Let's have a Personal Defense ammo discussion

[kragluver]

I did a fair amount of my own reading and research on this myself and came to the conclusion that all US made self defense ammo is very good. Use what functions well in your gun. The only non-US ammo I use is in my P64 and that's only because you just can't find US manufactured 9X18 Mak self defense ammo right now. Hornady made a good JHP round, but I've been unable to find it.

I've read that the Remington Golden Saber JHP will often function in finicky pistols as this bullet profile closely approximates ball ammo. It also performs near the top in every test I've read. Frankly, I've not had any function problems with JHP cartridges in any of my pistols.

1911: Remington Golden Saber 230 gr
Ruger P97: Hornady TAP 185 gr (it was all that was available at the time, but Remington GS works well in this pistol too)
Wife's Bersa 380: Corbon DPX
Polish P64: Silver Bear 95 gr JHP (would prefer Hornady round, but its all that is currently available for 9x18 Mak)

[i8godzilla]

I use Speer Gold Dot 125gr. GDHP in my 9mm Millennium Pro. I have not had any issues with FTF or feed problems. My wife's XD40sc likes Winchester PDX1 180gr. JHP Bonded.

We ordered some Winchester Supreme Elite PDX1 Buckshot for the Taurus Judge. Hope to have it in time to judge its performance this weekend. (We had some 000 Buckshot for it but at seven yards the pattern was about eight inches--just a bit more than we want.)

[JackRR]

I did a fair amount of my own reading and research on this myself and came to the conclusion that all US made self defense ammo is very good. Use what functions well in your gun.

I agree,any premium ammo that cycles 100% in your carry gun.

G17 9mm Corbon 115gr +p or Fed 124gr HST
G27 40 Speer 180gr GDHP
Ruger LCP Speer 90gr GDHP (Rem GSabre's and Hornady XTP's wouldnt cycle 100%)
12guage 00 Buck
30-30 Win 150g HP (havent found any of these in the last several years)(got 2x20rd boxes left)
AR BlackHills 69gr MKHP
.308 Hornady 168gr GMX

Jack

[UpTheIrons]

ETA: Much of what I have read claim that the SXT is pretty much the same bullet as the Black Talon that Winchester was forced to pull due to 'public outcry'.

IIRC, Winchester never really "pulled" the Black Talon. They just changed the color (from black to copper by removing the Lubalox coating) and gave it a new name (SXT) after 'tweaking' it to make it even better.

[UpTheIrons]

Keep the ideas coming! I'm in the midst of re-evaluating carry ammo for my LCR, my wife is settling on a carry ammo for her SR9c (right now she's using the Winchester Ranger 147gr SXT), and I think it's time I updated my .45 ACP ammo (WWB 230gr JHP), even though it never malfunctions.

The Winchester PDX1 looks real good in 9mm, and I'll probably switch to it in the LCR, too. Not sure about the .45 yet, though. Golden Sabers, Gold Dots and PDX1s are on the table right now.

Thread drift warning: What's the difference between Remington's Golden Sabers and their "Ultimate Home Defense HD" line? They look awful similar, but the HD stuff is a bit cheaper.

[The Annoyed Man]

The hard hitting Speer Gold Dot .45 230 grain is all I use in my Kimber.
Feeds reliably and has a proven track record.

Ditto that for the the .45. For the snubbie, I carry the Hornady Critical Defense 125 grain .357 load.
http://www.hornady.com/store/357-Mag-12 ... l-Defense/

[bnc]

I agree with kraglover that the name brand US made ammo is all pretty good, so get what you like.



Here's a different question though:

What failure rate and how many rounds of a particular SD ammo do you shoot before you trust it?

[TexasGal]

Corbon DPX 115gr +P in 9mm. All copper Barnes bullet which expands reliably and has excellent weight retention even after passing through hard barrierers.....

Ditto

[MoJo]

I agree with kraglover that the name brand US made ammo is all pretty good, so get what you like.



Here's a different question though:

What failure rate and how many rounds of a particular SD ammo do you shoot before you trust it?

If the gun runs well with range ammo and there are no issues with the chosen SD ammo in the first 20-25 rounds then I personally call it good to go. A failure rate greater than 1 in 1000 may get the gun/ammo culled. Some stoppages are operator induced some are magazine induced and some are ammunition induced. Knowing what stoppage is caused by what cause makes trouble shooting and remedial action easier.

[Cyclops]

After trying out multiple SD rounds and brands, I have settled on using Corbon DPX for all my firearms. They are a little more expensive, but how often are you going to have to use them?

[terryg]

ETA: Much of what I have read claim that the SXT is pretty much the same bullet as the Black Talon that Winchester was forced to pull due to 'public outcry'.

IIRC, Winchester never really "pulled" the Black Talon. They just changed the color (from black to copper by removing the Lubalox coating) and gave it a new name (SXT) after 'tweaking' it to make it even better.

That's what it seems. In fact, the joke seems to be that SXT stands for "Same eXact Thing" as Black Talon. I just found this the wikipedia article confirming many of the rumors I have read:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Talon" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

According to this, it has been renamed Ranger T-series. Maybe that is why I have had such a hard time finding it. Where do you get yours?

[PRO]

Corbon DPX in everyhing

[frogbones]

I carry:

Federal FMJ 230gr in my 1911's....EDC is the RIA Compact 4incher. (I perform best with this gun)

Ranger T Series 230gr in my G30.


Centurion loads in my 870 express 12ga.

Honrady Tap in my AR15.

[UpTheIrons]

ETA: Much of what I have read claim that the SXT is pretty much the same bullet as the Black Talon that Winchester was forced to pull due to 'public outcry'.

IIRC, Winchester never really "pulled" the Black Talon. They just changed the color (from black to copper by removing the Lubalox coating) and gave it a new name (SXT) after 'tweaking' it to make it even better.

That's what it seems. In fact, the joke seems to be that SXT stands for "Same eXact Thing" as Black Talon. I just found this the wikipedia article confirming many of the rumors I have read:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Talon" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

According to this, it has been renamed Ranger T-series. Maybe that is why I have had such a hard time finding it. Where do you get yours?

I got the 9mm at Cabela's, of all places, about a month ago. I don't remember if they had any other calibers, but I was on the hunt for 9mm SD ammo in particular, so I didn't look too hard for any others. I've seen ads for it at CDNN from time to time, too, but not usually anything other than .40 and 9mm. This is just 'standard' Ranger LE ammo though, it isn't Ranger-T.

You can tell by the item number if nothing else. The ammo I have is RA9SXT, and the "T-Series" is RA9T. I did a Google Image Search, and I can't really tell much difference between the two when expanded, so I don't think there's much difference other than a larger HP cavity in the SXT bullet.