I bought some Federal "low recoil" for SD. The cartridge looks to be made of steel and seems to have a scored line around the diameter right in the middle. Are there any drawbacks to this type of ammo? I am wondering now if it would be prone to jam if the cartidge is designed to absorb some of the energy.

Strange, I thought 9mm was a low recoil cartridge to begin with.

Anyway, does this stuff cycle reliably in your gun? That would be my primary concern. Beyond that, it seems somewhat counterproductive to pay more for a "premium" round that delivers less in terms of terminal ballistics, especially in a caliber that isn't overly powerful to begin with.

For what it's worth, I'll stick with my 127gr +P+ 9mm for SD.

Excuse me, but what 9mm round is NOT low recoil? The 115 & 124 grain round is not much heavier in recoil than a 22 Long Rifle.

Is there any drawback to low recoil 9mm ammo? I dont know this particular round, but the 9mm has a reputation for taking full magazines of full power ammo to stop 1 attacker- in no small part due to numerous news reports of people being shot 20+ times with 9mms. If "low recoil" means lower power, then does it mean "lower power than barely adequate"? In that case, I would say, "Definately yes, there are disadvantages to this ammo." If you need less recoil than full power 9mm, then you may as well consider the 22 Long Rifle.

Yes, the 9mm carries more rounds and energy than a 38 Special, but the 38 has a much better reputation. Reason? Bullet design. The 9mm bullet must feed from the magazine to the barrel and that requires a certain angle and hardness of material that are not required of a 38 bullet, which can be pure soft lead in a semi wadcutter hollow point design if desired. The 9mm bullet design is therefore far more complex and consequently more difficult to get to open up even in full power ammo. Some 9mm ammo works, but many designs do not work. Given the obvious difficulty in designing full power 9mm ammo that does work, how much more difficult is is to get sub-powered ammo to work:?

Well I am getting an education anyway. I am new to schooting and had a .38 till I bought this S&W 3913. It is not recomended to use +P+. This box of ammo said "Personal Defense" it is not what I use at the range. It is hollow point 135gr. If it is ineffective I'll use it at the range and get something better. What's recomended?

It's not lighter loaded, they refer more to less "felt recoil" with the round, it specs right in with the other loads in that weight. It uses the Hydra shock bullet which is used by many LE departments and should work just as well as anything else in your gun. There are no majic bullets, you need one that works well and prints good in YOUR gun, the rest is call "marketing".

Gee ,you might want to give the guy a break on the low recoil ammo thing, maybe he wants low recoil or lower recoil for some specific reason. Also there have been quite a few improvements in bullet design in the last 20 years or so.If you check the penetration and wound channels comparisons the 9mm in alot of designs compares very well ,sometimes even better than 40 or even 45 in some manufacturings. I know of shootings where there were 15-17 hits with .45 and even +p 45 and the suspect continued for a while and survived . A handguns is still a handgun and placement with whatever round is the primary factor. A big reason alot of people have discovered that they cannot hit consistantly or as quickly with supposedly better man-stopper loads and would rather shoot well with what they can hit and control. The old addage "a hit with a BB is better than a miss with a cannonball." Or my take when people comment on me carrying a 9mm ONLY. "OH I hope your not one of those guys who blames your poor shooting,on the fact you carry a .45. My .02 ,Take care

The PDA or Federal Personal Defense Ammunition is just fine for Carry. It uses a Low Flash Powder in this loading and the 135 Gr. carries serious weight in this 9mm loading a good choice in my opinion.

Now if you want something a wee bit heavier to carry you could always go the .50AE route. Just Kidding.

__________________
John McCaw
FFL/SOT2

Thanks everyone. The education from you guys sure beats going out in the pouring rain to talk with the guy in the gun store.

Five minutes online will tell you far more information than you'll ever get from a gun store conversation.

The Federal ACU-PD9HS5H personal Defense Low Recoil 9mm Luger 135 Grain Hydra-Shok has a nickle plated brass case and is not steel. The "scored line around the diameter right in the middle" is a cannelure to prevent the bullet from seating deeper in the case when its hammered by the feed ramp on some pistols during chambering.

The bullets velocity according to factory published ballistics is 1,060 fps at the muzzle of a 4" barreled pistol and using a recoil calculator puts the recoil impulse at .72 lbs/sec with free recoil from a 32oz (2lb) steel pistol at 4.21 ft.lbs like the Colt Commander. Free recoil from a 27 oz Glock 19 is 5.86 ft.lbs. Compare to a 2lb .45 acp firing a 230gr FMJ at 830 fps which produces a free recoil of 7.32 ft.lbs or a 38gr HP .22 lr fired from a 36 oz Ruger MK2 4" at 1,000 fps which produces 0.30 ft.lbs of free recoil.

Federal makes top notch ammo and the Hydra shocks have a good reputation in defense situations. As to the "low recoil" its recoil impulse is the same .72 as a 124gr Hydra Shock load and a bit lower than the .76 of the 147gr Hydra Shock load.

Thanks Steve C. Sounds like I'm OK with that ammo.

Good morning, folks,

I am not sure where this tidbit might go, but, I thought I would start here with this Fall 2011 news item. http://www.kansas.com/2011/09/07/200...-new-guns.html
Another view & look at 9mm for LE. If it has been posted previously, please forgive, and delete.

Regards,