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The 9mm Luger (AKA 9mm Parabellum and 9x19mm NATO) represents a great blend of performance, terminal ballistics, recoil, price, and capacity. Which is why no one is surprised that it is one of the most popular self defense cartridges on the market today. With a quick google search, you can find a dozen different self defense 9mm cartridges, but picking the right one can be tough. Today we will decipher all the marketing jargon, and show you a few solid cartridges you can depend on.
The 9mm is a 100 plus year old design, but that doesn’t mean it’s archaic. It is quite the opposite actually. There’s been more manufacturing, engineering, and R&D money dumped into Georg Luger’s little cartridge than in any pistol round in recent decades. As a result, the 9mm is far and away the most popular choice in handgun cartridges today.
The wide variety of bullet designs, the availability, and the shootability of the 9mm Luger make it the most inviting centerfire pistol cartridge for both plinking and serious self defense. Although what defense round should we be using, and are they all that much better than standard full metal jackets? Let’s find out.
Self Defense Bullet Design
The old adage “speed kills” applies to bullets as well as anything. The added powder of a +P round adds more oomph and theoretically more penetration. Although the other half of the penetration equation is bullet design.
Most self defense and home defense handgun ammo is a jacketed hollow point (JHP or HP) design. This describes the construction of the bullet, which is a lead core bonded to a copper “jacket” or coating. These two metals work in tandem to create effective slugs.
Lead is a soft metal, which will deform when shot at high speeds. Older bullets were all lead, but they flew at relatively slow velocities, roughly around 700 to 800 feet per second or so. The 9mm zips along at north of 1,100 fps in barrels of 4 inches or longer. This means the lead will deform a good bit when it encounters something.
Copper is used because lead won’t hold up to extreme velocities. It needs to be encased in something that can take the heat inside the barrel produced by high speeds. The tip of a JHP round is, well, hollow. The idea behind: when the bullet encounters something relatively soft, the cavity fills with the material and pushes outward on the bullet, making it expand.
Self Defense Bullet Expansion
Expansion is ideal in a handgun bullet. While the 9mm and other loads are fast, they’re not as fast as rifles, which use hyperfast speeds to wound and kill, in addition to expansion. Handgun rounds don’t have this advantage, so they must expand to damage as much tissue as possible as they travel through a target.
In a defense scenario, we want the bullet to expand and cause more damage to the target. Something like a solid full metal jacket round that just passes through without expanding is certainly deadly, but an expanding bullet can transfer more energy to the target thanks to its expanded surface area, ideally leading to a more deadly shot.
This is why just about all of your hunting rifle cartridges have plastic ballistic tips that get shoved into the bullet cavity when they hit the target. It helps the bullet expand, and makes a deadlier shot. Plus it is more aerodynamic while allowing the bullet to still act somewhat like a hollow point.
Some bullets, like the Hornady Critical Duty and Critical Defense, do the exact same thing! They use a basic hollow point design but seat a soft polymer plug inside it. This is designed to prevent clogs from clothing or other debris and ensure the bullet opens up, no matter what it encounters.
There are other ways for a bullet to reliably initiate expansion, like the polymer filler slug. Federal’s Guard Dog line is hard to come by these days, but it’s a solid choice for those who live in places that outlaw hollow points. The front of the bullet is flat, and when it hits something it smushes open wide. It expands broadly and reliably.
Money Matters
Even though you absolutely do NOT want to skimp on a potentially life saving tool, we understand that you only have so much cash to go around. The 9mm is a great choice because it’s the most sought after centerfire pistol round, meaning there’s more demand for it than any other.
This demand means that the 9mm is more ubiquitous. Wherever guns and ammo are sold, there’s gonna be some 9mm on the shelf. Even the spendiest boutique 9mm loads cost less than comparable .40 S&W, .380 ACP, or .45 ACP. You can get pretty solid self defense 9mm loads for around a dollar per round. You can get some hotter +P rounds for a little less than two dollars a round.
5 of The Best 9mm Self Defense Cartridges on The Market
The abundance of 9mm offerings could fill dozens of articles. We’ve distilled the trove of information out there and brought you the best options currently in production. We also threw in a couple of our favorites that aren’t currently manufactured but can still be found on shelves from time to time.
The criteria we used to determine the best 9mm self defense load are the degree of expansion and penetration they yield in ballistics gel. Ballistics gelatin is a block of hard gel that’s meant to replicate the consistency of flesh. This gives us as good of an idea of how the bullet will perform in a self defense scenario as we can get.
The standard for penetration is one that was set by the FBI. In order to be considered for use by the feds, a bullet must penetrate at least 12” in ballistics gel, but no more than 18”. For our purposes, overpenetration isn’t as critical, but we still want that 12” minimum to make sure that we’re making two holes, entry and exit.
Here are a few proven performers in 9mm self defense ammo. The penetration and expansion data for each of these loads is from the folks at luckygunner.com and their ballistics lab. They shot ballistics gel with 5 rounds and measured penetration, and expansion of each and then displayed their average. Here is a quick table of the cartridges we will talk about in more detail next.
| Cartridge | Penetration (Inches) | Expanded Size (Inches) | Percent of Initial Size (0.354 Inches) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal HST 124 Grain | 18.3 | 0.61 | 172% |
| Federal HST 124 Grain +P | 18.3 | 0.66 | 186% |
| Barnes Tac-X PD 115 Grain +P | 13.4 | 0.70 | 197% |
| Speer Gold Dot 124 Grain | 18.1 | 0.54 | 152% |
| Speer Gold Dot 124 Grain +P | 16.8 | 0.52 | 147% |
| Hornady FTX Critical Defense 115 Grain | 13.1 | 0.50 | 141% |
| Cor-Bon 115 Grain DPX | 13.9 | 0.69 | 195% |
An interesting thing you can take away from this table is that all the 124 grain cartridges penetrate more than the 115 grain cartridges, but they all have comparable expanded sizes!
Federal HST 124 Grain (Standard & +P)
This is an updated version of Federal’s Hydra Shok JHP design from decades ago. The HST addressed the issues Hydra Shoks had regarding spotty deformation and expansion. It comes with a nickel coated case that’s designed to enhance feeding reliability. Go for the 147 grain load if you want deeper penetration.
Both the standard and +P cartridge had a 18.3 inch average penetration. The standard round expanded to 0.61 inches, the +P round expanded to 0.66 inches. That is 172% and 186% of its initial size respectively. For reference, a 9mm bullet is roughly 0.354 inches around.
Barnes Tac-XPD +P 115 Grain
Barnes’ all copper TAC-XPD bullet uses a traditional hollow point design without a lead core. The cavity is massive, and shows reliable expansion with adequate penetration in ballistics gel, even after passing through layers of clothing. It’s on the spendier side, but it has an impressive performance.
This round had an average penetration of 13.4 inches, and expanded out to 0.70 inches. That is 197% the size of the original bullet. It expanded to nearly twice its initial size! Being on the lower side of the FBI penetration standard is also a good thing, it means that its power was transferred to the target faster.
Speer Gold Dot 124 Grain (Standard & +P)
In either standard pressure or +P configuration, the Gold Dot is a proven performer. Many law enforcement agencies use Gold Dot in both handgun and rifle loadings because of their proven performance. Gold Dot is available in 115, 124, and 147 grain offerings to suit your needs. All of them perform spectacularly in ballistics gel.
The standard round penetrated 18.1 inches, while the +P round went 16.8 inches. It is a bit counter intuitive that the faster +P round didn’t penetrate as far, but that is what tests are for! The standard round expanded to 0.54 inches, while the +P expanded to 0.52 inches. That is 152% and 147% of its initial size respectively.
Hornady FTX Critical Defense 115 Grain
This is a polymer tipped bullet that seeks to avoid a clogged hollow point that won’t expand. The polymer tip ensures expansion every time, but the Critical line doesn’t always have the largest mushrooms when fired into ballistics gel. The streamlined design might feed more reliably than huge, open hollow points.
This cartridge penetrated an average of 13.1 inches into the ballistics gel, which is just above the FBI threshold. It also expanded to an average of 0.50 inches, which is 141% of its original size. I love this round, and it is what I carry every single day.
Cor-Bon 115 Grain DPX
This Cor-Bon DPX is another all copper design that’s designed to be “barrier blind.” It will blast through walls or glass and will still effectively expand when encountering a bad guy. It expands nicely and is a few dollars less than the Barnes all copper offering.
It reaches 13.9 inches on average in ballistics gel, and expands to 0.69 inches. That is an impressive 195% of its initial size, and if you want something that is sure to expand a lot, this is your round.
More Quality Rounds, If You Can Find Them
This standby is the forerunner of Federal’s HST line of premium defensive ammo. It gets a mention because of its pioneering design, but it’s been outpaced by the HST and several others on the market in terms of performance. If you find it on the shelf, it is still a great buy. Although it is no longer the king of the market.
For some reason, the Remington Golden Saber and Winchester T Series/Ranger have been discontinued. They both feature devastating and ultra reliable performance but are hard to come by. You might see some on a shelf at a gun store or for sale privately, and if you do, grab it.
A Parting Shot
The 9mm is the forerunner in self and home defense for good reason. It has been a time tested firearm that has been continually improved and proven. Use good reliable ammo that packs the right amount of energy for penetration and expansion.
The best round to shoot is one that expands well and is fast and accurate. The 9mm has a corner on the necessary terminal ballistics for defense performance. Making the investment to purchase the best round for your pistol will help you have full confidence in an emergency.
