For any pistols with 3” barrels such as the P365, I look at what the manufacturer recommends, what police depts or governmental agencies recommended, or what independent tests have shown to work best. From all my research, pistol Ammo is designed for a 4” minimum barrel length unless specifically noted. That one inch can make a huge difference on terminal ballistics. Having said that, for myself and what I recommend to clients that employ 3” barreled handguns, is Federal Premium 124g HST JHP, stock # P9HST1S. The critical point being the “S” at the end. That ammo is specifically designed for handguns with barrels of 3” or less. I carry different ammo in all my other (and company) sidearms with 4” or longer barrels. I have shot Sig’s ammo designed for the P365 and it worked fine, I just prefer to have ammo that has been around longer and proved itself more before I will trust my life to it.

quote:

Originally posted by RonboF117:
For any pistols with 3” barrels such as the P365, I look at what the manufacturer recommends, what police depts or governmental agencies recommended, or what independent tests have shown to work best. From all my research, pistol Ammo is designed for a 4” minimum barrel length unless specifically noted. That one inch can make a huge difference on terminal ballistics. Having said that, for myself and what I recommend to clients that employ 3” barreled handguns, is Federal Premium 124g HST JHP, stock # P9HST1S. The critical point being the “S” at the end. That ammo is specifically designed for handguns with barrels of 3” or less. I carry different ammo in all my other (and company) sidearms with 4” or longer barrels. I have shot Sig’s ammo designed for the P365 and it worked fine, I just prefer to have ammo that has been around longer and proved itself more before I will trust my life to it.

As far as I can tell the P9HST1S is just a 20 round box of the P9HST1.
Are you possibly referring to the P9HST5S which is the 150 grain 9mm "micro" load?

quote:

P9HST5S

Mr. S you bring up a very valid point. I will check with Federal on Monday but I know that while the P9HST1 has excellent performance demonstrated from a short barrel; I was told the "S" stood for 3" barrels that you would find in sub-compact and micro pistols. There is no getting around that the round you mention is the only one with "micro" on the box and "subcompact" in the description. There are one or two reviews that say the 150g didn't perform well in one short barrel pistol. I do know the 124g gives you 250fps more MV than the 150g.

I've included a few references for folks to look at for self defense round testing. This may also be in the Ammo forum. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lGqdMdbir0 This video is on the Federal P9HST1
This link goes over some of the loads Doc Roberts has tested. http://preparedgunowners.com/2...this-list-pt-3-of-3/
Finally, here are some tests Lucky Gunner ran. https://www.luckygunner.com/la...mmo-ballistic-tests/

I use Underwood for all my handgun SD ammo.

All my 9mm pistols:
147gr. HST for carry.
147gr. AE for range.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:

quote:

Originally posted by JBP55:
I recently purchased 2 cases of 147gr. HST and run it in all size 9mm pistols. It has less felt recoil than the 124+P Gold Dot and HST.

The 147 grain HST has less felt recoil even than the standard pressure 124 grain HST. The +P version of the 124 grain HST is a stout loading. I perceive more recoil with the 124 grain +P HST when compared to the Gold Dot +P 124 grain.

The 147 grain HST is a prime choice for compact pistols.

The standard pressure 147gr. HST has 90% as much energy as the standard pressure 124gr. HST and 80% as much pressure as the 124gr.+P HST.

147 grn HST in mine. I’m confident it will do the job.

This is a good overview of current ammo. It becomes a case of availability, reliability, and cost.

http://aliengearholsters.com/blog/9mm-ammo/

The Speer Gold Dot 124gr +P Short Barrel was not successful in this test.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=__-7qFr7Ra0

This is in lime with similar tests with this round with short barrel pistols.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qXOQ0NeQIhk

Federal 124 gr. HST + P did pretty well.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ygu7-JjX0gg

The 9mm Hydrashok Deep 135 gr did pretty well in this test.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5BtdPRTbo1A

Hornady 9mm XTP 124 gr. also did well in this test.

quote:

Originally posted by CPTKILLER:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qXOQ0NeQIhk

Federal 124 gr. HST + P did pretty well.

This for a 3.1" barrel.

I admit I am a bit low tech here but I purchase and carry the Remington 115 grain JHP value pack at Walmart. I find the same ammo in FMJ for most practice.

Of the three P365 pistols I have owned the best of the batch went over 4000 rounds without a stoppage or malfunction and is my current pocket semi auto. The Remington JHP ammo at $30 per 100 is uber reliable and inexpensive.


When my best 365 finally had a stoppage (round fired but case did not eject and feedway stoppage as new round tried to load) I did an immediate action drill and the pistol worked fine. Before I was willing to carry it for personal defense again I put 200 rounds of my carry ammo through her. $65 of JHP was a lot lighter on the wallet than the premium stuff at about $1 a round.

I feel comfortable with the budget JHP ammo and appreciate the costs savings. My limited personal testing gives me confidence in its ability to penetrate and expand. Might not be the “best” based on some criteria but works for me.

As a retired cop I find lots of time to practice and plink. Later today I will be practicing with her and will finish with a Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) 40 round qualification using my carry ammo and reload with fresh. Fixed income makes budget ammo a bonus to practice more with what I carry.

I also appreciate how premium ammo has its bonuses and supporters. For me the simple Remington or Winchester white box budget ammo does the trick.

So I finally got around to calling Federal about the S at the end of P9HST1S and as another poster mentioned; that equates to the smaller box of ammo and not the barrel length. Here is the rundown on what the rep had to say concerning ammo.
1. The 20 round box (S suffix) is the commercial packaging.
2. The 50 round is the LE packaging.
3. LE will come in standard and +P loads.
4. He said he would consider the P9HST1 to be an excellent load for a 3" barrel.

My empirical testing on three different P365 pistols was that they all shot the 124g much more reliably than the 147g. FWIW, I shoot the 147g in every other pistol I own. Thanks for a great ammo/pistol discussion.

quote:

Originally posted by RonboF117:
For any pistols with 3” barrels such as the P365, I look at what the manufacturer recommends, what police depts or governmental agencies recommended, or what independent tests have shown to work best.

For Sig and the P365, they recommend their Sig 365 vcrown ammunition, which they say was specifically designed for the P365.

I'm very happy with 124 grain Speer Gold Dots in all of my 9mm carry guns. No one conducts more research and testing on carry ammo than Speer, and I'm completely confident that it's going to perform as designed when I need it to.

I've seen some Johnnie-come-lately ammo (like the RIP stuff) that is interesting to say the least. But it's not sitting in front of a world of R & D, so, I'm not going to trust my life to it. Maybe, someday, I'll jump on board and give it a whirl, but not today.

A bit off topic, but some guy with a beer gut (who evidently works at NW Armory) told me I needed to buy the SIG 365 ammo.

I asked him why.

He grumped, "Factory makes it for that little gun. Won't run with nuthin' else."

Last time I was in that shop.

Men with beer guts aren't allowed to lie. It's in the contract.

If you want to see how all the usual suspect rounds do out of a short barreled gun (SIG 938), run down this playlist.

https://www.youtube.com/playli...0AMdRCDMgd-w4Yozc27i

Unlike a lot of other YouTube ammo testers, he uses real organic ballistic gelatin, and fires multiple rounds.

Cutting to the chase, the HSTs seem to do the best, although in his wrap up he picks an HST and another brand.

In my PPS M2 I use Federal 147 gr. HST. It runs great in the Walther.