Self Defense Ammo? What's the best?

[moe l.]

If you had to pop an intruder, what round would you want in your gun? Gold Dot? Ranger SXT? Federal HST? Hornady? Golden Saber? CorBon? And why?

 

[WiCK3D_SiX]

Most of the reading I've done on several sites says Cor-Bon 115 +P JHP. Though personally I'll be trying a few boxes and going with whatever feeds most reliably with the best accuracy.

Synergy-I535

 

[cp1969]

Wouldn't matter. Placement accounts for about 95% of effectiveness. All the rest, big power, gimmick bullets, etc. makes up the other 5%.

 

[StatesRightist]

It depends on the caliber, but as CP1969 said, the bottom line is the one that hits the vital area the most.

 

[rcpaul]

12ga 00 buck 9 38 cal pellets

 

[crofoot629]

Oh my!
Waiting for results of a magic bullet.
Please tell.

Emory

 

[kwselke]

Use Black Talon and you can scare people to death, even if you cannot hit them. Well they have to be pretty stupid and believe marketing hype. Even though I have some of the ammo that just keeps on killing, it's a collectors item, so I'll use whatever load I have at hand that I can hit the target with.

 

[805moparkid]

i did alot of looking and i made my mind up on hydra-shocks. it seems to be a fairly old bullet but still exceeds FBI standards. after that i would have to look and go off the numbers. i think golden sabers were near the top for next in line though...

 

[pete950]

What ever you can accuratly and quickly put on target!!!!!
with out harming a loved one

 

[ArchAngelCD]

12ga 00 buck 9 38 cal pellets

I like 12ga #4 Buckshot a little better for HD. A 2.75" shell holds 27X 24 Cal pellets.

By the way, 00 buckshot is actually 33 Caliber in size NOT that the bad guy will notice the difference between 9X 38 Cal or 9X 33 Cal pellets hitting him square in the chest! LOL

000 Buck = 36 Cal
00 Buck = 33 Cal
0 Buck = 32 Cal
#1 Buck = 30 Cal
#2 Buck = 27 Cal
#3 Buck = 25 Cal
#4 Buck = 24 Cal

 

[radar1972]

Whatever is in the pistol that's closest at hand. And I try to make sure it's Hornady Critical Duty. But as mentioned earlier, placement is the key.

 

[alwslate]

"Pop an intruder"? Assuming you mean a person intent on doing me
bodily harm managing to get into my home while I'm there? I'd want
it to be a big loud pop. The kind of pop made by 2 3/4" magnum 12 ga
00 12 pellet buckshot.

 

[JenniferG]

Inside the house 00 buck. Outside the house anything that starts with 357 magnum.

 

[Alnamvet68]

I prefer to start off with a welcome to my plantation cocktail or two of Glaser Blue, followed up with an attention getting entre of FMJ, and if you still have room for Jello, then a JHP for dessert. If after all this, you still want more entertainment, then we'll toast with an after dinner 12 guage cordial called The Shorty made famous by Remington 870.

 

[Nevada Ed]

Cal.,Guage,barrel length needs to taken in, as well as velosity and payload.

Minimum,maximum and over penetration is another factor,for in the house loads.

Are you holding or going after the BG? You learn in SD classes what is the proper thing to do, with each type of weapon that you own. It is not always the best thing ,to go after the BG , poking a long 12 Ga barrel around courners of the house........ or not having the correct system, eqiupment and knowledge for the task.

Lots of A,B,C's that go into the right bullet or pellet.

 

[Vulcan Bob]

Rifle,shotgun or hand gun most any old thing will work well if you land the shot between the shirt pockets. Being able to land the shot there is the trick!

 

[murphydog]

Waited to see if anyone else made this point...

Shooting someone is the last thing you want to do. Anticipating and avoiding threats if possible, developing the correct mindset and training all come well before ammo selection.

Nothing hand-held that misses an area of the body that immediately shuts down the threat (like the brain) is 100% effective at terminating a fight. So definitely have your 9 mm/.40/.45 with expanding bullets, or a shotgun handy, but try not to get into a situation where "popping" someone is necessary.

 

[rwsmith]

Sounds like a bad Kung Fu movie

By the way, 00 buckshot is actually 33 Caliber in size NOT that the bad guy will notice the difference between 9X 38 Cal or 9X 33 Cal pellets hitting him square in the chest! LOL

Person with intent to cause bodily harm after being shot:
"Ha Ha Ha Ha. You only used the 33 caliber pellets instead of the 38. Now I'm going to beat you up. Ha Ha Ha Ha"

 

[Dann Fassnacht]

9 rounds of 230 grain Speer Gold Dots from my S&W 4506.

 

[Texas Star]

After studying the matter for over 30 years and consulting with engineers in the industry in my capacity as a firearms writer and after talking with police and a physician who studied wound ballistics before advising Dallas PD to adopt lead HP .38 ammo to replace their old RN bullets, I've settled on Federal HST or Speer's Gold Dot. Some others also work so well that they are probably as good, at least most of the time.

Sorry for that first run-on sentence, but I want to make clear that I didn't just read posts on the Internet to reach my conclusions.

The reason why I chose these is largely that they expand well and penetrate well and are unlikely to shed the lead core. They penetrate a variety of mediums like glass and denim about as well as anything short of a FMJ. In fact, in some applications, I'd use a FMJ, but not for typical home defense, which is the issue in this thread.

FMJ is largely denigrated because it won't expand. But the person whom I know who has shot more people than anyone else using a handgun (15; nine with a 9mm and six with a .45) used GI ammo quite successfully, largely because he can shoot very well indeed. But he did have to fire more than once if the bullet wasn't immediately effective. He found the .45 a little more potent, but not vastly so. He prefers the .45, but ammo was harder to obtain in Iraq, and spare magazines were at a premium. Now in private life, he has both 9mms and .45s, generally carrying a Colt Govt. Model which he has tuned slightly. His ammo of preference in both calibers is HST. But that was denied him in military service, due to the Hague Accords. (Not the Geneva Convention, as some think.)

He never hit anyone with either caliber who didn't drop, but in a few cases, finishing shots were needed. He was unable in a few cases to determine for sure that the enemy died, as he was on the move, under fire. (He has been wounded three times.)

Additionally, I was acquainted with the late David W. Arnold. Some of you will recall him as an editor of Petersen's Handguns. Before moving to the USA, David was a senior police official in then-Rhodesia. (He was born in South Africa, doing his national service there as part of a tank crew.)

He had access to after-action reports from both soldiers and anti-terrorist police units. The ammo used was normally FMJ military style. The 9mm fared pretty well, whether from pistols or SMG's. He didn't feel too unarmed while carrying his issued P-38, although his real preference was for a Colt .45 auto. I have no way of knowing how well placed those bullets were, and I'm sure that the average soldier or cop there wasn't a world class marksman, like David. (He shot on the Rhodesian national IPSC team.)

If it interests anyone, my home defense handguns are either .38 or .357 revolvers, using Plus P .38 Gold Dot or Hydra-Shok ammo, or a 9mm Beretta M-92FS with 124 grain HST. Snubs or three-inch barrels get Speer's Short Barrel 135 grain load.

I also have some lead HP 158 grain ammo from Federal and Remington. Dallas police experience with that basic load (they issued Winchester at least some of the time) was positive. One officer killed six suspects with it, using his issued S&W M-64. They also provided Winchester Silvertip 145 grain JHP .357 ammo for those wanting to use a .357. The only comment that I've been able to get about the .357 load is that it was "extremely effective."

I do believe that some bullets work better than others, but agree that placement is the single greatest factor in stopping power.

Oh: in event of a likely riot or looters, I'd load my 12 gauge and maybe a .303 which has a 10-shot magazine. The load for the .303 is Winchester 180 grain Power Point hunting ammo. I will be quite surprised if either doesn't stop an enemy with one shot, let alone two. I could use a 'scope sighted hunting rifle in other calibers, but proving self defense might be difficult if I had to shoot anyone too far away. It's not out of the question, if he was delivering accurate fire toward me, but is an unlikely situation. (If there is a total breakdown in social order, long range capability is more likely to be needed.)

Oh: I just remembered reading the late Che Guevara's book on guerilla warfare, of which he had extensive experience. He recommended the .45 for pistols, as it worked better than 9mm from a handgun. I think he said that the 9mm was okay in SMG's. But I read that book in high school, which was a long time ago.