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Thread: How Do Decide What Kind Of Ammunition To Buy ?

  1. #1
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    How Do Decide What Kind Of Ammunition To Buy ?

    My basic question is how do you decide on a particular brand/type of carry ammunition? I carry Hornady Critical Defense but I've seen some reviews that say it doesn't expand reliably. Maybe it does maybe it doesn't but I'm not sure how to research it. I carry Hornady because a gun shop employee handed me a box when I bought my M&P.

    My 3 top choices based on reputation are

    Ranger T (which is almost a nonstarter since it's almost impossible to find)

    Golden Saber (did the best in the reviews)

    Speer Gold Dots ( I hear good things about it here and Cornered Cat just specifically recommended it to me)

    I want to know HOW to figure it out

  2. #2
    Four String Fumbler Joe in PNG's Avatar
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    First, I go by what's on Doc's list
    Next, keep an eye on what people in the know are using.
    Then, what can I find easily available in 50 round boxes.

    With that, I've finalized on Federal 147 HST.
    "You win 100% of the fights you avoid. If you're not there when it happens, you don't lose." - William Aprill
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  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Joe in PNG View Post
    First, I go by what's on Doc's list
    Next, keep an eye on what people in the know are using.
    Then, what can I find easily available in 50 round boxes.

    With that, I've finalized on Federal 147 HST.

    If you mean this


    https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....f-Defense-Ammo

    That is exactly what Cornered Cat said. Basically she said anything on that list was good.

  4. #4
    Do you have any special requirements? Thick-skinned game, vehicle penetration, etc.?

    Knowing my own limitations, I wanted the mildest load that would still give good performance. Looking at Doc's list, if you subtract all the +P options there isn't much left. So I carry the 147 HST and try to use Lawman or American Eagle 147 for training.

  5. #5
    Site Supporter Hambo's Avatar
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    In the past I used what the department gave me. Now that I'm my ammo provider I buy any 147gr that is on Doc's list. When ammo was scarce I bought anything I could find that was on Doc's list. Don't overthink it.
    "Gunfighting is a thinking man's game. So we might want to bring thinking back into it."-MDFA

  6. #6
    Three or four years ago, I decided to stick with one load if at all possible to simplify regulation of sights and vetting reliability. I picked the Gold Dot 124+P because it was on Doc’s list, available relatively inexpensively in 50 round boxes from SGammo and other places, has been accurate for me in multiple platforms, and I think +P might make a pistol work better when dirty or shooting with a compromised grip. I keep some HST 147 around for pistols that require it for sight regulation, and some Underwood Lehigh penetrator loads, but otherwise that is it for non ball 9mm ammo for me.
    Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.

  7. #7
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    The info in the linked thread with DocGKR's comments plus other threads here led me to my choice of carry ammo. I settled on 147gr Federal HST and use nothing else. You probably can't go wrong if you choose from the list. Find practice ammo that offers performance and shooting characteristics that closely match your carry ammo. Like Hambo said, don't overthink it.

  8. #8
    Site Supporter Odin Bravo One's Avatar
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    My three criteria are:

    Is it inherently inexpensive?

    Is it on sale?

    Is it free?

    If the answer isn't "yes", then I don't buy it. But I like discussions like this. They, like so many other topics recently are good for hours of entertainment.......... I especially like to hear "why" when people completely unqualified share their methodology.
    You can get much more of what you want with a kind word and a gun, than with a kind word alone.

  9. #9
    I am definitely unqualified in the field of ballistics, so I read Doc's ammunition reviews.
    This country needs an enema- Blues approved sig line

  10. #10
    THE THIRST MUTILATOR Nephrology's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GJM View Post
    Three or four years ago, I decided to stick with one load if at all possible to simplify regulation of sights and vetting reliability. I picked the Gold Dot 124+P because it was on Doc’s list, available relatively inexpensively in 50 round boxes from SGammo and other places, has been accurate for me in multiple platforms, and I think +P might make a pistol work better when dirty or shooting with a compromised grip. I keep some HST 147 around for pistols that require it for sight regulation, and some Underwood Lehigh penetrator loads, but otherwise that is it for non ball 9mm ammo for me.
    This, but in reverse (stocking 147gr HSTs, with 124 +P Speer GDs around for pistols that shoot too low with 147grs). I consider Speer and Federal's 124+P/147gr offerings to be equivalent in quality in every meaningful way.

    I do not buy Winchester ammunition anymore after having multiple problems with their ammunition, and reading posts here by many others who suggest that this is a systematic problem attributable to Winchester QC.

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