#Best 9mm ammo for stopping power full

When it comes to 147s, these are usually for two different types of loads– high-performance hollow points and those for subsonic use. The 124-grain loads are typically seen in military surplus offerings as that weight, especially on FMJ or ball ammo is NATO standard. military has recently adopted the M1152 ball load in that weight. The 115 is used so frequently and best matched to the 9mm that the U.S. Most 9mm loads currently on the market come in one of three flavors: 115-grain, 124-grain, and 147-grain, with the lightest of those being the most common. The rub on all this is that some semi-autos, especially older guns designed before the 1970s when hollow-points became the norm, have shallow feed ramps intended for pointed FMJ style bullets and will jam on the blunter JHPs. In short, FMJ and TMJ rounds will not expand on impact while assorted hollow points will, with the former best used for target practice and the latter for self-defense. This includes the semi-jacketed hollow point (SJHP), wadcutter and semi-wadcutter (WC/SWC), and the like. Today, while factory jacketed hollow point (JHP) rounds are commonly available, manufacturers have developed dozens of niche subclasses between the two extremes. This produced the first hollow-point bullets, designed to expand upon impact and mushroom out.

#Best 9mm ammo for stopping power full

This can lead to premature wear and parts replacement, especially when burning through untold numbers of cheaper bulk ammo.īack in the good old days, the bullets used in factory-loaded cartridges were either simple lead round-nosed, typically abbreviated as LRN, or fully jacketed with a metal sleeve over the lead, hence the term full metal jacket or FMJ.įor those who wanted a more effective round, bullets could be “dum-dummed” in the field by drilling holes in the end or chopping down jackets to expose the lead core. One particular concern on steel-cased loads, at least on 9mm pistols, is that they have developed a reputation of being hard on extractors which were typically designed to accommodate softer brass cases. These are typically just seen in ammo hailing from Eastern Europe in the case of steel loads or in cheap/low-powered practice/specialty rounds. On the lower end of the spectrum, steel and aluminum cased ammo generally cannot be reloaded. Reloaders love nickel as well, as it can usually be recycled 10 or more times, something you just can’t get out of a brass case.

With a lower friction coefficient, it feeds better, especially under dirty conditions, and is stronger– allowing a higher level of confidence in up-charged +P offerings. Stepping up for there are nickel-plated cases, which are typically just seen in higher-end defensive ammunition loads. The reason that brass has for over a century been the standard for both rimfire and centerfire cartridges of all stripes is that it is cheap, reliable, soft enough to not mar steel, and –perhaps most important– is incredibly resistant against rust and oils for the money.įundamentally it is hard to go wrong with a brass-cased cartridge. In short, while no pistol cartridge is a “do all” round, the 9mm comes a lot closer than just about any other.įor a long time, the only type of case in the 9mm game was brass metallic. Meanwhile, the 9mm still delivers sufficient ballistic performance in FBI tests, making it capable as a duty round in self-defense loads. 45 ACP which require dimensionally larger guns and have the downside of producing stout felt recoil, especially with smaller statured users. 25 ACP, which have a reputation of being in the realm of “mouse gun” fodder generally finding homes in pocket pistols with decidedly short barrels, and larger cartridges like the 10mm Auto and. With that being said, the 9mm splits the difference between smaller underperforming rounds such as the. Sure, you can take a circa 1902-minted 9mm round and, so long as its components have not deteriorated, load it in a modern Glock G17 that came off the assembly line yesterday and fire it, but current rounds are much more effective, due to modern bullet design reliable, due to low-flash/low-volume powders and are less corrosive due to improvements in primers and cases. The fact is the cartridge has benefited from over a century of advances in ballistics and ammunition development to become what it is today. Look, nobody sat up one day and said, “Hey, you know that bullet used in the Luger? Well, I think it is the greatest pistol round ever made,” and then everyone just clapped and seconded the notion with “hear, hears” all around.