reloads with ball/higher penetration ammo?

[Moonclip]

Anyone carry a spare speedloader with ball or some sort of higher penetration ammo? In shop defense if carrying extra mags or a speedloader or speedstrip I'd sometimes carry a extra with ball ammo. Figured someone might take cover behind something like a video game that might be more easily penetrated with a hot ball round. Good idea or not necessary? Guy that ran a local gun shop said he never felt the need to do so.

Do any of you LEO's do so? I've heard a lot of LE shootings tend to be in or around vehicles. A higher penetration ammo might come in handy.

Years ago I used to keep a CZ52 pistol with hot Czech subgun ammo in reserve and magsafes in the gun as a car gun for this reason.

 

[Ken Rainey]

Yep, I always carry an extra mag or speedloader of ball ammo (factory loaded "target" ammo that has functioned 100%) for the reasons you describe and also because it's what the pistol eats the most of ....meaning you "know" it's gonna function reliably.....and in the case of a revolver, a round nose profile will go into the cylinder that much easier when the "milliseconds count".

 

[james481]

Well, I guess I'm not an expert in the area, but from my (informal) testing, it seems that most good hollow points will penetrate barriers just as well as a FMJ of the same weight. Just last week I was shooting mild steel plate, and was getting about 50/50 penetration with .40 180gr FMJ (this was pretty thick steel). My friend decided to try shooting a DT 180gr GDHP at the plate, and I was farily sure that the bullet would come apart on the plate. I was surprised when the bullet seemed to penetrate the plate easily with LESS deformation of the steel than the FMJs. We tried a few more rounds, and the results were consistent. About 50% of FMJ's went through, and 100% of the GDHP went through. Now, the DoubleTap stuff is really hot, so you get more velocity than a range FMJ, but most SD ammo tends to be loaded hotter than ball ammo. I was unable to recover any of the hollowpoints, but all indications were that the GDHP held together just as well as the ball when hitting the steel. So, my (non-scientific nonsense) conclusion is that a hot SD hollowpoint will penetrate steel BETTER than a standard load FMJ.

 

[Model520Fan]

Depends on where I'm going and which guns I'm carrying. The answer is often "Yes."

 

[MachIVshooter]

Not always, but frequently, I carry an spare mag loaded with FMJ. The are the same weight and loaded to teh same velocity as the HP's.

 

[355sigfan]

There is no need the penetration advantage ball has in vehicles is very slight over quality bonded JHP's like the Golddot. Most jhp's collapse on themselves and act simular to ball when shoot through hard barriers.
Pat

 

[LAK]

Moonclip,

Your reasoning and practice is quite sound. I carry the hottest hardball that I can find in spare mags. Many hollowpoints will expand in some materials limiting their penetration.
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[MICHAEL T]

Sounds good to me also.