Sidearms & Scatterguns Go to bullet for self defense

[Scarface26]

Looking for suggestions for self defense bullets. I load for 9mm, 40 SW, and .357 magnum. Something along the lines of gold dots or what Hornady loads in critical duty. Only interested in the projectile, not loaded ammunition. Recommended powders would be nice, too, especially for the .357 mag out of a 5" bbl.

God bless America

 

[Clayman]

Looking for suggestions for self defense bullets. I load for 9mm, 40 SW, and .357 magnum. Something along the lines of gold dots or what Hornady loads in critical duty. Only interested in the projectile, not loaded ammunition. Recommended powders would be nice, too, especially for the .357 mag out of a 5" bbl.

God bless America

Gold dot or hst are my favorites.

 

[Basher]

Another HST guy here.

 

[DeathBeforeDismount]

Gold Dot 2 and HST have consistently ranked 1 and 2 in virtually all LEO testing.

 

[Drew890]

HST in all my carry guns.

 

[BLEE]

Gold Dot, HST and Ranger, when I can find them.

 

[nockhunter]

Federal 9mm "white box" 115gr +P+,

 

[RedTimber]

Nosler JHP
Lehigh Extreme Penetrator

 

[kyzim311]

HST gets another vote. I also have some critical duty kicking around that I would not be afraid of using.

 

[DeathBeforeDismount]

Federal 9mm "white box" 115gr +P+,

Thats a 30+ year old unreliable load that comes apart. It has killed lots of people but it doesn't compare to newer rounds. I still have about 2K rounds of it stashed away when it was $15/50. In a MP5 its Nasty.

 

[Scarface26]

Thanks, gents. I'll get 500 of each and see which on e I like best on paper and hope that's all it ever sees. 500 of the gold dots and the HST's, that is.

God bless America

 

[E. Bryant]

I'm still a fan of Ranger T, although I'm not aware of any sources for this bullet at this time. It used to occasionally come up as a bulk item through retailers like Midway, but that was long ago.

Watch your velocities in that 5" .357. A bullet that works in a standard-pressure 9mm may be unhappy smacking a target at 1500+ FPS.

 

[hafejd30]

Our LE departments use Federal. The HST round suggested above. My personal carry I use hornady critical defense. Supposed to hold together better with thicker clothes. Since we spend much of the year in cool or frigid temps it makes sense to me

I personally wouldn’t want to get shot by either

 

[Sandhog308]

I haven’t seen any Glaser Safety Slugs in awhile , made by Cor-Bon i recall.
The Blue bullet ones have No.12 lead shot In them. There are pros & cons to them, but I have 2 of them in my bedside .45 , only used them one time , except a few at a target. Old school Black Talons are the other rounds.
My daughter was chased by a known “biter” part German Shepard / ? She was like 12 years old , screaming loudly. I opened the door and it was showing me his teeth. The one shot hit below his mouth and went in his throat. Dropped right there never moved.
I drug it down to his owners house , beat on his door and left. Nary a peep !

 

[MarshallDodge]

124 +P Gold Dots are what I carry.

 

[acudaowner]

lol what home intruder . well at least after they increase the price of ammo a few more times you still can find chippers for sale .

 

[nockhunter]

Thats a 30+ year old unreliable load that comes apart. It has killed lots of people but it doesn't compare to newer rounds. I still have about 2K rounds of it stashed away when it was $15/50. In a MP5 its Nasty.

It was rated pretty good when I got it, about 10 years ago. It shoots right at 1200fps from my CM9.

Mike

 

[DeathBeforeDismount]

It was rated pretty good when I got it, about 10 years ago. It shoots right at 1200fps from my CM9.

Mike

It was never rated good, especially in the last 20 years. Its a late 80s projo where they made up for poor bullet comp with super high pressure and velocity. Shitty departments like it because it was cheaper than hydro shocks or rangers or even golden sabres. Recoil is ridiculous and its incredibly unpleasant to shoot. The flash will blind you shooting at night. Modern bullets do not require +p+ or even +p to perform.

A good 124g or 147gr gold dot or HST put them to shame, like most projectiles. Not only LE trials but autopsy analysis from OIS data confirms it.

 

[300zx_tt]

Another vote for HST’s.

 

[boomslang]

124 gr gold dots.

 

[sawgunner2001]

Here's the most comprehensive testing I've seen:

Handgun Self-Defense Ammunition - Ballistic Testing Data

Lucky Gunner tests more than 110 different 9mm, 45 ACP, 40 S&W and 380 ACP handgun self-defense ammunition loads in ballistic gel with analysis and video.

www.luckygunner.com

 

[DeathBeforeDismount]

Here's the most comprehensive testing I've seen:

Handgun Self-Defense Ammunition - Ballistic Testing Data

Lucky Gunner tests more than 110 different 9mm, 45 ACP, 40 S&W and 380 ACP handgun self-defense ammunition loads in ballistic gel with analysis and video.

www.luckygunner.com

BS testing. Real testing is done in Live and Dead Tissue, IE pigs. This is confirmed by autopsy reports and AARs.

 

[RogueTanker]

American reloading often has pulled 147gr HST's for sale. I've got 1,500 of them, all the newer generation pulls with the double cannelure. They run under 15 cents each depending on sales.

 

[Scarface26]

American reloading often has pulled 147gr HST's for sale. I've got 1,500 of them, all the newer generation pulls with the double cannelure. They run under 15 cents each depending on sales.

Thank you for the heads up. Hopefully i get there before everyone else on the thread

 

[RogueTanker]

Thank you for the heads up. Hopefully i get there before everyone else on the thread

Yeah that site is my dirty secret. I've gotten TBBC's, MK318, Gold dots and HSTs from them. You have to watch it as they restock, but they get some good stuff for SD and plinking.

 

[Scarface26]

Concur. They've got some good deals on 9mm bullets and on some 556 55 grain fodder. Probably all shoots better than I do.

 

[theLBC]

147gr HST for me.

 

[MikeinTexas]

I’m a retired police officer from NC. I carried the SGD in 9mm( iirc 115gr) up to 2003 when we switched to the 357SIG. We used SGD at the 125 grain in that caliber, then we transitioned back to the 9mm (124gr)as I retired for several reasons: 1-costs of ammo-9mm is cheaper, 2- new Officers just had never shot and they did better with the 9mm, 3-the women hired couldn’t qual with the 357SIG and were always issued a Sig P228 or P229 9mm anyway.

I used easily over 100 SGD putting down deer from wrecks in my career (I was the guy everyone called for putting an animal down, as I had the paperwork on a word document)and used the 357SIG in more than one Officer Involved Shooting(not just me but other officers too). Once I had to shoot a 95lb+ Rottweiler that was attacking me. One round went from center chest to exit the buttock/ham and the dog ceased his attack and ran to a corner where it expired. Another time I was on a search warrant and a 100+lb Pittbull was put on me by the owner. One round (357SIG SGD)was fired from the top down thru the neck as the dog was in the process of biting me (there was a kid in the room and I waited to fire until I was sure the round would go straight down and not towards her). The round struck a choke chain collar and the jacket separated from the core. The jacket was removed from the top of the dogs hide under the collar, the core went thru the neck and rested against the hide under the neck, the collar had a broken link and was recovered at the scene. The dog turned, ran into another room, released his bowels all the way including running over the owner, and hid under a bed until animal control arrived and removed it. (The owner was charged with assault on a LEO for the attack).

I carry SGD in any caliber I may be carrying nowadays, because I trust them completely . I usually carry a G43X or S&W 60 in 38Spcl depending on clothing, but also use a S&W 65 (357Mag) when hiking or camping.

I might recommend that you try a box of rounds in any brand, be it HXT, SGD or anything else before you make your decision.

You might want to visit Lucky Gunner and see the extensive research they have conducted and research your caliber of choice…https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/self-defense-ammo-ballistic-tests/

 

[owtlaw]

A department that I do a lot of work for tested numerous rounds in various media and barriers. The TAC XP was the most consistent through all of them. IInteresting enough, it showed little deflection through windshield glass.

 

[Ledzep]

BS testing. Real testing is done in Live and Dead Tissue, IE pigs. This is confirmed by autopsy reports and AARs.

I agree insomuch as that synthetic clear ballistics gel-- although advertised as such-- does not properly mimic live tissue, nor real 10% ordnance gelatin. It typically offers less resistance which gives poor expansion, smaller cavities, and deeper penetration than you'd expect with ordnance gel.

10% Ordnance gel is what it is because of extensive DoD/LE efforts/research to properly mimic living body tissue. Obviously not going to be 1:1 in every case but it's the next best thing.

 

[91Eunozs]

Not sure what the latest hotness is this year, and there are a lot of very good choices these days, but I tend to carry what the Feeb’s HRT and other professional shooters I had the opportunity to work with when I was still supporting .mil and OGA teams use: Federal Hydra Shok and/or the Barnes Tac XP bullets in whatever weight works best for your needs.

And personal concerns re: their motivations in the executive suite aside, the FBI’s ballistics tests are still probably the gold standard for determining ballistic effectiveness in real world situations.

 

[pineoak]

consider Gold Dots simply because they are easily available, not expensive, and proven

projectile is a very small part of the self defense equation
situational awareness, tactics, & shot placement should be some areas of focus once a reliable gun/ammo combo is sorted out

My friend was a firearms trainer that with other trainers were shooting sides of refrigerated beef to try different rounds. From pistol rounds, they really weren't all that different. The rounds that didn't penetrate gel deeply showed the most horrific flesh wounds and the ones that penetrated deeply (XTP notably) got through the sides of beef. As a group they decided that they preferred the deeper penetrating rounds to the shallower ones. But overall, they're not that different in effect.

He noted that the lead Federal Nyclad in .38 special made some very impressive wounds for .38 compared to the other ones they tested.