Your Favorite Self-Defense Load

It depends upon the firearm I am carrying ---

In my Kel-Tec P-32 I carry with Winchester Silver Tipped Hollowpoints
(why --- because they seem to function best)

In my .40 S& W Guns I carry Triton Quik-Shok 135gr
In my .45 ACP's I carry Triton Q-S 230gr
(why -- because after seeing gelatin testing, I feel they are the best self
defense rounds due to expansion and penetration)

even though I have alot of other guns, those are the only ones I CCW with.

Mike

At the risk of making a lot of you laugh, (including Fernando) I carry a 9mm. Yes, I know it's supposed to be a "pipsqueak" round, but I never seem to have the opportunity to carry my full auto 75mm recoilless pistol, especially if it doesn't happen to be the dead of winter when wool trenchcoats aren't conspicuous. 9mm ize handguns happen to be the largest I can reliably conceal in an easily accessible spot. Here's a news flash for some of you- there is nothing "wrong" with the 9mm as a defensive round. You just need to be smart about it. First, you need a pistol that is rated for "+P" loads. Then you need to select +P ammo with a bullet constructed for the season. The dead of winter is no time to be carrying MagSafe rounds, and Milspec ball is dangerously overpenetrative on t-shirted summer opponants. The only all-season load I know of in 9mm is the old Triton Quickshok. When my supply of that goes, that will suck. But by then technology might have come up with a better round. Or, a S&W "Mountain Gun" in .44- that's an idea..

Hmmmm... so far we have the following:

.32 ACP Winchester Silvertips
.38 Special Federal Personal Defense H-S
9mm Triton Quik-Shok
9mm Speer 115 gr Gold Dot
.40 S&W Triton 135 gr Quik-Shok
.40 S&W Speer 155 gr Gold Dot
.45 ACP Federal 165 gr Personal Defense H-S
.45 ACP Speer 200 gr Gold Dot
.45 ACP Triton 230 gr Quik-Shok
.45 ACP Remington 230 gr Golden Sabre

It's great to see that in the above selected loads, everyone is carrying great ammo for personal defense. Not one load would I tell someone not to carry.

One thing for sure, the Internet has given people the information they need to make educated decisions with regards to firearm and ammo selection. No more relying on what a given writer may say or the flavor of the month ammo with the full page ads. No more relying on the gunstore clerk with a better knowledge of BigMacs than ammo. Forums and other related sites have allowed people to share their own experiences with others.

Fernando

Hello. At the present time, my orbits are rather tame. I retired from a 25-year career in police work, 11 of them on the tactical unit at my department. During that time, on and off duty, I carried either a .45 ACP in some form of 1911 or a 9mm Browning Hi Power.

These days around the house, in the yard, or feeding the ducks behind the house, I tote an S&W Model 642 loaded with Remington 158-grain +P LSWCHP. I'm not sure it's the best, but the gun's rated for it. I know the snub .38 is not the premier pocket gun, but it "works" for me. I practice with it weekly.

My wife's home defense pistol is a SIG-Sauer P225 loaded with Triton 125-grain +P Hi Vel JHPs. The reason is that the stuff groups well though she cannot, is utterly reliable in her pistol, and would take rape off one's mind pretty quickly I suspect. Though I'm not NOT a fan of the DA/SA autopistol, I'm not rabidly against them so for commonality, my house gun is the SIG-Sauer P220 in .45 ACP. Right now, it's loaded with some Corbon 200-grain +P JHP loaded with the old Speer 200-grain JHP, "the flying ashtray." It's reliable and shoots very, very well from the pistol. I've seen what this old round does on men, once on the scene, and once from a police videotape, though the loads used were just about 50ft/sec slower.

When I carry a belt gun (legally), it's either a Commander loaded with Winchester RA45T 230-grain JHP or a Browning Hi Power in 9mm using the same company's 127-grain +P+, RA9TA. Both have shown very good accuracy and relatively small standard deviations over the chronograph.

On ocassion, I'll carry a Glock 26 which remains loaded with the Triton 125-grain Hi Vel.

I'm not too concerned about whether I have the Winchester or the Triton in the 9mm pistols. I've not used the Winchester on any animals...yet, but have the Triton and it worked like a peach.

Best.