9mm concealed carry ammo selection

What is, in your opinion, the best 9mm concealed carry ammo

  • Federal HST (124 or 147, post in comments)

    Votes: 47 53.4%

  • Win pdx defender (ranger t is supposedly the same thing)

    Votes: 6 6.8%

  • Speer gold dot

    Votes: 29 33.0%

  • Hornady critical defense

    Votes: 14 15.9%

  • Remington golden saber

    Votes: 5 5.7%

  • Federal hydroshocks

    Votes: 6 6.8%

  • Other (post in comments)

    Votes: 8 9.1%

  • Be a victim and blame someone else

    Votes: 1 1.1%
  • Total voters
    88
  • Poll closed .
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Opinions on SD ammo are like elbows, everyone's got a couple.

Use what works in your guns, thats the only real important thing.

You can find both positive and negative reviews on most popular brands so I personally don't pay much mind.

I run Sig V-Crown 115's because they run in my guns and are pretty inexpensive locally.
 
Depends on what you consider "best" is.

The "best" value imo is Hornady American Gunner. It uses the proven XTP bullet and is priced low enough that makes it possible to shoot it regularly. Regular price is $17.99 / 25 rds. box but I have frequently brought it for less than $15.00 / 25 rds. box. on sale.
 
BSA1 said:
Depends on what you consider "best" is.

The "best" value imo is Hornady American Gunner. It uses the proven XTP bullet and is priced low enough that makes it possible to shoot it regularly. Regular price is $17.99 / 25 rds. box but I have frequently brought it for less than $15.00 / 25 rds. box. on sale.
Click to expand...

There was a post on another forum of the Horady American Gunner ammo that was causing bad primer strikes and a number of rounds with larger OAL's. The poster measured each one and sure enough there were some. I then did the same and had out of spec OAL.
 
Jeb Stuart said:
There was a post on another forum of the Horady American Gunner ammo that was causing bad primer strikes and a number of rounds with larger OAL's. The poster measured each one and sure enough there were some. I then did the same and had out of spec OAL.
Click to expand...

Link?

What cartridges, etc.?

Ammunition production lot numbers?

9mm 124 gr. +P is my carry ammo so before I go measuring the oal of all I have stored I would like additional information.

Seems like if it was a problem it would have been posted on THR. I have not read about it on other forums. (On the other hand since I read it on the Internet it must be true).
 
BSA1 said:
Depends on what you consider "best" is.

The "best" value imo is Hornady American Gunner. It uses the proven XTP bullet and is priced low enough that makes it possible to shoot it regularly. Regular price is $17.99 / 25 rds. box but I have frequently brought it for less than $15.00 / 25 rds. box. on sale.
Click to expand...

If you can buy online sgammo.com has HST and Gold Dot for that price. Golden saber for significantly less.
 
I'm voting for other and I recommend this ammo only if it meets certain criteria. If you feel you'll ever be in a situation where you have to shoot through a car door or windshield, choose a JHP, but if the Glock 43 is specifically just for use against an aggressor/attacker not behind a barrier, I suggest Polycase Interceptor.

I choose this because it doesn't rely on expansion to be effective, it will preform the same on a target repeatably as it uses flutes in the nose of the bullet and the lightweight projectile to tumble in the body to do damage. It doesn't overpenetrate, it's recoil is slightly lower, and you can get it cheap.

The only thing is that the bullet will hit in a different area than standard weight bullets will and you will have to adjust your sights.

There's nothing wrong with using JHP in the Glock 43, but the shorter the barrel, the more I gear towards Polycase because it's doesn't depend on velocity to work, while hollow points do and that's a big reason why I always recommend Polycase for snub nose 9mm revolvers like the LCR.
 
TTv2 said:
I'm voting for other and I recommend this ammo only if it meets certain criteria. If you feel you'll ever be in a situation where you have to shoot through a car door or windshield, choose a JHP, but if the Glock 43 is specifically just for use against an aggressor/attacker not behind a barrier, I suggest Polycase Interceptor.

I choose this because it doesn't rely on expansion to be effective, it will preform the same on a target repeatably as it uses flutes in the nose of the bullet and the lightweight projectile to tumble in the body to do damage. It doesn't overpenetrate, it's recoil is slightly lower, and you can get it cheap.

The only thing is that the bullet will hit in a different area than standard weight bullets will and you will have to adjust your sights.

There's nothing wrong with using JHP in the Glock 43, but the shorter the barrel, the more I gear towards Polycase because it's doesn't depend on velocity to work, while hollow points do and that's a big reason why I always recommend Polycase for snub nose 9mm revolvers like the LCR.
Click to expand...

TTV2, I also use the Polycase in my LCR9mm. Check out the link below of test done with this ammo Specifically in the LCR9mm, TYou will have to scroll down a little to get to that section, but a very interesting test.

http://mousegunaddict.blogspot.com/search?q=lcr+9mm
 
Jeb Stuart said:
No problem, Deleted the part that offended you. . And I will stick to the most popular vote does not mean anything. Guns of course. A simpler solution would have been to simply email me and I would have been glad to oblige rather than all the red print.
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Oh, I wasn’t offended. Just keeping things on track.
 
Right now I'm using Speer 124gr GDHP non +P ammo. I would also carry Federal 124gr HST non +P ammo too. Both are accurate in my gun and are 100% reliable. I have a lot of Speed ammo bought in 50 round boxes at a very good price.
 
I voted hst since I had to choose 1. My personal favorites are the hst and gold dot both in 124gr +p. But I have carried the 135g+p Hornady critical duty and Winchester pdx1 124g+p from time to time as well. Underwood extreme defender seems to be a great newer offering as well. Federal also just made the new and improved hydra-shok deep round which I’ve yet to see in person but has sparked my interest. In all actuality I’d be comfortable carrying a dozen different self defense rounds once I knew for sure they would run reliably and accurately in my firearms. Here’s the new hydra-shok with stated up to 50% deeper penetration. Interested in a ballistics test of this ammunition if anybody has a link for one
upload_2018-9-23_20-11-37.jpeg
 
Jeb Stuart said:
TTV2, I also use the Polycase in my LCR9mm. Check out the link below of test done with this ammo Specifically in the LCR9mm, TYou will have to scroll down a little to get to that section, but a very interesting test.

http://mousegunaddict.blogspot.com/search?q=lcr+9mm
Click to expand...
I'm not surprised. Would you be into doing the same test with the Polycase target/practice ammo? The ones without the flutes in the nose?

As your gut told you the ARX would perform well, mine tells me the practice Polycase ammo will perform the same, just at half the price. I'm not sure what, if any effect the flutes have, they clearly do something the first 2-3 inches in, but after that they destabilize and tumble. I'm thinking that due to the light weight and high velocity, the bullets will tumble whether there are flutes or not.
 
ArchAngelCD said:
Awfully big picture when the name of the ammo would get the same information across. :scrutiny:
Click to expand...

Actually I like his big picture. Good view of the Hollow point bullet. The 135 gr. stands out as well as the words 50% deeper penetration. Got my attention. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Good work Jones45, and thanks for taking the time to submit a picture.
 
Another HST fan here. 147 or 124 grain, take your pick depending on preference and firearm.
Failing that, Gold Dot. An old standard by now, and a close second to HST in my opinion. It also tends to feed in some things that are too tight for HST, in my experience; HST can be a little longer at the bullet, especially the 147.
Nothing wrong with PDX, but the point goes to the others for the ease of finding 50-round boxes.
 
Federal HST all the way. I developed great respect for them during my own testing using various media such as homemade play-do, water, wet pack and such. These types of ballistic media were not meant to be a human analog, but a standard for testing one JHP against another. Most defensive JHPs do a decent job, some better than others. HST really does seem to stand head and shoulders above the rest.
If I already had a good amount of Gold Dots, Golden Sabers or other well-respected "premium" defensive JHPs, I wouldn't dump them to buy HST. However, if I had yet to purchase any, I'd look only at HST.

That said, if I had a substantial amount of Eldorado Starfire on hand, I think I'd dump them to get anything else. I have had horrible luck with expansion using these even in bare media, let alone something clad with 2 or 4 layers of denim.
 
Buy an American made hollow point from one of the major manufacturers. Shoot the gun with some practice ammo to get it dirty. Fire a few HPs to insure they work in the gun. Load the rest in the mag, and move on. Don't shoot lead in any Glock.
 
greyling22 writes:

I found a box of 100 remington UMC 115grn hollow points buried in the back of the safe. Think they'd work all right? Not my first choice, but essentially free has appeal.
Click to expand...

That's one of the "run-of-the-mill" rounds I mentioned earlier that I run without issues in my Kel-Tec PF9. It also runs fine in my Ruger P95. These are the only two guns I've tried it in.

Incidentally, their 88-grain JHP .380 round runs excellently in my Bersa Thunder.
 
147gr HSTs are my go to 9mm SD round.

I have found them to be 100% reliable in all of my CCW pistols and surprisingly accurate.
From there I would say my next choices would be:
124gr HST
124gr Gold Dot
 
Wow, don't know what I was thinking but I also love the Fiocchi XTP..I enjoy Fiocchi in all my 9mm's, A little hotter but shoots great. A regular go to in the LCR9mm, I talked to Ruger TECH rep and he told me it was one of the regular ammo they use to test guns.
I buy a lot of bulk Fiocchi and also the defense load for $12.82 for 25 rds.
 
I don't think PDX and Ranger "T" Series are the same bullets.

I think out of a duty-sized gun the standard pressure HSTs and Ranger "T" Series perform about the same.

I keep my Rohrbaugh loaded with 147gr Ranger "T" Series RA9T because, IMO, they outperformed the 147gr HST slightly in ShootingTheBull410's tests for short-barreled nines.

I have not been able to find RA9TP - if anyone has a link I'd love to see it.

Also, the Winchester White Box jhp does surprisingly well in tests:

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...in-clear-ballistics-gel.829788/#post-10706451

 
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