9MM Self Defense Loads Review

[joe817]

I came across an interesting webite. It's a comparison of 10 of the most popular SD rounds out there. Very good analysis, from a lay point of view.

http://frag.110mb.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[surprise_i'm_armed]

joe817:

Thanks for the link. Good information and pix too.

Some of them didn't have the penetration depth of others,
but I'm glad my Speer Gold Dots were good performers.

Of course I still wonder if my 9's could hurt anyone.
They don't begin with "4". :-)

SIA

[karder]

Don't worry SIA, you are fine with your 9s. 9mm has probably sent more people to meet their maker than any other handgun caliber. It always amazes me how some shooters look down on it as a defensive caliber. It has been the standard military and police issue of a lot of countries. It is more than adequate, in my opinion, for most defensive situations where a handgun would be an appropriate option. Big calibers are fun to shoot, but there is a lot to be said for a light recoil, proven round, with the potential for a very large capacity magazine.
I have buddy who just got his CHL and for his first gun ever, he was considering a used Glock 19. His only concern was that his buddies would raze him about carrying a 9, as the rest of us carry .45. He bought the Glock after I razed him about that kind of thinking!

[marksiwel]

I always tell people
Have fun shooting that 45, the ammo so darn expensive I can practice twice as much with 9mm. Not to mention back a few months ago when 45 could not be found, I could always pick up a box of 9mm.
Its not a bad round, it is just Overrated by some of the Tactical-Cool crowd and the old guys
My next Firearm will be a 9mm

[frazzled]

I always tell people
Have fun shooting that 45, the ammo so darn expensive I can practice twice as much with 9mm. Not to mention back a few months ago when 45 could not be found, I could always pick up a box of 9mm.
Its not a bad round, it is just Overrated by some of the Tactical-Cool crowd and the old guys
My next Firearm will be a 9mm

Having both I can be nuetral and note you can always argue, for the price of a quality .45ACP you can get two quality 9mms.

[marksiwel]

I always tell people
Have fun shooting that 45, the ammo so darn expensive I can practice twice as much with 9mm. Not to mention back a few months ago when 45 could not be found, I could always pick up a box of 9mm.
Its not a bad round, it is just Overrated by some of the Tactical-Cool crowd and the old guys
My next Firearm will be a 9mm

Having both I can be nuetral and note you can always argue, for the price of a quality .45ACP you can get two quality 9mms.

[cougartex]

Great information.

I use the Remington Golden Saber 124gr - JHP.

[frazzled]

Great information.

I use the Remington Golden Saber 124gr - JHP.

Same here. Good to note its effects.

[blackrubi]

Great find joe!

[A-R]

Great link, Joe. I'm gearing up to try something very similar to that myself with all of the various defensive ammo I've acquired lately (or at least as many as I can find milk jugs). Since my family now drinks three different types of milk (skim for me and the Mrs., whole for the 1 year old, lactose free for the 3 year old) plus special filtered water for the baby's room humidifier I'm compiling quite a collection in the garage. Add some old phones books and diaper boxes full of old newspapers and I should have some good testing medium.

Right now here's what I plan to test:

.40 cal (all in both my G23 and G27)
Hornady TAP 180 gr
Federal Hydrashok 165 gr ? (not sure on grain)
Cor Bon 165 gr (I've already seen this blow a hole straight through 15 inches of stacked newspaper, so I don't carry it anymore - want to test it in water jugs to be sure)
Speer Gold Dot 180 gr "short barrel"
Speer Gold Dot 165 gr
Winchester Bonded 180 gr
Winchester white box hollow point gr??

9mm (assuming S&W gets my Walther PPS back to me in a reasonable amount of time)
Speer Gold Dot 124 gr
Hornady Critical Defense 115 gr? (not sure on grain)
Federal HST
Federal ??? (can't remember the details on the Federals)

.38 special (in S&W J-frame)
Hornady Critical Defense gr??
Federal Hydrashok gr??
Winchester white box +P hollow points

.380 auto (in Ruger LCP)
Hornady Critical Defense
Remington no-name hollow points
this is all I have for my lil LCP; not sure I even want to waste any of these. might even test some .380 FMJs just for fun (some people carry .380 FMJs because they have to with recent .380 ammo scarcity)

[Keith B]

This is interesting reading. I was a little surprised at the Corbon performance, as I have always been a fan of that load and carry it in my PM9.

I do question the testing a little though. While you can do numerous things to get a round to shoot through your target, I am a energy transfer kinda guy. I think a slug hitting the person with lots of energy, penetrating significantly and then bleeding it off quickly in their body will be a better defense round by providing shock to the system than one that over penetrates. I personally want a round that expands as much as possible and does most damage to the body as possible, thus increasing the chance for a nervous system shutdown or a fast bleed out. Poking a clean hole through someone is less likely to stop them as quickly IMO.

Disclaimer: IANABEOFS (I am not a ballistics expert or forensic scientist)

[thankGod]

Thanks. I have bookmarked this link.

I am currently running the Speer GoldDot GDHP 147gr. It may be a stretch, but I extrapolate that this should be a good round for penetration and expansion.

[MoJo]

Any ballistic test done with water, newsprint, drywall mud, duct seal and all the other non standard mediums, has little relevence to anything other than the "tester" had fun shooting stuff. There are established repeatable protocols to test ammunition and even those are subject to controversy.

The only real test of how well a bullet/load is how it performs in real life shootings. Evan Marshall and Ed Sanow wrote three books on this subject using real life data to decide what worked and what didn't. I won't go into details, but several rounds that performed badly in gelatin testing were some of the best on the street the opposite was true also.

What I am saying is don't get your shorts in a wad over any kind of "tests" look for data showing what works on flesh and bone and what doesn't.

[Dan20703]

I shot some water jugs to test expansion once. No measurements though. The 9mm HST was the only round to make it to the 3rd gallon jug.
The 9mm rounds really split the first jug and sprayed water everywhere. Lots of fun!
From left to right:
.22 RN, .380 CorBon HP, .380 CorBon DPX, 9mm +P 124 gr Speer Gold Dot, 9mm 124 gr Federal HST