for self defese I would probably spring for a box of CCI MiniMag or Viper. They are both fine in revolvers. I hear the viper brass is too long to work well in some autos. I shot a stack of telephone books with LRN solids, SubSonic hollowpoints, and MiniMags. THe LRNs poked mabey a .30 hole through mabey 2" of phone book, and then on into the ground. The subsonic made a .30 or so hole not so deep, and the MiniMag ripped a big star shaped hole about the size of quarter in the phonebook and passed through also. This was shot from a 2" barrel from 3 feet away, shooting straight down.
I would definantly go for the premium stuff, MiniMag or Viper.