9mm ammo help

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whitetailfan

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Hi everyone. I have enjoyed reading and researching, but compared to the other forum on food smoking I frequent, this place moves very fast for postings. I'm sure there are many threads on this, but they are not easy to find per my earlier comments.

I just bought my first restricted, a Beretta PX4 Storm, currently in the hands of the fine folks at Canada Post. I will be in great need of some ammunition soon, but not sure what to buy.

For ammo in the 9mm I know that current grain weights are (but not necessarily limited to) the 115, 124, 147. I don't know the purpose of the 147 is, seems much higher than the other options. 115 is extremely common in the cheaper ammunition.

I know there are formulas for cometition shooting that take this into consideration, but at this stage I don't understand it.

My background is long rifle hunting. Shoot paper for fun with rifles on occasion, but mainly just to make sure I can hit my animal target.

I have always hunted with a 25-06 using 120 gr ammo. That is on the heavy side of the 25 cal, but it works for me, and I consider that useful to have the hitting power on a smaller calibre rifle.

For shooting pistols, I don't know why to choose lighter or heavier grain.

My general targets are going to be paper and steel reactive. If anyone could please enlighten me on what would work well for me AND WHY, that would be a big help.

Thanks,
WTF.
 
lighter grain will mean less recoil and it will be cheaper. 147gr is the heaviest a 9 will go, and its mostly used as a "duty round", meaning its the weight of a bullet with the most stopping power in the 9mm.
In simple terms; the heavier the bullet the more stopping power it has, lighter the bullet the less recoil it has.
 
Many people will tell you that the 147 will "seem" to have lighter recoil but in general the last post is right. In all honesty, if you are new to pistols, you likely wont be able to tell the difference so just buy whatever you can get for cheap and shoot alot of it. That will likely move you to the 115 gr. If you reload your own you will start to notice a difference. The 147's are largely loaded to subsonic specs and if you want speed go to the 115. I reload 124gr exclusively and findd it to be the right balance for me.
 
Sierra556 said:
lighter grain will mean less recoil and it will be cheaper. 147gr is the heaviest a 9 will go, and its mostly used as a "duty round", meaning its the weight of a bullet with the most stopping power in the 9mm.
In simple terms; the heavier the bullet the more stopping power it has, lighter the bullet the less recoil it has.
Click to expand...

:agree: and 124gr is Probably the most popular.
 
the 124gr is the optimal bullet in 9mm
the 115gr allows for a greater muzzle velocity but loses it fast
the 147gr holds it's energy better at the expense of (a lower) velocity
 
Stopping power is incredibly important for when the switch for the target holder gets stuck and that silohouette comes charging at you lol :p for the range i buy whats cheap. This hobby is expensive enough without adding extra costs on the ammo.although I do have some 147 for that bump in the night
 
whitetailfan said:
Hi everyone. I have enjoyed reading and researching, but compared to the other forum on food smoking I frequent, this place moves very fast for postings. I'm sure there are many threads on this, but they are not easy to find per my earlier comments.

I just bought my first restricted, a Beretta PX4 Storm, currently in the hands of the fine folks at Canada Post. I will be in great need of some ammunition soon, but not sure what to buy.

For ammo in the 9mm I know that current grain weights are (but not necessarily limited to) the 115, 124, 147. I don't know the purpose of the 147 is, seems much higher than the other options. 115 is extremely common in the cheaper ammunition.

I know there are formulas for cometition shooting that take this into consideration, but at this stage I don't understand it.

My background is long rifle hunting. Shoot paper for fun with rifles on occasion, but mainly just to make sure I can hit my animal target.

I have always hunted with a 25-06 using 120 gr ammo. That is on the heavy side of the 25 cal, but it works for me, and I consider that useful to have the hitting power on a smaller calibre rifle.

For shooting pistols, I don't know why to choose lighter or heavier grain.

My general targets are going to be paper and steel reactive. If anyone could please enlighten me on what would work well for me AND WHY, that would be a big help.

Thanks,
WTF.
Click to expand...

Hey WTF, interesting signature! :D

In my Browning Hi Power, I find 115 gr rounds tend to flip the muzzle up more than the 147 gr rounds during recoil. The 147 gr seem to recoil more rearwards. Both will work well for paper or steel. Experiment with different ammo and use what works best for your pistol.
 
BCP said:
In my Browning Hi Power, I find 115 gr rounds tend to flip the muzzle up more than the 147 gr rounds during recoil. The 147 gr seem to recoil more rearwards. Both will work well for paper or steel. Experiment with different ammo and use what works best for your pistol.
Click to expand...

147 for my Shadow, for the same reasons as above, and I roll my own :D
 
I have reloaded both 115 and 124 and I can't tell the difference when I shoot. I suck equally hard with both.
 
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