Having only recently found that differences between brands of ammo can be huge (e.g. CCI vs. Winchester for .22LR), I would love to hear your input on 9mm ammo you have found to be the best for:

• Target Practice
• Home Defense

...in my XD9.

Thanks in advance.

 

I shoot whatever is the cheapest for fmj. I not particular about running steel or aluminum cased ammunition through my guns. As far as HP goes, any modern HP ammunition from a reputable manufacturer will more than suffice. My department issues 147gr Speer Gold Dots, and my off duty weapon is a G19 loaded with 147gr Ranger SXT.

 

I use my reloads. Curently have about 1600 115g FMJ for target. and about 200 124g loaded for target/HP.

 

Speer Gold Dot jhp's and usually either wwb or speer lawman fmj's. If those fmj's aren't available, my preference goes to the cheapest brass cased ammo.

 

Cheapest FMJ you can find and will feed for the range. I like the ranger Ts for a SD HP. Check out youtube videos for water tests on the various SD HP ammos. Really shows you what each does once its out of the barrel.

 

i use winchester white box for target ammo and speer gold dots jhp's for SD ammo.
in my glock 22 .40

 

cheap ammo for practice, american eagle, blazer, winchester white box FMJ etc for practice. for defense winchester ranger 147 grain JHP are one of the best there is. speer's gold dot version is also very good. hornaday 147 grains are to be avoided, they are not dependable. there are lots of bad stories about the 147 grain JHP's floating around the internet but they are based off of 20-30 year old tests when the rounds came out. the ones you get nowadays are far more developed and no longer have the issues you may read about and they have been proven to be as effective at stopping people as any other handgun caliber there is. avoid +P's abd +P+'s the extra power does nothing for the stopping power and makes follow up shot that much harder to place. not to mention they're louder and cause extra wear to your gun.

 

IVe been shootin stuff for quite a few years. 99% reloads and every now and again ill break out the store bought stuff

I dont think you can classify one ammo "better" than the other. Some will disagree, but the point of the matter is shot placement is #1. If you get a soft tissue hit, it dont matter what pistol ammo your using, its not gonna expand. If you hit some hard tissue then yea its gonna get messy.

I never got all worked up about the latest and greatest self defense ammo thats over $1 a pop. I carry 180gr winchester rangers cause they are cheap and function 100% in the last 300rds i put thru my carry gun.
My "target/blasting" ammo is 100% reloads, $80 per 1000. Cant beat that.
My carry ammo is the above mentioned 180gr .40 win rangers.

Just remeber at the end of the day, shot placement is key. 1 HP in the gut isnt effective as a FMJ in the vitals.

 

Range: Lellier & Bellot 115gr, 124gr. Winchester 115gr. Fiocchi 130gr

Home: Winchester Supreme Elite 124g wad cutters