9mm Shield carry ammo choice?

[breakingcontact]

I've been using Gold Dot Short Barrel in 124gr.

Friend of mine has been trying to get me to go with 147gr.w

What is your preferred carry ammo in your Shield and why?

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[rugerista]

Your load is good, an alternative Federal HST is also very good. See link

http://mousegunaddict.blogspot.com/2...dback.html?m=1

[ruso]

I carry Speer Gold Dot 124 grain +P Short Barrel in my M&P 9c and it cycles and fires flawlessly. I intend on carrying the same in my newly acquired Shield as soon as I get a chance to hit the range and test it.

With that said, the Speer Gold Dot 124 grain +P Short Barrel round is a proven winner in the M&P Shield.

[rugerista]

See link below for a potential argument in favor of 147gr bullet. The Federal HST performed very well in this testing. However it was from a longer barrel.

http://www.ar15.com/ammo/project/Sel...ticReport1.pdf

[Fisher10]

My brother has a Shield 9mm. I gave him a box of my 147gr+P HSTs, which he now carries. He shot a magazine full and there were no cycling issues.

Note: with a shorter barreled pistol, +P will give higher velocities, closer to that of a standard load in a duty length barrel.

[Spovik]

I carry 124gr standard pressure Federal HST. if I did decide to go 147gr, I'd probably go in a +P, but the standard pressure 147gr HST cycle fine.

[breakingcontact]

I'm expecting any quality ammo to cycle well. I'm mostly interested to see what weight people carry and if the short barrel ammo has much benefit.

[smolck]

Your Shield will eat anything you put in it, but a 147gr load out of a 3.1" barrel would concern me. I think your chosen load is just fine.

[ruso]

Do Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel Work Better than the Regular Gold Dots

[breakingcontact]

Thanks for the link!

[SamRudolph]

I carry 147-gr. standard pressure HST. Out of a shorter barrel, you actually get more penetration and slightly less expansion than from a 4" test barrel. I don't have a ballistics test specifically from the Shield, or for the 147-gr. standard pressure, but there is a test comparison between the 147-gr. +P HST out of a Glock 17 vs. a Kahr PM9.

Glock 17 (4.5" barrel)
Average expansion: .6755"
Average penetration: 14.625"

Kahr PM9 (3" barrel)
Average expansion: .612"
Average penetration: 15.5"

If an extra .05" of expansion is a deciding factor for you, I dunno what to tell you... HST loads are outstanding out of any practical barrel length. With the standard pressure load, you should see 900-925 fps from a Shield. I would guess expansion would be about .6" on average, and penetration will probably be about 15-16". Suits me just fine.

The great penetration and good expansion were good, but the selling point to me was that you got this performance without the extra recoil and wear and tear from +P ammo. Faster follow-up shots that are just as effective.

EDIT: I should note that I also carry a Shield, if it wasn't clear.

[Fisher10]

Some think you need a light weight bullet if you have a short barrel.

I believe a heavy for caliber (147gr) bullet gives superior performance in a short barrel. The heavy bullet relies less on velocity to expand because they are designed to open at lower velocities. A heavy bullet takes a longer time to begin moving into the rifling and exit the barrel, meaning there is more dwell time in which powder burns and creates gasses. A slower, heavy load will have less muzzle flip than a light weight snappy load. A heavy load is more efficient in a short barrel than a light weight load would be because heavier bullets have less powder behind them to burn.

[DallasCMT]

Hornady Critical DUTY 135g +P in 9mm... why? Because it was on the shelf and Speer Gold Dot 124g +P wasn't. :)