always reading and always coming away with more ? than I had when I began. I have a gun with a 3 inch barrel, in 9mm. recommendations are either 124gr +p or 147gr. I get the 124gr +p, its going to be going faster and its a lighter bullet, but I don't get the 147gr, its not +p, and its heavier, so, huge disconnect in my brain over this. Any help here? Oh, I got a box of both, just cause I didn't want to leave thinking I got the wrong one, worse case is, I can just target shoot one of em. LOL
Hey guys,
- Thread starter Hunterfz6
- Start date
Lost Lake
US Veteran
Looking for the perfect bullet? 
For what? What do you want it to do?
And I'll skip ahead to the answer you'll come up with in the end, after years of asking, testing, shooting and comparing.
There is no perfect bullet, and every round will do something better than the next, and something worse.
I shoot what's available, what's on sale and what works well in my guns. For self defense I carry name brand rounds the local officers tend to use.
After that, I don't spend much time worrying about ballistics and all that jazz.
For what? What do you want it to do?
And I'll skip ahead to the answer you'll come up with in the end, after years of asking, testing, shooting and comparing.
There is no perfect bullet, and every round will do something better than the next, and something worse.
I shoot what's available, what's on sale and what works well in my guns. For self defense I carry name brand rounds the local officers tend to use.
After that, I don't spend much time worrying about ballistics and all that jazz.
C Islander
Member
Looking for the perfect bullet?
For what? What do you want it to do?
And I'll skip ahead to the answer you'll come up with in the end, after years of asking, testing, shooting and comparing.
There is no perfect bullet, and every round will do something better than the next, and something worse.
I shoot what's available, what's on sale and what works well in my guns. For self defense I carry name brand rounds the local officers tend to use.
After that, I don't spend much time worrying about ballistics and all that jazz.
Couldn't agree more!
hey C, what I want to do is carry em in my CCW gun that I carry. I am interested in anti personnel. Lot of stuff about 3 inch barrels needing a bigger bang so the 124 plus P I know is good, I also read that 147 in a short barrel was good to, I just didn't understand it. Thanks for the feedback. A guy I know said I was over thinking the ammo thing anyway, so I have to agree I should stop it lol. Thanks. Oh the ammo I got is speer gold dots. Picked up a box of 50 on a web site for 29 bucks. Those are the 124 plus P.
venomballistics
Member
+p is higher than standard pressure as you likely know. the ingredient in the ballistic pudding you havn't wrapped your mind around is the dwell time at that pressure.
heavy bullets makes longer dwell times.
a more extreme example might be a 45 auto with a 400 corbon conversion where the gun can fire either with a barrel change. the 400 is simply a 45 necked down to 40.
operating pressures of your standard issue 45 slinging 230 grain loads might run between 16K and 20K PSI
400 corbon sending a 150 grain bullet might make as much as 29K psi ... it only gets away with this trick due to that light 150 grainer being long gone before the still standard chamber wall knows what has happened.
thndrchiken
Member
Buy both and whichever is more accurate use as your carry ammo.
walkin jack
US Veteran
The performance of a bullet is dependent on 3 things; Muzzle velocity, bullet mass and bullet design. A heavier slower bullet may not give you the penetration or speed required to get good expansion on a hollow point in the smaller calibers.
Still the most important feature of any bullet of any caliber is if you can put it where you need to. Shoot what you can shoot most accurately. There is no substitute for the well placed round as they say.
Still the most important feature of any bullet of any caliber is if you can put it where you need to. Shoot what you can shoot most accurately. There is no substitute for the well placed round as they say.
The 147 grain speer gold dots I got, according to the sales man, were designed to expand at sub sonic speeds. Honestly, my 9mm is a XD9SC, and eats anything you give it so I haven't found a round it doesn't like. So I have the luxury of thinking about what I want to use. I'm good to go with the speer gold dot 124 plus P anyway. Thanks for all the thought you put into your replies, got a real lesson there.
