Hot 9mm Self Defense Ammo

[preventec47]

I just got done shopping around and realized my old Favorite
9mm Winchester Ranger +P+ 127gr ammo was no longer being
sold anywhere.

What I see now are dollar plus and even up to Two dollars per shot
ammo from Cor-Bon and Buffalo Bore for their hot +P+ rounds.
That is highway robbery in my opinion.

I have learned to trust that all Double Tap ammo has
exaggerated performance claims and they are not cheap.

That leaves the MagTech 9mm ammo that MidwayUSA.com  has
at a reasonable price for a ( BOX OF 50 ) of only $26 dollars.

Now that is reasonable.  I cant stand those outfits selling a box
of 6, 10 or 20 rounds  for their spicy stuff.

So the question boils down to ...  Does the MagTech stuff
perform reasonably close to their claims ?

http://tinyurl.com/2dhmdxd

and here

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=989888

[HAMMERHEAD]

I have no experience with that particular load, but Mag Tech has been good reliable ammo for me in 9mm, .38 Super and .45acp.
For personal protection I wouldn't want to skimp on quality though. If I were trying to save a few bucks I would go with Black Hills ammo ($35/50) before I went to Mag Tech.

[Mikey]

preventec:  Gun Tests magazine just ran a comparison of 45 high velocity loads from some of the same ammo makers you listed and they found that some are impressive but hard to handle.  They asked the question "Does faster, higher pressure, more expensive ammo deliver performance that leaves standard pressure loads in the dust?"  Not really they found.........

This is something you should consider with even the 9mm and if you do not reload you may wish to consider the practice, even on a small scale for just a few rounds; heck, at the current prices of the vogue and fancy you could stock up on your own reloads and save $ practicing more. 

I usually carry a 45.  I own a couple of 9s, my favorite being the Browning High Power and I simply do not have any problems carrying ball ammo when I wear it.  I have never seen anyone get up and walk away from a double tap to the chest from a 9.  I believe the British SAS still uses the 9mm and their protocol is 2 to the chest and 2 to the head. 

Is high speed hollow pointed ammo a necessity for me - nope.  I feel it is a unnecessary expense.  jmtcw.

[williamlayton]

Mikey makes good arguement.
Speed--at the ranges we are discussing--is not the defining solution.
Penetration and mass are the defining criteria.
Over penetration does mot stop any better than 7" penetration.
A bigger hole might make some difference.
NOW, and here i come again, if you want he speed take the 9mm to a good smith that knows how to build a 9x23, get some 9x23 brass, learn too reload and see what it can do.
Blessings

[Hook686]

I practice with MagTech, but load my carry with Buffalo Bore +P+. I must say it was pricey to run 100 rounds through my pistol, but it proved reliable. I don't expect to be confronted by a bad guy, so that pricey box of 20 ought last a couple of lifetimes.

[NickSS]

I shoot both 9 mm and 45 ACP and have carry guns in both calibers.  Personally I mostly use hard ball in both.  I do this for two reasons.  First is that no handgun is 100% reliable as a one shot stopper so a double tap or more likely keep shooting till its all over one way or another is going to be what happens.  45 hard ball by all accounts has stopped a lot of guys in combat and no one ever reported that it was not a good stopper.  The 9mm hard ball is used by almost every military in the world today and I see little evidence that it does not do the job.  The other reson is that in shooting animals with both cartridges, I have not seen a dramatic difference between JHP and hard ball as far as stopping power and if I use a trucated cone type bullet the difference gets smaller.  So personally I see little need to spend double the price for +P+ loads with premium bullets.

[WD45]

Now I dont mean to open up a can of worms here but the mention of double tap has got me to thinking. If you have to fire 2 rounds of a smaller cal to equal 1 round of a larger cal it kinda defeats the higer capacity of the smaller cal weapon. One of the supposed benefits of the smaller cal rounds is being able to carry more ammo for the same weight but what good is that if you have to fire twice as much as a rule ? I'm not against the double tap. Heck, I would say don't stop until they're not moving or not able to move enough to fire back no matter what you are using. Maybe its just me.

[Empty Quiver]

Might be time to get something in .357SIG. Everything a +P+ 9mm will do and more. Practice won't be as cheap as 9mm generic, buying on the internet and in quantity will help that a bunch though.