What is a good relatively inexpensive 9mm round for home defense.?

Question

I'm getting a Ruger P95 9mm for home defense and was wondering what would be a good brand/grain size of bullets to buy. Also, about how much would they cost?

Answer 1

Wal-Mart sells a Remington 100 round value pack of 115 grain JHP's for around $20.00 which is what I use in my P 95, with 16 rounds on tap press the trigger until there is no longer a threat. Handguns aren't death rays keep shooting till there is no longer a threat.

Answer 2

Don't use cheap ammo for home defense since you are not going to be shooting that ammo a lot or even at all. Get Federal Hydra-Shocks.But for practice just get any cheap ammo.But when it comes to protecting your life and or families lives you want the best.

Answer 3

buy Federal HST, the are superior to hydro-shoks, and less expensive. don't skimp on defensive ammo. I'm sure you think your life is worth a few more dollars a box.

Answer 4

A 95 to 115 grain hollow point round works well.  You don't need to get the +P or +P+ rounds.  For home defense you won't be shooting through cars.  The most important thing to remember is what ever round you do us is one that you personally have tested.  It should never fail to load, fail to eject, fail to fire and should stay on target.  If you are shooting from sand bags and still can't keep the rounds in a 3" group at 15 yards you might want to try another round or another gun.  Any failures you might have at the range during practice could also happen when you are trying to defend yourself and your family.  Make sure you have tried at least 200 rounds through your gun to be sure it will feed every time.  Have more than one magazine too.  Mark them as well.  If you have any failure problems it could be related to the magazine.  Knowing which one is causing the problem is half the battle in resolving the issue. In self defense situations there aren't any do overs.

Once you are sure of the ammunition you plan to use for defense.  You don't need to keep shooting the good stuff.  You can then practice with cheaper fmj rounds.  I like using CCI Blazer with the alum. cases.  They work well for practice and if you look around you can get them for a decent price.  Note some ranges will not let you use anything except brass cases.  Check with them before you shoot.

Answer 5

Don't go cheap when shopping for defensive ammo.  After all, your life could depend on it.  For the 9mm the best defensive ammo is the 115 to 127 grain jacketed hollow point rounds.  Federal, Winchester, Remington, Cor Bon, Gold Dot and other make quality defensive ammo.  A box of 20 Federal Personal Defense 124 grain Hydra Shok rounds shouldn't put you in the poor house.  Consider also the Glasier type safety slugs.  More costly but won't punch through dry wall endangering others living with you.

Good luck.  That Ruger is a nice pistol.

H

Answer 6

i would go with a shotgun because a night in a small space it is a lot easier

          maybe a 20GA. buckshot

Answer 7

I recommend a shotgun instead.

Pistols are hard to use accurately in the best circumstances, in the dark against a moving target it will be even harder.  Given that 9mm rounds can penetrate windows and thin walls while still moving at lethal speeds, they are very risky business if you have a family and/or live in a densely populated area.

It's easier to hit with buckshot and an errant pellet is less likely to kill innocent bystanders, but a direct hit at close range is still enough to take down an intruder.

Answer 8

Look to Speer Gold Dot, or Cor-Bon for some mighty powerful protection loads.

Most pricey ammo only gets you about 10-20 rounds, versus range type CCI or Winchester rounds.

145-185 gr. JHP sounds good to me, but it's been a while since I bought ammo for my .40 cal.