I have a Glock 17 with a Streamlight TLR-1 as my home defense pistol. I have only practiced with this set-up using cheaper, plinking rounds. I’m ready to start feeding the Glock defense purpose rounds since this is my defensive pistol. Can I have some recommendations? What will be a good place to start? I will be putting through at least 100 rounds down range to ensure my particular 17 is accurate and reliable with whatever round is decided.
Thank you everyone!
There is a sub forum here for ammunition and reloading. Start reading there. This question has certainly been covered.
To answer your question… I and many others are huge fans of Gold Dot ammo. I like the +P 124 gr load especially. What I carry daily tho…is Winchester +P+ 127gr Talons. Awesome load, one of, if not THE most powerful 9mm load on the market. I have read from Larry Vickers it is his carry load too, for whatever that’s worth. If you ask 20 people…youll get 20 different answers. Someone will be along shortly to hate on my choices, but I don’t give a shit.
For something you can actually buy, Speer Gold Dot 124 standard pressure. sgammo.com
Anything 147 or +p is out of stock everywhere, pops up and is out of stock again in about 5 minutes. I’m seriously thinking about a Glock 23 just to be able to easily buy good ammo…
I like Federal HST 147.
I still have some OLD Federal 115 +p+ 9pble.
Probably obsolete but it put a charging pitbull down in two hits.
I just keep it because I got a big case of it years ago and don’t believe in selling ammo.
Without sounding like a smart aleck, these days any decent 9mm JHP is better than no 9mm JHP
I’m a fan of the Federal HST also. Either the 147gr or the +p 124gr.
UNDERWOOD’s 124 +p XTP preceded by two rounds of their 115 +p+ EXTREME PENETRATOR.
I run Federal HST 147gr first. If I can’t find it for some reason I switch back to a old favorite, Speer Gold Dot. Both are well proven and work without much fanfare.
I personally try to avoid some of the more “exotic” loads with fancy names and marketing.
I would try out a couple proven loads, HST, Gold Dot, Ranger Ts, ect, see what shoots the best and is reliable and go from there. I have 147gr Ranger Ts in my 17.
This is my choices also.
These are my top choices as well, but reversed and in the 124g +p. A few years ago a couple of our range officers did some gel testing (I do not have the data first hand) and these two both were consistent solid performers.
Speer gold dot, federal HST, winchester ranger T, hornady critical duty. Buy one of these in a grain weight and a pressure spec. The second sentence of this post really is as simple as it sounds. Yes, one may perform a little better than the other, but all of them perform well and none of them perform poorly.
Speer gold dot 124gr +p
Don’t over think this dude. I yet to see any recommendations that won’t get the job done. Take into consideration how close your neighbors are. My self I live in a condo that basically built like apartments so use a heavy bullet in my Glock 23 and try to keep the velocity around 900 fps. As for my AR’s I use frangible for my HD ammo. Remember there is no such thing as a magic bullet that is leaps and bounds above others
Thank you all for the input!
I have some testing to do!
In addition to HST, Gold Dot, and Ranger T, the Barnes 115 gr copper projectile loadings may be worth a look. Black Hills Tac XP, Barnes’ own Tac XPD, etc.
Another vote for this. You’ll be hard pressed to find a better performing round.
I bought 5 cases of Winchester Ranger 127gr +p+ several years ago but if I was in the market for 9mm ammo right now I like the weight retention and penetration of the 124gr +p HSTs.
I would switch but I just don’t want to blow through 500rds of something new for a marginal gain in consistency just to get my sights and brain wired to it properly.
My LGS has occasionally carried the HST in several calibers, among them the 147gr 9mm, for a little less than I used to pay for it online. Needless to say, when one can get it, it’s a good time to stock up.
When I first went down this road around 2006, I bought Cor-Bon 115gr +p rounds. This was after reading a lot of “Doc GKR’s” stuff about various loads.
When I got my G26 a few years ago, I read again and changed to Gold-Dot 124 +p, which I carry now.
As stated above, I think both would do just fine, as would most of the highly touted stuff from the known big names.