I have run the 147 grain HST through: S&W Shield EZ, S&W MP9C 2.0, FN-509 tactical, Hellcat Pro, and Taurus G3C (wallet says ouch). I have had zero issues in all. Worked perfectly fine and was really accurate.
The nice thing about the 147 is it is subsonic, so not quite as loud. In a home environment that is a plus.
I have watched and looked at extensive testing and they seem to penetrate well and the hollow point opens every time.
I have seen no negative reviews or failures on these.
Just my .02c since like everything, everybody has an opinion or a differing experience.
It is nice how the FBI formed a test to see the performance of bullets and shared it too!
The FBI test protocol runs through a full cycle of eight different test events. The events are designed to test a hollow point bullet by shooting the ammo through barriers such as wallboard, steel, and auto glass before penetrating ballistic gelatin. The ammunition is then tested for velocity and accuracy. The results are an assessment of a bulletās ability to inflict effective wounds after defeating various intervening obstacles commonly present in law enforcement shootings. To meet the FBI penetration standard, a handgun bullet must consistently penetrate on average a minimum of 12 inches and a maximum or 18 inches into ballistics gelatin.
Self-defense ammunition should be looked at like an insurance policy. You want something reliable that you can depend on when you need it most. If you wouldnāt trust your home or car with a low-quality insurance policy, why would you trust your life with ammunition that might not perform when needed?
The 9mm Speer Gold Dot 115grain ammo was shown to deliver overall poor performance when fired from our M&P Shield, but the 45 ACP Speer Gold dot fired from the Ruger SR45 performed better. This would be why a Speer Gold Dot may work well with one gun but not another as well as a HST might not work well with one gun or another. So, the gun has a major roll on how a round works, or not!
Thatās very important to either check it by yourself or do a deep research.
Knowing your ammo gives you a confidence with your actions.
Gold Dot 9 mm 115 gr is not for every handgun. It works great with 4 mm barrel giving expected results but is not so good with short barrel.
Thereās a Gold Dot Carry 9 mm 135 gr with performs similar to 115 gr but has modified HP tip for better initial penetration and good expansion in the flash. Because of its ballistic characteristics it works great in short barrel handguns.
Honestly I think we get too wrapped around the axle on these discussions. From my perspective, the best self-defense ammo is whatever you have available when you need it. In other words, Iām am going to defend myself with FMJ if that is what is loaded and available at the time I need it. Why would I have FMJ loaded? Hereās a scenario: Iām shooting FMJ at the range and some wack-a-doddle starts shooting people at the range. I am not going to worry about changing out to JHP nor how much it might over penitrate.
With that said, I do carry JHP of a brand and model that has been confirmed to feed and shoot well thru the specific firearm it is loaded into. I believe hitting the threat is the most important, and the ammo working in the firearm for follow-up shots as required is the second most important.
Hereās a photo of some of the different 9mm I have in stock. Take a WAG which ones feed and shoot the most reliabily
I usually use Sig Sauer Elite Performance in my carry guns. My current EDC caliber is 40S&W. Iāve always liked the performance and ballistics of this ammo.
