True. You need to practice to hit your target. Get yourself to wally-world and pick up a value pack then spend some money on some good hallow points for defense. Talk to your local gun shop. They'll know.

 

The last box of PMC I had, I had to toss. Almost all of the bullets were badly set back. I don't reload (would love to start, but don't have the $$ right now), so I couldn't really reuse the components. The whole box, with the exception of about five or six rounds went in the trash.

I'm sure it was a one time incident, but once bitten...


Jason

 

Lots fo good quality cheap practice ammo and practice with your defense loads as well. Try asking your local law enforcement what they use, If you have friendly cops in town. Go to the local gun stores and ask. buy and try lots of different rounds until you find what you like and fits you needs. I have my target round, my intown defense rounds and in the wilderness defense rounds.

 

Lots of great info. Thanks alot guys.

@Slob, I'm a police/fire dispatcher, so getting input from the cops isn't gonna be a problem. I've already gotten permission from the LT to use their indoor range.

 

IMO the best ammo for self defense is winchester ranger T. It is likely carried by your local law enforcement. It is the current version of the "black talon" but they don't coat it with "Lubalox" anymore so the bullet tip is no longer black and the petals that expand out are cut longer and more rounded now. Essentially it is the black talon evolved to a better round as technology has improved. You cannot find it at the local walmart or sporting goods store, but you can get in online all day long. The price is very reasonable for self defense loads, and it is available in regular pressures or "+P" pressures.

The "+P" means that the round is "overpressure" (it has more pressure than the standard load). Usually +P has more powder in the round, and in the .40 cal ranger the bullet is lighter. It is 165gr. instead of the slightly heavier 180gr.in the standard load. What this does for you is gives you a bullet with more velocity and more energy. The standard Ranger T 40cal has a velocity 990 feet per second and energy of 392ft/lbs. and the +P has a velocity of 1140fps and energy of 476ft/lbs. It gives you more "knockdown power" in simple terms. Most self defense ammo is available in standard and +P loads.

Hollow points are made to expand making a larger cavity and transferring more energy into a target. Some hollow points do not expand like they are claimed to, but most do expand at least some. Ammo like "extreme shock" is bad about not opening up and expanding like it should. The reason I like the Ranger T so much is that the expansion is large and consistent. The boxes say say "law enforcement military only" or something like that, but they just don't sell it to civilians directly and it is perfectly legal to own and use.

Here are some images to show you what I meant about the "petals" when the ammo expands. It almost doubles in size.




Hope this helps and doesn't just flood you with info. Any quality hollow point like federal, corbon, hornady, etc. should be fine for self defense. I don't think there is any better on the market than the ranger T tho. My every day carry gun is a glock 30sf (compact .45acp) full of Ranger AT ammo. That is the +P Talon. I payed $31.95 a box for 50rd boxes at SGAMMO online. That is cheaper than most hollow point ammo at the local gun shop and much better I think.

 

There is a school of thought out there about practicing for self defence. That line of thinking goes like this: If your life depends on the practice you've done, that practice better have been done with the exact same ammo you are using to defend your life. Once you become a self defense shooter, you need to avoid any type of practice that could create the wrong muscle memmories in times of critical stress.

The instructor that taught the MSCC (Multi State Carry Course) course I took had several well documented examples of police getting shot, because they had reverted to habits picked up on the range during recreational shooting.

There is also a book out by one of the Front Site instructors that favors heavy doses of dry firing, with only a few live rounds each month to prove to yourself that the dry practice is working.

In the end, it's up to each person to determine what type of shooting they want to do, but if the true aim is self defence, then that takes precedence over ammo cost.