The best round for a 9 mm

[Jeff]

What is the best round for a 9 mm for personal defense?

Myself, I came across a box of 135 grain Hydra-Shoks (hollow point). Has anyone seen anything they like better than that?

[seekeroftruth]

In my humble opinion. *The best round for a 9mm is a .45. **chuckles to self*

Other than that. *Whats important are two things. *Can you hit what your aiming at? *And will it feed in your weapon?

The second question is easy to find out. *Load a few magazines and shoot, shoot, shoot. *Dont count on one box of 20 or 25 rounds for reliability. *If it's worth your life,*it's worth spending money on. * *You should put as many rounds of any particular ammo you use as you can afford through your weapon. *And lets face it if its worth your life or your families you should say 'what cant I afford?'

As far as hitting what your aiming at. *Practice with what you carry. *I know alot of people advocate using cheap surplus ammo for target practice etc. *And thats fine, but every range session should conclude with at least 2 or 3 boxes of what you carry. *Different ammo will hit at different points of aim, and you should know where your ammo will hit. *It also helps determine reliability. *Will it feed in your weapon?

Other than that. *Just about all the current manufacture self defense ammo is quality stuff, and the debate over one round vs. another is really mute. *

If I was to choose a 9mm *chuckles again* id go with Remingtons Golden Saber.

B

[4t1mag]

Depending on what kind of Handgun you have.
I use Winchester Ranger +P+ 127 Gr.HP.In my
Sig.

[remington]

Seeker- More chuckling from here. ;D Only I would pick the 10mm.
As with any gun practice is key. Shoot until your hands are bruised. Wait, this is a 9mm. LOL Well, shoot a lot. The +P+ loads out there with 115 grn. bullets are great. Or Buffalo Bore makes a +P+P+ load. ;)

[seekeroftruth]

remington - no comment on the 10mm.. lol..

As for the +p+p+p+p+p+p+ whatever. *If you have to start adding pluses to the round its time to step up I think.

Having said that. *Those rounds are hard on guns, (not to mention hands, yes I know were talking 9's here. *chuckles*), *unless the handgun is a modern manufacture I wouldnt recommend using + anything in it.

B

[Jeff]

Thanks for the info, and the laughs!

So where would a guy find those fancy bullets? A local gun shop, or do you have to get them off the internet?

[seekeroftruth]

Jeff,

Any well stocked gun shop should carry any thing that was mentioned here.

If not. I suggest trying MidwayUSA or Natchez shooters supply. They are reputable mail order companies, and reasonably priced.

They are both on the net.


B

[Stinger]

::) *Well, I like both the 115 grain FMJ as well as the 115 grain JHP. *I alternately load them into 16 round magazines. *If I ever (really) had to use this pistol, I'd probably fire it in 3 shot bursts - 4 times in a row! *



PS: *I got 2 boxes of 115 grain common ordinary Remington, 'Green Box' sitting on my desk right now! *Trust me! *Throw enough of it downrange; and, it's all ya need! *;) *

[Spikejerk]

The 9mm round gets a lot of bad press. In the past it was deserved, but today's 9mm is leaps and bound better than what was available 10-15 years ago. While I like the Federal Hydrashoks and use them a lot, mostly due to their availablilty and cost, you might want to take a look at Cor-Bon DPX or Cor-Bon Pow'rball. If you carried either of these, or even alternated them in a magazine, I'm sure you'd be real happy. Also, befre you start shooting +p ammo make sure your weapon is rated for it. If it's not in the manual, call the manufacturer. The last thing you want is a broken (or worse) slide due to too much pressure.

[johnjmw]

9mm Nato vs 9mm luger? I know the Nato is a hotter shooting round but will it work in most pistols (made for 9mm,,, I know someone would hit that if I didn't) I have a Star Starfire that seems to shoot great the Luger rounds but was wondering if it would handle the round.

[gunsmoke]

When I have occasion to pack a BROWNING HP its stoked with the Ranger 127 +P+.

The Corbon or Buffalo Bore or Double Tap 124 gr. Gold Dots are pretty good and don't stress the pistol nearly as much.

Personally I've never met a 115 I'd trust for penetration. The Remington GOLDEN SABRES are also very good bullets but again I'd go with at least a 124. You need to find out what you pistol likles and what you can shoot well with. A hit with a 9mm FMJ is much better than a miss with a .44 MAG HP!

[Oblio13]

You can't go wrong with any modern bonded-core hollow point. I've been carrying Speer Gold Dots for years, but I think I'm going to give Hornady's new "Personal Defense" a test-drive.

Like SpikeJerk said, bullet technology has come a long way in just the past few years. There's no longer any statistical difference in performance between any of the practical defensive handgun calibers. 9mm, 357 Sig, .40 S&W, .45, they all deliver about the energy of a thrown baseball, and they all have one-shot-stops and spectacular failures-to-stop in about the same ratio.

[Oblio13]

9mm Nato vs 9mm luger? I know the Nato is a hotter shooting round but will it work in most pistols (made for 9mm,,, I know someone would hit that if I didn't) I have a Star Starfire that seems to shoot great the Luger rounds but was wondering if it would handle the round.

9x19mm, 9mm Luger, 9mm Parabellum, or 9mm NATO, it's the same cartridge. NATO loads theirs to about +P levels, though, so you shouldn't use it in any pistol that isn't rated for +P.

[johnjmw]

9x19mm, 9mm Luger, 9mm Parabellum, or 9mm NATO, it's the same cartridge. NATO loads theirs to about +P levels, though, so you shouldn't use it in any pistol that isn't rated for +P.

Now all I have to find is what my gun is rated for. Being a Spanish made gun I'd think that it would be but I'll have to try to find a manual or something. The downfall of buying a used gun from a company that has gone out of business. I'll keep looking.
Thanks Oblio

[OzarksJohn]

Howdy

I like generic Winchester, Remington (UMC), or other FMJ for most things.(because it's cheap) I do know the potential for over penetration is very high though. I also like the Winchester Silvertip 115 grain and the Federal 115 JHP standard load. In handloads I really like the XTP bullet. The most important thing when choosing is whether or not your pistol will function reliably with anything besides FMJ ball. OzarksJohn

[Teg]

Entry 8-9 of the below link has some decent info on ammo selection if anyone is interested, also some other good info in there if you are into wounding factors and other info along those lines.

http://www.backwoodshome.com/forum/vb/showthread.php?t=18764

[NotSoFast]

I carry the same thing no matter the handgun. Speer Gold Dot. It has always been accurate and clean. Until something way better comes along, I'm staying with it.

[Bucky623]

I have been carrying around Winchester Silver Tips for some time. I have no idea how well they work ‘cause I’ve never had to put them to the test. Ok, there was one time but it wasn't a bipedal. ... I'll have to try to find a manual or something... You can download manuals for some of the Firestar handguns here (http://star-firearms.com/firearms/manuals/index.shtml). <-clicky

Bucky

[traper]

heck if you want a good self defense round for 9mm you could try some devastater rounds that is if there legal were you are you can get them at a place online called high vel.com or try exotic ammos.com

[johnjmw]

Thanks Bucky. It had the blow out view for assembly but not wether or not it could be used with Nato rounds... I'll have to recheck the manual to make sure I didn't miss it though... I'm getting tired and may have missed it.
John

[Bucky623]

Now all I have to find is what my gun is rated for...

Source:
http://star-firearms.com/info/index.shtml
Ammunition for Modern Firearms
Modern Star pistols are all very strong. The 9 mm Parabellum handguns are specifically designed to handle +P loadings. Most of these guns only shoot common, modern ammunition...John. I hope this is what you were looking for.

Bucky

[johnjmw]

Again, Thanks Bucky. The +P is slightly hotter than the Nato so it should be safe.

[Bucky623]

Thanks Bucky.No problem.

I was looking at picking up a .40 S&W Firestar back in the 90’s. I really like the way they look and feel but didn’t get one because of the weight.

I saw a Firestar Plus at a gun show last weekend. The first one I had seen in a long time. I just had to pick it up and mess with it a bit.

Enjoy your Firestar and the next time you have it out, squeeze off a few rounds for me too.

Bucky

[johnjmw]

No problem Bucky,,, Maybe a few Nato then a few Luger

[lostone1413]

I carry hydro shock but really I don't believe it makes a big difference. I know of a guy who works in personal protection in South America. He has had more then a few gun fights I asked him what he carries he said a 9mm with FMJ Bullets. I told him most people don't believe that a FMJ is a good bullet for defense. He said he is glad the ones he shot didn't know that

As far as caliber goes. The one guy brought up a 45acp. By the way I have 4 45acp but I carry the 9mm XD service mod. If you look at a ballistics chart you will see their is not that big a difference between the 9mm and the 45acp. I have 16rd in the 9mm and at lest one spare mag at all times

[Dennis G]

I suggest you get the same Hollow Points your local police use.

When you are on the stand and the prosecutor asks what was in your handgun, you can say:

"I use the same ammo the police use...I figure if it is good for them, it should be good for me to use for self defense."

Dennis G