Best 9mm Ammo for Self Defense, Tactical and Everyday Carry

Most people starting out their journey into firearms are focused on selecting a gun that is right for them and everything else is a bit of an afterthought.  Just because the gun itself has been acquired doesn’t mean you are ready for a trip to the range.  The basics items are needed first, safety items like eye and ear protection, a target and ammo to shoot.  Those first few are easy enough, but selecting ammo can be overwhelming and feel as big of an ordeal as selecting the gun was.  Let’s take a look at a few considerations and simplify ammo a bit.

The first thing to do is make sure you know what caliber your gun is so you purchase ammo that can be used in the gun, after that though there are two main ammo types most shooters use, training/range and self-defense.  It is necessary to use the right ammo for the job, they are purposely engineered and you are responsible for each round so you want everything to be correct.  Not to mention training ammo and self defense ammo have a significant price difference.  If you are unsure of your caliber, take a look in the manual, on the barrel and slide of the gun and on the magazine, each should be clearly marked.

Training / Range Ammo

Training or range ammo is exactly what it sounds like, the ammo that is used for training at indoor and outdoor ranges, on your own or in a class.  There are a few other names this ammo is known as, like ball or target, and on packaging you will see the technical name Full Metal Jacket (FMJ).  Shooters use this ammo as it is less expensive, widely available, and is designed for consistent performance.  However, it is not a suitable choice for self-defense due to its lower stopping power and tendency to over penetrate.  Keep range ammo where it belongs, a range environment.

When it comes to range ammo people will have different preferences, some choose solely by price, others by bullet specs, and some will shoot one specific brand and that is it.  No wrong answers here, just different considerations, your budget may dictate or perhaps your gun itself has ammo preferences on what it will feed/extract/eject, regardless don’t be afraid to try different types.  Some shooters will find what FMJ ammo is closest to their self-defense rounds to best simulate the shooting experience.  

For most shooters, range ammo is what they will interact with 99% of the time, and even then the alternatives are likely another form of training ammo with a different purpose and characteristics.  Don’t let this fool you though, ammo is a complex and deep subject and some people highly enjoy it and even reload their own ammo.  

If that sounds daunting, don’t worry, the simplest ammo management you can have is to own one caliber of pistol and have range and self-defense ammo.  If you like rifles, do that same all in a single caliber and divvy up your ammo into range and self-defense.  For most people that means lots of 9mm and 5.56 in range ammo, and a much smaller cache of each in self-defense rounds.  

Self / Personal Defense Ammo

The ammo used for self-defense, (sometimes called personal defense, tactical or every day carry), are called hollow points and are specifically engineered and rigorously tested.  The characteristics of a hollow point round is much different than the FMJ design of range ammo, they have different purposes and therefore ought to behave differently.  

Hollow points are designed with a hollow cavity at the tip, which causes it to expand upon impact.   When they expand it causes more damage and transfers more energy more effectively, which translates to stopping power.  Unlike a FMJ round which tends to overpenetrate, the expansion of the hollow point round acts like a drag chute reducing overpenetration.  

To put it short, the hollow point round is designed to stop a threat quickly and effectively by delivering a lot of energy and a great deal of damage while reducing the chance of the round going through the target and unintentionally harming or damaging what's on the other side.

Now that we understand that hollow points have specific characteristics for a specific purpose, we can see why they are a much more expensive round.  Most people advocate to shoot at least a mag or box of your chosen hollow points to validate they feed well and how they feel, but you can see why the price means they aren’t good for a class that calls for 500+ rounds.

Not all hollow points are created equal though, each variation is specifically designed by the manufacturer and may have different characteristics influencing bullet performance.  That is where ballistic tests come in, and while there are all sorts of tests out there the leading one has been developed by the FBI.  

Ballistic Testing of Self Defense Rounds

The FBI test uses blocks of ballistic gelatin as the target and the bullet has various types of barriers to pass through for 5 of the 6 tests.  Thirty total shots are fired, 5 for each ballistic test into bare gelatin, heavy winter cloths, 20-gauge steel, wallboard, plywood, and laminated car windshield.  Three key metrics are then used to determine the performance of the ammo, penetration depth, expansion, and weight retention.  These metrics are then used to calculate the final score.  These metrics are based off of 5 shots for each ballistic test making consistency another key factor in scoring.

Using the FBI testing standards the ideal defensive round will penetrate between 12” and 18”, have a consistent expansion of at least 1.5 times the original diameter, and doesn’t lose more than 2% of its weight.  The results are on a scale from 0 - 500, with better performance being closer to 500.

Ballistic Database

There are plenty of tests out there to be read or watched and shooters can certainly dive into hours and hours of research.  However, as a civilian concealed carrying, it’s highly unlikely to fire through walls or vehicles.  The barrier encountered most often from this test is heavy winter clothing, knowing that the popular online ammo shot Lucky Gunner created a Handgun Self-Defense Ammunition Ballistics Test database.  The database has data for popular calibers and defensive ammo showing the results of a 5 shot test.  Clicking on the title of any ammo listed will bring you to a new page with the in-depth data collected in the test.

Of course, there is another popular answer that may save you some time if ballistics sounds like a daunting task to understand.  Use the ammo your local police or the FBI currently uses.  If it sounds like an easy button that’s because it is. These agencies meticulously test the firearms and ammo they are going to carry for duty use and logically if they find that ammo ideal you may too.

According to online sources, the FBI is currently using Hornady Critical Duty 9mm+P 135 gr FlexLock ammunition, which if you take a look at the test results on Lucky Gunner shows this to be an ideal choice when measuring against FBI standards.

There are several other popular picks by law enforcement agencies for every day carry ammo that are in the Lucky Gunner database, such as variations from Speer Gold Dot, Federal HST, Winchester Ranger/PDX1 Defender, Remington Golden Saber, and other variations from Hornady.   The FBI and most law enforcement agencies have selected the 9mm caliber for handgun ammo to strike a balance between power, accuracy, and manageability for most officers.

What is grain?

If you choose to fall into the deep well of ballistics and do some of your own research, you may notice a term or number that continually comes up in bullet characteristics and on the outside of each box called grain (gr).  You may look at two boxes that are seemingly the same until you notice the grain number is different. For 9mm pistol ammo, you will typically see 115gr, 124gr, and 147gr.  Other ammo types and calibers may have different grain numbers, such as 55gr or 62gr in the 5.56 caliber.  So what exactly is grain.

Grain is the weight of the bullet, just the bullet not the entire cartridge, just the bullet which is the actual projectile that exits the muzzle.  It is called grains because that is actually the unit of measure (1/7000th of a pound or about 0.0648 grams), and while it may seem like a small difference, the grain can impact shooting experience and performance, so selecting the right one for the job is a necessary piece of shooting.

The reason it matters is that the weight of the bullet affects its velocity, meaning that a lighter bullet can travel faster while a heavier one will travel slower, and therefore, kinetic energy and penetration.  In 9mm, a 115gr bullet might travel around 1,180 feet per second (fps), while a 147gr bullet would travel at 950 fps.  

Grain also impacts recoil, making rounds feel different and shooters may prefer to pick based on felt recoil rather than specs alone.  The gun’s manual may also give some insight into what to pick, that is a valuable extra piece of information.

When looking at the Lucky Gunner database you will notice that the grain weight varies but that it is not the sole decider in how a round performs.  So while it is important to understand and select appropriate grains, the other characteristics of the round will still impact performance and cannot be ignored.  A database like this does a lot of the leg work for you in understanding how different rounds perform, including two similar rounds with grain variations, like the two from Federal below.

Take it for a Test Fire

After doing all the research and selecting ammo it is a good idea to go test it out in whatever guns you plan to use it in.  Regardless of if it is range or defense ammo knowing that it will feed, extract, and eject flawlessly, have a consistent point of impact and have a manageable recoil.  

If you don’t have a lot of experience, it may be hard to evaluate this by shot feel alone, but don’t worry there is equipment that can help.  While there are some expensive tools that can help you verify the bullets specs that likely isn’t your concern.  Making sure the rounds feed with each magazine can be done through trial and recording any error, deduce if it is the ammo or the gun.  Feeling recoil can be one way to measure but adding a friend or a camera to see what that muzzle rise was and how durable the grip was through multiple shots can be helpful too.   

Evaluation can be taken a step further with the Mantis X10 Elite attached to the pistol by using it in standard drills to verify a good trigger press and recording the feel and result of the shot. It may have been a good technique, but felt off or vice versa, even though the shot technique was not on point the gun felt great.  The X10 sensor gives you a little bit more data and makes evaluation a little less subjective this way.  Where the X10 can really boost testing is what ammo works well for you in what guns, by using the Recoilmeter drill.  This drill will measure the rise and angle of the recoil as well as the recovery time and give an objective measurement for how each shooter interacts with each gun and ammo combination.  

Conclusion    

Ammo can be a very deep topic and there is some amount of understanding that all shooters should have, but just like everything with firearms, the learning is a never-ending journey.   Educate yourself so you can make intelligent choices for self-defense and range ammo, go with friends to learn something new, especially long range, and ask questions at the store they are more than happy to help you out.  

Ammo can be as deep or shallow as you make it, just ensure you are doing the right thing and selecting the appropriate ammo for the job.  It’s tempting but cost isn’t the only factor in choice here, take a few extra minutes and pick the right range and defensive ammo for you.