9mm ...115 or 124?

[StevieP]

124gr +P e.g. Gold Dots. These shoot great out of my M&P9C:

Buy Gold Dot Short Barrel Personal Protection for USD 36.99 | Speer

Shopping for the Gold Dot Short Barrel Personal Protection - Learn more about the latest Gold Dot Short Barrel Personal Protection and other hunting, shooting or reloading gear at Speer.

www.speer.com

Or 115gr Hornady Critical Defense:

https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/handgun/9mm-luger-115-gr-ftx-critical-defense#!/

are my carry rounds.

 

[glockforlife]

After trying all three (115 gr, 124 gr, 147 gr), I use Speer Gold Dot 147 gr in my EDC Glock 26. For follow-up shots, I found 147 gr to be slightly faster back on target. As others have noted, penetration is also slightly better.

 

[Tinkermatic]

How has no one asked OP what he’s shooting these out of? Or did they, and I just missed it cuz I’m an ass and scrolled too fast? Totally plausible.
However!
Pretty sure 115’s coming out of a full-size 1911 format, are going to feel noticeably different coming out of something like a P365.
I have some of everything, I suggest you do the same. Then, shoot what feels best and gives you the best results out of their respective platforms.

115 or 124 in the G19 is fine by me.
147 all the way in the 365. It’s more of a push than the snap of the lighter rounds and follow up shots are far easier. I hear shot placement counts for something?

 

[PappyM3]

Whats best to get 115 grain or 124 grain? Im told the 124 "shoots softer" but is better for defense... can someone educate me here?

A lot of 124gr FMJ is loaded to NATO spec, which is actually a +P and definitively not softer. If you want soft, go for 147 and you’ll be subsonic for less snap too.

 

[Fishfinder]

Is one of those "More Dead" than the others?

asking for a friend.....

One is dead, the other is wounded and pissed off.

 

[PappyM3]

147 has the best penetration.
147 grain jacketed hollow point is the best self defense round.

The heavier the bullet, the more penetration.

View attachment 470359

Heavier is more penetration as a general principle. But then you can start using the physics of fluids to design a really fast and light bullet that creates JHP style tissue damage or better, is barrier blind, and penetrates well: LeHigh 90gr Xtreme Defender is the new king of the hill.

 

[Fishfinder]

Heavier is more penetration as a general principle. But then you can start using the physics of fluids to design a really fast and light bullet that creates JHP style tissue damage or better, is barrier blind, and penetrates well: LeHigh 90gr Xtreme Defender is the new king of the hill.
View attachment 470401

Penetration is far more important.
90 grains won't come close to the minimum FBI standards of 12" penetration in ballistic gel. Penetration with a full metal jacket is not effective.
You will never catch any law enforcement agency using a trendy, gimmick round like that.

 

[Brewer]

Badges.

Joking aside, why should it matter what local police carry? Whatever they carry isn’t necessarily the most effective, more likely what they could get cheapest for the entire department. And any argument that it would help defend you in court, like preventing a prosecutor from portraying you as a crazed killer, is far-fetched.

I carry 147 Federal HST and a Glock 34 to squeeze out the most velocity, dampen recoil, and overcompensate.

 

[Fishfinder]

Badges.

Joking aside, why should it matter what local police carry? Whatever they carry isn’t necessarily the most effective, more likely what they could get cheapest for the entire department. And any argument that it would help defend you in court, like preventing a prosecutor from portraying you as a crazed killer, is far-fetched.

I carry 147 Federal HST.

147 Federal HST is, by far, the best self defense round with the best penetration and most reliable expansion out of any 9mm round.

 

[DJBrad]

Federal 9BPLE 115gr all day every day kehd! Make sure to flex that carbine length barrel too as it will flip boards and shred jugs.

 

[PappyM3]

Penetration is far more important.
90 grains won't come close to the minimum FBI standards of 12" penetration in ballistic gel. Penetration with a full metal jacket is not effective.
You will never catch any law enforcement agency using a trendy, gimmick round like that.

Did you read the data in the section of report I included? It was tested in gel. And this was an independent test at the request of the It goes 16-17.5” depending on regular, spicy(+P), or caliente(+P+).

I understand the skepticism. There are some genuine gimmicks listed in that test too. But their numbers are garbage and can be seen to be garbage. I was skeptical about it being a gimmick at first, but it’s been around a few years and has been tested extensively. Best part is that it doesn’t rely on expansion for wounding, so it can’t get gummed up by clothing or sheer petals through glass or car doors.

Dismissing it as a trendy gimmick would be akin to people dismissing JHP designs when they first came out. “Nobody is going to trust that new fangled thing when you have trusty FMJ”

https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/b2...nloads/1cm0bjp2p_175650.pdf?ver=1617920504378

 

[ColdDayInHell]

I can’t believe this isn’t a RockRivr1 thread.

He then would carry 147gr

 

[DJBrad]

Heavier is more penetration as a general principle. But then you can start using the physics of fluids to design a really fast and light bullet that creates JHP style tissue damage or better, is barrier blind, and penetrates well: LeHigh 90gr Xtreme Defender is the new king of the hill.
View attachment 470401

That’s exactly what I carry now and if a perp wears a heavy coat or fleece on then the XD laughs.

 

[AHM]

That’s exactly what I carry now and if a perp wears a heavy coat or fleece on then the XD laughs.

View attachment 470411

You get shot with one of them,
and you're really screwed.

 

[AHM]

You get shot with one of them,
and you're really screwed.

(Does +P mean "Phillips"?)

 

[MaduroBU]

For self defense, you need 12" of penetration after the heaviest clothing that you will encounter and expansion to ~0.5" diameter . Beyond that, it is almost 100% shot placement. For target shooting, whatever load allows you to shoot more rounds. For competition with momentum based limits, a heavier bullet traveling slower will have less energy (0.5m*V^2) for a given momentum (M*V), thus will have less felt recoil. For maximum penetration (which is accounted for by the 12" penetration requirement above, but if you are worried about a bear or want to hunt, it may matter), you want a mix of energy and momentum, with the equation being something like M*V^1.4 (i.e. not quite the energy equation, not quite the momentum equation, with the exponent being 1.5 for soft tissue and 1.2 for hard stuff like bone, so I use 1.4).

I shoot 115 grain HAP 9mm at 1200 FPS for target and competition because it's cheap, the recoil vs a heavier bullet is mostly a was with my very aggressive muzzle brake, I don't want to be exposed to lead like the 135 grain LRNs that folks commonly use, and I am not good enough for it to affect my scores. I carry a 115 grain HDY XTP in .380 that does ~1000 FPS from a P232, or a 200 grain HDY XTP .40 that does 930 FPS from a P239. I use 147 grain HDY XTP 357 Sig that do 1370 FPS from a 5.7" barrel P226X5. I worked up a 300 grain HDY XTP .44 Mag that does 1300 FPS from a 9.5" Ruger Super Redhawk, but the recoil is too much for me (the Hogue grips wtih a gel pad helped a lot, and I may try it again with those on the gun), and it's unpleasant to shoot. Of all of that, the 115 grain 9mm load is far and away the most practical, and for actual use could replace everything else if it had to. It's like the .308: not ideal for anything, but passably good in nearly any role.

YMMV, and these are just my opinions.

 

[steven grammont]

I prefer 124 , but I'm definitely no expert.

 

[Wickedcoolname]

147

 

[kalash]

A heavier bullet will only penetrate better if all other factors are equal, which they usually aren't. Quick example: different JHP designs.

 

[gerrycaruso]

Availability isn't great right now but I'd get 115, 124 and 147 and shoot whatever works best. If you can't see a difference, use whatever you can find.

 

[MatsonofCay]

Due to hildabeast running in 2016, I find myself with a fairly wide variety of 9mm. 115 hp and fmj, generally seems the same recoil wise. I have 124 hp which feels the same, and 124 NATO ammo which has a lot more "pop" to it. I have 147 HP +P (winchester ranger le), and that stuff feels almost .45acp ish in its recoil. Real smooth. Between 115 and 124 fmj or hp, standard load, I don't feel much or any difference. The 124 NATO is fairly close to the 147 +p, and imo, makes a good substitute on range day. I stick with the 115/124 non NATO stuff in my G43 due to recoil/follow up, but the G26, compact and fullsize 9's feel fine with any of the above.
I've found some brands that pleasantly surprised me, geco is better than expected, fiocci 1200 fps is a step hotter than standard and runs great in my home builds, which are a bit more finicky in some cases than the oem guns.

 

[Caveman]

majority of my practice ammo is 124. I think I stayed with that most back in the day is because it was called for with breaking in some of my pistols back in the day. I carry 124gr +p GDSB in my subcompact 9’s, 147gr hst in my compact and full-size 9’s. 147gr or 150gr in my suppressed 9’s. I now have a crapload of 115gr steel case I got cheap to use shooting in the woods so I didn’t have to worry about my brass. they all run fine so far.

 

[houdini]

I shoot 124

 

[Uzi2]

Availability isn't great right now but I'd get 115, 124 and 147 and shoot whatever works best. If you can't see a difference, use whatever you can find.

This ^^^^^

 

[Toast]

Sometimes, it's firearm dependent.

My Sig P938 runs very well on all kinds of 124, but is fussy about which 115 loads it likes. YMMV.