What grain of .40 bullet do you use for Self Defense

[NeverSurrender]

40 S&W 165gr CORBON Self-Defense JHP:
http://www.corbon.com/corboncart/corbon/original-jhp/sd40165-20

 

[HarCo2ANewb]

Aww, I am so proud of you guys! 20 posts and no one said .45!

 

[Bang]

Aww, I am so proud of you guys! 20 posts and no one said .45!

Lol

 

[amoebicmagician]

180 grain HSTs in my SR-40. Also 160 grains in my second and third magazines, just in case the 180 grainers don't do the job for some reason.

I've routinely seen those 180 grainers push right through pots, pans, and other metal obstacles that stop lighter loadings cold.

 

[whitelightning777]

I use Remington 180 grain bonded (waterproof) golden sabers in my duty pistol, a full size PX4 type C with extended 17 round magazines.

These have the deepest penetration of most hollow points. Best of all, UMC makes rounds with the identical bullet weight powder and primer.

Compared to some of the other types of ammo, the price is reasonable. One of the nice things about the PX4 is that it has fairly low recoil, no worse then my 9mm. This is due to the rotating barrel.

One of the things you need to do is to use grease on the rotating barrel nub and oil the rest of the gun normally. I treat the spinning barrel just like the rotating bolt on a rifle. This prevents jamming.

Another thing to be aware of is that the extended magazine seats much better and the floor plate is attached much more strongly. There are reports if the regular floor plate flying off of the standard magazines if slammed into the gun too hard.

Best of all, you can get a matching CX4 carbine taking the same magazines as the handgun.

I recommend this combination to anyone. Since the CX4 is banned by name, I'm thinking about whether or not to get one.

 

[04RWon]

180 gr Speer Gold Dots or 180 gr Federal HST

+1 180gr speer gold dot

 

[dwb1987]

180 gr Speer Gold Dots or 180 gr Federal HST

This. From what i have seen and read 180gr has slightly better penetration. I also personally find the 180gr a little easier in terms of recoil.

 

[whitelightning777]

The type and weight of the gun are at least as important as the caliber and bullet weight when it comes to felt recoil.

A compact or subcompact 40 will grow taxing in prolonged shooting sessions.

 

[Dialtone]

180gr Speer Gold Dot LE JHP

 

[Biggfoot44]

The performance between different bullet designs will vary more than the averages of the different common weights.
As aphilosiphical thing I would abstractly be inclined to faster and lighter. FWIW to those so equiped , my employer issues Federal Old School 155 JHP .

As much as I'm not a fan of the .40 , I will have to conceede that there are no really bad JHP loads ( except FBI spec 165gr medium vel) .

 

[NickZac]

165 gr HST and Gold Dot. The 180gr is really a load for lower recoil. As a general rule, bullets in the 155 and 165 gr range tend to perform better. 165 seems to be the best blend of penetration, energy, weight, and JHP expansion. The 165 Gold Dot seems to be a very popular LE loading.

With all that said, if someone shoots one weight faster and more accurately than the others, that should be the chosen carry load as the performance difference between available .40 loads almost surely has far less impact than proper shot placement and followup.

 

[spfrazierjr]

Best of all, you can get a matching CX4 carbine taking the same magazines as the handgun.

I recommend this combination to anyone. Since the CX4 is banned by name, I'm thinking about whether or not to get one.

IIRC the CX4 is not banned at all. It is not specifically named, is above 29 inches (it is 29.7), and does not have 2 of the 3 evil features. I could be wrong though.