the testing and have proven what works in the field. If you can't find an agency that is using one of these boutique brands of ammo, why would you? The FBI standards for penetration, weight retention and expansion have proven to be a good standard to judge terminal performance. We tried the "high velocity, low mass" bullet thing back in the 70s when I first got into law enforcement with companies like Super Vel and we had a lot of failures. NIJ was using Pseudo science to determine what made an effective man stopper and it was all disproven when guys like Dr M. Fackler and Gene Wolberg got involved. New ideas, bullet design and construction have brought all the defensive handgun calibers into the real world.

 

[Doug M.]

Search for Dr. Roberts' ammo recommendations, a reasonably long list. Find a load that you shoot well and that functions in your platform. Buy it in lots of 1000, use 500 for function testing, drive on.

 

[Dennis 52]

Your firearm matters in the final decision, but if it's a 3.5" then I suggest you look at Lucky Gunner ballistic test results.

Not all guns are built equal, not all ammunition is built equal. Some guns like this brand but don’t like that brand but other guns do. Need to buy a box and go to the range, see if it works in your gun.

 

[SGT ROCK 11B]

Looking for a recommend load for a 9mm.
1. Speers Gold Dot
2. Winchester Ranger
3. ??

Jimmy, I have Winchester Ranger 147 grain JHP. I use them in all my 9mm pistols. Sarge

 

[SGT ROCK 11B]

Newbie shooter here, so forgive the silly question... But why the different ammunition depending on the season?

Because the other newbies have OCD.

50 years ago, my Police Department would issue ammunition, and we will load our two-inch, four-inch or six-inch revolvers with it. Sometime between then and now a Salesperson said you need to buy specific ammunition for the barrel length.

This will still get the job done.

 

[SGT ROCK 11B]

The agency I retired from was exclusively Winchester since the early 90's...during that period we had several OIS all of which resulted in the demise of the offender. Since retirement, I've found that Winchester LE ammo has been much more difficult to obtain on the civilian market than Federal and others.

We went to Winchester in the 1990s too. The Agency I retired from use to give a retiree a box of ammo annually when we came in for LEOSA Qualification. But they stopped doing that during the Pandemic and now we have to buy our own.

 

[SGT ROCK 11B]

... I seldom carry my handloads anymore. Once apron a time, cops carried them every day on duty. We had a local Police Inspector that carried his engraved M629 with 180gr 44Mag handloads. When he qualified with his revolver, (early 2010’s) he had a bucket with ice in it to plunge it into between courses of fire.

For cops carrying handloads on duty was not common. Some of the smaller Departments that required officers buy their own handgun had to provide their own ammunition too.

In 2025 it's hard to believe that Departments with one, two or three officers still exists.

 

[Always Faithful Holsters]

For cops carrying handloads on duty was not common. Some of the smaller Departments that required officers buy their own handgun had to provide their own ammunition too.

In 2025 it's hard to believe that Departments with one, two or three officers still exists.

Back when 38/357mag revolvers were the duty gun, and 357Mag ammo was hard to get, many officers carried loads that would freak out folks that shoot the 38spl of today. A 158gr LSWC @ 1100fps from a 4” barrel in a 38spl case, was a really decent police load. Often, the only way to get loads like that were to buy it from “local boutique” loaders. If memory serves me right, Dad said he had a box of high velocity loads he got from a cop friend. Of course, that was well over 50 years ago, maybe more.

 

[Always Faithful Holsters]

I do wound ballistics workshops for a living for a major ammo maker. I've shot a lot of gel in the last 10 years and have seen a lot of anecdotal details of real world shootings from the PDs that I deal with. Those shooting back the results we see in FBI protocol gel testing. We see really great results with Federal HST, Speer Gold Dot and God Dot2. Great performance with the 147 grain HST's in standard duty gun barrel lengths but the 124's seem to be a little better in the really short barreled guns. The HST's and GD get about the same penetration but the HST's get a little bigger. A major Kalyfornya agency tested and went to the GD2 and are extremely happy with it. Their major crimes unit, which has traditionally carried .45 acp pistols, were so happy with testing they have recently gone to a high cap 9mm. This agency shoots a lot of bad guys and they indicate the GD2 are extremely effective. All I can say is, do your research and look at major agencies that do the testing and have proven what works in the field. If you can't find an agency that is using one of these boutique brands of ammo, why would you? The FBI standards for penetration, weight retention and expansion have proven to be a good standard to judge terminal performance. We tried the "high velocity, low mass" bullet thing back in the 70s when I first got into law enforcement with companies like Super Vel and we had a lot of failures. NIJ was using Pseudo science to determine what made an effective man stopper and it was all disproven when guys like Dr M. Fackler and Gene Wolberg got involved. New ideas, bullet design and construction have brought all the defensive handgun calibers into the real world.

With all that info, I have another question: Can ballistic/bullet performance testing be done accurately with water jugs?
Not sure how all those images go together without further review….but, you can get my drift.
I am not the originator of this type of testing, I’m not claiming anything like that. The originator stated that there was tons of testing that went into it. I’d like to ask about your comparative data from your tests. Gold Dot, HST….so on. Do the numbers seem similar?
Thanks…

 

[Chuck Edwards]

I've settled on Federal HST 124-grain +P. I have 9x19s with 3.15", 3.5", and 4" lengths. It goes ~1140 fps from the 3.15" Walther PPS, ~1160 fps from the 3.5" Walther P99C, and ~1180 fps from my 4" G19, G45, and Beretta PX4s. It's reliable in all of them. One round from the PPS went 1138 fps and went through a layer of heavy denim and two of t-shirt material and into a block of clear ballistic gel (yeah, I know...) and expanded like you might see in a Federal ad.

As y'all know, ammo is what makes an autoloader function. Stuff that's fine from a solid two-handed grip might be marginal shot one-handed from an awkward position. I think that standard velocity HST (or other ammo) would perform well on target, but I like having that extra oomph in case I need to use it from a compromised position.