Getting to the Hollow Point
New to the ranks of armed self defense, Ben muses about hollow points.
I think he is going to start carrying a 9mm Glock. Anyone have any thoughts on what would be the best choice for defensive loads?
New to the ranks of armed self defense, Ben muses about hollow points.
I think he is going to start carrying a 9mm Glock. Anyone have any thoughts on what would be the best choice for defensive loads?
February 24th, 2010 at 3:05 am
At one time the Illinois State Police favored the +P+ 115 grain load, such as the Federal 9BPLE; I use them in my Glocks and Sig. Cheaper Than Dirt still has them available.
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/AMM406-5.html
February 24th, 2010 at 6:43 am
I prefer standard-pressure Speer Gold Dots in 124 grain or heavier. Gold Dots expand consistantly even after going through heavy cloth (something not every hollowpoint design can say, and unless your most likely assailant is a bare block of gelatin, cloth will be an issue somewhere). There’s a lot of police agencies that settled on Gold Dot after testing and evaluation.
I prefer standard-pressure loads because I have to pay for my own gunsmithing, and the lower recoil and blast from standard loads means I can get in faster followup shots.
February 24th, 2010 at 8:46 am
Thanks again, James. I’ll be reading this thread carefully.
February 24th, 2010 at 12:06 pm
Not to seem like spam, but some friends of mine from the MissouriCarry.com forum are working on a new twist on hollowpoints that greatly increases their effectiveness.
http://www.hypercavbullets.com/
They’re not quite available yet, but several ammo makers are working on bringing them out. It looks like this simple little modification is going to make pretty much all of the existing designs ever so much better so whatever round you end up picking Ben, keep an eye out for an upgraded version within the next year.
February 24th, 2010 at 9:13 pm
Corbon 115g +p or DPX should be fine.
I hear good things about Buffalo Bore ammo too.
February 25th, 2010 at 12:18 am
I use either the Ranger Lawman Ammo from Speer, or for guns that might be picky about loading hollowpoints, I use the Cor-Bon Pow’rBall. The Ranger Lawman ammo is less expensive, and in my opinion good for a Glock or a Ruger P95, those will feed almost anything. For some other handguns, you might want to stay with the Pow’rBall. The teflon ball in the tip gives it a smooth ride through the loading ramp and does provide some additional penetration through clothing.
Ranger Lawman: http://www.ammunitiontogo.com/catalog1/index.php?manufacturers_id=30
Cor-Bon Pow’rBall: http://www.ammunitiontogo.com/catalog1/product_info.php/pName/20rds-9mm-corbon-powrball-100gr-p-ammo
February 26th, 2010 at 12:15 pm
Federal Hydra-Shok, 135 gr. My Autordnance 9 does very well on all things Federal as does my Sig.
February 26th, 2010 at 12:55 pm
I seem to remember that Ayoob did a bunch of research, and in 9mm the most consistent one-shot stops came with 115-grain +p hollowpoints, brand didn’t seem to matter much as long as it was a premium-grade bullet like Gold Dot, Golden Sabre, Winchester Ranger, etc.
March 5th, 2010 at 2:47 pm
[...] to James Rummel, who was kind enough to link to my thoughts about hollow points and to rephrase the question about what to use on his own site, I got all kinds of great hollow [...]