JavaScript is disabled
Our website requires JavaScript to function properly. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser settings before proceeding.
First off I know there are much better choices for this purpose but it's not what I'm asking my Q. is if all you have is a 9mm and you do not do a lot but more than the average trail hiking what would be the best ammo to choose any first hand experience with encounters of four legged nasties would be good also thanks
First off, my actual choice for a "Kit Gun" would either be a .38 Special or a .22 rimfire, so I don't see using a 9mm semi-auto as being too strange of a choice for such a task.
...anyway, getting on with the question...
Its getting a bit long in the tooth, but I would still stand by the winner of the ammo shootout Shooting Times did when they compared 9mm to 38 Special back in 1994.
Hornady 147 gr. XTP Subsonic
Not only big wound channel and decent penetration, but that performance from a belly gun!
They put all those rounds at a bit of a disadvantage by shooting them from small guns and it still performed well.
That's a prover, I don't care what you have to say about it.
...and while I know you didn't ask, the guns I would shoot that out of would be either a Sig 228 or a Kahr T9.

sig_sauer_p228.jpg
A-wood-grip-by-Hogue-is-part-of-the-elegance-of-the-T9-Elite..jpg

Fun topic! Thanks for asking! :s0155:
 
Last Edited:
To re-answer the OP's question which was what 9 MM ammo would you use if ALL you could use was 9 MM. I would carry Underwood Extreme Penetrator as it is designed for penetration. yes it has flutes for some soft tissue damage, but to me this flutes have created a small cutting surface for entering bone and allowing penetration. Right or wrong it is what I would carry.

Now to diverge like everyone else. I own five 10 MM that I originally bought with woods carry in mind. The first was the G-29, still a good choice as it is smallest, lightest. Of course it will have the poorest velocity too. My second was a full size EAA Witness Elite Match, all steel, by far my favorite, nice Kydex OWB holster. Great gun, but a big hunk of heavy. I then bought the G-20 as a happy medium, but never shot it. Along comes the Springfield XDM's and I got first the 5.25 and later the 4.5 version. They are great and I have shot my G-20 too. I am really inserting this into the thread to say

I now think you should carry the same gun, and caliber everywhere. If you want more gun, long or short, then add it to your person. So I'll carry those Underwood Extreme Penetrators in my 40. If I really thought bears to be a problem, I'm not going.
 
In the PNW -- Bear Spray for the critters if it helps you be at ease. HSTs, Ranger Ts (or whatever your desired proven SD pill of choice is) for the 2-legged variety.

Outside of the N. Cascades, one's chances of running into a Brown Bear are essentially nil. The Black Bears around here are not akin to the ones found out East in places like Tennessee, Pennsylvania or further up North in Canada or AK.

Most all of the attacks(non-fatal) that happen out here are hunters that have recently shot(but not dispatched) the bears. Fatal bear attacks are extremely rare in the PNW.

As for cats, the recent fatal attack here in Oregon was the 1st in recorded history, and the one up in WA. a few months back was the 1st in 80 some years IIRC.

Remember where you are. You're not in GNP or YNP, nor are you in Kenai or Katmai.

As suggested in this thread. The biggest concern in the woods around here is coming across some 2-leggeds up to no good.

That all stated, when hiking in the woods around here, I'm packing 340 gr +p+ pills a la BB in my RH. Why? 'cause I can.

I've got no worries when the wife goes out hunting for mushrooms with her 9mm. She's a better shot than I am.
I just returned from a week in Glacier National Park, where I am legal to carry concealed (outside of federal buildings) and I would have felt much more comfortable with something a little bigger than a 9 mm.
 
I just returned from a week in Glacier National Park, where I am legal to carry concealed (outside of federal buildings) and I would have felt much more comfortable with something a little bigger than a 9 mm.

Yessir.

Was there a couple a summers ago. Beautiful country, but they got some big bears over there. There's been more than a handful of folks that have met their end crossing paths with some of 'em in recent years.
 
...rechamber to .40 S&W.
No replacement for displacement.

A number of guns, such as some SIGs and Glocks, can be purchased in .40 and a conversion bought to shoot in 9mm. For some it is just a barrel, for others a barrel and slide. I have SIGs that are .40 and conversions to 9mm and .22 LR.

I like .40 better than 9mm and it does much better with heavy projectiles which in turn do better with penetration against heavy bones/flesh (if the proper projectile and load is chosen) - but if SHTF 9mm is going to be more available in larger quantities - so it is good to have both IMO.
 
I have a G23 that I thought about using for a "woods" gun, when the gf invites me to go hiking. I do have a few 9mm pistols too. Personally I would use hard cast bullets/rounds..... maybe even underwood penetrator solid copper .... and in +p if possible, I don't think it's recommended to shoot +p+ out of Glocks but I may be wrong.

If it's really deep in the woods, I'm not gonna play around, I'm taking my MAK90 too :)
 
If you get any weird looks from me it's either during fire season and I know the area is closed, I suspect you are poaching, or I want to know what secret spot you have discovered for target shooting (usually all three by the time I hit the trails). ;)

I'd carry an AR if a rifle, because nobody thinks that's a hunting rifle and thus you won't be considered a poacher. Maybe convince some yuppies that the woods are a dangerous place.
:D
Unless laws have changed since I moved, but cougar hunting is legal almost year round, just get a cheap cougar tag. "I'm hunting for cougar".
 
First off I know there are much better choices for this purpose but it's not what I'm asking my Q. is if all you have is a 9mm and you do not do a lot but more than the average trail hiking what would be the best ammo to choose any first hand experience with encounters of four legged nasties would be good also thanks

I agree with others above who said that 9mm is going to be less effective than more powerful handgun options and those will be less effective than a rifle. Having said that though, I will not go hiking with a rifle slung on my shoulder just because it will scare people (although I respect other's right to carry one if they want and I wouldn't be offended by it at all). You may want to consider a subgun/PCC/PDW which sort of lives halfway between a handgun and a rifle.

Staying with the question of 9mm, you can easily put a very effective 9mm weapon in a non-zippered quick access backpack, slingpack, or even messenger bag. With these types of packs you just reach in and pull the gun out. They also make 1 and 2 point slings where you can carry it concealed (depending on clothing of course) without the need for a pack. This would give u 30-33 rounds on a shoulder-fired and red dot optic gun. It would take slightly longer to draw it from a quick access pack vs. a handgun but not by that much. One example with an 8" barrel is shown below. With the brace folded it is less than 16" long and will fit in my laptop bag along with my laptop, files, planner etc so it would easily fit in the right quick access pack. With these types of weapons you can put a lot of rounds quickly and very accurately on target. 30 rounds quickly and accurately delivered to the vitals region of a bear would give him a pretty bad day. ; )

image1 (5).jpeg
 
Last Edited:
I like .40 better than 9mm and it does much better with heavy projectiles which in turn do better with penetration against heavy bones/flesh (if the proper projectile and load is chosen) - but if SHTF 9mm is going to be more available in larger quantities - so it is good to have both IMO.

I like .40 a lot better too, but back in 2012 or so when there was the run on ammo, at least in the places I looked in Portland area you could still find .40 on shelves when 9mm, .45 and .38 spcl was gone, perhaps due to those latter calibers' popularity (i.e., so many more people had 9s, so that ammo disappeared first).
 
I like .40 a lot better too, but back in 2012 or so when there was the run on ammo, at least in the places I looked in Portland area you could still find .40 on shelves when 9mm, .45 and .38 spcl was gone, perhaps due to those latter calibers' popularity (i.e., so many more people had 9s, so that ammo disappeared first).

If I run out of ammo it will be during SHTF. In that case I won't be buying ammo off the shelf, I will be hiding behind a tree waiting for someone in a blue helmet to come walking by with a 9mm pistol strapped to their hip.:D
 

Upcoming Events

Tillamook Gun & Knife Show
Tillamook, OR
"The Original" Kalispell Gun Show
Kalispell, MT
Teen Rifle 1 Class
Springfield, OR
Kids Firearm Safety 2 Class
Springfield, OR

New Resource Reviews

New Classified Ads

Back Top