this one is pretty much all self-defense ammo tests in many calibers... some good info is there IMHO... https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/self-defense-ammo-ballistic-tests/
As good an article on ammo actual end results as I have ever read. Thank you for the source, downloaded into my references. Even better is the disclaimer at the beginning, the terminal effect on wound ballistics is the same for a 22 short or a 50 cal Machine gun projectile if you fail to hit the target. Shot placement, which is usually based on range time, is more important than the actual projectile used. The second factor which can not be stressed enough, based on military research over time, is making the decision to shoot at the proper time. In this day and age, "brandishing a weapon" at a mob may well get you prison time, but being second in a gun fight usually will result in you being either seriously wounded or dead. The old story of being aware of the situation around you can not be over stated. Best part of article is that it neatly fills a hole most of us ignore, it compares apples and oranges on that weapon we all know is not the one we wish to use, but the practical one to carry everyday. The ballistics of a 380 are not that great, but for a woman with small hands and the need to carry in her purse, it may well be superior to a 10 mm. And as the old saying goes, a bird in hand is worth much more than a dozen in the woods.
I say use ball ammo. In California a wife murdered her husband, shot him 10 times with a California safe 9mm loaded with FMJs. Thank god she didn't have 15 rounds, instead of being really dead he would be exceptionally dead. In the end the state couldn't prove their case that she shot him in the back even 1 time, let alone 10 times. My money is on she straight up murked his ass. She had the resting bitch face and crazy eyes of some one who would do it. If the state can prove you shot an attacker in the back even 1 time some activist DA who believes perps are vics is going to try and sell the steaming load that you shot your attacker the back to finish them off, thus making a career violent criminal the victim.
Ball ammo use makes the case for a .45 ACP even stronger. But then I'm just a little biased. Great article!
Lots of eye opening info, very useful for comparing ballistics and capabilities! Notice what pistol ammo does from longer barrels, should tell you just how much your leaving on the table running those compact carry pistols!
Made my sidearm ammo selection based on performance shooting hanging ungutted hog carcasses in the 240-250 pound range. I am a wheel gunner and either Carry a Colt Anaconda or my faithful old Python both .357 Mag 4" barrel on the Anaconda and 6" on the Python or 2-3 Rock Island 200s 4" barrels running .38spl +P. What I look for is not only penetration but overall bone and organ damage when I test a new prospective round in a hog corpse. Gotten to where I run the .38s +p through the Colt .357s as there is not that much difference in overall damage and only 2 inches on average of penetration. Currently I have settles on 3 rounds Hornady 110gr FTX Critical Defense, Winchester 148gr fmj and Aquila 130gr round either fmj or uncovered softies. The Winchesters are not great for damage but get a solid 25-28 inches of penetration and punch through and fragment the hell out of ribs for bonus damage. The aquila both fmj and softies fragment when they hit bone and make a considerable amount of damage and a lot of bleeding. The Hornady's (3) in every wheel have consistent 13"-14" penetration when they go between ribs and 8"-9" if they have to punch through a rib and they deform considerably on impact with a rib. Hitting a lung is going to be fatal but will take several minutes to bleed out or rather in. Hitting the heart destroys the heart, same with kidneys, pancreas, and not so much in the liver. Had a 350ish pound boar go nuts a month or so back and came to the point that I decided it was better to just put him down instead of dealing with crazy in the future. So I shot him in the throat with one of the Rock Islands and Hornady. Penetration was great, ripped a artery and destroyed the throat and the bullet stopped about 4 inches from the skin on the opposite side and also nicked that artery. Boar was dead dead in around 30 seconds. What the ,38s and .357s are lacking in is knock down power so good bullet placement is important. I also have a small collection of Ruger Blackhawks and a couple of Uberti 1863 Cattlemen with 6.5 to 7.5" barrels and chambered for .45 LC Overall good guns and they have the knock down power that is lacking in the .38s and .357mags and the overall damage in carcass is about 30% better than the .38s and probably around 20% better than the .357 mags. And where the smaller rounds break and fragment bone the .45lc's shatter the bone. So why not carry them? They are considerably harder to CC, They are much slower to draw, even open carrying on the farm they are always getting in the way, the wife can shoot them but not well (The Rock Islands she is as good or better than I am) And pre Covid panic buying .38s of any flavor were cheap and plentiful. .45lc not so much. Too much arguing and debate of bullets, grains and cal. Everyone is different and has different abilities and needs. That is why it is best to just buy lots of guns and enjoy them all and settle on a couple models and cals that best suit you personally But I do love charts like this as a starting point for making a base ammo selection to try out. And because of this post I am going to try and get my hands on some Hornady 158 grain custom XTPs and some Winchester 158gr super-x lswchp wadcutters +p and see what they do when I kill and butcher hogs in the fall. Hogs in the 240-260 pound range are about as close as one can get to testing ammo without shooting a human Pulled the ,38s out of one of the RI I have on me now. I like diversity in my wheel if one doesn't put the target down the next one will and if it takes more than 6 I am doing something very wrong. First shot is always be a hollow point, second will always be the better penetrating winchester. I have never taken pictures or made a video of the testing, I suspect YouTube would take the videos down and I know fb would throw in me in jail for at least a month So I just have my scribbled notes of what each test results were. Can say with certainty I have not gotten great results with Remington or Federal .38s one round will be great the next round terrible and very little consistency in penetration or damage. Something else often overlooked is the psychological trauma of getting shot with anything. The average person when shot loses their shit and goes into a panic party. Strung out rabid junky that had been chowing down on faces and bath salts....... yeah that is a different matter entirely. But yer garden variety criminal or Billy Bad Ass is going to have second thoughts real fast with even a non lethal small cal. wound. Make it a sucking, blood pumping chest wound and the psychology of the situation changes very quickly to your favor. Just to be blunt a .22 short to the leg hurts like MF'r and gives you a edge for at least a short time, I know this because a kid over seas ran up behind me an shot me in the ass with a .22 short LOL My hidden scar of shame
9mm and 38 cal bullets have good sectional density. It's the thing 44 and 45 lack unless you go with insane (in a revolver) 300gr and up l bullets.
I run a lot of 180 and 200 gr 10 mm auto at near the dangerous load pressures, ( not recommended) and I get insane performance out of them, so much so, that I would rather carry the auto loaded instead of the Anaconda .44! With few exceptions! Running the new .454 has been an eye opener, and if it were not so heavy and valuable, I would carry that more! Oh well, the big 10 does plenty well enough!
I carry the Taurus Raging Judge Magnum chambered for .454 Casull with me on occasion and tested the .454 C's in the hog carcasses. You just do not want to get shot with one of those period ever or any where. It turned hearts into a mix of strawberry and grape jelly. Shredded through not one but two lungs doing impressive damage to both with trail of damaged getting better the farther it traveled. One of the few rounds I would recommend for gut shots as it rips a considerable amount of gut and belly off and out. I am thinking a minor flesh wound would be missing a leg or arm Like you point out it is heavy, it is big and it is expensive......I am not fond of banging around expensive guns in the rocks and brush LOL don't mind banging around a $200 rock island that probably came from the factory pre banged up ( The last two I bought however lacked the machine marks and scratches the first 4 came with) Biggest upside for it is the intimidation factor it presents Second up side is it versatility in ammo taking .45/.454/and 410 shells I rarely put anything in it now days except for the .410s with copper plates for the load. Sometimes coarse jagged glass or sifted rock salt. Wife shot it once and has no interest in ever touching it again. It has a place in the line up but will never be my primary goto gun.
Got to shoot some cows that were in need of disposal, so we got to try out several calibers of pistol ammo! The 9 mm sucked mostly, the only shining light being a 124gr HST loaded really hot! That load went about 16 inches and the wound cavity was was pretty impressive. The 10 auto did super, all loads preformed well, bit the three stand outs were the Remington Golden Saber 180 gr. Hand loaded to 1405 FPS, that one was explosive, penetrating about 4 inches and then expanding to almost 7/8 inch and carrying through, the wound cavity was YUGE, with massive trauma through out, the distance was around 24 inches plus, none over penetrated but all went through the boiler room and approx 8 inches beyond! Neck shots were insane, two shots to the same area damn near severed the head! The 200 Gr HST was pretty impressive, consistently shattering bone, and smashing through the boiler rooms with ease, none over penetrated, but several were recovered just instead the far side. The 220 gr Lasercast hand loaded to 1280 FPS went clean through, smashing everything they hit, turning everything into a purple sloppy mess! Moving up to the .44 Mag, things were as expected from the 240 gr Fed hollow points, all the way up to a 270 gr hard cast flat point Conical! The .45 Colt loaded HOTTER then he'll was super impressive, none over penetrated, but all came close, and the damage was awesome, as in scary! The .454 was the meanest of all, no surprise there, hollow points were explosive, like some one set off a granade, massive tissue trauma and all bones hit were shattered! The hard cast were even more impressive passing clean through, expanding to 1 1/2 diameter and crushing clean through, none recovered, and there was a pretty good size hole in the cement back wall! Those were almost equal to Rifle rounds!
I am very surprised not to see G9 ammo on any of the tests and to hear no one is carrying it; however, it is a small company, right here in North Idaho, so probably not getting much attention. I would say almost everyone that shoots regularly and knows a bit about shooting around here has gone to it for their self defense needs, even some of the heavy hitters/shooters. I was considering going to a larger caliber however doing a bit of research on their 9mm round, external hollow point, convinced me it isn't necessary. They got their factory running 24/7 and can't keep up with demand. Do yourself a favor and do a search on YouTube about G9 concerning auto windshields or wound cavity that should get your attention... Home - G9 Defense
Very similar to the Underwood Xtreme Defender that my wife and I both carry. Online Handgun Ammo for Self Defense | Underwood Ammo
Yeah, looks good! I really try to support ammo and firearm makers right here in Idaho. So, if they make a good product, I buy it. This is one of the reasons I really like G9, not only because it really is superior grade ammo with cutting edge tech but its also made right here - well - very close to me in Post Falls. My main AR is also made in Idaho, a PWS MK116, an excellent rifle. I hope to purchase another soon...as soon as I can convince myself that I should submit the ridiculous NFA paperwork for it and by doing so put myself on some government secret Black List.
I buy a ton of ammo from these guys when they actually have it in stock, top quality at reasonable prices! Minuteman Ammo, LLC
