What personal defense ammo do you trust your life to?

[Mike from Texas]

I currently shoot the Winchester Ranger T +P and have a few boxes of the Hornady TAP ammo on order. I've been very pleased with the price, reliability, accuracy and performance of the Ranger ammo. I've killed several large pigs with it and it has performed excellently. I have been able to pick it up locally at gun shows for as little as $21 for 50 rounds.

Has anyone tested the TAP ammo? I currently have 2 boxes on backorder at Midway (230 grain) but have considered giving the 200 grain a try as well.

I know lots of folks use the Hydra Shock ammo but I have read more than one article expressing concerns of under penetration on targets with denim or leather clothing on due to it's rapid, violent expansion tendencies.

I've heard nothing but praise for the Speer Gold Dot. It's the standard ammo for most LEOs in my area as well as the Texas Rangers.

Just curious what you prefer.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Rob99VMI04]

Depends on what gun I'm using and what its diet is.

[Mike from Texas]

Depends on what gun I'm using and what its diet is.

OK, but care to be a little more specific?

[blueyedevil]

I use speer Gold dots for all my handguns except my .32 which I use Silvertips in.

[windowman2]

What shoots well for me is Federal HST .45 230 gr, Federal HST .40 165gr and Winchester Ranger T in .380. Find out what your particular firearm likes and that you can shoot well with. The latest and greatest "Magic Bullet" won't work if you or your weapon can't work with it.

[thinkat]

I use Federal 124gr.+P Expanding Full Metal Jackets in the house gun. My reasoning is that these rounds do not use hydrostatic forces to expand. Consequently a miss, that strikes the wall, will expand and dissapate energy, making it safer for my family and neihbors.

In my carry gun, I use Speer 124gr.+P Gold Dots. From all accounts they perform exceptionally well against barriers and clothed subjects. I may, in the future give Federal HST's a test run. I like what I'm reading on those.

[Glock 'em down]

In all reality, almost ANY "hollow point" bullet will do the job, IF you do your job! That is...if you hit your target where you are suppossed to!

With that being said, my "duty" Glock 22 is stoked with Winchester Ranger 180 grain SXT's and my Glock 23 and OD Glock 22 have Hornady 180 grain XTP's in them. I don't know why I have them seperated like that. I guess it's an "administrative" thing - my agency issues the Winchester SXT's for "duty" carry Glock - I buy the Hornady XTP's for my "personal/off-duty" carry Glock(s).

[QKShooter]

Mostly Speer these days because it's pretty much what my local LEOs carry. It's also extremely high quality ammo that feeds perfectly in my pistols.
But, there sure are other ammo brands that would bet my life on.

[Rob99VMI04]

Gold Dot 124 in some of the 9mm's
Ranger 127 +p+ in some of the 9mm's (these are old and sitting around probably not going to use them no need)
Federal 165 EFMJ in my .40
or Federal 165 HST

155 Federal Premium 10mm
180 StarFire 10mm

as far as my personal Logic behind what I use.

1) Does it Go "Bang" when I pull the trigger every time. VERY VERY VERY Important This goes back to what "Your" gun likes. Not what my gun likes.
2) Can I hit what I'm shooting at with fairly good accuracy Probably just as equally important as number one. maybe with one less VERY.
3) Does it shoot a big Flame out the front if so not good. Thats mostly unburnt powder and its not helping you much plus your night vision may go down if you have to use your gun at night.
4) Bullet weight really dosn't mean much to me. Most of your modern designed hollowpoints give you very good penatration and expansion.

From a previous post.

7000 Grains in a Pound. This is comparing .40 to .40's

180 gr is 2.5% of a pound
165 gr is 2.35% of a pound

Is the human body going to be able to tell the difference in a 0.15% of a pound difference in object mass? Probably not. Its only going to react to something important being distroyed or interrupted (this is then put back on the shooter) Did he put the bullet in the right spot.


Whats the Difference?

This is from the FED LE website for HST round
180 leaves the barrel around 1030
165 leaves the barrel around 1140
155 leaves the barrel around 1160

EFMJ is only made in 165 (for LE distrubtors) I believe they have a water down 155 gr for us civies for the .40 moving around 1050 but you can still easly get LE ammo.

Tactical bonded
180 moving around 1000
165 moving around 1050
155 Moving around 1140

What this all means Absolutly Nothing if you can't make your hits it dosn't matter how heavy the bullet is. There all the same diameter moving really fast. I doubt highly the human body is going to be able to tell a 0.15% of a LB differnece in a metal object passing through human flesh. Anything moving well over 900 FPS is probably going to give you reliable expansion. Heavier bullets due mean heavier recoil slighlty slower follow up shots now how much heavier is the recoil you probably won't notice that either.

OK, but care to be a little more specific?

[ELCruisr]

Depends on the gun!

200 gr +P Federal EFMJ in my .45 Commander

230 gr Speer Gold Dot short barrel loads in my .45 Micro

135 gr +P Speer Gold Dot short barrel loads in my .38 snub

[PaulG]

For my 1911 I use 230gr Speer Gold Dot JHP

For any of my revolvers (including the 357's) I use 110gr Corbon DPX +p

[Mike from Texas]

Thanks guys, that's what I was looking for. Looks like a lot of Gold Dot fans here, nothing wrong with that from what I've seen it's a fine round. Most LEO agencies around here use them as well as the DPS and Texas Rangers.

Rest assured that I will try them all in my gun before deciding. My XD likes the Winchester Ranger T 230 +P. I'll give the Hornady TAP a try if nothing else for the low flash properties.

[Chooie]

I haven't got any opinions on the .45 ACP stuff, but in .40, I carry Hornady TAP 155gr. This is my preference, but I'd be comfortable with any quality manufactured JHP or EFMJ, since my XD has yet to find a diet that didn't agree with it.

[fed_wif_a_sig]

On duty I carry what I'm issued....Speer Gold Dots 357 Sig 125gr, and that will change soon hopefully. It works well for street officers with lots of down ranges when shooting but the overpenetration suffered recently by our agency has cause concern and likely a change (well we actually changed but the new ammo was recalled).

Off duty it depends on the weapon. In my 9mm that are street carry, its either Federal Personal Defense 115 gr C9BP or 9BP or CorBon 115gr +p. My home guns have the top six rounds as Glaser (Blue) Safety Slugs. Im my CAR-15 its 55gr TAP ammo.

[nn]

pw'r'balls