quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
The standard pressure 147 grain HST appears to give more penetration that the standard pressure .45 ACP HST. If you look at the Lucky Gunner video of the ballistic gelatin testing of these two HST loads, the .45 ACP HST produces a righteous temporary stretch cavity, more so than the 147 grain HST, but I'll take the extra penetration of the 147 grain load. Also, the 147 grain HST is a pussycat to shoot- the lightest recoiling of any 9mm HST load. The HST which seems to be the best of both worlds is the +P loading of the 124 grain HST- large (and longish) temporary stretch cavity and excellent penetration.

Moving away from the choices listed, what really impresses me is the Hornady Critical Duty 135 grain +P. IIRC, this is the FBI's new duty load. Excellent penetration and a largish, long temporary stretch cavity.

I've got 500 rounds of this stashed away but haven't yet had the opportunity to try it out in my Glocks. I think if I were a law enforcement officer, this is the load I'd want in my pistol. Hornady does caution that this load was not developed for and is not intended to be used in short-barreled 9mm pistols. I take that to mean any barrel shorter than about 3.75". I think in a 4.5" G17, the Hornady Critical Duty 135 grain +P would be a superb self defense load, capable of being effective even after penetrating auto glass. Also, I ran into some testing on youtube a while back which demonstrated that although the HST is an advanced hollowpoint design, it still is a hollowpoint and therefore can clog and fail to expand under certain circumstances (very heavy clothing), whereas the Hornady bullet design has that polymer tip in the cavity and is essentially immune to clogging.

A real sleeper, though, appears to be the Hornady Critical Duty 124 grain, which is available only in +P. I've got some of this put away, too, but as with the 135 grain stuff, haven't yet had the opportunity to try it out. In order to feel comfortable with using a new load, I have to shoot quite a bit of it out of whichever particular pistol I intend it for. I don't make any snap decisions when it comes to this. Test, test, test and test some more.

As it stands, though, I use Speer Gold Dot 124 grain +P in my home defense G17 (primarily because I know this pistol/ammo combination very well, after years of use). I use standard pressure Federal HST in my CCW G19, and the same load in +P in my CCW G26. Why the difference? Because these load are what I shoot best in the respective pistols.

quote:

Originally posted by .45 ACP Nut:
The .45 acp round does make a larger initial hole.