9mm 147gr JHP with Reliable Expansion

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Mot45acp

Mot45acp

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Who makes a good 147gr JHP that reliably expands? My goal is to stay subsonic up to a 10" barrel. Something I can buy in bulk.

I have heard the WWB was surprisingly reliable for its cost.

Thanks
Mot
 
A 147gr loaded anywhere near +p specs should be subsonic out of a sub gun length barrel.
Problem with most 147 hollow points is they don't leave you much room for powder.
I use Hornady xpt, at least until rmr bullets makes a 147gr hp.
 
If you can find them,the Sig/Sierra V-crown are very good bullets that expand quite a bit.I use them or the Hornady XTP in my Sig M17 and they both shoot great.
 
SteadyD said:
HST has a great reputation
Click to expand...

I carry and trust the HST series. I have seen and heard of good results on all sorts of targets. Groups excellent in my Shield.
I prefer the heavier bullets when possible.

I also have carried Hornady XTP, so I'm not shy from variety.
I have also carried the exact WWB 147gr JHP ammo you speak of and it performed well enough when shot at media.
 
Consider that the speed of sound decreases as the temperature decreases. At 32°F the speed of sound is 1,086 FPS and people are wearing heavier clothing. Make that a longer shot and the bullet velocity will have dropped even further. Will the bullet still have sufficient velocity at longer distances, in the cold, after penetrating heavier clothing to still expand properly??? I've got some serious doubts about 147 grain cartridges reliably expanding and subsonic velocities.

Can anyone provide links to any ballistics testing that shows that 147 grain bullets will expand reliably through heavy clothing at subsonic velocities?
 
Alllen Bundy said:
Consider that the speed of sound decreases as the temperature decreases. At 32°F the speed of sound is 1,086 FPS and people are wearing heavier clothing. Make that a longer shot and the bullet velocity will have dropped even further. Will the bullet still have sufficient velocity at longer distances, in the cold, after penetrating heavier clothing to still expand properly??? I've got some serious doubts about 147 grain cartridges reliably expanding and subsonic velocities.

Can anyone provide links to any ballistics testing that shows that 147 grain bullets will expand reliably through heavy clothing at subsonic velocities?
Click to expand...
https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/self-defense-ammo-ballistic-tests/#9mm
 
Alllen Bundy said:
Consider that the speed of sound decreases as the temperature decreases. At 32°F the speed of sound is 1,086 FPS and people are wearing heavier clothing. Make that a longer shot and the bullet velocity will have dropped even further. Will the bullet still have sufficient velocity at longer distances, in the cold, after penetrating heavier clothing to still expand properly??? I've got some serious doubts about 147 grain cartridges reliably expanding and subsonic velocities.

Can anyone provide links to any ballistics testing that shows that 147 grain bullets will expand reliably through heavy clothing at subsonic velocities?
Click to expand...
I think several do well. I may be wrong, but isn’t the main issue that many hollow points plug up and don’t function? For the one’s made to transcend that challenge, I don’t think a few layers of winter jacket with some light filling (such as down) will make a huge difference.
 
Alllen Bundy said:
Consider that the speed of sound decreases as the temperature decreases. At 32°F the speed of sound is 1,086 FPS and people are wearing heavier clothing. Make that a longer shot and the bullet velocity will have dropped even further. Will the bullet still have sufficient velocity at longer distances, in the cold, after penetrating heavier clothing to still expand properly??? I've got some serious doubts about 147 grain cartridges reliably expanding and subsonic velocities.

Can anyone provide links to any ballistics testing that shows that 147 grain bullets will expand reliably through heavy clothing at subsonic velocities?
Click to expand...
There's plenty of lucky gunner tests.
When dealing with subsonics expansion becomes more of a function of sectional density. For example with 45acp, 185gr and 230gr are both subsonic, usually. 185gr loads are usually a bit faster but I have found that 230s are the most likely to expand reliability even with them being always slower than 185s.
 
I chronographed Federal 9mm 147gr HST at 1022 fps from a 16" Ruger PCC.

Federal loads it to achieve 1000 fps from a 4" pistol barrel.

You can buy bulk in 50 round boxes online.
 
I still have several boxes of original 147gr Black Talon, which was the carry load for my department back in the day. They worked. They're more souvenirs of days gone by than something I'd actually load in my mags. These days I'd stick with Win Ranger T or standard velocity Federal 147gr HST.
 
Beck said:
I still have several boxes of original 147gr Black Talon, which was the carry load for my department back in the day. They worked. They're more souvenirs of days gone by than something I'd actually load in my mags. These days I'd stick with Win Ranger T or standard velocity Federal 147gr HST.
Click to expand...
Black talons were going for like $5 a shot during the height of the summer of firey protests. I don't know why, there's better stuff now.
 
Products take on a life of their own. There is a mountain of data that there are better rounds than Federal 115-grain +P+ 9BPLE (a.k.a., “Illinois State Police load”), but people still buy it so Federal keeps making it.

It's the same thing with 38 Spl 158-grain LSWCHP +P
 
C0untZer0 said:
Products take on a life of their own. There is a mountain of data that there are better rounds than Federal 115-grain +P+ 9BPLE (a.k.a., “Illinois State Police load”), but people still buy it so Federal keeps making it.

It's the same thing with 38 Spl 158-grain LSWCHP +P
Click to expand...
Meh, besides Speer Gold Dot 135 grain how many .38 rounds do much better than that FBI load?
 
C0untZer0 said:
Products take on a life of their own. There is a mountain of data that there are better rounds than Federal 115-grain +P+ 9BPLE (a.k.a., “Illinois State Police load”), but people still buy it so Federal keeps making it.

It's the same thing with 38 Spl 158-grain LSWCHP +P
Click to expand...

I still use both of those... and the Corbon version of the 115 +P+. Yep, back in the day my Illinois State Police friends carried S&W 3rd Generation 5900 series semi-autos loaded with 115gr +P+. I personally know of two one-shot kills with that round in ISP District 10. And of course many more reported successes that are just statistics that I have no personal knowledge of.

Really when it comes down to it there are so many effective rounds, and there has been for a long time. We have a lot to choose from. There is no one, "Best." as much as we'd like it to be that simple. All of the above have been proven in life and death encounters, and stopped perps bent of hurting people. We got that going for us.
 
C0untZer0 said:
Products take on a life of their own. There is a mountain of data that there are better rounds than Federal 115-grain +P+ 9BPLE (a.k.a., “Illinois State Police load”), but people still buy it so Federal keeps making it.

It's the same thing with 38 Spl 158-grain LSWCHP +P
Click to expand...
Yes great example. If I was going to buy a hot 9mm load I would go with a 124 or 147gr over a hot 115gr.
 
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