How Do You Decide What Bullet Weight To Use?

[gringop]

For myself, I find heavier loads have less perceived recoil in my handguns, I see it in 9mm 147gr vs 115, in 40 180gr vs 165, and in 45 230gr vs 200. This is for full power duty ammo.

For practice and competition I reload 124gr FMJ, if I were a more serious competitor, I would not worry about the expense and go up to a 148gr bullet.

I'm currently carrying 147 gr. Golden Sabers and when I run low on them I'm sure I will replace them with either the same thing or a 147gr equivalent from Doc's list.

Ultimately, no practical carry handgun is a magic hammer of Thor and all that we can reasonably expect is that they act as a somewhat long range drill press to make holes in things. Better to spend time ensuring that we can use the drill press to the best of our ability then worry about tungsten carbide vs cobalt vs high speed steel drill bits. Just don't use Chinesium drill bits.

Gringop

[LSP552]

1. On Doc’s list

2. Reliable in my pistol

3. Shoots to the sights.

In general, I prefer the 147 HST. I have a couple of guns that just do better with 124+P Gold Dot so that’s what they get fed.

[JBP55]

Formerly used 124+P Gold Dot or HST for carry depending on availability and 124 American Eagle for range.
Recently switched to 147 HST for carry and 147 American Eagle for range.
I never had any ammunition issues in any of my 9mm pistols.

[RevolverRob]

I check the accuracy of my given load, by shooting off the bench. Then pick the load that works best in that gun.

Turns out all of my 9mm guns like either 124-grain Gold Dot or HST or 147-grain HST. So, I use those loadings. In .45 ACP I just run 230-grain HSTs or Gold Dots. I've never met a .45 that cared much about bullet weight, lighter bullets are a little better in shorter guns, but if the barrel is ~4" or longer a 230-grain JHP will work fine.

Far pickier, in my experience, are fixed sight .38 Special revolvers. Many of which were regulated from the factory with 158-grain bullets at ~800 fps. Even though there are better lighter bullets (135-grain Gold Dot Short Barrel, for instance), they do not always shoot to the sights. This is a real frustration with those guns. I sometimes have to pick through a few different loadings to find something that hits where I want.

All of my POA/POI testing and accuracy testing is done at 25-yards. I shoot it off a bench rest to help eliminate the shooter as a variable in performance.

[UNM1136]

Sad to say, I(and my dept) rely on the largest department in the state. I don't know how well they test, but I have been to a couple of body armor shoots. We used to issue Gold Dot, but now are HST 124 gr devotees.

Hst 230s for those using fat bullets.

@DocKGR saved my agency a decade ago from an administrator who thought the .17 HMR was the patrol rifle cartridge of the future....

pat

[Cypher]

@DocKGR saved my agency a decade ago from an administrator who thought the .17 HMR was the patrol rifle cartridge of the future....

pat

Seriously?

[O4L]

As a starting point, I select mid-range weight projectiles. They usually provide a good velocity and energy balance. Then I tweak from there to dial in accuracy for a given firearm.

Cypher, would you please share link to Dr. Roberts' list?

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

[Rick R]

We had a sheriff who became enamored of the FN P90 because it looked cool. He even nicknamed it the “mouse”. Luckily his term ended before he found funding to put a mouse in every car. Not much better than the .17HMR IMHO.

I figure that Herr Luger designed the 9mm around a 124(ish) grain bullet and those old guys kinda knew what they were doing. Modern bullets just make it more better. I either carry 124gr +P in either Gold Dot or Winchester bonded flavor.

[Totem Polar]

Something that Greg Hamilton told me decades ago still sticks: I tend to use the weight that the guns were originally designed around. Add a sprinkling of DocGKR’s modern bullet design, and it’s pretty easy—especially for a guy raised on trips to the snake river and Lewiston, ID.

124 GDHP (either pressure rating) in 9mm
230 GDHP in .45
135 GDHP in .38 (or 148-158gr in old school loads)
200 GDHP (or 240 Keith) in .44spec
158gr in .357 (since that cartridge is pretty much a woods bumming round for me—I’d use either silvertip 145or 135gr GDHP .357 if for some reason I was carrying a King cobra or M65 in urban digs)

Etc.

[ST911]

So do you just pick whichever weight is on sale?

No, test results.