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Best Bullet Weight in 9mm for EDC

Like others, I'm not sure these are the best, but I have watched plenty of ballistics gel videos and I have went with the 124gr Federal HST. They look like they perform well in the gel, but I have never fired them at anything more than paper. The only time I have ever drawn a firearm in defense was a hog. Those suckers can get aggressive for sure.👍
At the time, I was carrying a Springfield 1911 chambered in 45ACP, it was not a CCW situation. I do not recall the specifics of the round, but it did the job. In a hunting situation today, I would carry the 10mm over the 9mm, but that is just me.
 
Cookie1969 said:
Like others, I'm not sure these are the best, but I have watched plenty of ballistics gel videos and I have went with the 124gr Federal HST. They look like they perform well in the gel, but I have never fired them at anything more than paper. The only time I have ever drawn a firearm in defense was a hog. Those suckers can get aggressive for sure.👍
At the time, I was carrying a Springfield 1911 chambered in 45ACP, it was not a CCW situation. I do not recall the specifics of the round, but it did the job. In a hunting situation today, I would carry the 10mm over the 9mm, but that is just me.
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I can tell you that less than 7 of them ( especially if you shoot better than me) will cut a treated 4x4 in half.
 
I like heavy bullets, I have 147gr HST's, bought a bunch of 50 boxes a year or so ago when they were relatively inexpensive. I use the Federal 147gr flat points for like wieght practice. Target sports has the old school 80's version Federal 9MS Hi-Shok 147gr jhp. Usually a good buy on 50 boxes, under $30 (usually). If all else fails I have a couple paint cans full of 124gr ball. I'm an old guy that can point shoot at defensive ranges consistently. That keeps me from needing a lot of range time and ammo. I owe that to growing up in a different country where gun racks in pick ups where normal and you could plink away anywhere you wanted to. But I digress.......
 
WellArmed said:
The 147 gr Federal HST explained to the same diameter but penetrates inches less than the 124 gr Federal HST. What's the benefit to going with heavy for caliber 9mm bullets?
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Every gel test I have seen between the 124 gr. and the 147 gr. HST showed the 147 gr. expanding bigger than the 124 gr. Plus the 147 gr. HST , with the larger expansion , still met the FBI penetration depth between 12" and 18" .

I use the 147 gr HST and I am perfectly happy with the results I have seen from testing.

If you can show some gel tests links that prove otherwise I would appreciate it.
 
papa said:
Every gel test I have seen between the 124 gr. and the 147 gr. HST showed the 147 gr. expanding bigger than the 124 gr. Plus the 147 gr. HST , with the larger expansion , still met the FBI penetration depth between 12" and 18" .

I use the 147 gr HST and I am perfectly happy with the results I have seen from testing.

If you can show some gel tests links that prove otherwise I would appreciate it.
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This is out of a 3.5" barrel. Mind you the 124gr HST has more ft lb than the 147 gr as well. That's 354.62 muzzle energy for the 124gr and 308.95gr
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This is 147gr from a Glock 19. Average velocity: 995; muzzle energy: 323; penetration: 14.78; expansion: .608.
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If you go to YouTube and watch the several ballistic videos on the Federal HST 124gr, you'll see that the expansion, penetration, and even muzzle energy out of 3" barrels are still simular to the 147gr HST YouTube test videos.

This is the only video I could find that put them head to head, and even there the results are extremely simular. Matter of fact, the 124gr on the left seems to have had expanded larger than the 147gr on the right; however, side by side the 147gr is the longer of the two bullets.
 
WellArmed said:
This is out of a 3.5" barrel. Mind you the 124gr HST has more ft lb than the 147 gr as well. That's 354.62 muzzle energy for the 124gr and 308.95gr
View attachment 41634

This is 147gr from a Glock 19. Average velocity: 995; muzzle energy: 323; penetration: 14.78; expansion: .608.
View attachment 41635
View attachment 41636
View attachment 41637

If you go to YouTube and watch the several ballistic videos on the Federal HST 124gr, you'll see that the expansion, penetration, and even muzzle energy out of 3" barrels are still simular to the 147gr HST YouTube test videos.

This is the only video I could find that put them head to head, and even there the results are extremely simular. Matter of fact, the 124gr on the left seems to have had expanded larger than the 147gr on the right; however, side by side the 147gr is the longer of the two bullets.
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Bottom Line:
Both will ruin their day and get the job done
 
Also, those of us carrying micro 9's (3") 147gr have less perceived recoil over faster lighter loads. Lucky Gunner has extensive shooting data showing 147gr advantage in short barrel pistols.

I see someone posted the data but the visual testing from a 3.1" Shield is impressive.
 
I wouldn’t know what the best is if you handed it to me and they said “The Best” on the side of each round.
I practice with 124gr and my defensive rounds are 124gr because they’re easier to find than 147 or +P and I’m not so sure my P30SK is recommended for them (I couldn’t find anything in the manual for +P). Since 147 is harder to find and more expensive than 124 I stick to 124 for everything because I’d prefer to know exactly what my EDC is going to do after every shot, that’s more important to me than weight.
 
Smrtss1 said:
I wouldn’t know what the best is if you handed it to me and they said “The Best” on the side of each round.
I practice with 124gr and my defensive rounds are 124gr because they’re easier to find than 147 or +P and I’m not so sure my P30SK is recommended for them (I couldn’t find anything in the manual for +P). Since 147 is harder to find and more expensive than 124 I stick to 124 for everything because I’d prefer to know exactly what my EDC is going to do after every shot, that’s more important to me than weight.
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You P30SK is rated for more than +P; iirc, HK is one of the few companies that rates for +P+.
 
Smrtss1 said:
Thank you for that. I’ve read the manual over and over and never saw anything about it for the SK variant.
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I know that the USP series and the full-size P30’s are +P+ rated…I see no reason that wouldn’t carry to the SK, knowing HK.

It‘s more along the lines of (insert German accent hier:) “If zie pistol is not rated for zie “+P”, vee could TELL YOU it iz not rated for it, nein?”
 
Smrtss1 said:
I wouldn’t know what the best is if you handed it to me and they said “The Best” on the side of each round.
I practice with 124gr and my defensive rounds are 124gr because they’re easier to find than 147 or +P and I’m not so sure my P30SK is recommended for them (I couldn’t find anything in the manual for +P). Since 147 is harder to find and more expensive than 124 I stick to 124 for everything because I’d prefer to know exactly what my EDC is going to do after every shot, that’s more important to me than weight.
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The only issues I heard several other members on HKPro.com complain about was with 115gr. They claim HK told them to use 124gr and up. The recommended fix was to buy a lower power RSA. That said, I never had any issues firing cheap 115gr range ammo with my stock example of P30sk.
 
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