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The What & the Why: Types of Ammo for Self Defense – Selecting Ammo to Save Your Life

Annihilator

Annihilator

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I tried to read the article, but part way down an advertisement kept popping up preventing me from reading any further. Would love to learn more about self defense rounds. I recently picked up some black hills honey badger for the wife’s .380 and some Underwood xtreme defender +p for my 9mm. I wanted to test out the Lehigh Defense bullets.
 
The extreme defender ammo is legit, I have this for my Hellcat and I have the NOVX for my 9 PCC Sig MPX-K for the house. The Underwood ammo out and about is great, god forbid if you had to shoot someone through a car door that’s the ammo, but in the house I want frangible so it does damage to the bad guy not my family.
 
damescool said:
The extreme defender ammo is legit, I have this for my Hellcat and I have the NOVX for my 9 PCC Sig MPX-K for the house. The Underwood ammo out and about is great, god forbid if you had to shoot someone through a car door that’s the ammo, but in the house I want frangible so it does damage to the bad guy not my family.
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Yeah...don’t believe the hype; it’s not that frangible.

I personally tested the NOVX (under the Ruger ARX packaging) out of a .380 (Sphinx AT380M); target was a 1-gallon water jug at 10 feet; two layers of Sheetrock with 4” spacing were behind it. Bullet fully penetrated the water jug, both pieces of Sheetrock, and buried itself 10”+ in hard dirt with no signs of fragmentation.

Damage to the jug was no different than if I’d shot it with a FMJ; small entry hole, exit hole splitting the jug about 2-3” vertically.

You’d be much better served with a quality JHP than rounds that rely on snake oil science to make their sales.
 
Appreciate the comments, I think that it will change how I test it out. I was thinking about just function through the firearm but I want to see what the resulting impact looks like too. Couple more thoughts... Both of my firearms are compact/concealed carry and I’ve been seeing some rounds that are listed for micro VS full sized. I’m wondering if they are loaded for the lower muzzle velocity and given that, I should lean that way on a self/home defense round when available? Then my other thought is on the grain weight and if you just go with the highest grain weight of JHP that you are comfortable firing? With the general state of ammo, I haven’t had much opportunity to test different grain ammo.
 
AHatalsky said:
Appreciate the comments, I think that it will change how I test it out. I was thinking about just function through the firearm but I want to see what the resulting impact looks like too. Couple more thoughts... Both of my firearms are compact/concealed carry and I’ve been seeing some rounds that are listed for micro VS full sized. I’m wondering if they are loaded for the lower muzzle velocity and given that, I should lean that way on a self/home defense round when available? Then my other thought is on the grain weight and if you just go with the highest grain weight of JHP that you are comfortable firing? With the general state of ammo, I haven’t had much opportunity to test different grain ammo.
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If you're testing the Honey Badger line in pistols with barrels less than 4", go with the 125 grain subsonic for 9mm. My gel test showed that the 100 grain +P rounds were too hot and over penetrated but the 125's were just right. I now carry the 125 subsonic in both my 9mm's for EDC and the 60 grain for my .380. Hans was correct when he said the Honey Badger rounds are not frangible. They are not meant to be. My gel tests included the JHP ammo I had carried for years and had more failures to expand with over penetration than the Honey Badgers which do not expand. Barriers tested were denim, leather, plywood, drywall, auto glass, and auto door metal. Personal defense ammo all comes down to personal preference as most all will do the job. Do your own testing and pick the one you're most comfortable with to suit your needs. If everyone loved vanilla, there wouldn't be chocolate! Good luck with your testing!
 
AHatalsky said:
Appreciate the comments, I think that it will change how I test it out. I was thinking about just function through the firearm but I want to see what the resulting impact looks like too. Couple more thoughts... Both of my firearms are compact/concealed carry and I’ve been seeing some rounds that are listed for micro VS full sized. I’m wondering if they are loaded for the lower muzzle velocity and given that, I should lean that way on a self/home defense round when available? Then my other thought is on the grain weight and if you just go with the highest grain weight of JHP that you are comfortable firing? With the general state of ammo, I haven’t had much opportunity to test different grain ammo.
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My rule of thumb: shorter the barrel, heavier the bullet.

Reason is: heavier bullets lose less velocity in shorter barrels, therefore will be operating closer to their optimal velocity “window” to ensure proper expansion and velocity.

And finally...the entire “screwdriver tip” bullet style that relies on “fluid transfer”...dubious science, at best. If it was nearly as good as claimed, there would be several agencies/departments/units using it.

They don’t. They use JHP’s.

This is a big, big clue.
 
The only thing frangible ammo is good for is close target (metal) shooting. House clearing drills, SWAT type training, basically anywhere metal targets are involved and you’re inside ricochet range. On a solid target they explode into basically powder. Like Hans said, they’re not designed to poof on soft stuff. If they did they probably wouldn’t make it out of the barrel.
 
While I don't do my own bullet performance testing , other than making sure it works in my firearm and that it is accurate , I do research what others have done with gel testing .

There are two who I respect the most . That is Paul Harrell and shootin' the Bull 410 also known as TNoutdoors9 . They both do realistic testing .
 
somorris said:
I prefer JHP for self defense. I think for "all around" self defense use, JHP makes more sense.
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I'm a new owner and still pretty inexperienced, and since I started this journey in an ammo shortage, I simply went that route over the last few months of gathering boxes where I could them (for under $35 for a 50 rd box). Managed to get 100 rounds of JHP for my RO for defense, and a several hundred rounds of hardball for the range. I'll expand my capability once I have a clue.
 
PaulieDC said:
Here's a PDF I made of the article: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/cmnudcbq7gcj2de/AACSfpJtS1RxKO1Qy83SDEoIa?dl=0
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Good read, and makes sense. However, the writer also notes that those rounds used by law enforcement are most likely the cheapest that meet minimum standards. Don't know about you guys, but i'm not about to trust my families or my life to the cheapest minimum of anything. If you have an unfortunate encounter that ends in using a defense attorney any round used won't matter, more importantly get a good CCW Insurance and good ammo and stay alive, better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6. Also, good luck in finding any unobtainium ammo right now, most of us have limited options and have to grab the best we can, that's a legitimate defense of its own.
 
papa said:
While I don't do my own bullet performance testing , other than making sure it works in my firearm and that it is accurate , I do research what others have done with gel testing .

There are two who I respect the most . That is Paul Harrell and shootin' the Bull 410 also known as TNoutdoors9 . They both do realistic testing .
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I watch Paul Harrell videos but I've never heard of the other guy so I'll have to check out his channel. 😁👍
 
Update: I got my wife out to the range for some “date day” time. It was her first time shooting her .380. It’s a Smith & Wesson M&P EZ. The Black Hills Honey Badger, did not run well through it. All in all it was a great day because my wife was asking for range ammo for her birthday as we left. I’ll be trying JHP through her gun for the next defense ammo. I had no issues running the Underwood xtreme defender through my 9mm, also an M&P.
 
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