I guess when it comes to what ammo I really trust, it is my reloads. I have been reloading for 48 years and have never had a fail to fire. In my current pistol ammo that I load most of, I have 2 Ruger P97's, a P90, and a P345 that I reload Ball and Hollow point ammo for and they all work well with it. If ammo is loaded right, it won't cause jams or misfires. Those are mechanical problems with the gun or shooter.

I'm not picky. Whatever premium HP ammo works well in the gun is fine with me. There's about a nickel's worth of difference between them in real life, as opposed to the pages of gun magazines. I currently have Golden Sabers in my PF9, but I'm not wedded to them.

Any round will do - if you will do. Pick a premium round that works in the gun, then move on to the things that actually matter: mindset, marksmanship, gunhandling and tactics.

Any name brand, new stock JHP will do. Usually bought by the case. 147gr for 9mm, and 230gr for .45 when given a choice. Price and availability counting more than brand.

124 GD or GS do fine in mine. Wanted to try DPX but had problem w/pierced primers and gunked up firing pin hole. Doesn't like 147 gr.

For some reason when I read the question I think of that Allstate Insurance commercial where that guy says "Are you in good hands?". I'm not picky either but when I find something that I like then I pretty much stick with it, Speer Gold Dot 124gr.

Whatever works and gives you confidence. I've been happy with Remington Golden Sabre and Federal Hydra Shok.

.40 180 gr. Speer Gold Dots. Good track record, reasonably priced ammo that gets the job done right.

Gold Dots.

AFS

Has anyone ever heard of Hornaday Critical Defeanse? That's what I use in my PF9 & P3AT.

We use a variety around my house depending on which gun is selected. My wife has 9mm 124gr Hydra-Shoks in her P-11 and 125gr WWB PD SJHP in her .357 mag Ruger Security-Six. I have 9mm 147gr WWB PD HP in my P-11 and TZ99,.45acp 230gr WWB PD HP in my Witness P Compact, and 158gr SJHP in my .357mag Ruger Blackhawk. I trust 'em all.

Any quality HP except in my .32acp (P32) in which I use 70gr. fmj to maximize penetration.

Currently; Gold Dot in .45acp and Hydra-shok in .38 & .357.

In my P-3AT I carry Buffalo Bore hardcast and Hornady Critical Defense. In my PF-9 I carry Remington Golden Sabers, Speer Gold Dots, or Federal HST. I figure that a good quality load from any of the major manufacturers will perform well, if needed.

Hornaday critical defense ammo is the new ammo for 380s. It has the hp tip filled so it will increase expansion for this somewhat weak caliber. This new hp tip is supposed to make the 380 caliber much more effective and damaging.

x2 on the hornady cd....great stuff

The real fact of the matter is that, any object striking the human body traveling at 1000 feet a second is going to cause intense trauma. Ball ammunition will feed more reliably and penitrate further into the body and damage the internal organs. That is why the military uses ball 9 mm exclusivle. Hollow point ammunition has less penitration power and higher failure to feed issues. A wise idea is to stager load the mag with ball, hollow point, ball, hollow point to get the best of both worlds.

Originally Posted by Big Boomer

The real fact of the matter is that, any object striking the human body traveling at 1000 feet a second is going to cause intense trauma. Ball ammunition will feed more reliably and penitrate further into the body and damage the internal organs.

Yes, but it also has the ability to over penetrate, exit the target completely, and generally doesn't leave as great a wound channel as a JHP. The BENEFITS of the hollow points are that they are more likely to stay IN the target and cause more internal damage via greater wound tracts and more damage to organs due to expansion. I will agree that FMJ usually feeds better in some cases but not all. If your auto doesn't feed JHPs, there's something wrong.

Over penetration is bad, plain and simple, I don't have it on hand at this exact moment to use as a reference, but Massad Ayoob has in many cases cited that that JHPs are the way to and that FMJ is generally a poor choice for self defense.

That is why the military uses ball 9 mm exclusivle. Hollow point ammunition has less penitration power and higher failure to feed issues.

No that would be for other reasons...

The Hague Convention of 1899, Declaration III, prohibits the use in warfare of bullets that easily expand or flatten in the body.[4] This is often incorrectly believed to be prohibited in the Geneva Conventions, but it significantly predates those conventions, and is in fact a continuance of the St. Petersburg Declaration of 1868, which banned exploding projectiles of less than 400 grams, as well as weapons designed to aggravate injured soldiers or make their death inevitable. NATO members do not use small arms ammunition that is prohibited by the Hague Convention.