Best SD Ammo for FNP-9

I just bought and FNP-9, finally. Had to fight with the FDLE to clear my rather common name and prove I wasn't a wife beater in another state. PITA but that's another story. I had been looking at the Ruger P95, Beretta Storm, an FNP-9 and some others locally and the FNP-9 screamed "Take me home!". Two months later I get my approval and the gun is no longer available so I tried the FNX-9 but it just didn't feel right - grip was too abrasive. I finally found one online and snatched it up but now my dilemma is what kind of SD ammo to use.

I've read where Cor-Bon 9mm 115 grain +P JHP is the best but it's too expensive for me right now. I can get the Federal Hi-Shok LE +P+ - 115 gr JHP (9BPLE) or Winchester Ranger T 127gr +P+ JHP (RA9TA) but am not sure whether this gun will handle a "+P+" round without excessive wear so I'm looking at

Federal 115 grain JHP (9BP)
Federal HST 124gr JHP (P9HST1)
Federal 124 grain Hydra-shok (P9HS1)
Winchester Ranger T 124 gr +P (RA9124TP)
Remington Golden Saber +P - 124 gr JHP

My main goal is to stop the BG but given the choice between him or me, being the selfish person I am, if I have to put him down permanently, so be it. I appreciate any thoughts?

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Originally Posted by jescurius

I just bought and FNP-9, finally. Had to fight with the FDLE to clear my rather common name and prove I wasn't a wife beater in another state. PITA but that's another story. I had been looking at the Ruger P95, Beretta Storm, an FNP-9 and some others locally and the FNP-9 screamed "Take me home!". Two months later I get my approval and the gun is no longer available so I tried the FNX-9 but it just didn't feel right - grip was too abrasive. I finally found one online and snatched it up but now my dilemma is what kind of SD ammo to use.

I've read where Cor-Bon 9mm 115 grain +P JHP is the best but it's too expensive for me right now. I can get the Federal Hi-Shok LE +P+ - 115 gr JHP (9BPLE) or Winchester Ranger T 127gr +P+ JHP (RA9TA) but am not sure whether this gun will handle a "+P+" round without excessive wear so I'm looking at

Federal 115 grain JHP (9BP)
Federal HST 124gr JHP (P9HST1)
Federal 124 grain Hydra-shok (P9HS1)
Winchester Ranger T 124 gr +P (RA9124TP)
Remington Golden Saber +P - 124 gr JHP

My main goal is to stop the BG but given the choice between him or me, being the selfish person I am, if I have to put him down permanently, so be it. I appreciate any thoughts?

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shot placement with damned near any ammo is more important that high end ammo and a near miss..... its location location location

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Originally Posted by TedDeBearFrmHell

shot placement with damned near any ammo is more important that high end ammo and a near miss..... its location location location

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+1
Good point; that should be a given with emphasis on should be. It's one of the first things I learned in the Corps. I'm more concerned about +P+ in this gun but thanks for pointing that out.

The FNX grip is pretty sharp I have to agree. any of the listed ammo is very good! I use mostly 124 in my weapons but I do have some Hornaday 115 Critical Defense Bullets I load in to my Kahr CW9. The FNP is a very good shooting weapon. Do as suggested by the bearfrom hell and learn to hit what you want to and in my opinion, all those bullets will be sufficient.

RCG

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Originally Posted by jescurius

+1
Good point; that should be a given with emphasis on should be. It's one of the first things I learned in the Corps. I'm more concerned about +P+ in this gun but thanks for pointing that out.

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the manual will tell ya if +P+ is ok.... guess i misunderstood

1st point – I spoke to a tech at FNH and basically he said that the FNP-9 would handle any factory round that met SAAMI specs but the higher pressure used would accelerate the wear to varying degrees.

That said, main consideration in a round is that I want to stop the BG if I need to but I'm looking for:

• maximum stopping power
• best control, meaning the less recoil the better and I probably won’t be shooting through car windows, etc.
• lower chance of taking out a neighbor in the townhouse next door or a bystander
• lowest muzzle flash if at night

Initially, I was looking at the Federal Hi-Shok LE +P+ - 115 gr JHP [9BPLE] but that’s probably overkill
I did pick up some Federal Classic Hi-Shok 115 gr JHP [9BP] and a box of Remington Golden Saber +P - 124 gr JHP [GS9MMD] to see how they felt. Also, a couple of boxes of Federal LE Tactical HST 124gr JHP [P9HST1] just because I could.

Next round I’ll pick up a couple boxes of Speer Gold Dot 124gr. +P HP or the Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel 124gr. +P HP. Have to do some more reading to figure out which and I’ll probably get a box of the Cor-Bon Pow'Rball 100gr +P JHP just to try them out. I'll have to research the Hornady ... doesn't seem to be a whole lot out there as fars test results but I keep running across the name. And then there's the Winchester Ranger stuff ...

I’ve read a lot about the cons of the 147 gr but then realized most of the stuff was a few years old and that there have been significant improvements. Then, I ran across a post on Speer Gold Dot 124gr+P or 147gr [Archive] - Glock Talk regarding the Speer Gold Dot 124gr+P vs. 147gr. In a nutshell:

Over the course of my LE career, every Agency and Deparment that I have been employed with has issued to me, in some iteration, the 9mm 147 gr. JHP.
I prefer the 9mm 147 gr. JHPs because they-
- are standard pressure rounds and subject the pistol to a little less wear than higher pressure (+P, +P+) ammunition
- have the highest practical sectional density for the 9x19 cartridge
- retain their downrange velocity better than the lighter bullet weights
- have very gentle recoil which enhances both "control" and minimizes "shot-to-shot" intervals
- don't have to pass through the transonic velocity range as they decelerate which can induce "in-flight" instability down-range
- have benefited from the current design improvements just as much as the other bullet weights have and offers both reliable expansion and penetration as result of these improvements

What he said makes sense so I’ll have to pick up a couple of boxes of those too. Anyone wanna buy a kidney??

Thanks again for the input. Be safe.

Hit the submit button early

[QUOTE=jescurius;253352]1st point – I spoke to a tech at FNH and basically he said that the FNP-9 would handle any factory round that met SAAMI specs but the higher pressure used would accelerate the wear to varying degrees......../QUOTE]

since no +P+ meets saami specs, where do we go from here?

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Originally Posted by TedDeBearFrmHell

since no +P+ meets saami specs, where do we go from here?

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Good point! I assumed ... doh, forget it.

SAAMI’s specs for pressure are
Standard pressure - 35,000
+P pressure - 38,500
+P+ pressure - no specs so you don’t know what you’re getting

I think +P will be more than adequate. Years ago, I had a Ruger Service Six 357 mag that would also fire 38's and 38 +P's. I seldom carried anything but the +P's just because of the kick of the 357. My wife and I took some courses on Instinct Shooting and after class one day, I loaded the Ruger with 2-38 special rounds, 2-+P and 2-357 rounds just so she could see the difference. She fired off the first 2 with no problem then one of the +P's and gave me a dirty look. She fired the 2nd +P, then the 357, threw the gun down stormed out and didn't talk to me for a week. Best week of my life but I digress.

Thanks again for pointing the SAAMI specs.