Hot 9mm ammo choices for Self Defense ?

I just got done shopping around and realized my old Favorite
9mm Winchester Ranger +P+ 127gr ammo was no longer being
sold anywhere.

What I see now are dollar plus and even up to Two dollars per shot
ammo from Cor-Bon and Buffalo Bore for their hot +P+ rounds.
That is highway robbery in my opinion.

I have learned to trust that all Double Tap ammo has
exaggerated performance claims and they are not cheap.

That leaves the MagTech 9mm ammo that MidwayUSA.com has
at a reasonable price for a ( BOX OF 50 ) of only $26 dollars.

Now that is reasonable. I cant stand those outfits selling a box
of 6, 10 or 20 rounds for their spicy stuff.

So the question boils down to ... Does the MagTech stuff
perform reasonably close to their claims ? If so they seem
to be the only real value option. I cant stomach the notion that
self defense ammo should be more than three times the cost
of quality first fired range ammo.

http://tinyurl.com/2dhmdxd

and here

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct...tNumber=989888
.
.

One of the advatages of the 45ACP no need for trick ammo to make it affective

I just buy a box or two of the real hot loads ie federal powershocks and run a clip thru for performance and shoot the fmj for fun. I also got some Winch. White Box 125 jhp for self defense ( on the box) . I don't understand folks posting about another cal. when the question is on another. One way to build up post count I guess. I'll probably get another PM for pointing that out.. Like I care

Nothing that anyone can do about the cost of factory ammo.
This being a world wide web site and all many may read this thread that have not made up their minds about a choice of caliber. To point out such advantages seems to be more of a service to me, than a negative .

Honestly, I don't care what it costs. It is to preserve my own hide and I'll allocate whatever resources that takes...

I also don't shoot enough people in a year to worry about the expenditure eating up my finances....

My carry gun has finished off a couple of deer, shot a snake or two, and a varmit here and there. Probably a cylinderful? Not a lot of ammo over something like ten years of carrying the same gun.......

When I carried a 9mm, I used Cor-Bon ammo. When I carried a .40, I used Cor-Bon ammo. With my .357 I carry.... surprise... Cor-bon ammo. Hey I like the stuff.

Just my opinion.

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MikeG

Calibers and costs aside, reloading is a rewarding hobby that allows YOU to determine how "hot" your ammo is and what kind of bullet is being used. It is relaxing and enjoyable while affording you the opportunity to not worry too much about what a box of ammo costs. I just loaded 200 rounds of 9mm with 124gr XTP bullets and 5.0gr of Unique powder. They chrono right around 1125, perform flawlessly in my gun, and the whole deal cost me just over $100. Now that I have the powder and primers, the next 200 will cost about $40...even less if I go with some bulk bullets, which I will probably do.

Still, I'm with Mike on this one...paying $2.00 a round for ammo that might one day save your life, of the life of a loved one isn't asking too much. Nobody is saying you have to run 500 rounds a year of that ammo through your gun.

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Ask me about QDMA.

Self-Defense ammo is worth it's weight in GOLD if you ever have the need to use it in your pistol! The same type of insurance I use when purchasing the best premium bullets for an elk hunt, what's an extra .50cents a bullet when your trip, tags and expenses are usually over $2500 or more.

And you gotta' love that.

I have complete faith in my 200gr SWC stuff over a snappy dose of Green Dot/Unique/W231..... I keep it loaded with Winchester 185gr Silvertips, (which i have a ton of).

If he's twitchin' after the first one, it is a self loader.

Yeah, I've noticed that the relatively inexpensive 50-round boxes are almost gone. That, I think, is primarily the difference. More work and packaging in the 20-round boxes. But, since it ends up cheaper to buy a $25 per 20 box than a $35 per 50 box, and most defensive gun owners don't buy more defensive ammo than their gun can hold, at least for a long while, that's what people will want.

Also, be aware that some of those cheaper JHP may not be bonded. Which will mean they won't expand well.

Just some food for thought gentlemen! Now last summer we tested several brands of Hornady "self-defense" loads in several calibers and there were several DUDS in each box we took bullets out of and that was very disappointing. We tried 3 times to fire these duds but still no cigar! They would not fire and the firing pin did strike the primer etc. We used Ruger LCP, Kel-Tec, Kimber, Glock, Sig Sauer and Smith & Wesson pistols, which were new guns, less than 4 months old.

We were after all, trying to run a test wilth several guns and calibers. Hornady never did really get back to us or offer to refund any ammo that did NOT GO BANG. The Hornady rep was informed and so was the company in Nebraska. I will sure not use any of their "self-defense" ammo in the future.

Ranger is still available at CDNN.
If you want "hot" self-D ammo, Call or look up Double Tap ammo.

Speer still makes the Golt Dot ammo, which is reasonable, and Federal's Hydra-shock is out there too.
As MikeG stated, it is worth the $$$ to protect your hide and your family also.

I carry the 9mm, and ammos carried are:
Federal Hydas or EFMJ
Speer Gold Dot.
Corbon pow'rball


While I have only shot the Mag-tech at targets and such, it fed well and was accurate enough to consider carrying.

Depends on the gun, as to what ammo is used. Some, like the High power, just feed the Pow'ball or EFMJ better than a big open mouth.

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Chris in NH.

"some days, I wish my dogs could talk"

There is tons of good 9mm SD/HD ammo out there. BUT.....what could be good to me,might not necessarily be even adequate to someone else.

I'm sure that there is at least one among us that feels that If you ain't packin' a 44Mag or better, you are vulnerable to every BG in your area. That ain't me BTW.

I carry a 9mm Glock sometimes for SD,animal defense,and general "around the club" use. My choice for a combo load both for human targets and the medium to large hogs is the Speer 147gr Gold Dots. I carry 15+1 in the weapon and another mag with 15.

I train to shoot a BG to the ground so, he will not be receiving 1 shot that is equal to ___foot pounds of energy,he will initially get at least 2 if not 3 rds to COM. The shoot one and look up over your sights thing is not the way I train, or the way I teach. But...this is about ammo so,I choose the above in my 9mm weapon for the intended purposes given.

Also.....my ammo of choice outta my 10mm is CorBon. Specifically the 200gr WFNGC. This is my hunting load and have never had a problem with the penetration,performance, OR the published velocities. ----pruhdlr

i use velocitors hp in my 22 rifle.. but for handguns...i practice,when ammo was cheaper,then practiced some more..
then when you can hit what you aim at ,, use the rnd you most accurate with..none of its cheap..but lead rnd nose is the cheapest ,an placed right ,will do the job,when i do my part..i will at least at this point [im 63]
do my part..slim
ps. it don t matter how many of them hot specialty rnds you shoot .. if they don t hit the intended target..jmo

I use Federal HST-LE 147gr.. Works and feeds great in my pistol but not always easy to find.

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PROUD TO BE A VETERAN

"The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing." - Socrates

I'd like to add Hornaday's Critical Defense/Duty as well with Speer's being my favorite.

Nothing wrong with having a favorite brand of self-defense bullets, as long as they go BANG when you pull that trigger and those we tested by Hornady certainly do not. I finally did get reimbersed when they found out I purchased their Lock N Load Press!!!

My suggestion for excellent "self-defense" ammo is made by COR-BON company. The name of this ammo is called "POW R BALL" in the 125 grn bullets. I would load them up this way in the magazine. 1st one is a Pow R Ball, the next would be a COR-BON in DPX bullet. Now this is some heavy hitting ammo and will cause tremendous tissue damage, plus deep penetration to wet newsprint we used at 8 ft away.

I really like Hornady's 9mm Critical Defense load in 115 grain witrh the flex-tip bullet. Very accurate in my P95 and only $20 for a box of 25 at Cabela's. Hope this helps.

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Winchester M70 Featherweight .30-06
Marlin 336CS .30-30
Traditions Vortek .50
Traditions Canyon .50
Remington 870 Super Mag. 12 ga.

I doubt if it had anything to do with owning a Lock N Load press, IME, Hornady customer service is not very fast. I do like their products and the quality of their work but I had to wait a bit longer than expected for them to polish the scratches out of my sizer die. Also, when they finally returned my die, they didn't include the lock ring which was on it when I sent the die. All is well now as Hornady did send me a new lock ring. I had sent a die to RCBS for polishing at the very same time. RCBS returned my die in approximately two weeks. Hornady took a month. Maybe I'm comparing apples to oranges but this was my first experience with Hornady Customer Service. Sorry, didn't mean to get off subject of the OPs post.

IMO (I have a lot of them) I would carry any of the major brand's SD ammunition as shot placement tends to go down the drain in this kind of encounter, unless one is an experienced gunfighter. This is not a "take aim and squeeze the trigger" situation. For those of you who have been in or teach this kind of encounter feel free to add your thoughts. I just don't feel that paying more for a 20 round of SD ammunition buys you that much more life insurance. I do believe that regular practice with your carry ammunition helps increase your odds of survival.