9mm CCW ammo recommendation

[baekacaek]

For those that carry 9mm CCW, which ammo do you use? and why?

I just use ball, which is the same ammo that I shoot at the range. But thinking of having some ammo strictly for CCW.

[TrailerparkTrash]

This is a question that’s been asked and answered countless times. But here is the Cliff’s Notes version without a long winded explanation and in no particular order. Just get what you can find in a jacketed hollow point and you’ll be well protected:

Federal HST, Federal Punch, Federal Hydrashocks,

Speer Gold dot

Winchester Ranger, Ranger-T,

Remington Golden Saber,

Hornady Critical Duty, Hornady Critical defense

Double Tap hollow points (any)

Underwood hollow points (any)

Any name brand hollow point these days will work just fine. Just hit a vital area.

Bullet Weights: 124 and 147 gr works best. No need for +P or + P+, but if you see them for sale and want them, go for it.

That’s it in a nut shell.

[9Cal_OC]

[NorCalRT]

TLDR

Go get 147 HST, dont use ball thats dumb.

[CessnaDriver]

Speer gold dot for me.
Some have said not a bad idea to use what your local police use.

[ABR]

[johncage]

speer gold dot, and federal hst are the two best 9mm defensive sounds. critical duty and critical defense are also supposed to be good but because hornady went woke and threatened its employees for refusing the jab, and has a long history of user reported dubious anti-gun owner activity too(where there's smoke...), that company is dead to me and should be to you as well.

[dougtoni]

147 HST's are my carry ammo. cycle great and accurate.

[IVC]

A lot of good options out there, but here's the order of importance:

hit location >>> bullet type > velocity > caliber >>>>>>> not having a gun in a gun fight.

Ball is infinitely better than not having a gun when you need it, and using a better self-defense bullet will give you better results IF you can hit what you're aiming at and IF you hit a vital organ which you don't really know where it is on each individual and it's a luck of sorts if they are moving to begin with.

And to answer the question, any established reliably expanding bullet mentioned above will do. Stay away from gimmicky things with wild marketing claims about wound channels or fragmentation.

[jyo]

Any modern 115-124 JHP is GTG---147s too slow for my taste---I use Speer Gold Dot 124s in my home defensive HK pistols (functions perfectly, but so does everything else!) and my wife's Kahr CW9...

[Teachu2]

Back before the current craziness, I bought boxes of Federal 124pr 9PLE, until I had about 400 rounds. Then someone ran Speer Gold Dots at a low case price (like $329), and I bought a case. Both function 100% in all my carry/SD guns, hit at about the same spot. The Gold Dots are a little more consistent, IMHO. The Lawman 124+P mate well as practice ammo, so I bought a lot of those. It's great to practice with ammo that matches the performance of the "good stuff".

In today's environment - especially in California - you buy the best you can find and afford. It's over double what I paid, but I'd still buy it if I didn't have any on hand. I don't shoot a large number of them.

[Dan_Eastvale]

Whichever is the most reliable.
My old school Star BM only feeds Winchester Defender Elite 9mm bonded hollow point 147 grain.
Feeds like ball

[teflondog]

For HD my 9mm ammo of choice is 147gr Federal HST.

[L84CABO]

Federal HST. I'm running 124g's right now but I'd happily run 147g's too if I couldn't find 124g's.

[DanGunner]

This YouTuber has done seemingly countless comparisons of various self defense loads in terms of penetration and bullet expansion.

https://www.youtube.com/c/GunSam