Your pistols and your favorite ammo for them

[chrisintexas]

What grains and brands of self defense/practice ammo you found works best in your pistols? Thanks so much.

[Model12Win]

Winny 124s.

[PushPuller]

Okay.... Iv got a bit of a spread for mine.

Sig P238- 95gr JHP Privi Partizan or Sig 100gr FMJ

CZ 75B & SP-01- 124gr is most preferred. I like to stick with Sellier & Bellot, Federal, Magtech, and PPU.

Colt Commander - 230 gr Federal or Remington. Lately iv really been liking the 185 gr SJHPs for the range.


All the pistols that shoot 9X18 Makarov get whatever I can find the cheapest. Mainly steel case Tulammo, which is actually reasonable accurate and so far 100% reliable.

[pblanc]

Well, I have pistols chambered in 22 LR, 9 mm Luger, 357 SIG, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP and a revolver chambered in 38 Special and 357 Magnum.

I'll limit myself to the auto-loaders chambered in calibers other than 22 LR.

For FMJ ammunition, I generally prefer 124 grain to 115 grain when it comes to 9 mm. In .40 caliber I usually shoot 180 grain, occasionally 165 grain. In .45 ACP usually 230 grain, occasionally 185 grain. In 357 SIG I have only shot 125 grain.

I have shot a lot of brands of commercial FMJ brass-case ammo. I have had the very occasional problem with all of them. Some of the brands that seem to give me results that are a bit more consistent are Speer Lawman, Federal American Eagle, Sellier & Bellot, and Winchester 124 grain NATO.

I have also had pretty good results with Blazer Brass, Magtech, Geco, Aguila, and PMC. Remington green box and Prvi Partizan (PPU) are OK as is the brass-case pistol ammo sold by Academy Sports under their "Monarch" brand, which is actually PPU. I have had a few more issues with Winchester white box although I still buy it if the price is right.

For JHP ammunition, I generally go with either Federal HST (which seems to have excellent performance across all calibers) or Speer Gold Dot as a second choice. But I have also used Remington Golden Saber 180 grain .40 S&W as well as some Hornady Critical Defense and Critical Duty in 9 mm, and Critical Duty in .40 S&W.

[mgulino]

Win white box 115 or 124 grains FMJ for 9mm (SD). I also reload these for the 9mm, but don't use reloads for SD.

I only shoot reloads for the 45 ACP (230 grain RN) and 357 (158 RN or FP).

[TailGator]

9 mm: Gold Dot 124 grain for defense, home made with 124 grain round nose plated bullets for practice. Used a heap of WWB and UMC before I started reloading. It was OK for what it was, which was cheaply made plinking ammo. My own is cheaper and better.
.380: Critical Defense for carry, home rolled with 100 grain round nose flat point plated bullets for practice.

[RickB]

I tend toward the heavy end of the scale for bullet weight, in all calibers.
Penetration is second only to marksmanship, and heavy bullets generally penetrate better, so I don't shoot 115s in 9mm, <180 in 10mm, or 185s in .45.

I've never had functional issues that could be traced to bullet weight, but I read a convincing argument in favor of light bullets in compact .45s, so I have switched to 185s in my shorty.
It has to do with the ability of the magazine to "keep up" with the light, very fast cycling slide and nothing to do with ballistics.

[GarandTd]

In my SAR K2P, it's 115 gr Federal fmj rn. I prefer the Federal over Winchester white box. I do run the Winchester USA Forged steel case 115gr fmj rn once in a while. I've run hollow points through the K2P to make sure they cycle, but this is mostly a range gun. When I do carry, it is in the woods and I stick with the Federal practice ammo.

I run CCI Blazer 22lr rn in all of my 22 pistols (and long guns). It is consistently and considerably more accurate than any other 22 ammo I've tried including CCI sv, CCI mini-mag, and even some Eley.

[k4swb]

I've been using Davis Reloading since 1987 for all my ammo needs, other than .22lr.
Excellent ammo although the owner/operator is kind of a butt hole.

[Don Dayacetah]

S&W 629, and these big old 300 grain LFN Bear Rounds.

[jr24]

I handload all my practice ammo, usually with bullets from Rocky Mt Reloading.

I like 147 grain in 9mm, 230 grain in .45 ACP, 200 grain in 10mm and 158 grain in 357 mag.

I like HST, standard pressure, for my 9s and .45s (147 and 230 grains, respectively)

My woods loads:

10mm: 200 gr XTP @ 1200ish fps
.357 mag: 158 gr XTP @ I forget and my logbook is down stairs.

[Charlie98]

I use Hornady Critical Duty 135grn in my carry pieces... Kahr CW9 or CM9's, although I'll probably switch to Hornady's 147grn XTP when I run through my current stash of CD ammos.

My 4" Kimber .45's get 230grn Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel ammos.

[Spats McGee]

Originally Posted by chrisintexas

What grains and brands of self defense/practice ammo you found works best in your pistols? Thanks so much.

The overwhelming majority of my handgun shooting are with a G19 and a Shield that eat pretty much any 9mm rounds that I can stuff in the mags. That said, my G19 does seem to run ever so slightly smoother with 124 grain ammo than with 115. I can't really tell a difference between 124s and 147s. I've been shooting mostly Blazer Brass 124s, because I got a good deal on a case and haven't been to the range enough to shoot it all up. I haven't really run enough of a variety through the Shield to tell what it likes or not. Also, I carry 124s, so I prefer to shoot them in practice.

As for carry, I've been carrying Remington Golden Sabers for several years. The Remington plant is about 40 miles from here, and it's what all of the local law enforcement carry. They also run well in my guns.

[Webleymkv]

Practice ammo varies widely for me depending on what I find good deals on. Defensive ammo is a little narrower though still varied as I'll often use different loading in different guns of the same caliber. What I use currently is as follows:

.22LR- CCI Velocitor 40 gr jhp
.25 Auto- Fiocchi 50 gr FMJ
.32 Auto- S&B 73 gr FMJ
.32 S&W Long- Magtech 98 gr HBWC
.380 Auto- Hornady 90 gr Critical Defense and Perfecta 95 gr FMJ
.38 S&W- handloaded 200 gr LRN
.38 Special- Underwood 125 gr Gold Dot, Federal 130 gr HST, Speer 135 gr Gold Dot, Hornady 110 gr Critical Defense, Remington 158 gr LSWCHP (yes, we have several .38's between me and my wife)
9mm- Federal 115 gr +P+ Hi-Shok and Federal 147 gr HST
.357 Magnum- Federal 130 gr Hydra-Shok, Hornady 135 gr Critical Duty, and Remington 158 gr SJHP
10mm Auto- Underwood 180 gr XTP
.44 Special- Hornady 165 gr Critical Defense, Federal 200 gr LSWCHP, and Haldloaded 250 gr LSWC
.44 Magnum- Remington 240 gr SJHP
.45 Auto- Federal 230 gr +P HST and Federal 230 gr FMJ

[FairWarning]

HK USP 45 - Win Ranger T-Series 230 gr and Fed HST 230 standard or +P, the USP doesn't care.

Sig 1911 - Fed HST 230 standard. Recoil is much more pronounced in a 1911. I would love to find a 185 or 200 gr that is as proven as the best 230s in this caliber for the 1911, but I don't think one exists yet.....(feel free to prove me wrong if you can ).

Target practice: Geco, RWS and Sig 230 FMJs.


Walther PPQ, Browning HP and HK P7 9mm - HST 124 and when it was available, Hornady TAP FPD 124 +P, which was very accurate and point-of-aim for me. Haven't tested their newest.

Target practice: Just about any brass case FMJ in 124, every now and then I will grab some 115s if I find a deal. I don't use 147s.


S&W 686P - Barnes TAC XPD 125 gr and Win PDX1 125 (modern Talon). For woods, Doubletap 180 hardcast.

Target practice: Geco, RWS, Sig, S&B and Fiocchi 125s to 158s.

[MisterCrabby]

Easy. For practice ammo, whatever is cheapest. For carry, hornady critical defense.





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[tlm225]

.45 ACP
Practice : Homecast 200 grain LSWC
Carry: Federal 230 grain HST JHP

.38 Special
Practice: Homecast 158 grain LSWC
Carry: Speer 135 grain Gold Dot short barrel JHP and Remington 158 Grain LSWCHP

9mm
Practice: Any 115-124 grain FMJ
Carry: Federal 124 grain HST JHP

[mr bolo]

Winchester White Box:

9mm 115gr ball

.45 230 gr ball

9mm NATO 124gr ball

MAGTECH .45 230 gr ball (CBC BRAZIL)

[Ben Dover]

Handloads for everything except SD.

For SD
9MM Winchester 147 Ranger "T" second choice Federal 115 JHP +P+
.40 165 Winchester Ranger "T"
10MM Winchester 170 STHP
.45 Winchester 230 Ranger "T" or Remington 185 JHP +P
.38 158 grain federal LSWCHP +P
.357 Federal 125 JHP

[TXAZ]

What Mr Crabby said: Cheap for practice, Critical Defense for 'critical defense'.
For the DE .44, it's Winchester USA Ammunition 44 Remington Magnum 240 Grain.

[jackstrawIII]

Favorite Gun: CZ P-01
Favorite SD Ammo: Federal HST 124 Grain

[roadrash]

I carry 115 grain Gold dot standard pressure in my edc G43.
The POA/POI is right on with 115 grain ammo out of this pistol and Gold dot bullets are easily available as reloading componants for the range.
I carried 147 grain HST for several years but they do print high out of most of my 9mm pistols.
For Plinking ammo through most of my other pistols whatever although I do run light 100 grain plated handloads through my G17 when shooting in my clubs informal gun games.

[1MoreFord]

124gr HST in my P290RS and 124gr Gold Dot (or HST) in my P250C. I've still got some old Silver Tip I'd use if I had to.

[KyJim]

These are all for self-defense:

My favorite handgun to carry is a 1911 with a 4.25 inch barrel in .45 acp. There are several excellent loads for this size/type of gun but my personal favorite is Federal standard pressure 230 gr HSTs.

For my short barreled 9mms (Kahr CM9 and SW Shield), it's Speer 124 gr +P Gold Dots. But I also use these in my full sized SW M&P simply because its easier to have one type of ammo.

For my .38 special snubbies, it's most often the Speer 135 gr. +P Gold Dots for short barrels and, when not available their 125 gr. +Ps. You have to be very selective in what you choose for these snubbies.

If I carry a .380, it's FMJ, mostly because of inertia. I've thought of using the 90 grain Federal Hydra-Shok or the 90-gr Fiocchi Extrema.

[Mackie244Bud]

I have 2 hungry Sigs...

A Sig P365 & P320c RX

They both get fed a good dose of Federal HST 124g JHP
If needed they spit 'em back out Accurate and Mean!