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Home Protection Ammo Question

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17 comments

  • Henry0Reilly
    You'll have to be more specific about your home.

    In general the best ammo is what you can consistently hit your target with.
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  • spanielsells
    12-gauge is my choice.

    1st shot is #6 birdshot.

    2nd - 6th is 00 buck.
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  • mustangman11
    Well what do you need more specifics about? If I am defending myself in or out of the home and I want to stop the attacked as effectively as possible inflicting the most amount of damage. I believe frangibles are good for houses because it breaks up without penetrating a wall and potentially hitting an innocent. But does it have stopping power? Is it as effective as a hollow point? Any more information would be much appreciated!
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  • mustangman11
    I HAVE a shotgun and am looking for specific knowledge on the frangible and hollow point projectiles.

    Thanks!
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  • Clarentavious
    This really varies greatly depending on the situation. Truly frangible ammo is quite safe, but generally causes significantly less "damage" than hollow point bullets - and sometimes is completely inadequate at stopping an attacker (but then, hollow points will not stop someone high out of their mind on PCP unless you hit their brain or upper spinal cord... well, perhaps not stop them quickly enough).

    If you have kids sleeping in the next room, or are surrounded by neighbors separated by thin apartment drywall, you might want to consider frangible ammo. This could include things like Corbon's slivertip Glaser, or MagSafe ammo. These types of rounds tend to release tiny pellets upon impact, much the same way that shotshells work (except the pellets aren't released from the muzzle)


    Truly frangible ammo is quite rare for pistols (this means if the bullet strikes something as hard, or harder than itself, it immediately disentgrates into dust... making it only effective against soft tissue). These are much more common among rifle cartridges, since they produce more energy (but they won't penetrate human bone... since bone is harder than the bullet).

    Hollow points, on the other hand, usually work well and will get the job done. Even many people who don't live in isolated rural areas choose hollow points. The only thing to keep in mind is... hollow points don't always expand. They were designed to expand in material similar to soft tissue. In some cases, they simply fail to expand even under ideal circumstances - meaning they may penetrate as much as an FMJ.

    40 is fairly powerful... but with a hollow point you shouldn't have to worry too much if you hit your target. Even if it does pass through him, the likely of a fatal stray bullet is slim. After passing through humans and building materials, most rounds of 40 power are slowed down enough that they will only inflict injury - not traveling fast enough to kill unless they hit a direly critical spot.
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  • mustangman11
    Just what I was looking for! Thanks for the info!

    So it seems that JHP is the way to go for home protection. Is that correct? I have a rather large house and am not worried about wall penetration.
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  • HandgunHTR52
    mustangman - check out Hornady's TAP personal defense ammo. I would personally go with the 180gr.

    https://www.hornady.com/shop/?ps_session=52d3fea4aa0e00f916213ec4fa40cfc7&page=shop%2Fbrowse&category_id=3fe8627e8ceac2296eaf451187f14647
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  • green mile
    HOLLOWPOINTS ALWAYS. Frangible ammo does not penetrate deep enough in the human body (needs to be 12"-15" deep) to stop the threat. Always remember that even if a major organ like the heart is distroyed on impact, a person still has about 14 seconds of oxygen in his brain and system to continue the fight. Keep dropping the hammer until the person ceases to be a threat. Of course the link below represents the mac daddy of home protection! An 8 gauge double barrel shotgun (ouch)! Check it out.



    http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=68087431
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  • mustangman11
    Thanks Green Mile!
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  • tsavo303
    +1 JHP are more reliable fight stoppers, frangible if you were in a crowded cheap apartment
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  • Jacob2008
    My airpistol! lol.


    Thats something im not telling - if someone wants to find out - find out the hard way[;)][;)]
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  • breddyrrt
    When I used the 40 s&w for home I loaded it with 135gr jhp by Corbon. It screamed!
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  • fastcarsgofast
    I'm a fan of Gold Dot myself.
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  • Cubslover
    My 40 is loaded with 165gr Remington Bonded Golden Sabre's
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  • sig232
    If you live in a single family home and have a reasonable size lot then a high pressure round is fine. But if you live in a apartment or a condo and are looking for a defensive round I would suggest something with big lead, a hollowpoint and a 1,000 ft per second or less. You don't want to take out the threat and then the next door neighbors kid.

    I like the 45 acp best for this job and even 44 special or 38 special, given the correct loads. I suppose 9mm in the right load would work but it has a reputation for over penatration. The 40's and the 357sigs are hauling azz outa that barrel and you will have a time of it keeping those rounds in your house if you miss the threat. In fact you may have to dig them out of your next door neighbors house.

    I think that darn 357 sig round would be dangerous out to 100 yards or so if you can hold your gun steady enough. It performs like the 357 mag revolver round.
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  • meunke
    The whole 'Frangible' thing is a crock of cr@p.
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  • Clarentavious
    quote:Originally posted by sig232
    If you live in a single family home and have a reasonable size lot then a high pressure round is fine. But if you live in a apartment or a condo and are looking for a defensive round I would suggest something with big lead, a hollowpoint and a 1,000 ft per second or less. You don't want to take out the threat and then the next door neighbors kid.

    I like the 45 acp best for this job and even 44 special or 38 special, given the correct loads. I suppose 9mm in the right load would work but it has a reputation for over penatration. The 40's and the 357sigs are hauling azz outa that barrel and you will have a time of it keeping those rounds in your house if you miss the threat. In fact you may have to dig them out of your next door neighbors house.

    I think that darn 357 sig round would be dangerous out to 100 yards or so if you can hold your gun steady enough. It performs like the 357 mag revolver round.


    The velocity should not be the deciding factor in overpenetration. It should be both the velocity and weight of the bullet. A 200 grain bullet traveling at 1,000 FPS produces 445 pounds... while a 100 grain traveling at the same speed only produces 222.

    Many .45 ACP loads produce more than 200 foot pounds at 200 yards out... that's more than enough to kill someone (considering people have been killed by .25's before, and they only produce 50 to 75 pounds)
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