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Hello:

 

I bought my first Glock today. It's a Glock 43 ( 9 mm ). It looks "tactical" with a black slide and FDE frame/body.

 

As crazy as this sounds, I'm actually new to the 9 mm world. My experience with pistols has been with the good 'ole .45 1911. I got this Glock for concealed carry purposes because it fits my hands very well and it is so slim. Also, it is easier to strip & clean than a 1911, 9mm ammo is less expensive, and it shoots any kind of 9 mm ammo.

 

My question is what type of 9 mm ammo might be best for self-defense. I've noticed there are 115, 124, and 147 (?) grain bullets out there. I think there is 110 gr. ammo too. There are many different grains of 9 mm bullets.

 

I assume you might want a heavy 124 gr. hallow point for self-defense, but I might be wrong. I defer to anyone who might know better. Federal Hydrashocks look nasty, but a friend said to get Federal HST ammo instead.

 

All I can say is I've seen x-rays of what a 9 mm hallow point can do to someone's upper shin bone. It was shattered, and the guy was lucky to keep his leg and recover. It was a long orthopedic surgery. Total recovery (not just initial healing) took at least a year.

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I've used 115gr for years, however thats my personal preference as my original p95 shot that best and was recommended by the manufacturer. As for self-defense loads i am looking at those solid copper rounds, i just cant place the manufacturer currently.

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My Star likes 124gr rn fmj. so that is what I feed it. My personal experience is that self defense is gonna happen in a 15' or less perimeter. At that distance it is more important that it shoots, than what it shoots.

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I've been seriously thinking about the 43. My edc is my Glock 27 but since migrating to FL I've been eyeballing the 43 as a substitute. I think the lighter and slimmer 43

would be a better fit for the warmer climate. 

 

I am also considering the 36 in .45 just never had an opportunity to compare them side by side.

 

Any input/opinions from Glock guys is welcome.

 

Good luck with the new pistol Squeaky.

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Hello:

 

I bought my first Glock today. It's a Glock 43 ( 9 mm ). It looks "tactical" with a black slide and FDE frame/body.

 

As crazy as this sounds, I'm actually new to the 9 mm world. My experience with pistols has been with the good 'ole .45 1911. I got this Glock for concealed carry purposes because it fits my hands very well and it is so slim. Also, it is easier to strip & clean than a 1911, 9mm ammo is less expensive, and it shoots any kind of 9 mm ammo.

 

My question is what type of 9 mm ammo might be best for self-defense. I've noticed there are 115, 124, and 147 (?) grain bullets out there. I think there is 110 gr. ammo too. There are many different grains of 9 mm bullets.

 

I assume you might want a heavy 124 gr. hallow point for self-defense, but I might be wrong. I defer to anyone who might know better. Federal Hydrashocks look nasty, but a friend said to get Federal HST ammo instead.

 

All I can say is I've seen x-rays of what a 9 mm hallow point can do to someone's upper shin bone. It was shattered, and the guy was lucky to keep his leg and recover. It was a long orthopedic surgery. Total recovery (not just initial healing) took at least a year.

For that barrel length first choice would be 124gn or 147 grain Federal HST or 124 grain Speer Gold Dot. If you can buy some of each do so and actually compare them buy shooting each.

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Just dont shoot lead bullets...They foul the glocks rifling and will blow the gun up.

 

Happy glocking

 

BH 

I'm a cheap bastard.  I've shot hard cast through mine. wink.png

 

The people who usually blow up Glocks shooting lead do it because they shoot 1,000 lead bullets at a time without once cleaning out the barrel.  Plated is a good compromise though. :up:

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I personally saw a brand new glock 40 cal blow up on its first mag of lead bullets, professional reman ammo.

The guy was two stations down from me at an indoor range, gun and ammo purchased at the shop minutes before.

 

I have also worked with an engineering firm in CO. that testifies in court about engineering failures.

They have been involved in a number of similar cases involving glock polygonal rifling  and lead bullets. 

 

Its best not to press ones luck, change the barrel or shoot only jacketed bullets.

 

Gaddis is correct, berrys bullets makes a heavy plated bullet that is just a perfect compromise 

 

BH

Edited by BlackHeart762
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I personally saw a brand new glock 40 cal blow up on its first mag of lead bullets, professional reman ammo.

The guy was two stations down from me at an indoor range, gun and ammo purchased at the shop minutes before.

 

I have also worked with an engineering firm in CO. that testifies in court about engineering failures.

They have been involved in a number of similar cases involving glock polygonal rifling  and lead bullets. 

 

Its best not to press ones luck, change the barrel or shoot only jacketed bullets.

 

Gaddis is correct, berrys bullets makes a heavy plated bullet that is just a perfect compromise 

 

BH

plated bullets work great in glocks but if you lube the led and watch the hardness  they shoot fine

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Only REAL problem I have heard of is with .45ACP. The Glock is TOO SHORT and lead bullets will jam and KB. That is why there is a .45 Glock round, shorter so it can feed properly in an action too short for ACP.

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I believe the .45GAP was just to allow them to use .45 in a  standard size glock, with a lower capacity than the G21.

 

My G40 does fine with the slightly longer 10mm, it uses the same frame size as the G21.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hornady Critical Duty 135gr +P out of same Glock 43 and Glock 19 has been my preference.

 

You would be better off with critical defense in that barrel length. Duty tends not to expand well unless shot out of ~5" barrels. Defense is worked up for shorter barrels, but works fine in longer. - something I wish I had known before I bought Duty.

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I personally saw a brand new glock 40 cal blow up on its first mag of lead bullets, professional reman ammo.

The guy was two stations down from me at an indoor range, gun and ammo purchased at the shop minutes before.

 

I have also worked with an engineering firm in CO. that testifies in court about engineering failures.

They have been involved in a number of similar cases involving glock polygonal rifling  and lead bullets. 

 

Its best not to press ones luck, change the barrel or shoot only jacketed bullets.

 

Gaddis is correct, berrys bullets makes a heavy plated bullet that is just a perfect compromise 

 

BH

 

Professional reman lead ammo is garbage as a rule. They undersize it to ensure chambering in a one size fits all way. This creates leading, particularly since basically all of it I have seen also uses crummy alloy and a conventional wax lube.

 

Powder coated, or even tumble lubed in 45/45/10 sized to .001"-.002" over bore diameter wouldn't have been an issue. Most of the negative things people say about lead ammo are due to crap like that. Lead ammo is as good or better than FMJ in pistols, if you get the details right. 

 

I'd also be skeptical about the QC standards with a lot of that. .40 is more or less a light magnum and glocks don't support it well. It gets a lot of negative talk lately, but people forget that it is slightly more potent than 45 ACP at a lot higher pressure. If you use random mixed brass, powder that dispenses erratically, undersized bullets, and the brass had been fired in a glock before, and the weak spot from the glock smile was clocked toward the feed ramp, you are going to win the lottery of sadness.

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If you practice with the cheapest stuff you can buy, choose a round which works well in standard pressure 115 grain flavor. Then your practice ammo will match your carry ammo. There are good terminal ballistic performers available in each of the common weights, and at standard pressure. Most of the time, I've seen as good performance from the standards as the +P. So given that it is a small gun, that's a quicker followup, in addition to matching the behavior of the cheap plinkers.

 

If you reload, pick your flavor. There's good performers, and the 125 ish is one of the easier ones to match. That's my current setup.

 

If I were gearing up my 9mm all over again, I think I would probably go with Winchester Defend 147, based on current performance. It is more or less a tie with Ranger T, and Federal Can't Find It Anywhere , and it comes in 50 round boxes for $25. As a bonus, it performs excellently at basically all combinations of barrel length. 

I would reload 147s to behave the same in terms of recoil and point of impact.


Hello:

 

I bought my first Glock today. It's a Glock 43 ( 9 mm ). It looks "tactical" with a black slide and FDE frame/body.

 

As crazy as this sounds, I'm actually new to the 9 mm world. My experience with pistols has been with the good 'ole .45 1911. I got this Glock for concealed carry purposes because it fits my hands very well and it is so slim. Also, it is easier to strip & clean than a 1911, 9mm ammo is less expensive, and it shoots any kind of 9 mm ammo.

 

My question is what type of 9 mm ammo might be best for self-defense. I've noticed there are 115, 124, and 147 (?) grain bullets out there. I think there is 110 gr. ammo too. There are many different grains of 9 mm bullets.

 

I assume you might want a heavy 124 gr. hallow point for self-defense, but I might be wrong. I defer to anyone who might know better. Federal Hydrashocks look nasty, but a friend said to get Federal HST ammo instead.

 

All I can say is I've seen x-rays of what a 9 mm hallow point can do to someone's upper shin bone. It was shattered, and the guy was lucky to keep his leg and recover. It was a long orthopedic surgery. Total recovery (not just initial healing) took at least a year.

 

HST is a far superior product to Hydrashocks. Hydrashocks are basically the best thinking of 1992, and were a nice step up from the 1970s and 1980s designs like winchester silver tips. HST is a couple generations of improvement past that. It performs best out of short barrels in the 147 standard pressure version, from the tests I've seen. Certainly a good choice if you can get your hands on it. They make a 150 grain flavor for short barrels, but the tests of that have not been impressive.

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All good here.

But the saying  two will do for pistols needs to be part of every defense  mind set.

More hits makes bullet type less important.

Anyone here using the new polymer copper bullet? This could change how we look a bullets. Trying to find some to re load.

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All good here.

But the saying  two will do for pistols needs to be part of every defense  mind set.

More hits makes bullet type less important.

Anyone here using the new polymer copper bullet? This could change how we look a bullets. Trying to find some to re load.

 

They are very comparable to the leehi Phillips head bullets. You can get both from their respective manufacturers as components.

 

The manufacturer even provides load data https://www.inceptorammo.com/bullets/

 

https://www.lehighdefense.com/collections/bullets/products/355cal-9mm-xtreme-defense-90gr-bullet?variant=3759414404

The copper matrix ones are about 21 cents each at midway, which makes them a lot cheaper than the LeHigh bullet. I know ruger's ammo uses them now.

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Yes I just found it.

They have a 300 black out bullet  but it does not appear to have the special twists as the pistol rounds do.

Wife shoots a 380 and a 40 . Looks like a project just as soon as the doctors clear me to shoot.

The higher velocity  for the 380 has my attention. I may just order some defense rounds and see what the recoil is.

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Been buying Sig Sauer 9mm 124 gr. JHPs on sale this week. Watched several YouTube videos, and these appear to perform just as well as Federal HST rounds. 

 

Don't understand why the Federal HSTs cost so much - about twice as much as everything else. Heaven forbid I ever actually have to use my pistol for real, but I seriously doubt a bad guy cares if I'm firing Federal HSTs or not. Anything is going to hurt.

 

Putting ballistics aside, I think Federal's HST packaging could be simplified and that would help drop the price.

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  • 4 weeks later...

You can get 20 rounds of 150grn "micro" Federal HST at walmart for $23ish. I ran that through my 43 and 26. The best way to buy is the 147grn HST in 50 round boxes, but they're hard to find, for me anyways. Could order online. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

I've used 115gr for years, however that's my personal preference as my original p95 shot that best and was recommended by the manufacturer. As for self-defense loads i am looking at those solid copper rounds, i just cant place the manufacturer currently.

 

That's also my preference for my S%W 59.

 

Don't shoot lead bullets in te polygonal rifled barrel!! For some reason the lead fouls up the barrels. I don't know what the reason is but for jacketed bullets , the polygonal rifling is probably better.

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Yes I just found it.

They have a 300 black out bullet  but it does not appear to have the special twists as the pistol rounds do.

Wife shoots a 380 and a 40 . Looks like a project just as soon as the doctors clear me to shoot.

The higher velocity  for the 380 has my attention. I may just order some defense rounds and see what the recoil is.

 

I don't think the twists are actually what does the work anyway. It is the fact that the flutes end.

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