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Thread: How Do You Decide What Bullet Weight To Use?

  1. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Cypher View Post
    For what it's worth and I honestly don't know if it changes anything or not but my practice ammunition and my self-defense ammunition are both 124 grain.
    I figure I am like a bazillion other people that carry 124g and do most practice with 115g, I am sure you are set pretty well with 124g/124g. The only question would be if you might be slightly better off with the new fangled (just kidding, it is well established) 147g stuff, especially some of the new ones the FBI has somewhat motivated the continued development of.

    IMO the free market is a great helper here, Speer and Hornady and the others are competing to sell ammo, so I am comfortable accepting that none of the major brands are going to leave themselves competitively venerable to any large degree. So I figure if I/you get some Gold Dot or HST you will be where ya need to be.

  2. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cypher View Post
    I don't think those are A1s because they've got the muzzle brake on them.
    You're right, the A1s had longer tubes and the A2s had muzzle brakes.

  3. #13
    Site Supporter Hambo's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cypher View Post
    Why would you use a 115 grain over a 124 grain or why would you pick a 147 grain over a 115 grain?
    Bigger hammer, Doc says it's GTG, and I'm carrying a 5" barreled pistol.

    Quote Originally Posted by mmc45414 View Post
    To me the 147g idea seems wacky, but DrR himself has me on the path of being convinced otherwise, and I just bought some G2 and HST and am screwing around with it to see exactly how far off it may or may not be from the common practice ammo.

    I reload, but if you do not sticking closer to all of the commonly available inexpensive practice ammo might be a consideration. My current thinking is the kind of practice I do, I can make sure I am POI with the carry ammo, and if the practice ammo is a little off it will still hit an 8" plate.
    My test is The Test. I shoot my 115gr reloads in my range gun and 147gr HST in my carry gun. Scores are 97-98 plus X's using both pistols and their ammo.
    "Gunfighting is a thinking man's game. So we might want to bring thinking back into it."-MDFA

  4. #14
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    124+p in anything that has a 4”+ barrel and a full grip.

    147 in subcompacts with a shorter barrel than 4” and a two-finger grip.

  5. #15
    Gun manufacturers typically chamber their barrels to "optimally" perform with a certain grain. It is usually 124gr for 9mm.
    From there I simply pick a couple from Doc's list, confirm function and POI and roll with it.

  6. #16
    Site Supporter OlongJohnson's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cypher View Post
    FWIW THIS is the Hammer Of Thor



    1,442,000 grains and very definitely plus P
    No, this is.

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    .
    -----------------------------------------
    Not another dime.

  7. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by OlongJohnson View Post
    No, this is.

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    Lots of luck using that in the Fulda Gap.

    That said, do you see they shock wave in the water? I bet it kills fish 50 feet down

  8. #18
    Site Supporter 0ddl0t's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cypher View Post
    So how do you choose? Why would you use a 115 grain over a 124 grain or why would you pick a 147 grain over a 115 grain?
    Ammo weight is not a selection criterion for me. I look at gel tests others have done using pistols with the same barrel length I intend to use and exclude any ammo that fails to consistently expand and stay within 12-18" penetration. Ideally, I want to see the ammo perform well with & without heavy denim as well as through real ordinance gel & clear gel.

    I'll then take that list of "good enough terminal performance" ammo and whittle it down based on price & availability.

    I then take the remaining contenders and shoot under a variety of conditions and from unusual & weak positions to ensure they function properly in my guns. Then I conduct a 25 yard accuracy test and note both the group size and point of impact - giving preference to defense ammo that shoots near to the same POI as my practice ammo.

    Finally I look at the top ~5 or so contenders and pick one based on a balance of price, accuracy/precision, gel tests, street cred, felt recoil, and law/litigation potential.* For my 3" barrel and low price per round requirement, the contenders wound up being Critical Defense 115 ($0.60), HST 124 ($0.40), HST 147 ($0.40), and Winchester Train & Defend 147 ($0.32) with Remington UMC 115 ($0.28) & WWB 115 ($0.30) being a distant tie for 5th. I went with HST 124 in large part due to HST's street cred (including being on Doc's list) and the fact that some HST 147 tests *looked* like the bullets were close to dropping below the expansion threshold from 3" guns...




    * For instance, even if it passed all other criteria I'd exclude RIP ammo with its box proclaiming "radically invasive projectile" because it would needlessly look bad in court. And I'd exclude any ammo which is not typically sold to civilians because I sometimes travel to San Francisco where civilians cannot have:

    "Ammunition designated by its manufacturer for purchase by law enforcement or military agencies only, unless other ammunition is available to the general public that has physical properties resulting in ballistics performance identical to such ammunition."





    PS: Is street cred short for street credibility or street credentials?
    Last edited by 0ddl0t; 10-26-2019 at 01:40 PM.

  9. #19
    Member Balisong's Avatar
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    I go with 147 because of how seemingly consistent it performs out of all barrel sizes from subcompacts up to 5"+ barrels.

    Now as I eventually get better at shooting, if I determine I get better accuracy out of a certain gun with a 124 +p then maybe I'll consider switching for specific guns. But for now it's 147 across the board.

  10. #20
    Site Supporter Trooper224's Avatar
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    I use 124 rather than 147, simply because the 124s shoot to POA whereas the 147s shoot significantly above POA in my guns. Everything else is moot.
    We may lose and we may win, but we will never be here again.......

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