I use 9mm Magtech 124gr at the range.

Need help selecting a good personal defense / home defense round.

147 gr Gold Dot hollow points.

My experience with magtech ammo is that it's VERY dirty- lots of unburnt powder and lots of smoke compared to other ammo

I have done a LOT of ballistic gel testing and the most consistent round was the Federal HST 124gr standard pressure. It penetrated to 18" and expanded to average of .622. It worked through  bare gel, 5.3 oz cotton, 4 layers of denim and Winter wear with one layer of medium weight nylon outer medium weight polyester fill, one layer of polartec 200gr and one layer of T-shirt Hanes cotton.  The other one that did remarkably well was Corbon DPX 115+P  that routinely penetrated to 16" and expanded to .685" average
Tests were conducted with Glock models G43, G19 and G17

Shot placement and sufficient penetration are paramount, all else is secondary. I doubt a BG could tell the difference if shot w/any of the quality 9mm loads currently available, especially since all handguns are relatively poor 'stoppers' regardless of caliber or bullet used.
I carry Hornady's 135gr std pressure Critical Duty for assured penetration at the cost of some expansion.

Tomac

Based primarily on TNOutdoors9's gel testing, anything HST.

+1

124+p GDHP or 147 are both good  Same weight in the HST would be fine as well.

Any opinions on 124 vs 147 HST?  Since I practice with 124, should I use 124 for personal defense?

Make sure they both work well in your gun. Next I found the 124 performed much more consistently, I was very surprised to have the 147 in the shorter G43 barrel fail to expand through denim

Glock 43
Weather 42*, Humidity 86%, Pressure 29.8inHg
Winter wear with one layer of medium weight nylon outer polyester fill, one layer of polartec 200gr and one layer of T-shirt Hanes cotton.
Federal HST 124gr standard penetrated to 15", expansion .628", second round 18 1/2" penetration and .614 expansion
Federal HST 147gr standard pressure penetrated to 16" expanded .614", second round penetrated to 18 1/2" and expanded .595"
Underwood Xtreme defense 90gr+P penetrated to 17 1/2" no expansion
These Xtreme defense rounds in .45 and 9mm are extremely consistent as all of them penetrate to 17-17 1/2"
So I took out my 380 Underwood 90gr Xtreme Penetrator and out of my LCP II it penetrated 17 1/2"!
Corbon DPX 115 +P penetrated 16" with beautiful expansion of .685". Both .45 DPX 185+P and 115+P were very consistent in all media's
Critical defense penetrated to 11 1/2" and expanded to .485"
I will continue to carry the HST standard pressure as it has been the only HST in 9mm to continuously expand and penetrate. It does seem that you will be well protected in virtually any of these rounds.

I also tested 9mm out of a Glock 43 with 4 layers of Denim
HST 124gr standard pressure was the clear and decisive winner by a land slide
5 out of 5 penetrated to 18 1/2" and all expanded beautifully
Hst 147 and 147+P also clogged with denim and some 3 expanded and 2 passed through 20" block with no expansion
Speer gold dots 124+P did not perform well. Only 1 expanded and penetrated to 14". the 4 others did not expand and passed through 20"

My choices for 9mm:

- Federal HST 147gr. standard pressure
- Speer GDHP 124gr. +P
- Black Hills XTP 124gr. +P
- Winchester Ranger T 127gr. +P+

Federal HST 147gr standard pressure.

Old faithful...

I practice with 124g Geco or Blazer and carry 124g standard pressure HST's in my XDS and G19.

Just messing around today I decided to put a layer of jean denim over a water jug and lined several jugs in a row. Shot them using the XDS with a 3.3" barrel and 124g hst.

This is the bullet I recovered in the 3rd jug...the last jug. I had a pack of print paper behind the 3rd jug. It actually penetrated the jug and bounced off the paper and back into the jug.

Attached File


Measured roughly 5/8" (no calipers) without any signs of clogging from the denim. Not scientific by any means, but a lot of fun.

I might try a 147g HST tomorrow.

What he said....

You not going to see much SD difference in real life. I don't carry 9mm but all my SD 9mm is 124+p GDHP.

Federal HST 147grn is what I use. But you'll be good with almost any modern 9mm hollow point.

Speer Gold Dot 124 +p or any of the HST loads. Make sure to get the Law Enforcement 50rd boxes that are available online.

Service Caliber Handgun Duty and Self Defense Loads from DocGKR

You really cannot go wrong with the Federal HST, Speer Gold Dot, or Winchester Ranger loads. I would really encourage you to order it online in 50 round boxes.

I think any of the general self defense loads will be fine (Federal HST, Speer Gold Dot, Remington Golden Saber, Winchester Ranger T, Corbon DPX, Hornady Critical Duty) but I enjoy splitting hairs for fun.

Overall based on my research, Corbon DPX (solid copper hollow-point) will expand through heavy clothing/barriers better than any other hollow-point. They have a new version that expands to .85. However, while it expands into nice sharp petals and is consistent it tends to penetrate less than other loads. It will sometimes do 11.5in in gel. So that is something to consider.

I want a bullet that will pass through the spine from any angle, as that will guarantee a stop. I am carrying Underwood 147gr XTP +P in my Glock43. If I want a lighter load that will expand very dependably through any type of clothing I go with 115gr Corbon DPX.

My carry ammo (which is my duty ammo, so I get it free) is the Speer Gold Dot 124gr +P.
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Other great choices are: Federal HST 124gr or 147gr, Winchester Ranger-T (124gr or 147gr) and Cor-Bon DPX 115gr.