so far i havent run any SD ammo through mine, just practice stuff trying to find out what it might not like to feed. i live walking distance to my local indoor range so it's real easy to go over and shoot a couple boxes while supper is cooking. i dont have an unlimited budget for ammo so when it comes time to practice with the expensive stuff i'm thinking maybe a box a month until the economy straightens out and my job is more secure.

so far i have been able to use gold dots of all sizes with no issue. i have some federal hst and some ranget t's coming in tomorrow and will be trying them out.

i finally got to the range yesterday and got to try out some 9mm SD ammo and fell in love with the 124gr +p. wicked accurate and not near as bad on the recoil as i was expecting making it very shootable. the 127gr +p+ ranger was a bit too much. i also got to try a magazine of federal 9bple 115gr +p+ and was dissapointed. loud but recoils about the same as blazer practice ammo. i read up on that stuff a little last night and i can see why it's going for $15-16 a box, it's supposedly breaks up real easy and doesnt penetrate very well. i guess thats why it's made it onto the surplus market so cheap.

hornady critical defense in all of my CCW weapons, functions flawlessly

I prefer 147 grain HST, 150 round no problems. Shoot off the occasional mag of carry 147 but normally now that I know it works in my p250, just shoot ball.

Winchester SXT Rangers or Remington Golden Sabers.

When money was good I would buy 200 rounds of FMJ and 60 rounds of whatever JHP +P I was carrying at the time. Shoot the FMJ to practice and then shoot the JHP to practice even harder. It was good training when I had the money, you could feel a big difference between just a FMJ and the JHP+P's. Good to know how the recoil was going to be and what type of follow up I had to do. Also my backyard is my gun range. Set up some good obsticles to prcatice 1man attack to a 4 or 5 man attack. Its always good to bring a friend, this way he or she could change the obsticle for you and do a hostage or something. And always practice CQC set your distance from 2 feet to 12 feet. A friend can come in handy too. If you use FAKE guns like a platice air soft gun it can help you better train for different attacks.

For My P250 its 124 gr. Federal HST's.
My G23 It's 165 gr. HST's
My .45 is 230 gr. HST's

Dont waist your money. got some in 9mm and tried an expaniton test against a Gold dot. lets just say i wasnt impressed.

Here is what was recommended to me:

Cor-Bon Self-Defense Ammunition 9mm Luger +P 115 Grain Jacketed Hollow Point

Havent been able to get my hands on any yet, but it seems to rank fairly high on the scale for defense ammo. Here is a portion of an article i found as well:


9mm Parabellum (9mm Luger,9x19mm, 9mm NATO, or simply "9mm")

This is unquestionably the world's most popular pistol round. For this reason it has been the subject of a lot of experimentation, because 9mm ball - used by every army in the Western world - is a mediocre manstopper. Jacketed hollowpoints are a must if one wishes to rely on the 9mm as a defense round. Use ball ammo for practice only.

9mm ammunition is available in two pressure levels: standard and "+P." The latter should only be used in newer guns (made since 1985 or so), and is best used sparingly. I will deal here with only commercially available ammunition: there are specialized loads available only to law enforcement personnel. Civilians should not worry, as there are commercial loads as good or better than anything restricted to law enforcement usage.

I will now tell you the best 9mm Luger load for self-defense: it is the Cor-Bon 9mm 115 grain +P Jacketed Hollowpoint. This is the most powerful and street-proven manstopper available in this caliber. It is a high velocity (1340 fps) and high pressure round, and more effective than any load restricted to law enforcement use (such as the Federal 9BPLE).

Unfortunately, it is also likely to jam many older guns. For this reason I add a table at the end of the 9mm section discussing round suitability for different guns. Modern hollowpoints may either (a) jam, or (b) be too powerful for some older guns. This load is suitable only for First Class pistols (see table).

The best standard pressure 9mm load is the Federal 115 grain JHP (9BP). Its effectiveness and accuracy make it the world standard. Buy several boxes. Other excellent standard pressure 9mm loads are the Winchester Silvertip 115 grain (X9MMSHP), and Federal 124 grain Hydra-shok (P9HS1).

For guns that may jam with the Cor-Bon or Federal 115 grain hollow-points, the Remington 115 grain +P JHP is a good choice (R9MM6). For older guns I would use the Remington standard pressure 115 gr. JHP (R9MM1).

Now it is time to impart some crucial information: NEVER use 147 grain ammo in a 9mm pistol! There was a stupid fad for 147 grain hollowpoints a few years ago, and many were suckered into buying these weak, worthless and malfunction-prone rounds. I don't care what you've heard: never use any 9mm hollowpoint heavier than 125 grains. 147 grain hollowpoints often jam in many popular 9mm guns like the Browning Hi-Power, SIG, Beretta 92, S&W and Glock. Ignore the gun magazine hype and stick to what works. If you want to gamble, go to Reno. Don't gamble with your life. 147 grain ammo sucks.

Bad 9mm Loads to avoid (and certainly NEVER carry). Numbers given:

Federal Gold Medal 9mm 147 grain JHP (9MS)
Federal Hydra-Shok 9mm 147 grain JHP (P9HS2)
Winchester 147 grain 9mm Silvertip Subsonic JHP (X9MMST147)
Winchester 147 grain 9mm Super-X Subsonic (XSUB9MM)
Remington 147 grain 9mm JHP (R9MM8)
Remington 147 grain 9mm Golden Saber JHP (GS9MMC)
Remington 140 grain 9mm JHP (R9MM7)
Remington 88 grain 9mm JHP (R9MM5) This bullet is far too light.
CCI Lawman 147 grain 9mm PHP "Plated Hollow Point" (3619)