I am in search of some JHP ammo for a newly acquired Keltec PF9. I have read the BUG ammo sticky as well as the duty pistol ammo sticky. I believe there are more 9mm BUG’s coming on the market as well such as the Sig 290, Kahr PM9, Walther PPS, Taurus 709slim(although the Walther and the Taurus are not quite as small as the Sig 290, PF9, or PM9).
+p is not recommended in the Keltec and I am not sure on the others.
What 9mm ammo is out there that is acceptable out of a short(3") barrel? Would prefer 115g or 124g as results of the longer 147g bullets feeding in this gun(and presumably other small 9mm guns as well) have not been that great. I have also read that 3" barrels might not be long enough to get the 147g up to speed to provide adequate expansion/penetration.
I really don’t think you need any special short barreled 9mm ammo for a short barreled BUG. Just pick a load off of the recommended loads shown in this table and carry what shoots reliably out of your particular pistol: https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=19887
I doubt if the 147 gr loads would have any velocity problems. If anything the 147 gr loads are probably less fussy about short barrels than lighter bullet weights. I usually carry 147 gr Speer Gold Dot in my Walther PPS 9mm. I never chronographed it but it seems to shoot just fine.
Not worried about a “short barrel” ammo like the gold dot short barrel loads(as far as I understand the Gold Dot SB load is simply a different bullet with a larger cavity).
Are there any non-+p 124g rounds that provide adequate ballistic performance? Everything in that thread points to +p only in 124g and to get a non-+p rated round you need to step up to 147g, which I have read do not feed well in this particular gun.
147-Gr. Ranger T (RA9T), Federal HST 147-gr. (P9HST2), or the bonded Gold Dot 124-gr. / 147-gr. All should give adequate penetration from a 3" short barrel. The bonded version of Ranger T might also work well too.
So a standard pressure 124g HST or Gold Dot should provide adequate expansion and penetration?
The reason I ask is because all of your 124g loads in the duty pistol ammo sticky are +p rated and I know there has to be a reason behind this.
Also what are your thoughts on running the heavier ammo through a short barrel? Is it best to stick with the lighter stuff or will heavier ammo produce good expansion and penetration?
I have not tried any 147g loads in the gun, I will admit that. I have read that some guns have issues feeding them and will feed 124g rounds just fine. I have a couple boxes of 147g HST, but I hate to run it when its hard to find(for me at least) and I want to run at least 100 rounds through the gun. I would rather run Gold Dots since they are very easy to find, although I think the HST is a superior round.
I can get the Ranger-T in 147g non+p from a local source, I think they also have the 127g. I may grab a few boxes of each to try.
I think I read that the Critical Defense ammo did not pass some of DocGKR’s testing, cant remember what failed.
Ah ok, the Ranger T 127g load is out then. I will grab some 147g and see how it is.
Good to know, thanks. I will also try some 124g Gold Dots.
I guess the thing that I like about the Gold Dots is I can work up a very similar load to a factory round, reload 250-500 or so and function test them in the gun. Then I can shoot one box of factory through to double check and then carry factory ammo in it without having to spend a fortune on 250-500 factory rounds to verify function in the gun.
I agree! Standard Pressure 124-gr. Gold Dots will be OK because there isn’t much of an advantage to the +P version in a short barrel where the extra powder cannot fully burn.
In general, the only time I suggest midweight bullets for SD is if they are bonded. Heavy for caliber loads typically outperform all of their lighterweight counterparts.
You can go to Winchester’s Testing Center and see how various loads in their Ranger T Line-up compare to one another for confirmation that the 147-gr. (RA9T) outperforms the 127-gr. +P+ and that the midweight BONDED 124-gr. (RA9B) does well (similar to the bonded 124-gr. Gold Dot).
You can also enter your favorite caliber / bullet weight and compare up to 3 other loads in Gel, 4-Ply Denim, Heavy Cloth, and Wallboard.
You might have a very slightly smaller expanded diameter with the shorter barrel length… maybe…
I would personally go with a bullet that tends to expand to a bit larger diameter in a full length barrel… like the Federal HST. Then I would follow Doc’s advice and choose the 124 grain bullet weight…
Performance should be similar with your PF9’s 3.1" barrel, although the PM9’s barrel has polygonal rifling. Here’s another link to the KTOG forum in reference to PF9’s and 147gr ammo. http://www.ktog.org/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1237647191/2
I understand what you are saying. Given the OP’s original question, I would call Doc’s answer a recommendation. Is a standard pressure 124gr round the best choice in 9mm? … not really. But the OP asked about 115 or 124gr non +p ammo choices.