The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - what is your carry load for home defense or self defense

chaim · October 6, 2012, 11:30 AM

I do not have a daily carry since I live in MD. When carrying around the house, or when in a state that will take my UT non-res permit, I have several carry guns and calibers to choose from (and even more for guns I have loaded for home defense but I don't carry around the apartment).

In .38spl (+P of course) and 9mm I only use Speer Gold Dot in the 125gr range. In other calibers I do prefer Gold Dot, but I trust the performance of .40S&W, .45LC and .45ACP enough that I don't think ammo selection is as important, so I buy whatever premium defensive ammo is on sale. I do still prefer Gold Dot, but right now I mostly have some 180gr Remington JHP's for .40S&W and some 185gr Magtech in .45ACP (I am currently out of defensive ammo for .45LC so my 625MG is currently not in the HD rotation).

In .380, until recently I was in the camp that felt that the penetration of FMJ or truncated cone ammo was preferable to the expansion of JHP. Recent research on my part has changed my mind (even in .380, jacketed non-HP rounds can over penetrate, many JHP loadings penetrate more than sufficiently). I am currently evaluating several, but will probably go with Gold Dot, Hydrashok, or something from Hornady.

October 6, 2012, 11:30 AM	#51
chaim Senior Member Join Date: December 11, 2001 Location: Maryland Posts: 2,095	I do not have a daily carry since I live in MD. When carrying around the house, or when in a state that will take my UT non-res permit, I have several carry guns and calibers to choose from (and even more for guns I have loaded for home defense but I don't carry around the apartment). In .38spl (+P of course) and 9mm I only use Speer Gold Dot in the 125gr range. In other calibers I do prefer Gold Dot, but I trust the performance of .40S&W, .45LC and .45ACP enough that I don't think ammo selection is as important, so I buy whatever premium defensive ammo is on sale. I do still prefer Gold Dot, but right now I mostly have some 180gr Remington JHP's for .40S&W and some 185gr Magtech in .45ACP (I am currently out of defensive ammo for .45LC so my 625MG is currently not in the HD rotation). In .380, until recently I was in the camp that felt that the penetration of FMJ or truncated cone ammo was preferable to the expansion of JHP. Recent research on my part has changed my mind (even in .380, jacketed non-HP rounds can over penetrate, many JHP loadings penetrate more than sufficiently). I am currently evaluating several, but will probably go with Gold Dot, Hydrashok, or something from Hornady. Last edited by chaim; October 6, 2012 at 04:59 PM.