[aw10thmountain]

I just purchased my first hand gun and I am getting my carry permit next month and my question is about the ammo. Seems the price and availability of ammo right now is crazy so for PD and to carry does it really make a difference if I have PD ammo or target ammo? I mean to a newbie like me seems like if I have an idiot who tries to hold me up at an atm a target round is going to make him wish he had picked a different guy just has much as the PD ammo.

 

[asque2000]

Target ammo tends to be manufactured a little on the cheap side meaning you'll be more likely to have misfired rounds etc. Also they tend to be dirtier and have a brighter muzzle flash as they don't use suppressant powders. Additionally, you wouldn't get the benefit of the hollowpoint technology with target rounds. Long story short quality PD ammo is probably a wise choice since if needed your life may depend on it and the last thing you'd want is to not have your gun malfunction due to ammo selection. That being said, if your goal is to project a piece of metal really fast, target ammo will do that so I'd say go for it!

 

[locknload]

I am by no means an expert on the matter. Need to get that one point cleared up.
They say that round nose ammo may tend to go through & through, whereas jacketed hollow points
tend to mushroom, as they are designed to do, & stay inside the intended target.
Use round nose ammo for practice; & use jhp's for defense ammo.

I believe that round nose ammo is akin to full metal jacketed ammo; but I could be wrong on that.
Someone surely will come up on the forum with more knowledge than I. So, keep checking on your post for info!

 

[Montkun]

If the SHTF, I'll take whatever I have and use it, but that's a special occasion that I hope never arises. Target rounds do tend to be manufactured on the cheaper side of things, and aren't always as consistent with accuracy and overall performance as defense rounds tend to be. That being said, i doubt getting hit with one bullet versus the other hurts any less at all. However, I want to be about six guys behind the last guy in line for that test trial personally.

 

[Sambuh]

Get a hollow point. Buy 1 small box for 25-40 bucks. Imagine being mugged at an ATM and your shot goes through the mugger and kills an innocent bystander. Worse case I know, and unlikely, but worth it in my opinion.

 

[aw10thmountain]

Thanks for the help and the ammo knowledge

 

[MadKaw]

There is a big difference between target and defense ammo. Defensive rounds are designed to

• expand
• not overpenetrate

The cost of defensive rounds is irrelevant. Practice with range ammo, shoot enough defense ammo to be confident that it functions in your firearm and then only enough rotate fresh ammo into the firearm occasionally.

 

[Three Percent]

Get a hollow point. Buy 1 small box for 25-40 bucks. Imagine being mugged at an ATM and your shot goes through the mugger and kills an innocent bystander. Worse case I know, and unlikely, but worth it in my opinion.

Buy at least 250 rounds of the ammunition you intend to carry and shoot these to verify that that ammo will function in your pistol when you need it most.
You are going to have to spend some ammo money to make sure you can rely on your carry. Imagine getting mugged at the ATM and your pistol jams because you only bought one box and didn't verify.
Be safe out there.

 

[XDMJDJ]

Buy at least 250 rounds of the ammunition you intend to carry and shoot these to verify that that ammo will function in your pistol when you need it most.
You are going to have to spend some ammo money to make sure you can rely on your carry. Imagine getting mugged at the ATM and your pistol jams because you only bought one box and didn't verify.
Be safe out there.

Definitely run some ammo you are going to carry with through the gun. I would also recommend sending a couple hundred rounds of target ammo down range as well to get use to firing the gun.

 

[Rawmade]

Definitely hollowpoints. Most engagements happen less than 8ft distance, a FMJ will be through and through, so unless you hit the head or heart, there is a good chance the attacker will not go down.

 

[aphdmansoc]

There is a big difference between target and defense ammo. Defensive rounds are designed to

• expand
• not overpenetrate

The cost of defensive rounds is irrelevant. Practice with range ammo, shoot enough defense ammo to be confident that it functions in your firearm and then only enough rotate fresh ammo into the firearm occasionally.

To add to Madkaw, another advantage of JHP ammo is that more energy of the bullet will be dumped into the badguy by design (not overpenetrating as likely with FMJ ammo).

You didn't mention the type of weapon you purchased. This would have some effect on the amount of ammo you should practice with in breaking your gun in. If you purchased a revolver you would not have to shoot as many rounds as you would with a pistol to be confident that your gun/ammo were reliable. People have different opinions about the amount of ammo needed to break in a firearm and to sum extent it depends on the "quality" of the gun but with a revolver I would be confident with a 100 rounds. For a pistol make that a lot more - 300 to 500 rounds...just my opinion.

Don't go cheap on SD ammo it's your life or the life of your loved ones. Check out youtube on ballistic tests and recommendations. Check out this forum. There are a lot of good choices and don't use exotic rounds that do not have a history of excellent performance.

 

[Qwiks draw]

Take a look at this.
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/firing-line/8820-how-does-bullet-stop-fight.html

This is what goes into defensive ammunition and goes with what the others have said above... which is solid advice.