I'm not trying to turn a 9mm into a 10mm, but I have heard of 9mm approaching .357 magnum-ish performance...

Recommendations for a hard hitting 9mm round for deep penetration without fragmentation?

Buffalo Bore

Something like this?

I think Underwood has something like that.

Yes, BB sure does. It's a 147gr +P Hard Cast truncated cone... It hits hard, really hard especially out of barrels 3.5"+ barrels! It's my woods load now and has been for a bit. It won't totally replace my .45Super; (of which I use BB's 255gr Hard Cast), but it sure is nice to have 18+1 capacity in my CZ SP-01 and another 18 round reload on tap as of late!

I presume you mean for woods protection?

Buffalo Bore has a good hardcast for 9mm. While you really don't wanna use it, there was a guide in Alaska that stopped a bear with it.

I like the Lehigh XTreme Penetrator copper bullet. Underwood loads it hottest I believe. it's a consistently penetrating copper bullet shaped like a screwdriver. There is some marketing bs about the flutes doing damage but I think it's a good woods option for the 9mm.

For a deepish penetrating hollowpoint you can get a 147gr XTP ... it will penetrate less than the above though and WAY less than hardcast.


Also I would prefer bear spreay to .454 Casull against bears. If you are concerned about bears I'd get some bear spray.

Yeah bear spray does work, but I'm not really THAT worried about bear attack.

I was just throwing some ideas around for the man with a lot of 9mm guns. I think the idea of the potential / ability to draw and get many shots on target vs. large heavy recoiling slow shooting revolvers has some merit when it comes to woods defense.

Not too long ago I was hiking with my son and we were surprised by a large pack of wild pigs, some damn big ones. Luckily I surprised them too so they ran in the other direction. It happened so fast, it was over and they were gone before I had a chance to draw, if that's what I needed to do. It was scary as shit at the time but it made me think that I might rather have something I can shoot fast and accurate, since I'm not Jerry Miculek with a big wheelgun.

Loaded with Buffalo Bore stuff like what is shown above would be better than harsh language, or missing with a .44mag.

Makes sense. By the way here is that story I mentioned http://www.wideopenspaces.com/alaska-man-kills-charging-brown-bear-with-a-9mm-pistol/

I just bought the 9mm BB Outdoorsman. I too am not that worried about the 4 legged threat, but it's a small price to pay if needed. I went back and forth between the 9mm and .38spl Outdoorsman, but the extra capacity, quick reloads, and the ability to load them in my full size hand gun led me to the 9mm. I was surprised how easy the recoil was in my Sig 290. It did smoke like I've never seen before. Must be something to help protect the barrel from the hard cast Keith bullet. As far as Underwood goes, they do not have a hard cast 9mm.