[Mitch Drews]

Hello all,
If anyone remembers my short lived post about just having bought an XD (freakin' script kiddy) I am trying to decide what ammunition to carry with it. I've read just about everything on the forum, and in honesty there seems to be no general consensus as to what is best. So, I thought I'd ask about a specific ammo, and then throw in what I'm looking for to narrow the field.
At my local shop they have Speer GoldDot 124 Grn. GDHP which is recalssified LEO only stuff onsale for $15.20/50rnds that is a hell of a deal IMO and just thought I'd get some opinions on it - Gold Dots seemed to be recommended on the forum here.
Besides that, I think I also need to consider that I live in an area where we are heavy jacket weather for better than half of the year so I need to find something that won't plug up and fail to expand should it have to go thru a heavy jacket. Any reccomendations on that?
Preferably, I want only one type of carry ammo vs. having different types depending on the weather. Thnx all

-Mitchell R. Drews

P.S. I know I really didn't ask a question(s) there, but just had thoughts and wanted to get advice or feedback from everyone. Thnx again

 

[MoJo]

CorBon DPX is highly recommended for the use you are considering. Gold Dot, Golden Saber, and Hydra Shock will also do very nicely.

 

[Big K]

I personally like (9mm & 45acp) Hydra-Shock's, they feed in almost everything, are fairly reasonably priced, readily available and have a very good one-shot stop record.

 

[krsjuan]

A few months ago I bought 1000 rounds of the 9mm +p 124gr re classified stuff from www.ammoman.com for almost half of that price. They ran out but they still have 9MM 115GR fro $179 for a thousand rounds.

 

[Rappy77]

For defense....Hydro shock......

For Plinking whatevers cheap. The XD will spit out anything!

 

[Verm]

There isn't much difference in ammo nowadays. The biggest reason to choose one brand over the other is how it feeds and shoots in your particular firearm.

I use Ranger SXTs, Silver Tips, Hydrashoks or Corbons in the heaviest weights. All of these feed reliably in my guns and all do the job they are intended to do.

 

[Mitch Drews]

I've been coming back to this post and reading what everyone has been adding, a big TY to all who replied, and have been looking up information on the different rounds recommended. All I have to say to that is...Gah!!
It seems like everyone who does "consistent testing" gets different results from the next guy who does "consistent testing".
I think basically what it's going to come down to here is me finding a brand of ammo that I can afford, test it to make sure it works in my gun and call it good. TY to everyone who replied, I'm not trying to get on you all but this question is apparently a little more complex than I thought.

-Mitchell R. Drews

 

[Brickboy240]

The best thing is to carry ammo that you KNOW is ultra reliable and that you know where it hits, concearning your sights.

My Xd is a 40, but when I carry a 9x19mm pistol, it is my Belgian Hi-Power. I usually carry 147gr Winchester XTPs in it. These hit point-top-aim with the Hi-Power's sights and have never given me a feed problem.

I tried the 124gr Hydra-Shoks (becuase I like 230gr Hydra-Shoks in my 1911) but they printed too low. They were reliable (as it almost everything I throw in the Hi-Power) but I wanted ammo that shot exactly to the sights. Cor Bons also threw way too low at the range.

Experiment a little. You also need to see which round will group the best.

There are several good defensive rounds: Remington, Winchester, Federals, Cor Bons..whatever, but test them first, because reliability and knowing where your pistol hits is crucial.

-brickboy240

 

[bama1911]

Speer 115gr +P+ GDHP

 

[C.H.Luke]

Ranger T-Series 127 gr. +P+........

 

[RicochetJim]

Federal Hydra-shoks. It's just a matter of preference and convenience for me. I'm sure there are others which may have data that says they are slightly better. But, hey, the hydra-shoks will do the job . . . and they seem to feed flawlessly in my XD's. Which, BTW, is a word to the wise: be sure and run a couple of boxes of your choice self-defense ammo through your XD to check it out -- don't let the first time you use the JHP's be when you really need 'em. :mrgreen:

 

[MoJo]

Mitch,

If you are looking for a good, reliable, affordable, carry round you can't go wrong with the Winchester USA (White Box) 115 gr JHP. A box of 50 sells for about $10. It runs in all three of my 9mm guns. This is the ammo you can buy at Wal Mart. The UMC 115 gr JHP looks promising but, I haven't tested it for reliability.

 

[blackpanther]

In the winter I only use federal EFMJ because I know they will expand thru a heavy wool coat are what ever.The hollow points I don't trust to expand.Just my personal preferance.

Ed

 

[ARCENG]

MoJo.......
I bought a box of Winchester USA White Box,115 gr. FMJ, 100 rnd. value pack today for $10.96 from Wal-Mart. It is target/range ammo, so yours might be different. However, my carry ammo is Remington Golden Saber, 124 gr. (+P) JHP with a price tag of $17.99 for a box of 25 rnds.
IMHO, you don't want to skimp and save if your is at stake.

Regards...........

C....

 

[TeamXD]

Black talon 127 gr. for my personal carry in my XD-Tactical 9MM.

 

[Mitch Drews]

Arceng,
You do make a good point about not skimping on carry ammo, since my life does depend on it. Hrmmm, well I guess it gives me another excuse to go to the range.

-Mitchell R. Drews

 

[Fly-Sig]

First, the reclassified Gold Dots are from a batch which had some kind of quality control issue and Speer did not want it to be used by law enforcement in case it didn't perform. I don't know what the problem was, but it was bad enough that Speer didn't want LEOs to use it in life critical situations. It wasn't so bad that the stuff is dangerous to shoot through a gun, though.

Second, a brand which works well in one caliber may be total junk in another caliber, and vice versa. If you want good 9mm ammo don't pay any attention to what works well in 40, 45, 10mm, 380, etc.

Third, I'm one of those guys who has done a fair amount of testing of 9mm defensive ammo. My carry ammo is the Remington 124 gr Golden Saber +P. I would be just as happy to carry the Speer 124 gr +P but it is harder to find around here than the Golden Saber.

The ones I definitely would never carry are the Hydra-Shok and the plain SXT. The CorBon JHP also performed poorly for me. I can't recall offhand what all the brands were that I've tested, but they included plain hollow points, cheap stuff, and expensive brand name premium defensive rounds. Whatever I could find at the local gun stores.

The critical factors are penetration and expansion. THe Golden Saber and the Gold Dot all performed exceptionally well. The others all suffered from poor penetration, failed to expand, had jacket seperation, and/or fragmented. The test setup was a calibrated "Fackler Box" where I could measure the penetration and recover the bullet and fragments. THe bullets only had to penetrate one layer of a zip lock baggie before entering the water trough, so there should not have been any problems with clogging of the hollow points or other extraneous factors.

The lighter rounds tended to have poor penetration and generally suffered fragmentation and jacket seperation. In hollow point ammo I did not find anything in the 115 gr or lighter flavors that performed well. In some guns the 147 gr ammo doesn't feed well. For me the 124 gr performed the best, although there was little difference in the Golden Saber or Gold Dots between the two weights.

The CorBon Pow'r Ball looks like a very interesting round which has had good reviews, as has the Expanding Full Metal Jacket round. I haven't tested these yet so I continue to carry the Golden Sabers.

 

[DanaT]

Third, I'm one of those guys who has done a fair amount of testing of 9mm defensive ammo.

Wow. Are you in somewhere like Iraq to be abel to test 9mm ammo in a defensive situation?

Really, jello tests, wet phone books, etc are nice, but they won't always tell you the whole story. If you could simulate a human body with jello, I would sleep much easier. Hell, I am only trying to simulate skin and that has proven to be a real challenge.

My point is, lab tests only go so far, then you have to use real bodies (and for "stopping power most likely live ones) to get definative information.

I would be that you could find millions that were killed easily by ineffective 9mmFMJ...

-Dana

 

[Fly-Sig]

Third, I'm one of those guys who has done a fair amount of testing of 9mm defensive ammo.

Wow. Are you in somewhere like Iraq to be abel to test 9mm ammo in a defensive situation?

Really, jello tests, wet phone books, etc are nice, but they won't always tell you the whole story. If you could simulate a human body with jello, I would sleep much easier. Hell, I am only trying to simulate skin and that has proven to be a real challenge.

My point is, lab tests only go so far, then you have to use real bodies (and for "stopping power most likely live ones) to get definative information.

I would be that you could find millions that were killed easily by ineffective 9mmFMJ...

-Dana

Well, I am honored to have been enlightened by your vast amount of information, Dana. I was shocked to learn that the current state of the art in ammunition testing is useless.

When you have done your live human tests be sure to post the data here so we can all benefit from it. For the time being, though, the best we have is calibrated gelatin to tell us if bullets will expand reliably, if they fragment, if the jackets seperate, and their relative penetrations.

I know that my current carry ammo will perform as well as any and better than most, and I know that my previous choice of carry ammo likely would fragment and fail to penetrate well.

As far as I'm concerned, you are free to put your faith in "one shot stop" data, but I'm not going to bet my life on flawed data.

You're also free to put your trust in FMJ since it has killed so many people.