Opinions on which self defense bullet

JHewey

To all the gun carrying guys (or girls) on here. In the next week or two I will be applying for my license to carry. So I'm looking into which bullet I want to carry, I know use whatever the gun fires best. But I don't have the money to buy every bullet to try. So what bullet and weight do you recommend for me to try. And how much difference does +p or +p+ really make?

The gun is a Sig P228 9MM..

kuzi16

im not a huge gun guy but i did stay at a holiday in express, and by that i mean, i was having this same discussion with friends a few weeks ago because i want to get my C&C.
the conclusion was that a flat nosed bullet would be a good choice for protection because they have more "stopping power" and they tend to wound better rather than just going through the attacker leaving a small hole.

many places have hollow points on the no-no list so if that is the case for you, flat nosed may be the way to go, though i know fairly little about what brand is good, how much powder you want in there or any of the technical stuff.

from what i can tell though, just having a gun that you are comfortable with and accurate with is more critical than anything else.

oldsoulrevival

Generally, so long as you aren't buying cheap ammo, you should be fine. That being said, 9mm usually operates best with a 124 grain round. You also might consider finding out what your local police use for their ammo, and buy whatever they are using.

JHewey

Hollow points are good here. PA is very good at not limiting us gun owners. After hrs of research last night. I narrowed it down to 3 I want to try and see how me and my gun like.

Winchester Ranger T-Series 124 gr +P
Winchester Ranger T-Series 147 gr
Speer Gold Dot 124 gr +P

oldsoulrevival

JHewey:

Hollow points are good here. PA is very good at not limiting us gun owners. After hrs of research last night. I narrowed it down to 3 I want to try and see how me and my gun like.

Winchester Ranger T-Series 124 gr +P
Winchester Ranger T-Series 147 gr
Speer Gold Dot 124 gr +P

I would go with the either 124 gr. Both are good, although I tend to prefer winchester

JHewey

oldsoulrevival:

Generally, so long as you aren't buying cheap ammo, you should be fine. That being said, 9mm usually operates best with a 124 grain round. You also might consider finding out what your local police use for their ammo, and buy whatever they are using.

Local police use .40 S&W in a glock 23.

JHewey

oldsoulrevival:

JHewey:

Hollow points are good here. PA is very good at not limiting us gun owners. After hrs of research last night. I narrowed it down to 3 I want to try and see how me and my gun like.

Winchester Ranger T-Series 124 gr +P
Winchester Ranger T-Series 147 gr
Speer Gold Dot 124 gr +P

I would go with the either 124 gr. Both are good, although I tend to prefer winchester

I will try both.

ENFIDL

I by no means am an expert but my .02 is ammo means nothing without well placed shots and vice versa. Honestly you drop two center mass and one to the t box and it doesn't matter what ammo you have because they're done

slickric

i carry hydroshock 40 cal hollow points.

Steve2010

I would have loved to have had expanding ammo in Iraq, but unfortunately the Geneva Convention deemed them inhumane...so all we had is the issued ball ammo.

slickric

Steve2010:

I would have loved to have had expanding ammo in Iraq, but unfortunately the Geneva Convention deemed them inhumane...so all we had is the issued ball ammo.

one of the things that bugged me the most when i was still active duty. i say send us all over with glass tip rounds or small HET rounds

DSWarmack

slickric:

i carry hydroshock 40 cal hollow points.

+1 in a S&W M&P compact.
standard setup for walking the mean streets of Euharlee Atlanta!


Because there is absolutely no point in having an unloaded gun at home for home protection, you must find a way to keep it loaded and keep kiddies out! Introducing my biovault.holds everything and keeps every unwanted person out!

slickric

DSWarmack:

slickric:

i carry hydroshock 40 cal hollow points.

+1 in a S&W M&P compact.
standard setup for walking the mean streets of Euharlee Atlanta!


Because there is absolutely no point in having an unloaded gun at home for home protection, you must find a way to keep it loaded and keep kiddies out! Introducing my biovault.holds everything and keeps every unwanted person out!

i have the exact same setup except i have a Glock 23 (M&P was out of my price range)

Salem

We have a small gun for easy handling and eash hiding, so we use hollow points.

DSWarmack

That is tiny!

Krieger

My .40sw is loaded with a set of rounds I bought from a local shop. They have ALOT less powder in them than your normal .40, but thats what I want. a slow, hollow tipped bullet tears and shreds much better than a round simply traveling fast. Taking up the place of the now missing powder, are 4 or 5 small copper balls that come out upon firing and bounce around inside my target quite well. The hollow point on the round is a bit unique as well. It's a copper jacket like normal, but the inside of the cavity is layered with a wax like plastic that allows the round to expand and essentially shatter when it hits anything hard. I fired a round at some ballistics gel it it BLEW ME AWAY. Massive cavity like 1 inch into the gel, then a huge area of shredded and missing gel that ended just before the end the 6 inch block. The round is meant to enter and not leave. It is also meant to not be able to penetrate many walls, or preferably any at all. they are freaking expensive tho. Ill try to find out the name.

I used to carry hydroshock rounds, but these puppies have so little kick I can get 3 or 4 directly on top of each other at 20 feet at my local range, pretty rapid fire. Thankfully I have not needed to use them.

DSWarmack

Sounds like one of the hornady compound rounds (tap fdp)

ug dan

I have the Golden Sabers in my pistol. If it comes down to it I hope that the noise scares of a burglar. If not, they should do the job well

Krieger

i need to found out what they are. I have only 20, but id like to have a few more. zombie apocalypse and all.

catfishbluezz

slickric:

i carry hydroshock 40 cal hollow points.

+1 Glock 23...never jammed on me, best pistol I've owned I'm applying for my CC in CA too and plan on adding a Kimber 1911 and Bersa 380 to my collection. In my honest opinion, it's the shot that counts.

Dustin1981

The best thing to do is to try as many of the rounds you can until you find the one that you like. I didnt have the money to go out and just buy every brand so what I did was get with a friend who shoots and each of us got a few boxes each. That way I got to try alot without having to buy them all myself. That aside my ccw is a Taurus 24/7 pro-c ds 9mm with Gold Dot 124gr hp +p. They were given to me to try from a friend who is a police officer and its what he uses. I went for them after a few trips to the range and they consistantly perfomed better than the rest. Wont say they will perform the best in your sig but I am trusting them.

JHewey

Dustin1981:

The best thing to do is to try as many of the rounds you can until you find the one that you like. I didnt have the money to go out and just buy every brand so what I did was get with a friend who shoots and each of us got a few boxes each. That way I got to try alot without having to buy them all myself. That aside my ccw is a Taurus 24/7 pro-c ds 9mm with Gold Dot 124gr hp +p. They were given to me to try from a friend who is a police officer and its what he uses. I went for them after a few trips to the range and they consistantly perfomed better than the rest. Wont say they will perform the best in your sig but I am trusting them.

Will be picking up gold dot 124gr +P and some Winchester ranger t 124gr +p. Found a good price for 50rd boxes. And see which works best and feels best with my gun.
Also trying to find some Corbon dpx 115gr +P at a good price. Wanna try those but the price per round is rediculous.

[Deleted User]

I'd stay away from 9mm and look at a 40cal.

JHewey

james40:

I'd stay away from 9mm and look at a 40cal.

Why?

slickric

JHewey:

james40:

I'd stay away from 9mm and look at a 40cal.

Why?

i personally believe 40 cal is the best over the 9mm because while you lose a little muzzle velocity, you gain more stopping power.if i am ever in the position to defend myself with my pistol, i am most likely not going to be shooting long distances. so a small velocity difference wont really affect me. what i will really need it that thump that a 40 cal gives. heres a look at the ballistics gels. i definately did plenty of reading and shooting at the range before i chose my sidearm and i would encourage anyone to do the same. P.S. keep in mind what it will cost to shoot also. i have a 45 cal that i love but its much cheaper to shoot the 40

xmacro

Another thing you wanna take into consideration is what everyone is wearing. Down here in Florida, everyone wears shirts and shorts, so I carry hollow point all year round, but some people up north carry ball ammo in the winter for penetrating through winter coats; but in Florida, with the thin clothes, ball ammo may just over penetrate. Some guys on gun forums I frequent go ball ammo in the winter, hollow point in the summer, some stagger their clipes 1-ball, 1-hollow, etc, and some just carry hollow pt all year. Just depends.

slickric:

JHewey:

james40:

I'd stay away from 9mm and look at a 40cal.

Why?

i personally believe 40 cal is the best over the 9mm because while you lose a little muzzle velocity, you gain more stopping power.if i am ever in the position to defend myself with my pistol, i am most likely not going to be shooting long distances. so a small velocity difference wont really affect me. what i will really need it that thump that a 40 cal gives. heres a look at the ballistics gels. i definately did plenty of reading and shooting at the range before i chose my sidearm and i would encourage anyone to do the same. P.S. keep in mind what it will cost to shoot also. i have a 45 cal that i love but its much cheaper to shoot the 40

If you've got the extra change, you could always buy a conversion kit for your .40 or .45 so it can shoot .22 ammo; makes practicing a lot cheaper

slickric

xmacro:

Another thing you wanna take into consideration is what everyone is wearing. Down here in Florida, everyone wears shirts and shorts, so I carry hollow point all year round, but some people up north carry ball ammo in the winter for penetrating through winter coats; but in Florida, with the thin clothes, ball ammo may just over penetrate. Some guys on gun forums I frequent go ball ammo in the winter, hollow point in the summer, some stagger their clipes 1-ball, 1-hollow, etc, and some just carry hollow pt all year. Just depends.

slickric:

JHewey:

james40:

I'd stay away from 9mm and look at a 40cal.

Why?

i personally believe 40 cal is the best over the 9mm because while you lose a little muzzle velocity, you gain more stopping power.if i am ever in the position to defend myself with my pistol, i am most likely not going to be shooting long distances. so a small velocity difference wont really affect me. what i will really need it that thump that a 40 cal gives. heres a look at the ballistics gels. i definately did plenty of reading and shooting at the range before i chose my sidearm and i would encourage anyone to do the same. P.S. keep in mind what it will cost to shoot also. i have a 45 cal that i love but its much cheaper to shoot the 40

If you've got the extra change, you could always buy a conversion kit for your .40 or .45 so it can shoot .22 ammo; makes practicing a lot cheaper

+1 i just got the conversion kit

bigjohn125

My $.02. Don't worry about the 9mm being "too little". The 9mm is a fine round, especially with modern expanding ammo. I have a 9mm, .40S&W, and .45ACP. I like all of them for different reasons, and there is nothing wrong with any of them for self defense. The two most important things are survival mentality and bullet placement. I can shoot at someone all day long with a .45acp, but if I don't hit them in the head, spine, or heart, they can still kill me. Shoot whatever round/gun that you can accurately and quickly shoot. I personally carry a .45acp most of the time, but I would choose a 9mm second, and .40s&w last. I shoot speer gold dot ammo in all of my personal defense weapons. I would only use bonded ammo. That means that the bullet core will not seperate from the jacket. This can happen when shooting trough tough objects (windshield glass). For 9mm ammo, I only use 124 grain +P. Good luck, and great job deciding to protect yourself.

bigjohn125

Also, don't get too concerned about temporary wound cavity when talking about handgun ammo. None of them are moving fast enough to create a large enough cavity to be of much use for personal defense. Make the bullet itself his something important. This means practice and mental preparedness, so that if the time should come when you need to defend your life, or the life of a loved one, you will be able to do so. (if you want to see a temporary wound cavity that is effective, find pictures of what rifle ammo does.)

roland_7707

No matter what, you want to carry good name brand ammo. Both Winchester and the Dot are good. Winchester is a little cheeper here, I'v shot both in my Ruger SR9 and both work great. No jams. Whither it is a .22 or .45, if you hit them with it, they are going to know it, so I second Kuzis' comment. Buy what you think is best and practice with it.

DSWarmack

With four shots out of a .22 (one to each side at shoulder and hip level), at a close range with the right round you can incapacitate anyone. The added bonus is every time they move till the day they die they will think of what a mistake it was to *uc* with you! .45 is a much more devastating effect on their memories and pain level.


Coming from someone whose job it is to kick in doors and shoot people in the face; Placement of the round is all that matters. As long as you have a good quality ammo and put it where it counts you're good. The weapon is all personal preference. The ammo is the same deal. I own guns I wont shoot because the kids like 'em and I have different ammo for everyone in the house. Safety is my main concern in my home. All the guns (minus the two in the biovault) are locked in the safe and the ammo is stored in dry boxes on the other side of the house with their own padlocks. By the age of ten all my children have shot every weapon in the house at two things, a watermelon (because its fun to watch), and an old ammo can full of water (because it demonstrates better cheaper than anything the effects of a round)!