9mm defense ammo, what bullet weight should one choose and why? 115gr, 124g-130 grain, or 147 grain?

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otis

Depends on the weapon, the bullet configuration, and the POI for the combo.

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Who watches the watchers?

Roughly, the one that reliably makes the biggest, deepest hole, without over-penetrating.
I like Federal P9HST2 because it feeds reliably in all my 9s, and at 147gr, expands the biggest.
YMMV

If your practice ammo is 115gr it would make sense that your SD ammo would be 115grn too.

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No baby we aint

Carry Federal 124gr HST or Fiocchi 124gr Extrema XTP, confident in either.

Groo here
First the gun must like it.
the best HP is no good if it jams.
Don't assume the gun will eat anything.
Second , the load "should " have an IMPACT speed of at least 1000fps!
To insure deformation, from "YOUR " gun!!!!
And remember,,, the shorter the barrel,, the slower it will shoot...

Depends on the gun. I shoot 147gr in a suppressed gun that is under 1000 ft/sec for maximum return from the suppressor. One of my other guns seems to prefer 124 gr but will eat anything.

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SWCA 3255 SWHF 615

As stated above, it must first be reliable in your particular firearm. I go with heavy for caliber with the thought of having to penetrate heavy clothing in cold weather etc. 147gr. HST is what I generally recommend for carry.

It doesn’t really matter. The most important thing is that it works in your gun.

If ball is the only thing that works, use ball.

Right now, you’ll be lucky to find any ammo at all. If you find some, stock up.

Don’t obsess over things like point of impact, penetration, expansion, muzzle flash, bullet weight, velocity, or any of the other things we tend to argue and bicker about. Any round can work, and any round can fail. If it functions in your gun you are 99.9% of the way there.

If you have a choice, I’d go 115, 124, 147. Or 147, 124, 115. Whatever works in your gun.

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Rule of law, not a man.

Getting a good hit with ANY decent ammo is much more important than the exact details. A crummy hit with superbullets is much less effective than a really good center of mass hit with a so-so bullet. Find a bullet your gun likes and that you can shoot well, then go with that. If there was one BEST bullet then that's all that would be out there.

Problems aside, the 9mm improved 147 grainers are close to the ballistics of the venerated 158 grain FBI/Chicago load. That choice gives up a little bit in performance in exchange for greatly increased round capacity.

In general, my preference is for medium-to-heavy weight bullets, regardless of caliber. In 9mm, that'd be in the 124-147gr range. Modern JHP bullets in this range seem to have the best balance of penetration and expansion. I also prefer to stay away from ultra-light or ultra-heavy bullets, or exotic ammo like Glasers. I use 147gr HST.

But as others have said, with the current ammo market you'll be lucky to find any 9mm, let alone good JHP loads, especially enough to check for reliability and how well you can shoot it, or how well it shoots for you. Try to get good JHP (Dr. Roberts' list is a good reference) if you can, but you may just have to settle for whatever you can get in a decent quantity. Shot placement and reliability are still the most important factors.

Just my opinion.

With the 9mm pistol that has a 4" or longer barrel, standard ammo has enough energy for the job at hand.

The little 3" barrels need to use a +P load to make sure the bullet has enough energy to make the bullets work correctly and expand if JHP.


As for bullet weights............
you need to test the weights and brands to make sure they will work in "your weapon", 100% of the time without any problems.

Good luck.

I'm a 115gr and lighter hater, but I load my wife's Shield up with 100gr Pow'r Ball as it shoots POA. 147gr shoots quite high.

In everything else it's 124gr or more. The old 1970s/1980s high velocity theory that pervaded law enforcement and consequently the civilian world has been debunked, at least for handgun bullets slower than about 1600fps.

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Psalm 27:2

.....as long as velocity is good from your gun. I have two favorites. Remington Golden Sabers and Federal HSTs.
(I like the BIG holes in the hollow points) I'll buy Speer Gold Dots but I don't think they are QUITE as consistent as the other two.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

I prefer the Winchester Ranger T-Series 147 gr. ammo in 9mm (The old Black Talon, now Gold Talons).

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How many guns are too many?

I carry what the local PD issues. Hornady Critical Duty, in whatever caliber I end up carrying that day . . .

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

Firearm in question will be a Kahr K9 which has, I think, a 3.6 inch barrel. I was curious as to the reasons some choose a lighter bullet and some choose a heavy bullet. I gather that heavy gets you more penetration (???). In South Dakota it is cold much of the time so there is always a strong possibility of needing to penetrate several layers of clothing. I don't have a lot of ammo stocked up. But enough to get by. The Kahr I purchased is used but like new. Used enough to surpass Kahr's recommended 200 round break in period. I believe my stock of self-defense ammo includes some 124 he as well as 147 he Hydra Shock HST. Was looking at ammo online last night and the Hydra Shock Deep looks like an interesting round.

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otis

FWIW, I use 147gr HST in my Beretta PX4 Compact, which has a 3.27" barrel, and I don't have any concerns about its performance year-round. IIRC, the 147gr HST has been used by LE in some very cold locales, I believe Minneapolis being one of them, and from what I've read they've been happy with its performance.

If you have concerns about a slow, heavy bullet, 124gr Gold Dot +P has established a very solid track record being the standard issue round for NYPD, which can get quite cold.

But as was said before, you just may have to make do with what you have or can get.

1) Reliability. Not negotiable. It must work in your pistol every time. If you can't go 500 rounds of carry ammo without a malfunction, there is something wrong.

2) Placement matters. You are responsible for that. You need to know the places that offer the best odds of stopping a violent offender. Remember that a pistol is a secondary weapon, carried not because it a good choice, but because it is reasonably convenient. If you have reason to expect a problem and can't arrange to be somewhere else (if you are not a cop, forewarned means being somewhere else), you need to have a long gun.

3) Google Dr. Gary Roberts and his ammo recommendations. There are various weights of 9mm in there, based on performance. I have a variety of rounds available to me, of different weights. The only common point they have is passing Gary's testing.

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NHI, 10-8.

Here is a link that shows ballistics and gel test results for numerous popular 9mm loads:

https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/sel...llistic-tests/

Smiles

The short answer is Yes.

I agree with Sigp220.45 comments. Bullet technology is so very advanced and tested that it is hard to make a wrong choice.

Being in the middle of the ammo panic it is hard to find different weights and design to test. Even FMJ is very hard to find. In your situation I would settle for any bullet weight from a large reputable manufacturer such as Federal, Winchester or even from a foreign country such as IMI. I would be very wary of ammunition from small companies and would avoid gunshow ammo.

Otis24 this is a question where YouTube is a big help. Go to Ammo Quest Shooting The Bull and watch his videos. He tests a lot of different 9mm ammunition from a 3” barrel semi-auto.

His videos are professionally done and he uses the same calibrated ballistic gel that the FBI does. I don’t agree with some of his choices it is a very informative series of videos.

p.s. My edc is a Sig P239 9mm so I guess I should sign off as Sigp239.9

Ditto....... #1 reliable feeding and extraction #2 shot placement #3 all the other minor differences. Cus a handgun Bullet is not a "Death Ray"

I'm not a believer in the "one shot stop".... I'm more of a "double tap" kind of guy! Two to the chest and one to the ....... well you know! Stop the threat...................

The agency I retired from issues the Glock 19 and uses 124 grain HP, I forget the brand of ammo.

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Old Cop
LEO (Ret.)

I have a 1.0 Shield 9 that has proven to be "ammo-picky". Thus my challenge has been to find a reliable self-defense round. Over several months, I tested a bunch of SD rounds. (This was back in the good old days when ammo was relatively cheap and plentiful.) Any round that failed even once was eliminated from consideration. Finally, two rounds made it past 200 firings without any failures. They were Hornady Critical Duty 135g +P, which has gone 387 rounds with no failures, and Federal HST 147g, which has gone 225 rounds with no failures. Both are on Dr. Roberts' recommended list. Like Muss Muggins, I carry the Hornady Critical Duty rounds (and who am I to argue with Muss?). I can't say whether these will work as well in your Kahr as they have in my Shield, but they would be a good place to start, if you can find them. As others have said, you will need to find rounds that work well in your gun. Good luck!

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What, me worry?

I've got a pile of the older version of Remington Golden Saber 147 grain. They run flawlessly through my preferred Browning Hi Powers and reportedly perform admirably with the 4 5/8" barrel. However, they don't seem to fare as well out of shorter barrels (=less velocity), so for my SA XD9 Sub (3" bbl.) I go with 147 grain Rangers. That being said, I believe anything you can shoot well with your gun should work.

First, the chosen ammo must be reliable in the chosen firearm.
Second, the ammo must be accurate when fired in the chosen firearm.
Third, you have to be able to comfortably handle the recoil of the ammo.

For me, I prefer modern 147 grain, standard pressure loads in the 9x19mm. I came from the era of +P and +P+ 115 grain loads, but the Federal HST, Speer Gold Dot, and Winchester Ranger T jacketed hollow point bullets do not need screaming velocity in order to expand in a reliable fashion. If I could not obtain any of these in 147 grain loads, then 124 grain loads would be my second choice.

Also, practicing with less expensive, FMJ ammo is a good option, but only if the bullet weight and velocity are the same as your defensive ammo.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

I enjoy Paul Harrell's videos. One of his points is that the commonly available ammunition, such as Remington "Green and White box" 115 gr JHP (before the bankruptcy, of course), will do just fine and cost a lot less. He does a lot of tests and I don't recall ever seeing a modern JHP get stopped by clothing in one of his videos.

I happen to have a stock of 135 gr +p Flextip from a while back, because I have a 6" barreled Glock, but these days, I think just get whatever works in your gun and doesn't break the bank. Use the money saved to practice.

I like Mr. Harrell's videos and his testing method, although not as scientific as ballistic gelatin, it is probably a more real world test of bullet performance.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

My EDC Glock26 is full of Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel 124 grain cartridges.

The Kahr K9 that I loaded for had a 3.1" barrel but they may come in with a 3.6?

Told the owner to use the 124gr Gold Dot Short barrel ammo, for it, that was tested on "Shooting the Bull".......... that did very well, back in 2014.

The 124 & 147 HST also passed with flying colors in the 3" barrel.