For guns that might be suppressed, 147gr HST.
For others, 124gr HST or Gold Dot, both standard velocity.

I am a huge fan of HST and typically run the 147s. I like and carry the Hornady 124+p for short barrels. It's very consistent in gel for depth and diameter.
For work around vehicles I like Speer G2 147 from a 4" plus bbl.

For me there is a big difference between what ammo I carry and what I practice with. Yes it is a good idea to run a magazine of defensive ammo through your carry gun or primary one... but for practice I prefer just plain old full metal jacket 115gr.

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Originally posted by Nuclear:

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Originally posted by austintx:

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Originally posted by SIGnified:

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Originally posted by austintx:

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Originally posted by Nuclear:
no one makes 124 grain +P ball ammo.

Not true. That's exactly what 9mm NATO is.

10%

Anything greater than 35,000 psi and up to and including 38,500 psi (10% overpressure) is +P.

Ergo, 9mm NATO is +P.

Huh, learned something new. I assumed that NATO was hot but not +P.

It's an easy misconception to come by, because it's a particularly oft-repeated one on every gun forum I've ever been on.

For me it is either 124 or 147 HST.

147gr HST across the board.

I picked up a decent stash a few years ago, but if I ran out or had to switch, I'd go Speer G2, then HST, Gold Dot, or Win Ranger T in 124gr.

Gold dot 124 grain +P 9mm in my 365

Gold Dot 147 9mm in everything else larger than the 365

I probably have half a case of the Federal 9BPLE.

When it was dirt cheap, I ordered two cases of the federal XM9001. Kinda of a +P version of the +P+ 9BPLE.

Shoots well. Accurate. I have at least a case left.

I’m ok carrying it. And, shooting it. Enough to know my gun runs it. And, where it hits.

^ I am glad that you mentioned the Federal XM9001. I also have a good amount of it in addition to the 9BPLE stock on hand. I need to locate that ammo.

With defensive carry Ammo, price is not a consideration. That being said, I’m a Federal 147 HST guy.

Black Talons all day every day yo! Of course just kidding I love the HST and Ranger stuff though usually go with Hornady Critical Defense as it functions perfectly in my guns, has mild recoil, and is accurate. Doesn’t really matter how great terminal performance is if one can’t shoot the round consistently accurately.

Like many have said, I’m not going to go cheap to save a few bucks when it’s my life at stake. I have on hand HSTs in 124, 124+p, and 147 along with Gold dot 124+p for 9mm. I use the Gold dot +p in my Glock 17/19/34 and the regular 124 HST in my P365. They have all been proven reliable and accurate. I found that I could shoot faster and more accurately with non +p ammo in my 365 when shooting them side by side. TBH, I haven’t tried the 147s in the 365 because I was happy with the results I got with the 124s and I shoot a lot of 124s while training.

How does the average gun owner have any way of evaluating “effectiveness” of defensive handgun ammunition—unless we limit the term to whether it goes bang, causes the gun to cycle reliably, and doesn’t miss a man-sized target at 15 yards?

The first two are easy enough to determine, but as for accuracy claims beyond doesn’t miss a man-sized target at 15 yards, how many shooters have Ransom rests to be able to conduct meaningful tests, or even go to the trouble of firing enough shots of different loads from a good rested position to achieve statistically meaningful results?

I haven’t seen any attempt to determine actual effectiveness of various loads at stopping threats since the efforts of Marshall and Sanow decades ago, so how can we possibly know about current offerings? The best we can do is try to evaluate the many gelatin tests on the Internet coupled with the load’s kinetic energy. The latter part is usually studiously ignored, though, and there is evidently a common belief that one or two shots that measure total penetration and final bullet expansion size are sufficient, and that projectile power makes no difference.

Further, Internet tests can be flawed for even more reasons than miniscule sample sizes. I once saw a Hornady 9mm Critical Duty bullet pass through a 16" gelatin block without expanding. How many of those results make it into the videos? Sometimes they do, but even then, how many shots are fired to give us a valid idea of how common failures are? Is it one in 100 or 50 in 100?

Anecdotes of the, “I know a guy who works for the XYZ agency that uses the ABC load and they’re happy with it,” are also essentially meaningless unless it’s a large enough department to have a meaningful number of shootings, and the guy who’s offering his opinion has access to the actual information about the results to be properly informed rather than relying on watercooler rumor or in-house propaganda. Further, how do we know that although the ABC load is good, the DEF load isn’t better?

As for cost, what good is it to know that I bought a lifetime supply of my favorite load at a garage sale for 10¢ on the dollar 20 years ago? What about today?

In fact of course, if we’re looking for best ratio between cost and effectiveness and we can’t afford to buy a couple of boxes of the premium stuff to test and then carry, buy the least expensive load we can find that goes bang and cycles our gun reliably. Law enforcement officers sometimes are faced, as were the FBI agents in the 1986 Miami incident, with a Terminator-like assailant who simply won’t go down until he’s shot to pieces. Non-LEOs, however, are almost never faced with such opponents. YouTube is full of videos showing how criminals usually respond to just being shot at by the people they thought would be helpless victims, and it’s not to do anything other than turning and fleeing as fast as their feet will carry them. In such incidents what matters is that the gun goes bang and, on rare occasions, that it’s also reliable.

One of the following, depending on gun/application:
- critical defense 115gr
- +p gold dot le 124gr
- hst 147gr
- xtp subsonic

Hornady Critical Duty 135 gr Flexlock or Speer Gold Dot 124 or 147 gr JHP

EDC is mostly 124 gr Gold Dots, standard or +P. One Glock is stoked with Cor-Bon 115 gr +P.

I have a full box of 20 9mm Black Talons with the price tag from Jimmy’s Men’s Store in Ft Walton Beach, FL, where I purchased it in the early ‘90’s — $9.95. At the time, on SSgt pay, $.50/round was ultra-premium.

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Originally posted by sigfreund:
How does the average gun owner have any way of evaluating “effectiveness” of defensive handgun ammunition—unless we limit the term to whether it goes bang, causes the gun to cycle reliably, and doesn’t miss a man-sized target at 15 yards? ....

Sigfreud nailed it.

Majority of hollow points made by a reputable manufacturer will be just fine. There are too many variables and you could never reproduce the same real world results. Its basically a Ford vs. Chevy argument. Someone will tell you they took down a buffalo with one round of gold dot and another will tell you it took three rounds to kill a squirrel.

As long as it functions well in your gun and hits where you aim I would be happy. Everything the round does after that it out of your control.

Balancing price and performance: Federal Punch.



Cost no object, either HST, Gold Dot, or Winchester Ranger T.

Whatever is available from the known brands for the most part. Before ammo got ridiculous I’d try several types in any gun I planned to carry or have around the house as a defensive weapon. Now, I stick to what I know has worked in the past when available which has been Gold Dots and HST.