Hornady Critical Duty?
Remington Golden Saber Bonded?
Federal Hydrashok Deep?
Something else?
I carry Ranger T 147. Performs well in every test I can find. Says “Ranger” right on the box.
Federal HST or Gold Dot. You can get either in the 50 round LE boxes on the open market. They are also available in there 20-25 round retail boxes, usually at a higher cost per round. Hornady Critical Duty 135+P seems to be coming on strong as well.
Federal HST or Speer G2.
I’d say 124gr Nato would do the trick. Penetrates deeper than a mueller investigation.
Honestly the older I get the more I dont believe in hollow point ammunition.
This is absurd. 2019 defensive ammunition is far better than +p FMJ.
I wouldnt say 1/5 of an inch in expansion is a ‘mind blowing difference in terminal performance’. Pistols poke holes no matter what. Rifles **** shit up.
Obvisouly this is just an opinion. I do carry gold dot but I wouldnt hesitate for a second to carry ball.
FWIW, Ranger T 147 more than doubles in diameter for Lucky Gunner Labs.
I think that the choices listed are all good. I have tried the Hornady Critical Duty 135-grain +P round recently, and it grouped very accurately in my Glocks and Beretta’s. It was recently adopted by the Effa Bee Eye as their new duty load. The Bureau has also started reaching out to some very respected outside folks to do a bunch of teaching at Quantico, for what that is worth.
Honestly, I stock up on the Ranger T 147 grain, Speer Gold Dot 147 grain, or pretty much anything on Dr Gary Roberts’ approved list. I just look for a decent sale, and buy a case or two at a time.
I am a little partial to the Gold Dots, since I can stock up on the American Eagle 147’s which shoot the same POA/POI in almost all my pistols.
And Chris and the rest of the folks at Lucky Gunner are good people, and should be trusted by all.
Hope that helps.
I carry 124 grain NATO Q4318 FMJ. Penetrates as good as anything.
Except ball ammo is not barrier-blind; ball ammo often exhibit serious jacket-core separation, and also tends to suffer deflection much more, particularly in the case of auto glass.
That’s HOOAH. Follow this guy.
It’s whay I’ve been carrying too.
I always look to Doc GKR’s list for this.
Federal HST, Ranger T147, Speer GD’s and Hornady Critical Duty all do the job well.
Where is Doc’s list currently located? There used to be a pinned thread on this board, but I’m not seeing it now.
Pistol Forum should have it. Not linking in case it’s bad form to link to another forum.
It’s okay, we’re all grown-ups.
Dr Roberts has some stickied threads over there that are very useful. I’ll dig out an exact link, and post it. He’s also got a lot of excellent data on barrier-blind rifle rounds.
Here’s an article Dr Roberts wrote concerning 147-grain 9mm duty ammo: https://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?20650-9-mm-147-gr-duty-load-testing
One on 5.56 duty loads: https://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?4344-5-56-mm-Duty-Loads
Another for 12-gauge shotgun ammo: https://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?4340-12-gauge-shotgun-loads-for-LE-duty-use
This one is a deep dive into more duty handgun ammo choices: https://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?4337-Service-Caliber-Handgun-Duty-and-Self-Defense-Ammo
I strongly recommend to newcomers that they take some time to read those threads, buy quality stuff the Doctor recommends, then go practice. A lot.
Hope that helps.
Thanks guys. I’m leaning towards some Critical Duty 135gr, but I’m wondering how much difference the +P makes. I usually try to avoid +P stuff just because why use a 9mm if you’re gonnna juice it up to .40 levels.
I have ran both rounds, 135 standard pressure and 135+P from a Gen 4 Glock 19. In my hands, there’s no discernible difference in felt recoil.
Thanks for the feedback!