9mm ammo

[shaunbowler@yahoo.com]

I am confused when it comes to the different loads, what round to use, sub-sonic, Revolver, Semi, Carbine.
What and why would I use one over another?
I want optimum performance.
Could one of "my friends" here help me out?

[Preston-CLB]

Which guns are you shooting? What kind of shooting: Self-defense, target, etc.?

Once we know this, we can offer targeted (pun intended suggestions.
-P

[Djantlive]

Target shooting is whatever cheapest except I don’t like reloads. Many foreign brands work exceptionally well.

For home defense, I have a few such as Hornady, gold dot, federal, all HP.

Subsonic if you suppress

[CGZ]

9mm usually refers to 9x19mm ammo, alsk known as 9mm Luger, 9mm Parabellum or 9mm Nato.

There are other calibers in the 9mm family such as .380 ACP (9x17mm Kurz) or 9x18mm Makarov. Make sure you have the right caliber ammo for your gun.

9x19mm usually comes in 3 different weights (grains), being 115, 124, and 147.

The most common bullet types are Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) and Hollow points.

FMJs are primarily used for target shooting. They may also be called Total Metal Jacket (TMJ) or copper plated. These are all functionally the same.

115 is the most common FMJ ammo you'll typically find.

124 grain was the weight used in military FMJs until the adoption of the M17 using the new 115 grain M1152 FMJ ammo. This is advertised at 1320 feet per second (FPS) compared to the older 124 grain bullets at 1140 FPS and commercial 115gr bullets usually around 1200 FPS.

147gr bullets are usually subsonic and ideally used with a suppressor.

Hollow points are avaliable in various weights and are primarily used for self defense purposes.

This is a good article comparing different brands.

https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/self-defense-ammo-ballistic-tests/#9mm

This should more or less cover most of what you find readily avaliable from local retailers

[SirRicky85]

Troll

[Scratch705]

must be bot.

cause i have never heard of a 9mm divided into revolver or carbine or semi.

[Kokopelli]

I am confused when it comes to the different loads, what round to use, sub-sonic, Revolver, Semi, Carbine.
What and why would I use one over another?
I want optimum performance.
Could one of "my friends" here help me out?

147 grain will be sub subsonic, even out of a carbine. Subsonic is good for personal protection indoors. Your ears will thank you. 115 grain stuff will be supersonic and 124 grain depends on barrel length and load. Both 115 and 124 will be supersonic out of a carbine.

My bedside 9mm pistol is loaded with 115 or 124 grain JHP in the warmer weather where a home invader will likely be lightly dressed. In cool weather I load it with 147 grain ammo for deeper penetration where it may have to penetrate heavy clothing.

Premium ammo from companies like Hornady, Remington and Federal works great. Perfect expansion from handguns and they do not fragment. But even economy JHP 9mm can prove to be very good. I have Winchester white box 147 grain JHP and Remington UMC 115 JHP that are accurate, reliable and expand well in my guns.

An exception I have found is Federal Syntec 150 grain ammo. It is powder coated lead with a wide flat nose. It shoots smoothly and accurately in my Ruger carbine. The wide meplat should crush bone nicely on impact…. in a zombie attack.

Research YouTube gel test videos for any ammo type you are interested in. LuckyGunner has some good ones on the 9mm in pistol and carbine.

Can’t help you on 9mm revolvers. My Ruger Blackhawk in 357 does not have the extra 9mm cylinder. But expect lower velocity from revolvers due the the barrel to cylinder gap where some pressure is lost.

For plinking at the range, buy whatever cheap stuff you can find. Handloading opens up a world of possibilities.

Bottom line: Buy a bunch of ammo and test it in your guns to find what works best for you.

[CGZ]

must be bot.

cause i have never heard of a 9mm divided into revolver or carbine or semi.

There's some older ammo marked for use in sub machine guns. 9mm revolvers would use a moon clip, but that's more of an accessory for the gun than a type of ammo. The caliber has been around for over 100 years now, so I wouldn't be surprised to find other types I've not seen before.

[mikeyr]

learn to reload and make what ever you need at the time for gun you want to shoot. I don't shoot factory ammo and my 9's like it that way. 9mm is the candyland version of ammo, just shoot whatever is the cheapest stuff you can find if you don't want to reload.