In Defense Of FMJ .45acp For Self Defense/CCW

[JKosprey]

I've carried ball in my 1911, but only because I haven't put down the cash to see which hollow-points it likes. I rarely do so....and if it were a regular carry gun, I wouldn't be packing FMJ.

[Weetabix]

Any thoughts on the best manufacturers of defensive ammo for 9MM? I.E. what do I go out an buy?

[Greg]

Any thoughts on the best manufacturers of defensive ammo for 9MM? I.E. what do I go out an buy?

I think things are mature enough that it's really just 'modern bonded HP that your gun will reliably feed'.

I happen to use Gold Dots in pretty much everything - .357mag, .40sw and .357sig. But YMMV, I'm just a guy who reads things, have never shot anyone, etc. I *did* spend a little extra to make sure the latter 2 run reliably in my semi-auto's, though.

[randy]

Any thoughts on the best manufacturers of defensive ammo for 9MM? I.E. what do I go out an buy?

For my Browning Hi Powers I go with Winchester Silvertips or Federal 9BP (115gr each), mostly for their reliability in the various vintages of BHPs that I have. JHPs had a rep for FTF on earlier production models while the Win and Fed feed reliability, and I'm not comfortable running +P or higher through them.

Given how expensive replacing them has become,I've been giving thought to picking up a 9mm Glock (G-17 or 19) for every day carry when I can afford it. Is gun, is shoot, and losing one would not have the emotional impact of giving up one of my BHPs. What's the word on +P or +P+ out of Gaston's WonderWaffen?

[skb12172]

Any thoughts on the best manufacturers of defensive ammo for 9MM? I.E. what do I go out an buy?

For my Browning Hi Powers I go with Winchester Silvertips or Federal 9BP (115gr each), mostly for their reliability in the various vintages of BHPs that I have. JHPs had a rep for FTF on earlier production models while the Win and Fed feed reliability, and I'm not comfortable running +P or higher through them.

Given how expensive replacing them has become,I've been giving thought to picking up a 9mm Glock (G-17 or 19) for every day carry when I can afford it. Is gun, is shoot, and losing one would not have the emotional impact of giving up one of my BHPs. What's the word on +P or +P+ out of Gaston's WonderWaffen?

That's why I put my .357 snubbie in the safe. I don't want to lose something that has meaning to me, either from theft or the evidence locker, should I have to use it. It belonged to the Old Man.

[rightisright]

Like Greg, I have never shot anyone, never hope to and am no expert on ballistics. That said, Gold Dots feed reliably in every handgun I've tried them in. Glocks, Steyr M1, USP .45 full size, BHP (clone), Kel Tec P11, etc. I also have them for .38 spec and .357 mag revolvers.

I used to buy them from http://www.georgia-arms.com But they have switched over to Speer Bonded Unicor HP bullets recently. Of those, I have no experience or knowledge.

ETA: According to Speer, it appears they just added the name of the technology used to make their Gold Dots: http://www.speer-ammo.com/products/gold_dot_const.aspx

[PawPaw]

Like Greg, I have never shot anyone, never hope to and am no expert on ballistics. That said, Gold Dots feed reliably in every handgun I've tried them in. Glocks, Steyr M1, USP .45 full size, BHP (clone), Kel Tec P11, etc. I also have them for .38 spec and .357 mag revolvers.

I used to buy them from http://www.georgia-arms.com But they have switched over to Speer Bonded Unicor HP bullets recently. Of those, I have no experience or knowledge.

ETA: According to Speer, it appears they just added the name of the technology used to make their Gold Dots: http://www.speer-ammo.com/products/gold_dot_const.aspx

Yeah, it looks like ATK has, over the past several years, perfected the plating process and now all their LE ammunition is plated, rather than the old cup-and-core technology. From your link:

Uni-Cor technology bonds an incredibly uniform jacket to the core—one molecule at a time.

Bonding "one molecule at a time" sure sounds like electro-plating to me.

Edit to add: I just got home and looked at the box of ammo I was last issued. Winchester Ranger Law Enforcement ammo. Winchester is so proud of it, I can't find it anywhere on their website, but it claims to use something called "reverse jacket technology". Whatever that means.

[Greg]

Like Greg, I have never shot anyone, never hope to and am no expert on ballistics. That said, Gold Dots feed reliably in every handgun I've tried them in. Glocks, Steyr M1, USP .45 full size, BHP (clone), Kel Tec P11, etc. I also have them for .38 spec and .357 mag revolvers.

I used to buy them from http://www.georgia-arms.com But they have switched over to Speer Bonded Unicor HP bullets recently. Of those, I have no experience or knowledge.

ETA: According to Speer, it appears they just added the name of the technology used to make their Gold Dots: http://www.speer-ammo.com/products/gold_dot_const.aspx

I think that's just a branding thing, that Speer only wants its own factory ammunition using those bullets to be called 'Gold Dots'. Other people can use the same bullets to load ammunition, they just can't call the resulting product 'Gold Dots'.

Nice to find another source in terms of availability, but I find for most loads SGAmmo has factory loaded Speer official Gold Dots for roughly the same prices. (Now if only they'd get .40 165gr back in stock...)

[Darrell]

CC used to sing the praises of EFMJ ammo. How's it stand up? From what I've seen it looks like HP filled with a plastic nose plug.

[skb12172]

OK, I'm with you. Gold Dots and XTP. Anything else you would be willing to recommend, just in case those aren't available at the time?