Kahr MK40 Elite
Mostly Federal HST 180 gr 40 S&W.
Because it's crazy accurate and equally reliable.
I like Speer GDHP Short Barrel 180 gr too for the same reasons
Don't own a Kahr 9mm.
But if I did.
Federal HST Micro 150 gr 9mm.
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My picks are based on several things, but the Lucky Gunner tests figured high. I chose the 150-gr Micro HST for my wife, since I wanted a standard pressure for her Glock 43. I switched to it as well, because it looked better than the +P Speer 124-gr Gold Dots with penetration and expansion, without the + pressure.
I also got the PNW Arms 115-gr Tac Ops Solid Copper HP. I would have gotten the Winchester 147-gr Ranger T's, but they weren't available for a LONG time. Those were the best for expansion and penetration, and standard pressure loads.
Looking at the Lucky Gunner charts, I clicked twice on the top of the expansion column putting the greatest expansions to the top, then I looked at penetration consistency, and then standard pressure.
https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/sel...llistic-tests/
USAF Retired '88, NRA Life Member. Wife USAF Retired '96
Avatar: Wynn re-enlists his wife Desiree, circa 1988 Loring AFB, ME. 42nd BMW, Heavy (SAC) B-52G's
Frédéric Bastiat’s essay, The Law: http://mises.org/books/thelaw.pdf
Thomas Jefferson said
“A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.”
and
"Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading".
Nice pics there!
I know a lot of people swear by HST, I bought a friend a box of it in .40 along with a mag carrier and spare mag as a graduation present when he graduated from law school.
I may get some to try in 9mm Parabellum in the 150 grain version. It may penetrate well but I'm curious about recoil.
Maybe as things relax I can get back to testing.
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How do you like the extended and ported barrels?
On the topic of carry ammo..everyone has their own opinion based on gel tests, meat tests, magazine articles, "advice from experts", etc.
I find myself wondering if there is a publicly available database of ACTUAL shooting reports that we're missing in this conversation..?? Someplace where all the available information has been gathered to allow people to read verifiable after action reports and see how various brands of handgun ammunition actually performed in a wide variety of conditions, then make up your own mind based on FACTS and field experience.
Now that would be great!
I do have an online essay written by a man claiming to be a coroner and he did something similar based on his own experience but there is no way to verify the results.
I might can post that here if anyone wants it.
Originally I found it on www.1911forum.com
Paul Harrell has an interesting youtube treatise on why coroners reports are unreliable. This is based on his actual real world experience and observations. Enlightening read.
Federal had a report out not long ago on pistol bullets for self defense. Several facts I found interesting.
They can make a bullet perform anyway they want to. The trick is to balance expansion with penetration.
No such thing as a temporary wound cavity unless the velocity is 2300 fps or above.
Foot lbs of energy is irrelevant. What matters is size of hole and penetration.
KWH hit the nail on the head ( so to speak) .
Think about the two ends of the spectrum. At one end is a thin pointed blade.. think: a 24 in ice pick.
You can run that thing completely through an attacker... full penetration, but it’s not going to reliably STOP the attack instantly.
OTOH... if you deliver a full swing blow to an attacker with a 16 pound sledge hammer, you’ll stop the attacker in his tracks... zero penetration.
we can’t carry a launcher to deliver that hammer blow so we go for a compromise.