Self defense loads for 9mm

Or, you could actually heed the advice of someone who studies wound ballistics professionally:

http://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=19887

Note that the only recommended 115 grain 9mm load is the Barnes XBP. Generally speaking, 9mm 115 grain JHPs do not provide adequate penetration of at least 12" in 10% ballistic gelatin.
 
AlexF said:
The article was updated in August 2011 and the basic idea is that according to experimental data specific 357 magnum loads outperform everything else including 44 magnum and that a hot 9mm load or a 357 Sig load can almost deliver the same performance.

Alex
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Updated in aug2011.

But written when? Nothing has changed in the original article.

Its still an article written 20 years ago with 20 year old loads in consideration.

I still say...no gold dots? the OLLLLLD golden sabres? No HST? No SXT? No T-series?
Just LOOK at the loads he's comparing.
You're pulling an article thats decades old into play here. It's never been updated, it may say so, but that chuck hawks article has been around since beta machines, and its been posted on a thousand boards a thousand times since then, giving out of date information since the dawn of the internet.
 
Chuck3436 said:
Updated in aug2011.

But written when? Nothing has changed in the original article.

Its still an article written 20 years ago with 20 year old loads in consideration.

I still say...no gold dots? the OLLLLLD golden sabres? No HST? No SXT? No T-series?
Just LOOK at the loads he's comparing.
You're pulling an article thats decades old into play here. It's never been updated, it may say so, but that chuck hawks article has been around since beta machines, and its been posted on a thousand boards a thousand times since then, giving out of date information since the dawn of the internet.
Click to expand...

You might very well be right. The problem is not with Chuck Hawk but in a couple of well know facts that might have been manufacture/modified :(
I've rechecked and hot around 125gr 9mm loads are the way to go.
Heavier 147gr load do provide better barrier penetration which is a big issue for LE (suspect behing car door).

Alex
 
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Verdical Driver said:
Your posting is utterly and ridiculously full of fail.

When you use off the shelf bullets, that you can buy in any gun store or Walmart, you seem like a normal guy who enjoys shooting to people who are gun-illiterate. When you hand load, the prosecutor will make you seem like some sort of blood-thirsy mad scientist to the jury.
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so clarify something for me then: what is the benefit to buying a box of LE ammo for self defense VS reloading ammo to the same specs of the typical LE brands? Aren't you buying LE ammo that is designed as "defensive" or "penetrator" ammo or other flashy words, knowing the box has all these words written all over it? Incriminating evidence isnt it?

Whereas a reloader can simply say: i am a reloader - i experiment, much like a car racer does with his engine?
 
The whole idea of a lawsuit over handloaded ammo in the US was debunked. Handloads would be fine. I personally, if loading a 9mm for self defense (totally hypothetical) would be a 147 grain bullet with 3n38 powder from Vhit. You can get 147 over 1100 fps without getting into +p territory. That would be a good 9mm load. Heavier bullets hit harder and penetrate more reliably. The 147 has been criticized over the years for not expanding - well, it would expand plenty at 1100 fps. Hornady XTP would be my first choice too at that velocity.
 
If you choose a newer JHP design than the XTP, you don't need to drive it at 1100 fps to make it expand reliably.

If I absolutely could not get good (i.e. from DocGKR's list in the link I posted) JHP factory ammo, I would try to create a clone of one of the loads on the list. Gold Dots, Golden Saber, and the XPBs are all sold as component bullets.
 
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