Last year I let the dogs out and they started barking differently I opened the door and 5 feet from me was a mountain lion about to attack the dogs I always carry and grabbed my gun and was able to get the dogs back into the house but staring down a cat at that distance was interesting I had Hornady critical defense in my 45 and if it attacked there definitely would have been no time to switch mags
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And really no need. An adult cat may be more fit than most of us, and possibly harder to hit.
But does 6 foot 100-150 pounds remind you of anything your Critical Defense load is designed for? 
The need for extreme penetration and limited expansion really only carries the argument when the threat really calls for a long gun — elephants, northern bears, cattle, walruses, and what-not. That will be important for some of us, but not most.
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Mountain lions aren’t very thick skinned. And even the bigger ones are more in the size and weight range of average people. A .45 or 9 would likely do the job in most cases. Assuming you can hit a rapidly moving target in the right spot. As others have mentioned attacks on people are rare. As soon as it saw you it was likely wondering how it could best get out of that mess.
@techs beat me to the answer:)
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Faster on the draw is he? 
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I tend to view that as “it’s not justified until the legal system says it is”. And the legal system might take ammo into consideration in making that determination.
Ever heard of Harold Fish?
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Hellcat, my way of thinking is I want something that will: be accurate, function 100%, do the job and have a low chance of over penetrating. I can’t tell you what will work in your pistol. You will need to shoot 100+ rounds with no failure in my mind, that does get expensive. So far as being worried about the legality, I would tend to avoid things like R.I.P. or Zombie Killers. They probably work great but explain that in court. On the other hand, what does your local LEOs use? If it ever came to a question, the answer is “I carry the same bullet the local Sheriff’s department does…” Unless the DA wants to indite the local police force, how do they complain about that. But still test what they claim to carry. you may carry a different pistol that they do. It may function different. Just my opinion.
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Massad Ayoub (hope I spelled his name correctly) is a court qualified defensive shooting expert and has testified and assisted the defense is a number of cases. I don’t know the exact number. He has stated in a written article touching on ammunition used in defensive shootings that the question of self-loaded or hollow point or solid point ammunition has never come up in any case in which he was involved.
That said, I would buy the best ammunition, in my opinion, rated for self defense in the market, regardless of price. There are at least 10,000 differing opinion as to which ammunition is the best self defense ammunition. That may be a low estimate. It may be a high as 100,000 differing opinions as to the best round. All of those opinions are just that. The single most important factor in pistol self defense is bullet placement. It doesn’t matter whether it is a solid point or the skivved, post in the hollow point, flexible tip, wonder bullet, if it doesn’t hit a vital spot, it won’t work. Buy what you think is the best round and practice with it, even if it is a couple of buck a round because you want to make sure it works the way you want in your gun. You can shoot $100 dollar a round bullets and if they don’t go where you want them to go, assuming you do your part, then they are worth less the the 40¢ a round, white box 115 grain solid point. For some unexplained reason, not every gun shoots every type of ammo to point of aim. It is very handy to find out before you really need it to know if your gun has any unique ammo preferences. If you find that Remington just doesn’t seem to be going where you think it should, try another brand or a different line of Remington if you like their package or whatever about the ammo. Or it may be you. You may shoot one brand of ammo differently from another brand. Try several different brands and then make your selection. Remember too, that ammunition varies from one lot to another even though the manufacturers try their best to eliminate variables. The machinery that ran the batch from a years ago is older and slightly more worn with the batch it is running this month. That very small variation may make a difference in the way this lot works in your gun, so you may have to make changes in what you shoot as you go through different lots of ammo. When you buy ammo, but several boxes of the same lot, so that you are comparing Fuji apples to Fuji apples and not Fujis to golden delicious. If you brought one box last year most assuredly the box you bought this week is from a different lot than the box you bought last year.
That’s why competitive shooters when they buy commercial ammo inspect it carefully to make sure it is all from the same lot and they buy sufficient of that lot to last them a planned period of time. Or else they very carefully weigh their brass and ensure it is all the same length and the primer pockets have all been uniformed and the flash holes uniformed and they use extreme care in measuring the powder and carefully measure the case length and bullet depth to eliminate as much as humanly possible variations in the ammunition they shoot.
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I’m not gonna cheat and look it up. Was he the person that was in a bind because he used a 10mm?
And a general question for everyone, has anyone watched the video I posted?
to re visit my statement: if justified, the ammo used is immaterial, but if NOT justified, you’re guilty, so the ammo used doesn’t matter.
Ever heard of wrongfully accused?
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Wrongfully accused really doesn’t come into play; If guilty or not, the ammo is immaterial. It depends on if the shoot is justified. Kyle was wrongly accused by a zealous, anti-gun DA, but won. His ammo type didn’t come into play, if I remember correctly. (reloads or factory)
He had multiple things going on, including being portrayed negatively to the jury both over the use of hollow points, and the use of 10mm (there were some other things as well). It was a “good shoot” for which he was found guilty and went to prison. It was rectified later and he was released, but, he did go to prison and his gun/ammo choice was a factor in that.
So, yes, it certainly can matter, and it’s not as simple as “if it’s a good shoot it doesn’t matter”, it’s not a good shoot until the legal system says so.
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STOP and think about what you just said here. In a defensive shooting incident terminal ballistics matter, period. Legal considerations aside and i mean aside is not the constraining impetus here. Lethal force is just that (dead is dead). The object is to stop the attack. JHP or better is warranted unless you are on the range. Don’t let nebulas legal considerations cloud your response… SAVE your life and that of your loved ones. The most devastating round you can buy is the one you should use… a bullet is a bullet and dead is dead, but the question to be answered here is how many times are you going to engage the hostile threat until you are safe ??? BoB ¥
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Ask what ammo your local Police carry.
FMJ ammo tends to over-penetrate and not “Stop the Threat” as well as HP Ammo does.
“Stopping the Threat”, ASAP, IS your Prime objective and what you will need to argue in court.
And you Dont want “Any” - “Shoot thrus” to Innocent People.
“My-Police” carry Hornaday “Critical Duty” - a bit Hotter and better penetration than “Critical Defense”.
But - “I” Carry Hornaday “Critical Defense”. Since I have No “Duty” to respond (Like Police do) and dont want the DA saying I felt otherwise because I used Critical “Duty” ammo.
Both are Filled-Nose Hollow Points.
And Very Popular Brand and Round - maybe the Most Popular in the U.S. ?
Using HP Ammo :
And Over-Penetration(“Shoot - Thrus”) of FMJ Ammo can be a danger to Innocent people behind the threat. And typically FMJ Ammo will “Not have” the “Stopping Power” of a HP round.
So I dont recommend FMJ Ammo for “Conceal Carry” or “Home Defense” either for that matter.
FMJ should be your Practice Ammo - use the same Bullet Wt 115gr, 124gr, whatever - as your
“Defense Ammo”.
For a “Real Fight” - Stopping Power is what you want, ASAP, especially if out in Public.
And The Fewer Rounds Shot - Fewer Rounds to, Potentially, hit innocent by-standers.
ps NO - HP ammo will not expand when it hits a hard target like sheet-rock , wood, walls etc. They expand only on contact with body tissue, water based mtl, etc.
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for ccw renewal the instructor said commercial hollow points only…
and expressed fmj and such can over pen and hurt someone behind…
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I use these browning cross hollow point defense ammo and I love them they work great where I live there really isn’t any issues with ammo you can or can’t have fMJ always goes in and out of the target. I like the hollow point it spreads out pretty good and don’t go out the back of the target usually if im using like jell or some home made target. But I would find out what the laws are on ammo where you live
If all other things being equal; I’ve heard of another system for SD EDC:
If shot gun home SD, some prefer loads of first loaded round as buck shot, then the 2nd as slug shot type. What’s the idea behind that? And starting on the 3rd round, what would that be?
Fir outside the home hand gun, is there a unique alternative as well, such as first 1-2 rounds being FMJ, then 3rd and subsequent rounds being JHP. Does anyone know about this, or a variance of it? And what’s the intention behind it?
I heard it was related to the emphasis on stopping the lethal threat, scaring them off, and trying to reduce lethality of the first 1-2 rounds.
Comments?
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I have heard of people doing this. Generally the reasoning I have heard in regards with pistols is people fire a hollow point or two and it doesn’t stop the target then maybe it’s because they need more penetration hence the FMJ to follow up with. I would guess the logic is the same for the buck followed by slugs crowd.
I prefer to stick with a magazine of good penetrating HP ammo in my pistol. Not really enough of a shotgun guy to comment on the buck and slug mix. But I know there is a group of shotgunners who believe in not using buckshot at all for home defense because of the chance of the pellets deflecting off of the framing in walls and having no control over where they go after that.
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The buckshot/slug loading has been around since or before Vietnam, I have slugs in a sidesaddle for use on a harder target. Loading FMJs and HPs is just silly. Don’t see the point. 
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