what weight 9mm do you shoot?

[Shadow9mm]

So I have been shooing 9mm since I got my first handgun. I have shot many others since them, but 9mm just kind of has a special place for me. When I started shooting I was die hard 115g. Mainly because it was before I started reloading and 115g was the most commonly available weight and had the best price generally. Now that I reload I have gone all 124g. I don't buy or shoot 115g. A few years back my agency went from 40 to 9mm and they selected 147g bullets. Having shot a good bit of them now, I am really considering trying 147s out.

What weight do you guys shoot for training and defensive? Any data, personal experiences, or personal preferences?

 

[44 AMP]

I voted "other" because I neither train with, nor use the 9mm Luger round defensively.

while in the past I have loaded JHP, LRN, JSP, and plated RN for the last few decades all my 9mm Luger use has been recreational. My 9mm handguns currently are a Luger pistol, a Walther P.38 (ac 42) and until recently a rebored Bolo C-96 Mauser broomhandle, and a 9mm Luger barrel for my Contender.

I shoot 115gr or 124gr FMJ at original German 9mm Parabellum velocities, and no +p (let alone anything hotter) stuff is going in my WWII guns. I could load the 9mm hotter in my Contender, but there's no point. When I want something more than 9mm Luger in my Contender, I just change barrels to a more powerful cartridge, of which, I have several.

never bothered with the 147gr slugs either. For me, they are pointless.

this makes me the odd man out in most circles (which is not an unusual situation for me, ) but I grew up to shooting before factory JHP ammo was made, and early on decided if it were ball, I choose the .45 over the 9mm. In the decades since, 9mm has been hugely improved and I no longer consider it a deficient cartridge for personal use, but since I've never had any need to change I haven't. I shoot 9mm Luger for fun, plinking and the enjoyment of shooting my historical pistols. So, I voted other because none of your poll choices fits what I do.

 

[105kw]

Whatever 115 or 124gr load I can get enough of for defense.
Practice ammo was load with fmj to duplicate what factory ammo we were carrying.
Most of our carry stuff was standard velocity, very little +P.

 

[Shadow9mm]

I voted "other" because I neither train with, nor use the 9mm Luger round defensively.

while in the past I have loaded JHP, LRN, JSP, and plated RN for the last few decades all my 9mm Luger use has been recreational. My 9mm handguns currently are a Luger pistol, a Walther P.38 (ac 42) and until recently a rebored Bolo C-96 Mauser broomhandle, and a 9mm Luger barrel for my Contender.

I shoot 115gr or 124gr FMJ at original German 9mm Parabellum velocities, and no +p (let alone anything hotter) stuff is going in my WWII guns. I could load the 9mm hotter in my Contender, but there's no point. When I want something more than 9mm Luger in my Contender, I just change barrels to a more powerful cartridge, of which, I have several.

never bothered with the 147gr slugs either. For me, they are pointless.

this makes me the odd man out in most circles (which is not an unusual situation for me, ) but I grew up to shooting before factory JHP ammo was made, and early on decided if it were ball, I choose the .45 over the 9mm. In the decades since, 9mm has been hugely improved and I no longer consider it a deficient cartridge for personal use, but since I've never had any need to change I haven't. I shoot 9mm Luger for fun, plinking and the enjoyment of shooting my historical pistols. So, I voted other because none of your poll choices fits what I do.

I get ya. I consider plinking to be general shooting training, although thay may technically be wrong. I just look at trigger time as trigger time. It may not be oriented for anything specific, but even plinking can keep your generally skills sharp. I often go to book max with my loads, I like my loads full power, but I don't venture into +P territory in either factory ammo or my hand loads.

 

[9x19]

I use both 115gr and 124gr regularly, in various arms.

I occasionally shoot 147gr (when I'm being vewy vewy quiet)

 

[KyJim]

For range/training, it's either 115 or 124 grain depending upon availability and price. I can't tell enough difference in how they either feel or shoot (at "defense" distances) to matter. I use 124 gr. rounds when I carry because they generally penetrate a bit more and expand better--HSTs and Gold Dots primarily, though there are some other good rounds. I don't shoot 147 grain loads because I don't want to have to put enough rounds through each 9mm I might carry to make sure they function okay. I did it with the 124 gr HSTs and Gold Dots, but see no reason to fork over even more money to Vista.

 

[Crankylove]

Practice/plinking ammo is 124 or 147 gr hand loads. Which ever weight bullet is cheaper/in stock at the time.

I try and keep velocity at 950-1,000 fps, so there’s not much point in loading 115’s for me.

Carry ammo is whatever 124 gr HP factory ammo I have on hand.

 

[jmr40]

Range ammo mostly 115 because it is readily available and cheap. But I'll gladly use 124 or 147 FMJ when I can find it. At handgun ranges out to 25 yards I can't tell enough difference in POI to matter.

For carry I've been using 124 gr HP loaded to 1200-1250 fps for a long time. But I've seen a lot of good things with 147 gr HP loaded to 950-1000 fps that I'd use it. Once again not enough difference in POI to matter

 

[BourbonCowboy]

I carry an HK VP9SK, and (I think) it was designed with the 124g NATO round in mind. So I shoot 124g rounds in it. I did buy a couple boxes of 115g ammo, but I had a round cause a failure to return into battery. On the HK forum, most folks say that the VP9/VP9SK needs to be "broken in" with 124g ammo to loosen the spring. After a couple hundred rounds, they will eat anything. I tried this and found it to be true. 100 rounds of 124g ammo later, I was able to burn through the rest of the 115g ammo without incident...but I'm sticking with the 124g - for both training and personal defense.

 

[zeke]

Load and shoot everything but the 115 defensive.

 

[Nick_C_S]

I like heavy bullets in general. But with 9mm (9x19), I go with 124's. 147's are too heavy for the cartridge. They need the pressure of 357 Sig IMO.

I don't shoot a lot of 9mm however. I usually carry a 9mm, but to me, I don't use the cartridge recreationally. I load my own. With the 9, it's almost always 124's.

 

[Rob228]

I carry 115 grain Barnes or 124 grain HST for my Glock 19.

147 for the Ruger PC9.

 

[jetinteriorguy]

I shoot 124’s in my pistols and carbine, and 147’s in my carbine. Out of my carbine the 147’s are just under 1200FPS so they pack a pretty fair punch for a 9mm, and out to 50yds easy to empty 30 rounds into a paper plate as fast as I can pull the trigger.

 

[Average Joe]

124 for both

 

[sparkyv]

Ditto.

124 for both

 

[wild cat mccane]

Federal HST 150gr 9mm expands the most in 9mm while being under 900fps. Also reaches between 16-19" in the luckygunner tests.

The probably makes it the best 9mm defensive ammo.



Also look at the 147gr +P HST. It outperforms most .40. options you can buy.

Weight matters not as much as bullet type. HST or Gold Dot are all great.

 

[RickB]

9mm was never a favorite, for many years, but I've shot more of it in the last five years, than all other calibers, combined.
The gun that got me hooked, came with a recommendation against 115 grains, and 124 seems the most popular.
I shoot a bit of .38 Super, too, and have loaded 130 and 135, in addition to 124, for both rounds.

 

[FairWarning]

124 is the ideal weight for anything 9mm pistol IMO.

I'd be interested in very toasty 147s for a carbine if available (cheep) in bulk, however.

 

[hook63]

Sounds like you like 38 spec. more then 9mm.

 

[Rob228]

The probably makes it the best 9mm defensive ammo.

Ooooohhhhh, that smells like bait.

Does anyone know if Barnes completely stopped the Tac-XPD line in 9m and started calling it Vortex without the fancy nickel cases and black coating on the bullets? They sure look the same and seems like they shoot the same. I'd say I haven't seen any Tax-XPD in a while, pops up in .40 every now and then.