Best 9mm ammo for Range and Defense

[HollowPoints]

Hey everyone, been browsing the forums for a while and finally became a member. I just picked up my first handgun (Smith&Wesson M&P 9mm) and I am wondering which rounds everyone prefers for target shooting/practice, and which rounds you carry in your gun when not target shooting. I picked up some Winchester 90gr. Frangible for pretty cheap just to start off and have something for targets. Any help is appreciated, Im pretty new to handguns so hopefully this question doesnt get me flamed!

-Tom

 

[M1911]

For range use, anything cheap that works. I would suggest that you buy brass cartridge cases (not Blazer) and start saving your brass. If you shoot a lot, you'll eventually start to reload and this way you will have a ready supply of brass saved up. I suggest 115 or 124 gr. 90 gr is rather unusual and frangible is usually not cheap.

For home defense, you want a JHP. There are endless arguments about 115, 124, or 147 gr. You'll have to research that. Some of the best are Federal HST (NOT Hydrashok) and Winchester Ranger, but both are hard to find.

 

[egouin]

I like Hornady Critical Defense or Critical Duty. Unfortunately, - everything - seems hard to find these days.

 

[garandman]

F/For home defense, you want a JHP. There are endless arguments about 115, 124, or 147 gr. You'll have to research that. Some of the best are Federal HST (NOT Hydrashok) and Winchester Ranger, but both are hard to find.

FWIW when PD's used 9mm Luger, it was suggested you use the same round they carried as issue. Not sure if there was ever much validity to that, especially now that many PD's are using .40 S&W.

Winchester white box is probably the most popular 9mm round, probably because of a high cost/quality ratio. I believe I have RemingtonGolden Saber JHP for HD.

The original 9mm Luger ammo was a 125 grain jacketed bullet fired at 355 M/S - about 1,165 fps. Although derided by many these days, that has been a "battle round" for 100 years now.

 

[M1911]

FWIW when PD's used 9mm Luger, it was suggested you use the same round they carried as issue. Not sure if there was ever much validity to that, especially now that many PD's are using .40 S&W.

It's a great idea, provided you can find and afford to shoot 200+ rounds of your self defense ammo each time you train. Few of us have that luxury.

Winchester white box is probably the most popular 9mm round, probably because of a high cost/quality ratio. I believe I have RemingtonGolden Saber JHP for HD.

The original 9mm Luger ammo was a 125 grain jacketed bullet fired at 355 M/S - about 1,165 fps. Although derided by many these days, that has been a "battle round" for 100 years now.

9mm FMJ sucks as a self-defense round. Modern 9mm JHP designs are pretty good.

 

[JClark]

I agree with M1911.
Whatever is cheap and your gun likes is fine for general range/practice use. I have an M&P9c and haven't found any brands of ammo that it doesn't work well with, as is the case with most modern guns (in my experience).
For self defense ammo, definitely jacketed hollow points, I usually go middle of the road with 124grn. FYI these are not cheap cartridges! Most SD ammo will cost you about 1$ per round, not the $0.25 that target ammo will cost. But don't let that scare you away from buying a bit of it. You need to make sure that whatever you shoot for SD will function perfectly in your gun. This means if you buy a box to keep in your mags, you need to buy a box of the same stuff to shoot at the range and make sure it works for you. SD ammo will feel different than target ammo due to it's larger powder charge (and potentially different bullet weight). Shoot this ammo as often as you can spare the expense so that you are familiar with the feel of it, especially as a new shooter, as you seem to be from your post.

 

[ColdDayInHell]

For range use, anything cheap that works. I would suggest that you buy brass cartridge cases (not Blazer) and start saving your brass. If you shoot a lot, you'll eventually start to reload and this way you will have a ready supply of brass saved up. I suggest 115 or 124 gr. 90 gr is rather unusual and frangible is usually not cheap.

For home defense, you want a JHP. There are endless arguments about 115, 124, or 147 gr. You'll have to research that. Some of the best are Federal HST (NOT Hydrashok) and Winchester Ranger, but both are hard to find.

This.

For self defense you'll want exactly what he said or even Winchester PDX-1. You're looking at roughly 425ft/lbs of kinetic energy and excellent expansion with the HST, it will ruin any bad guy 's day. 9mm is more controllable and hell it's even as powerful as some .40 loads. Good luck.


Sent from my POS iPhone

 

[garandman]

//9mm FMJ sucks as a self-defense round. Modern 9mm JHP designs are pretty good.

While in the Army we had a chance to look through what we called "The Wound Book." It was an Army Medical Corps publication showing wounds from various firearms. It was very, very gruesome and few officers could look for more than a few minutes without throwing up.

There were many wounds inflicted by WWII German 9mm Luger. The soldiers in most cases had not survived these wounds. No one who ever sees this actual wound information could possibly say that 9mmP FMJ "sucks as a self-defense round."

There is no disagreement by me that modern defensive JHP ammo is more effective.

 

[HollowPoints]

This.

For self defense you'll want exactly what he said or even Winchester PDX-1. You're looking at roughly 425ft/lbs of kinetic energy and excellent expansion with the HST, it will ruin any bad guy 's day. 9mm is more controllable and hell it's even as powerful as some .40 loads. Good luck.


Sent from my POS iPhone

Excellent info from everybody so far, and like I said its much appreciated. I have experience shooting handguns but as I said this is the first of my own and first time searching for ammo for it. All of this is a big help for me. My only questions on the info posted above is A) Can someone give me the definition of HST? and B) It is obviously more of an expense issue but how often do all of you shoot your SD ammo...is it just based on expense or do you typically buy some extra SD ammo knowing you are going to practice with it? Thanks in advance!!

 

[M1911]

I think that .45 ACP FMJ sucks as a self defense round and 9mm is worse. It is certainly better than throwing rocks.

 

[tacticalpanda]

Check this guy's videos out on youtube. He does a lot of defensive ammo testing.

https://www.youtube.com/user/tnoutdoors9/videos?flow=grid&view=1