Heavy or light bullets?

[metallicorey]

i'm a believer in heavy weight bullets for my sd sidearm, but i really like lighter bullets in my rifles. i'm asking what you carry in your weapon for a sd round, on the heavy side for energy transfer, or lightweights for penetration?

i carry 180 grain hp's in my .40s&w. i'm considering changing to something lighter like the 155 or 165 range. tell me what you think please ?

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Boomer]

I carry copper DPX so they are lighter I guess, then again I carry a .45 so even light ones are pretty heavy.

[Ram Rod]

Ya know---it's not really that important to me. In the PD department it could be the 155-180gr range in the 40cal, 115-147gr in the 9mm, or the 185-230gr range for the 45acp. Practice ammo is most always the heavier in all calibers as of course they are solid or 'hardball' loads. I don't reload for my pistols yet. My rifles see the gamut available in the caliber depending.

[nn]

pw'r' balls their 135's

[aus71383]

There are a few threads on this as I recall. For myself I prefer medium to heavy bullets for the caliber.

Austin

[Freedz]

I like middle of the road weight. Im comfortable with the bump in speed over the heavy bullets but still having more mass than the light ones. I usually have 165 winchesters or 155(pretty sure) corbon dpx in my 40. Works for me. If I carry 9mm its usually 124 gr. loads.

[Rexster]

I like mediums in .40, and heavies in .45 ACP. In .357, I like full-pressure 125s, or middle-weight 145s at lower pressure. I arrived at these preferences by lots of reading over the years, with emphasis on what has worked with police agencies using this ammo. Cor-bon DPX may turn some of this stuff on its head, and I am interested in following any real-world results.

[Captain Crunch]

I'm a traditionalist. 230 grain bullets in .45 ACP for my LW Commander, 158 grain SWC bullets in .38 Special (+P for my S&W M60, non +P for my Colt Cobra).

My carry guns all have fixed sights. Standard weight bullets shoot to POA.

[coffeecup]

I love the DPX bullets Just wish they made them in 230gr.

[IDLH1950]

I like 148 to 158 grainers in my Smith and Wesson 638-3.

dave

[MitchellCT]

Stop looking at weight and look at design.

You like heavy bullets? I'd rather have a 115 Grain DPX round than a 147 Grain Olin-Supermatch in 9mm...

Like light rounds? I'd rather have a 147 Grain HST round than a 115 Grain Silvertip.

You can't tell with weight only.

[sniper58]

I carry MagTech Guardian Gold in both 1911's - 185 +P JHP. I guess this qualifies as "light," although it exceeds just about every other bullet in muzzle energy @ 540 ft/lbs. Pusblished tests and my tests show me this bullet will expand and do it's job. Both guns feed it without issue and it's very accurate.

[cdwolf]

I just switched to the 155 gr. ranger jhp. They move at 1200 fps and are the only .40 I found with over 500 lb. I shoot a USPc 3.5 in barrel so I'm losing some speed already. fps is the only thing that made the .357 sig so hot. It's a ranger bullet so I'm sure it's been tested pretty well, and It shoots very accurate out of mine. I't don't hold it's weight as well as the hst or ranger t's, but I hunt with ballistic silvertips that explode out of my 7mm mag and don't always penatrate all the way. What it does is dump all it's energy in what you hit. if I shoot a bad guy I want speed and fragmentation. There are some more out there Tap,extreme shok but the jhp seems to be more to my taste. It will more than likely blow into 2-3 sections= different wound channels. JMHO
I swaped from 165 sxt's and 165 golden sabre

[S3ymour]

230gr in the .45 and 124gr in the 9mm of Speer Gold Dots. Just seem to work the best. I'm not against running 147gr in the 9mm, but the 124 just seems to shoot better through my xd9sc.

[Ragin Cajun]

I like the heaviest bullet I can shoot accuratly with managable recoil. While lighter bullets produce faster volicity and inital ft. LBS, that looks good on paper but what manufatures don't explain is the fact that a lighter bullet looses it energy and slows down quicker then the heavier bullet which dumps more energy. The heaver bullet will dump more energy as it keeps it momentum longer. It's not traving as fast but isn't slowing down as quick either. I learned that with muzzle loading. If volicity was the caused of more damage then weight, then a 22LR would out perform a 45. That is why I don't buy into the higher volicity is better bit.