For 9mm defensive ammo I exclusively load Federal HST 124gr +P in my handguns and HST 147gr in my pistol caliber short barrel suppressed carbines. From short barrel handguns and medium barrel carbines this ammo has demonstrated excellent expansion and moderately deep penetration. I wait until I can find and buy a 1,000 round case of the LE marked 50 round boxes,. A 1,000 round case will last me several years as I don’t train with it regularly, but do shoot up the numerous loaded magazines I keep on hand a couple times a year. This is fine defensive ammo, well tested and street proven. Also, in the aftermath of a defensive shooting, in the chance a overly aggressive anti-gun prosecutor wants to make hey, or even more likely, the shot person or their aggrieved family will file for civil damages, I think it important to be able to demonstrate that this is the exact same ammunition used by police forces all around the country and that there is nothing cruel, unusual, experimental or having any special feature that shows malicious intent in its use.
I would say much the same can be said for “police“ ammunition from Speer, Winchester and Hornady.
It may well turn out that the new all copper bullets from Lehigh, Barnes and others perform better in a wider range of shooting situations with various types of barriers. But I think I’ll wait for more “real world” street performance reports to roll in, and see it’s adoption by more police departments and/or state and federal agencies, before I load up my EDC with this stuff.
I would say much the same can be said for “police“ ammunition from Speer, Winchester and Hornady.
It may well turn out that the new all copper bullets from Lehigh, Barnes and others perform better in a wider range of shooting situations with various types of barriers. But I think I’ll wait for more “real world” street performance reports to roll in, and see it’s adoption by more police departments and/or state and federal agencies, before I load up my EDC with this stuff.
