Best ammo for my 9mm sub-compacts?

[CharlieMike]

Federal HST 124gr. This may sound silly but it tends to group much better than other self defense ammo I've shot.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Rob P.]

I recently did a bunch of research into 9mm self defense ammunition. I have a S&W 9mm semi auto with a 3 1/4" barrel. Without trying to recreate the research trail I will say that what I read impressed me greatly.

What really shocked me is the fact that most people don't actually do any research before choosing defensive ammo. They buy based on recommendations. Usually these are from internet forums and "gun shop commando's". So, take what I've got to say with a grain of salt and use it as a starting point to do your own looking and THINKING.

For self defense ammo I want/need/desire the round to penetrate fully into the body cavity and then stop there. If it doesn't go all the way in it's not fully effective because the energy wasn't sufficient to fully penetrate to vital organs. If it goes on through, a lot of the energy goes with it. Only when the round stops in the cavity does ALL of the energy get transferred. This means that you need a round that penetrates between 8 - 10 inches because this is the distance of the human chest cavity (and most other 100-200 lb animals too) to the interior of the back wall/ribs/spine.

In addition to the penetration, you need a bullet which will fully expand without fragmenting (unless it's frangible which is a whole 'nother story) AND which will hold it's expansion at the widest spread of the petals. Lots of HP's expand but fold completely back over the bullet base. This is not optimum. Round nose/ball doesn't expand at all. Again not optimum.

In the end I found that the Cor-Bon DPX +P w/ 115 gr Barnes-X solid copper bullets appears to be best for SHORT BARREL semi automatic 9mm's. In the std 4" test barrel the penetration was 10-12 inches. In a short barrel handgun the penetration will be between 8-10 inches which is perfect. The Barnes -X bullets are well known in the hunting world as excellent in performance areas of expansion and retention. These bullets kill tons of deer and elk every year.

The 115 gr bullets have a great deal of energy which is comparable to 124 gr bullets in other ammo brands so you don't lose anything with the lighter weight bullets. This is because the lighter bullets are faster in +P than std load 124 gr ammo. You do not want to go subsonic in 9mm as you lose all your effective range with the 147 gr bullets.

For std barrels I'd recommend the Winchester Ranger SXT (or whatever iteration /designation it has these days after 4 or 5 generations). The current versions have excellent petal expansion and the performance numbers look good for std/long barrels. In short barrels the penetration would be a bit less and would not be optimum and that is why I chose the Cor-Bon over the Ranger for my 9mm.

YMMV

[Slim_45]

In the end I found that the Cor-Bon DPX +P w/ 115 gr Barnes-X solid copper bullets appears to be best for SHORT BARREL semi automatic 9mm's.

Hey "Rob P" yes this is the bullet that started all this for me after i read an article about it in my Combat Handguns magazine this month. They do sound great but very pricey like the Federal 135 gr Low Recoil's that we are using now. I wanted something that has good reviews & i can afford to shoot up a bunch of it once in awhile.
You know i may try & contact S&W and also Kahr about this & see what they may recommend in these little autos

[mike28w]

My two cents.... My concern about ammo from shorter barrels is that slower velocity may decrease expansion. My cure is Federal's 124 gr. +P EFMJ (expanding full metal jacket).

These bullets seem to always expand regardless of what they hit and how fast they are going. They don't expand to the largest diameter but I prefer the relaibilty. I also like the fact that they feed and look like FMJ..... ymmv mike

[Slim_45]

Ok well yesterday i called Smith & Wesson & Kahr Arms. Of course they cant recommend a specific ammo but the Kahr guy said "my personal opinion Federal" so i didnt learn much excepr that S&W & Kahr both said i can use +P in both these guns.
Well then i called Federal (because i like them anyway) long story short i ended up talking to a ballistics's guru she was great & has almost 20 years in ammunition testing & such. After she answered my questions that i was confused about (which she explained to me very well) i asked her what her personal opinion is if she were carrying a sub-compact 9mm & she said Federal 124 gr HST's (which is what i chose except for the grain #) then she began to inform me of first hand testing of this round & i was sold!! I ordered 250 rounds from Ammunitiontogo.com yesterday & i cant wait to shoot it for myself iam already getting milk jugs & phone books

[micahsrad]

M&P_erfection I had used hydrashock in my Kahr PM9 until I noticed that when I would eject a round already chambered that as it fed into the chamber it would deform the edge of the opening of the projectile(semi-crush). Hope this helps....Micah

[markman]

I like Gold Dot 124 +P.

[Slim_45]

M&P_erfection I had used hydrashock in my Kahr PM9 until I noticed that when I would eject a round already chambered that as it fed into the chamber it would deform the edge of the opening of the projectile(semi-crush). Hope this helps....Micah

Yes we noticed this same problem as well with Hydrashok. We could only re-chamber with the same round maybe 3 times & then id add it to the ammo to shoot through the glock
I sure hope the HST will be better in this aspect....

[Slim_45]

Ok i finally got to shoot the Federal 124 gr HST's this weekend out of our M&P 9c & the Kahr PM9 & i must say they performed exactly as described. Now keep in mind these are only 9mm & when they expanded (which was every single time) they completely covered a dime (see pics) i was very impressed with accuracy as well. With my M&P 9c @ 25 yd i could hit 4 in groups (shooting while standing) although i forgot a tape measure i would say they went through about 8 inches of wet phone books after passing a milk jug full of water I fired 100 rounds through the M&P with NO malfunctions & 100 rounds through the PM9 with 3 FTF's although i believe the problem is with that magazine as it was the same one every time. In the PM9 the bullets lay flat except for the very top one that angles up & sometimes the bullet slides forward just enough that it wont tip up right to go into the chamber
Long story short i was very happy with these & would recommend them
Note: the bottom (covering a dime) & upper left are HST's & the upper right is a regular 9mm FMJ just for reference