What is the best choice for defense ammo in an older 9mm semi-auto?

remember, there are 'regular' 124 grain hydra-shocks and +P 124 grain hyra shocks.

any quality 124 grain jhp will be a fine choice, be it hyrashock, golden saber, silvertip, or whatever.

regarding 'for police only' that is just wording on a box, and has no force of law. In fact, it is basically adversizement to get people to desire it more because 'if it is special police only, it must be extra good'

In handgun ammo (and shotgun ammo too) stuff named 'tactical' and designed for the law enforcement market is in general stuff that is loaded to be less powerful so that it has less kick because in the modern police department you have a wide variety of people now serving, be they 5"4 100 lb women or 5'1" 120 lb men that are an ethnic minority that are frequently quite small. (here in St.Paul we have a large Hmong community, and they on average are very short. I have a Hmong friend who is 5'3" and he says he 'towers over the rest of his people")

Regarding the bullet weight, I think the other poster may be thinking of 9mm short which here in the USA we call 380acp. for 'regular' 9mm also called 9mm luger or 9x19mm, 115 grain are the lightest ammo you are going to encounter with any regularity, and 147 grain is the heaviest, while 124 grain was developed to have the good penetration of the 147 grain, yet still get to high velocities like the 115 grain for excellent hollowpoint expansion.

The collet bushing of the Model 39 was known for breakage and this could cause an instant problem with hot loads. The frame has nothing to do with the situation. I personally believe some of this (not all) could have been attributed to the usage of very hot mil-spec 9mm (WWII surplus and handloaded stuff) being used in these guns. These guns were made from the 1950s to the early 1980s and a lot of 9mm guns suffered the effects of hotter mil-spec 9mm. The rounds you listed are ok and Fed Tac 124gr JHP might have "for LE only" on the box but this is not based on law but rather distribution practices and lioability concerns. Corbon sells +P+ .38SPL and 9mm while tradiitonal manufacturers label it for "law enforcement only".

UPDATE: I cannot believe I forgot to mention this! The Model 39 was also never throated (like all cuurent pistols minus the Walther PPK/PPKS) to easily accept cycling with NON-full metal jacket "ball type" 9mm. Early 9mm, .38Super, and .45ACP hollowpoint rounds had a rounded tip (like ball) to try to prevent jamming but this did not always work.

What I load in my daughter's Glock Model 26 (which IS rated for even +P+ ammo) is the Federal brand 124 grain Personal Defense Hydra Shok round. This is a good stopper that is NOT a +P rated round and is not so hot that it intimidates the shooter. I'm sure the Remington non-plus-P 124 round is also a good choice. You could try the 147 grain subsonic but I don't recommend subsonic ammo for personal defense except when the only other choice is ball ammunition. In any case the non-plus-P 124 grain (Federal or Remington), or the 147 subsonic should not damage your pistol.

H

I have only recently been carrying, and only do so on a limited basis. I own a J-frame and a LC9. I keep going back and forth between the two. This week it is the semi. Later it will be the J-frame. The pros and cons have already been mentioned, but I can conceal the LC9 better than the J-frame. Not that I can't hide the J-frame very easily, but the LC9 is skinnier (no cylinder). I prefer IWB carry. Maybe I will prefer pocket carry in the winter, and maybe I will go back to the J-frame then. At least I have both and can go back and forth. I sometimes carry a Mosin, just to annoy trolls.

According to the Winchester Product Service Ballistics Guide for 2008 its the 147 grain jacketed hollow point, and the 147 grain full metal jacket-flat nose bullets.*

1

Federal Hydra-Shock 124gr

Best bang for the buck... also the most expensive of the lot.

124 grain bullets are too heavy for a 9mm gun. That is a medium weight bullet for a .357 magnum. I'd suggest something near 70 grain. Get a hollow-point light weight bullet for defense.