Premium personal defense ammo

[Springfield XD40 Man]

Hey guy's, out of the dozen or so brands of premium JHP ammo, which do you think is the best, and why?

 

[New_Master]

EXTREME SHOCK !!! You can go through cement barriers, blows wholes through superman with their nitronium.....what ever they call it

 

[WESHOOT2]

best vs why

Because I'd bought some ultra-premium ammo but experienced set-back.

So I went insane, and now.....

 

[shield20]

Federal HST - 'cause workshop reports show it penetrates very well, consistently expands to the largest diameter, & remains intact through all barriers better then other comparable rounds. It's also comparatively cheap, super accurate, totally reliable, very clean to shoot, and comes in the best ballistic combinations.

 

[garryc]

A couple of years ago I tested several brands of ammo in a 45acp 1911 commander, premium defense stuff. For expansion the Remington 185gr +P saber came out the best. For penetration the 185gr Gold Dot was better but expanded less. The 230gr saber seemed to have the best balance of penetration and expansion over all. The 230gr gold dot was clearly the best penetrator.

My carry ammo changes with the weather. In the winter the choice is the 230gr saber. In the summer its the 185gr+p saber.

 

[DunedinDragon]

I have to say I've been intrigued with Hornady's TAP FPD ammo. If I were spending YOUR money, that's what I'd buy. But since I have to pay for it out of my own pocket I'll probably just go back to my regular ol' Gold Dots...

 

[cje1980]

In general I like the Speer GD but it depends on the caliber I'm using. In some calibers I like the Speer GD in others I like Winchester SXT, in others I like Fed HS, in others I like a Win ST(.357M and .44M). Its difficult to have one brand of ammo that works best for all the calibers.

 

[kjdoski]

Best in what caliber, and for what application? Do you need to worry about tactical barrier penetration, or are you more worried about interior wall overpenetration? Do you live somewhere where people wear heavy clothing, or light? Too many variables to make a statement about what's "best."

For me, if I were able to choose my own ammo in my choice of calibers, it would be:

.380: Cor-Bon Pow'rball
.38: Cor-Bon DPX or Speer 135 gr +P Gold Dot
9mm: Win 127 +P+ or 124 +P SXT; or Speer 124 +P Gold Dot
.357 Sig: Anything in 125 grain
.357 Mag: Anything in 125 grain
.40: Remington GS 165 grain
.45: Anything "new loading" in 230 grains - Win SXT, Gold Dot, HST, Fed Tactical, etc...

Regards,

Kevin

 

[Springfield XD40 Man]

I'll clarify the criteria, a 40 caliber auto for concealed carry and/or home defense, in your opinion, what's the best performing ammo? I'm leaning towards the Hornady TAP, but haven't made a decision yet.

 

[garryc]

My buddy shoots GD's through his HS 40, shoot great and hit as hard as you can expect a short and weak to hit

 

[ClarkEMyers]

Shoot it in your gun before deciding -

Myself I like Winchester Silvertip but my own pistol is chambered 9X23. Many previous Hornady loads used an excellent bullet but showed more muzzle flash than some other loads. For hunting this is almost completely irrelevant for self defense it may be or it may matter a great deal. Rumor has it the new TAP loads have the same bullet with the same exterior ballistics and less muzzle flash.

Shoot it - assuming 100% reliability I'd have trouble establishing a logical by the numbers reason to prefer any of the good loads over another - I'd be happy with Gold Dots or Saber or Winchester or Corbon or .... in a .40 S&W.

 

[Springfield XD40 Man]

LOL @ the "short and weak" comment. The border patrol, as well as the vast majority of LEO's have adopted the 40 S&W. The border patrol has had outstanding performance from their 155 grain loads. They chose the 40 because it has superior barrier penetration to the 45, and down-range, the 40 is all over the 45. "Short and Weak" used to be the joke when the round first appeared, but it has proven itself a serious manstopper.

Sorry for the rant.....I just had to respond to that statement. People that say stuff like that are one slice short of a full loaf, IMO.

 

[Love&Hate12]

Depending on caliber, for example Gold Dots perform extremely well in the .40 and above calibers and perform only average in lower than that, they expand but they don't expand as well with the petal design as with the .40 and up diameter.

9mm - 124 - 147 gr. winchester ranger

.40 - Hornady tap 155 gr., these would be hard to clog up with clothing....

.357 mag - 140 gr Corbon +p

.45 - Corbon Dpx 185gr +p/ Remington Golden Saber 200 gr +p

These are just my opinions from my observations from live ballistic gelatin testings.

 

[garryc]

see http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1921586#post1921586 for my admission of bias

 

[Springfield XD40 Man]

Hey garry, I can understand what you are saying about the 40. It was downloaded from 10mm, but it works. The 40 can push a 155 grain JHP at 1250 fps, thats 500+ ft lbs muzzle energy. Its hard to achieve those numbers in a 9mm, and only the 185 +P 45 will exceed that figure, but the 40 comes close to matching it. With a perp know the difference between being hit by a 40 or 45, I doubt it. While I can appreciate your bias, I'm a serious 40 fan and I really like it. I dont bash what you shoot, so you shouldn't bash what I shoot, to each our own.

Truth be told, the 10mm was an overkill round that had to be chambered in big 45 sized guns, lots of flash, blast, and recoil. The 40 can and is chambered in 9mm sized guns and only gives up a couple of rounds to the 9mm, to me thats an awesome combo.

 

[MTS840]

Anything on this list:

http://www.tacticalforums.com/cgi-bin/tacticalubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=78;t=000581;p=1

 

[garryc]

Truth be told, the 10mm was an overkill round that had to be chambered in big 45 sized guns, lots of flash, blast, and recoil.

Not really!

Features / Options:

Three safeties
Polymer or Steel frame
Blue or Wonder finish
Compact or Full size
Calibers (22lr, 9mm, 40sw, 38super, 45acp, 10mm)
Three dot sights
Adjustable sights
Competition sights
Ergonomical grip
Ambo safeties
Extended safeties
Extended mag releases
Long slides
Compensators
Porting
Competition hammers
Scope mounts
Competition triggers
Caliber conversion kits

I'll give you flash and blast though

 

[Springfield XD40 Man]

Ok, but the ammo for 10mm is not widely available and its expensive compared to 40. The 40 has pretty much relegated the 10mm to a wildcat status, its hanging on, but barely.

 

[Springfield XD40 Man]

One more thing, I actually looked at the EAA Witness in 40 caliber when I was shopping for a gun back in January. Its a nice pistol, however the grip with the double stack magazine was way too thick for my small hands, I couldn't grip the thing. I ended up with a Taurus MIL-PRO 40 that fits my hand like a glove...the grip on the Taurus is 1/4" smaller than the 1911.

 

[MuthaGoose]

Truth be told, the 10mm was an overkill . . . lots of flash, blast, and recoil.

Have you shot a 10mm platform, and if so which one?

My experience shooting 10mm auto out of a Glock 20 was nothing like that.