Pistol or Revolver: What is your preferred carry load?

[ilikegunspdx]

+1 to the OP for making a thread that is not about Alec Baldwin.

 

[64MercurysRule]

I still stand behind Alec..... Just not in front of him .

 

[ilikegunspdx]

What is Alec Baldwin's preferred carry load?

Discuss...

 

[Dozer99]

258 gr hard cast and no!

 

[Paolung]

Pistol or Revolver: What is your preferred carry load?

As for myself, I really like the Critical Defense 9mm 115 gr. for my primary gun.

Revolver: Remington High Terminal Performance (HTP) 357 Magnum 158 Grain Semi-Jacketed Hollow Point
SemiAuto: Speer Gold Dot 9mm, either 124g or 147g (like them both)

 

[OldBroad44]

The site gets bogged down with questions that go nowhere.

If you don't find the subject of a thread interesting or useful, you can skip it. Not everyone is at your level of knowledge on the topic. Nor is it necessary for a thread to "go anywhere" to be useful. I prefer revolvers, and bought my first 9mm semiauto recently. How delightful to have this thread with the choices of various people whom I am already familiar with weighing in. I will doubtless make serious notes from it.

 

[gmerkt]

Wadcutters

Flat, ugly bullet that tears a bigger hole. Lower recoil suggests potential better shot placement, but they can be loaded faster too. And jacketed versions are available.

 

[nammac]

If you don't find the subject of a thread interesting or useful, you can skip it. Not everyone is at your level of knowledge on the topic. Nor is it necessary for a thread to "go anywhere" to be useful. I prefer revolvers, and bought my first 9mm recently. How delightful to have this thread with the choices of various people whom I am already familiar with weighing in. I will doubtless make serious notes from it.

Interesting, you've provoked the question, which self defense load will perform the best from a 2" 9mm revolver….

I've shot 115 gr ball and ball reloads with reasonably good accuracy. But what about 124gr and 147 gr? How will those behave? Intriguing questions indeed…

 

[gmerkt]

I've shot 115 gr ball and ball reloads with reasonably good accuracy. But what about 124gr and 147 gr? How will those behave?

One thing about reloading 9mm P for revolver, your bullet seating depth is less restrictive. So you can safely load heavier bullets out farther. I didn't notice any difference in performance in Smith & Wesson products.

 

[BlindedByScience]

Be it .45ACP, .40, 9MM, or .38+P, my defense ammo says 'Gold Dot' on it.....

 

[OldBroad44]

Suppose I bought a 9mm primarily to use as a suppressor host and plan to stick with 147 gr
bullets when suppressed. And would prefer to have all my ammo choices have a comparable trajectory.

the most likely use is pest control against critters like possums, coons, or gophers. However, in my neighborhood bears and cougars can show up. So I would like a minimally expanding load with a flat nose for use against small pests but that also has some hope of getting through a black bear skull in case in case one shows up in my yard while I am dealing with pests. Which actually happened once. Recommendations?

And what about a reliable 147gr practice ammo with a trajectory matching that of the flat nose round?

And what about a good standard SD round in 147 gr in case I am more concerned about bad people showing up while I'm doing pest control than bad bears? Yes I know it will cost more than 110 gr rounds. But at this point, with my limited time and opportunities to shoot I'd really prefer to need to memorize only one trajectory.

 

[Knobgoblin]

One thing about reloading 9mm P for revolver, your bullet seating depth is less restrictive. So you can safely load heavier bullets out farther. I didn't notice any difference in performance in Smith & Wesson products.

On the subject of 9mm revolvers . Any factory ammo more or less prone to bullet jump in cartridge case ?
I would assume handloading would address this with a decent crimp , knowledge of specific bullets that perform better in the role, etc

 

[Nutty4Guns]

Whatever's on sale. Boowits are expensive!

 

[Nutty4Guns]

I do like Federal HST 124 gr and Speer Gold Dots though.

 

[OldBroad44]

My edc is a 686 snubby. For many years my carry ammo was a Corbon jhp .357 mag load. Both when I lived in Corvallis and when I moved out of town where pest control of critters after my duck flock was the main issue. However, after the bear showed up when I was expecting to shoot a racoon, I reexamined my ammo choice. A 357 mag jhp is not what I want in my hands for black bear SD. In addition, I had become aware of the fact that .357 mag full power loads when fired in tight quarters such as indoors or in a car can actually break eardrums and lead to temporary or permanent deafness. .357 mag actually produces about twice the noise as .38 sp, 9mm, 45acp, or .44sp. In addition I decided I wanted better info on my carry load than I had. I wanted a load specifically designed for short barrel revolvers. By this time I was sophisticated enough to realize that a standard SD .357 mag load shot from my 686 snubby .357 mag would likely only give 9mm level performance .

I switched to Buffalo Bore short barrel low flash 150 gr hard cast full wadcutters. BB originally included the word 'antipersonnel' in the title, but dropped that word, probably for liability reasons. This is a .38sp load near the upper end of the range, just under .38 sp. +P power. Its said to be capable of penetrating two feet of "mammalian flesh and bone". Note that it is nothing like standard practice wadcutters, which don't have hard cast bullets so don't penetrate as deeply, which are lower power, and which aren't designed for short barrels.

Standard Pressure Short Barrel Low Flash Heavy .38 Special Pistol & Handgun Ammunition

Standard Pressure Short Barrel Low Flash Heavy .38 Special Field Proven pistol and handgun ammo. Maximum firepower bullets. Best ammunition for pistols and handguns for sale. Buffalo Bore. Strictly big bore. Strictly Business.

www.buffalobore.com

Do I feel undergunned carrying a .38sp load in my .357 mag revolver? No. Since its designed for short barrels and the .357 loads I used to carry were not, I have probably lost little power. And I've gained a round I'm convinced can stop a bear with a head shot. Which even a full power .357 mag jhp shot from a longer barrel would not necessarily do. And with respect to home SD I have never heard of a personal attack or even theft in my neighborhood, but we do have bears and cougars. And I won't damage my hearing if I have to fire the gun indoors or from inside a car.

The hearing damage is a big issue for me. Even now, at age 78, I still hear as well or better than the deer. I can still hear a caterpillar chewing on a leaf from 20' away if its a big caterpillar. My vision has deteriorated a good bit recently, and I've been nearsighted since 3rd grade. But my hearing is my superpower. I want to retain it.

 

[Capn Jack]

I only load, (cast) one bullet for both 9mm and .38spl.
It's a 145gr. Keith HP. It works well with BullsEye
in .38spl. and #7 Pistol in 9mm.

*Note, I've made a plug so that I can cast the bullet as a solid if needed.

 

[salmon creek gary]

I load my revolvers and semiautomatics alike with Underwood Xtreme Defender ammo. Unless it's winter clothing time; then I bring out the Xtreme Penetrator. That much is totally true. As to my reasons?

Those coppery crosspoint Lehigh bullets look so cool, and that guaranteed 2-inch permanent wound channel seems really badass. Best of all, it is liberating to have zero worry about a hollow point that could get clothing-clogged and fail to sting.

Admittedly, the initial cost per round is high, but that sure inhibits the impulse to mag dump. Same-same the pesky urge to expend EDC ammo annually just to see if it still goes bang; any uncertainty . . . 'will it or won't it?' . . . can only reinforce the mindset . . . 'don't go stupid places'.

Whoa, where's that emoji for "tongue in cheek"?

 

[salmon creek gary]

On the subject of 9mm revolvers . Any factory ammo more or less prone to bullet jump in cartridge case ?
I would assume handloading would address this with a decent crimp , knowledge of specific bullets that perform better in the role, etc

I speculate that the lighter the revolver, the greater issue bullet jump becomes. I wrote years ago about my LCR9 and the extreme bullet jump that occurred with Blazer Brass (short story, bullets from the last two rounds simply fell out of the cylinder after firing 3 shots).

I did some testing later, marking all cartridges beforehand with permanent ink and examining the remaining rounds after each shot fired. Blazer Brass consistently exhibited the same bullet jump; conclusion, a PITA on the range, bordering on hazardous. Although American Eagle ammo (147 gr IIRC) stayed put well enough to actually get all 5 rounds downrange, it did suffer from noticeably incremental bullet creep. Interestingly, each successive round impacted progressively higher on the target.

The other brands that I marked & tested have been long forgotten. All were more expensive, especially the "carry" rounds. Although most showed slight bullet creep, it was nothing that seemed significant to me.

 

[nammac]

On the subject of 9mm revolvers . Any factory ammo more or less prone to bullet jump in cartridge case ?
I would assume handloading would address this with a decent crimp , knowledge of specific bullets that perform better in the role, etc

Need to get a good firm crimp on those reloads to prevent bullet creep or jump. Didn't realize this the first time out and experienced both. Now rounds destined for the revolver are sufficiently crimped and marked accordingly.

 

[maerdlong]

Pistol or Revolver: What is your preferred carry load?

As for myself, I really like the Critical Defense 9mm 115 gr. for my primary gun.

I carry the HST 147gr or the 124gr, based on https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/self-defense-ammo-ballistic-tests/#9mm for my 9mm pistols. You know... science, right?