Kyle,
My question is what is the best performing carry ammo in 9mm?
Thanks for your service,
Andy Gore
IMO, Gold Dot is the winner. However, I carry stacked mags when possible- GD, ball, GD, etc.
Why stacked mags?
Because every other round does anything
Kyle,
Thank you for your time. What type of ball ammo do you use when carrying?
Regarding the Gold Dots, what is your personal preference on the bullet weights, particularly between the 124 gr and the 147 gr. The website lists a 115 gr, but I’ve never really seen it offered much.
Thank you for taking the time with the SME forum and your service!
Ball - Typically the Speer Lawman in 124 gr which is damn close to it’s Gold Dot cousin accuracy wise.
Gold Dot- 124 gr. Bottom line is it’s more accurate than 147 gr, especially out of a compact.
Would you mind elaborating on this a bit more. I find this to be very interesting and have thought of this before. Do you know of any possible draw backs in using different rounds? Thank you
Just wondering if you like the +p load or standard pressuse load in the 124 gr. gold dots? Thank you for all you input.
Stacked rounds defeat any medium.
I don’t care if it’s +p or not
DocGKR mentions .40 being better at intermediate barrier penetration with HP rounds. Do you feel this would overcome the need for stacking or do you feel that .40 has drawbacks that don’t overshadow the barrier attributes of 9mm? My personal carry rounds stand a measurable chance of having to defeat glass is needed. I am interested on your thoughts on this. 9mm is what I have always used.
I’d rather go with 9mm. I believe that the additional recoil from .40 and the fact that no study has proven .40 better than 9 on a human makes 9 better for concealment, control, and accuracy.
9mm does a great job going through windshields, brick, wood, drywall, etc. I have shot these mediums on a monthly basis for years during certain courses. Conservatively, I’ve done these demos on about 300 or so vehicles. I always have some brick, wood, drywall, and different body armor on hand as well.
Thanks for the insight. This makes me feel better about my recent decision to stick with 9mm platforms. The glock and sig stay on for the big win.
Kyle, what is the difference between 9 mm FMJ and a good bonded JHP bullet like the gold dot?
What does FMJ does that GD can’t?
Thanks in advance.
The difference is that JHP is designed to peel back and create more surface area upon impacting a medium. FMJ will remain misty intact upon impact.
What FMJ does that JHP doesn’t is penetrate through things that aren’t human tissue.
What JHP does that FMJ doesnt is create massive temporary cavities and large wounds inside tissue.
Kyle, in which intermediate barrier material does the FMJ bullet shows noticeably more penetration?
In my limited experience, JHPs clog in wood and penetrate almost as FMJ, bonded bullets don’t disintegrate while going through.
And both are about the same agaist steel (plate or thin gage), bricks, and concrete.
Never compared both against drywall o glass. Perhaps the normal composite ogive shape of the 9 mm FMJ would deflect more from the original path (depending of course on angle of impact) than a good bonded JHP that retained its integrity.
I’ve had better luck with ball than hp on cars and concrete.
Thanks 
Personally, I’m happy with any 124-127gr +P loads from one of the premium manufacturers.
For every caliber carry pistol I have I do research on expansion vs velocity vs reliability. Speer gold dots have peaked my interest in every caliber. I even load my own 10mm 165g Gold dots for my nightstand pistol because I am sold on that round
As for the 9mm I chose the 124g +p gold dots