What is the best 9mm self defense round?

The Hornady Critical Defense ammunition is specially made to feed almost as reliably as an FMJ and to expand well quickly to limit over-penetration. It would be my choice.

It is the opposite in some ways to the bonded ammo designed for law enforcement with much greater penetration than normal hollow-point designs.

EDIT @ balletluvr: Winchester PDX Bonded ammo is specifically what I am referring to when I say it is NOT designed for self-defense. It is designed specifically for law enforcement who WANT to penetrate barricades. FBI and law enforcement have very different needs than home defense. That was kinda the whole point of the question!

I have:

Remington Golden Saber - choice of local cops

Federal HydraShok - choice of the Feds

Hornady TAP

Hornady Critical Defense - choice of local SWAT

Black Talon - popular choice amounts prepper/gun forum people

the cop choices are probably the best. what LE has chosen for their duty ammo should means that he ammo preforms reliability, functions well, has enough stopping power, penetrate enough to kill the bad guy (if need be), but does not over penetrate often or far.

- stopping power is important as it the ability of one shot stop on a bad guy.

- effective penetration is important because the bullet must be able to hit the vitals reliability.

- overpenetation is a serious issue becasue that could results in property damage to injury/death ot innocents nearby. why often times hotter 40 S&W and heavier 45 acp calibers are less desirable- the liability of overpenetation is pretty serious. not only may injure or kill an innocent, there's be all kinds of problems for the victim, cop, department involved, and the city (who owns the Police) is often sued. there's huge amounts of pain, overpenetation is a very serious factor.

while we're not cops we still face the same liabilities with overpenetation. the victim, ourselves, families involved, property damage (if any) and ultimately the court will be involved, whether that be criminal charges from death/serious injury of an innocent, or civil suits from property damage, death/injury.

basically, overpenetation is a very serious thing to think about.

things to avoid:

- do not use +P or +P+ ammunition. there's a increased chance of blowing up the gun even if your gun is rated for it

- do see if the ammo feeds & extracts reliability before buying more boxes

- do practice occasionally with defense ammo, they may place differently from your range ammo.

- 115 grain or less is too light & small for defensive use.

- 147 grain bullets may penetrate too much or over penetrate. what you can do is map out your place, count the walls and make calculations of if a 147 grain bullet can go thru say, 6 sheets of drywall (3 walls), what is the chance the bullet may leave your property and hit something/people? then chart out the directions that if you shot int, the bullet has a good chance (about 35%) that it would leave your house. don't shoot in those directions, if you had to, then shoot low and hope the bullet after demolishing the bad guy's leg, ends up in the carpet/floor/dirt.

You want some type of hollow points or rapid expanding rounds so all the energy of the bullet is imparted to the wound tissues for maximum damage. There are quite a few, but you need to try them out first to see how they function in your pistol AND how well you shoot with them. Every gun has its own peculiarities when comes to ammo and some pistols simply cannot handle them usually because of problems feeding the round due to the short/blunt nose of the bullet.

You don't have to spend a fortune, but don't go cheap because this is for home protection and going cheap just does not make any sense.

Speaking only for myself, I've had good results in terms of reliability and accuracy with Hornady TAPs. and Federal Hydroshok.

Get a hollow point bullet, as heavy as you can. 147-grain Jacketed Hollow Points such as Speer Gold Dot or the like would be effective, and the heavier rounds have lower velocities, meaning (hopefully) less overpenetration. Your penetration may vary.

Ugh, that last sentence sounds awkward.

P.S.: Mr Dinosaur has posted that exact same post before when people ask about pistols for home defense. Ignore him. A shotgun is too bulky to use in very close quarters, and while it will get the job done, so will a good pistol. Whichever is more appropriate to your skills is the better choice.

Edit: While +P+ loads may hit harder, most firearms are not rated to fire them. A +P+ round is loaded beyond normal safe specifications. A +P will be safe in almost any modern firearm, but going that extra step increases the danger to the shooter, causes more wear on your firearm, and creates far more recoil. One-round stopping seems great on the surface, but you should be training to double-tap or possibly triple-tap. In other words, when you practice shooting, fire two or three rounds at the target, from ranges you will expect to be shooting inside your home. If the longest distance in your home that you will probably encounter an intruder is 3 yards, practice at 3 yards. Double- and triple-tapping is what police and military personnel are trained to do, so it should work fine for you. If an intruder doesn't drop with two or three shots, keep shooting until he is no longer a threat.

A +P+ round may also void the warranty on your pistol. Check with the manufacturer on that. If you feel you absolutely need the extra power, then a 9mm is not for you. Purchase a .357 Magnum or a .45ACP instead.

The best 9mm load currently on the market is the Federal 115 gr.+P+ load. It chronographs 1,350 feet per second true from a 5" beretta 92, and achieves 92% one shot stops in real life gunfights. Please avoid any type of Full metal jacket ammo OR the various 147 gr. loadings which only produce about 65 % one shot stops, as opposed to the 63% for the FMJ ammo, and overpenetrate nearly as bad. Just not enough velocity with the 147 gr. to insure reliable expansion. Second place would go to the Winchester 127 gr. +P load that scored in the high 80%'s. There are those that disagree with me, but I take my information from a 30 yr. study done on REAL results from REAL gunfights.

Federal has the best ballistics. In spite of what anyone may tell you, research it on the web and you'll find this to be true. I would still suggest narrowing down your choice to three or four, then buying a box of each. Head to the range and see which one performs the best for you and your gun. I did this and my personal choices are

1. Federal 124 hydra-shock

2. Winchester 124 pdx

3 Hornady 124 TAP

4. Gold Dot 115 jhp

I had the best accuracy in that order with these in a S&W 915.

Winchester PDX1 bonded is the newest self defense ammo that was released for civilian purchase by the FBi about two years ago.

Federal Hydrashok is also a time tested round that law enforcement uses.

I plan on using a 9mm for home protection

using a 9mm for home protection

9mm for home protection

9mm home protection

9mm.. home... protection...

I'm so confused. Do you live in some crazy place that you can't own a normal 12ga? Why would you use a 9mm for home protection? Use a tool for what it is designed for. You CAN build a house with a ball-pin hammer, but a regular hammer works a lot better. Pistols are small and compact so that you can carry them around town. A shotgun shoots a spread, and is better suited for home protection because you can shoot EIGHT 00 buckshot with each pull of the trigger. One 125gr 9mm bullet, or EIGHT 00 buckshot? Which should you choose???

Cor bon power ball124's

federal premium tactical 124 +p p9hst3 http://le.atk.com/general/federalproducts/pistol/t...

Remington 9mm Luger (+P) GS9MMD Golden Saber HPJ 124grain

http://www.remington.com/products/ammunition/handg...

hollow points. brand and type depend on what you can get redaly and cheepl, also what works with your gun the best.(some stuf feeds wrong). PRACTICE WITH YOUR HD ROUNDS every once in a while.