All around self defense ammo

go_deep

DWKR
Joined
Jan 7, 2021
Messages
2,173
From your house to the Backcountry for grizzlies, what's everyone using for an all around ammo? Caliber and ammo specifics, please!
 

eamyrick

WKR
Joined
Apr 24, 2018
Messages
1,437
Location
Central Texas
I’ve seen a lot of ammo tested for dept contracts and nothing has performed as long and as consistently as Speer gold dot. It is extremely reliable and consistent which some of the boutique grizzly defense brands have shown to be underperforming. I have a Glock 23 Gen 5 set up for backcountry carry and it runs gold dots from Alaska to Texas.
 
Joined
Aug 26, 2013
Messages
2,417
Location
New Orleans, La.
Problem is defense ammo for two legged varmints would be different for grizzlies. You would want HP/expanding bullets for people problems, but something for deep penetration for grizzlies. Expanding bullets might not be able to penetrate enough in a grizzly to cause any damage. Maybe carry two mags, one hp and one Buffalo Bore and switch them up depending on activities. We carry Winchester Ranger 127 +P+ 9mm for duty rounds at my Sheriff's Office, which is a highly rated round according to FBI tests. Federal 124 HST is a highly rated round, along with Gold Dot but again if a possible encounter with a grizzly (not likely here in South La), I would opt for Buffalo Bore or similar. Loading that bullet for self defense against people would have a danger of over penetration and threats to friendlies beyond the target.
 

Luked

WKR
Joined
Apr 3, 2014
Messages
1,282
Location
Sullivan, MO.
Dont have any Grizz here.
And honeslty I worry more about 2 legged critters being a threat than the 4 legged kind.
For me I mostly carry with a 9mm. Run the Sig Sauer hollow points in 115.
When I carry a 1911 its the Sig Sauer 230 HP
 

The Harbor Master

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Apr 17, 2022
Messages
202
Location
SW Idaho
To be honest, most HP bullets from reputable manufacturers are worth carrying. If you want to get into the nittygritty and testing, there's usually a few standouts, in almost any common caliber:

Federal HST
Speer Gold Dot
Winchester Ranger T
Hornady Critical Duty/Defense

You really can't go wrong with any of those for 2-legged threats. Like stated above, if you're getting into defensive ammo for bear etc, the hard cast is what I'd look to.
 
Joined
Mar 27, 2019
Messages
1,129
Location
Lyon County, NV
To be honest, most HP bullets from reputable manufacturers are worth carrying. If you want to get into the nittygritty and testing, there's usually a few standouts, in almost any common caliber:

Federal HST
Speer Gold Dot
Winchester Ranger T
Hornady Critical Duty/Defense

You really can't go wrong with any of those for 2-legged threats. Like stated above, if you're getting into defensive ammo for bear etc, the hard cast is what I'd look to.

The only thing I'd add, is they're all excellent for any 4-legged threats too, short of grizzly or an angry moose, including being just fine for black bear.
 

mtnbound

WKR
Joined
Nov 8, 2016
Messages
555
Location
N. Idaho
From your house to the Backcountry for grizzlies, what's everyone using for an all around ammo? Caliber and ammo specifics, please!

Gold Dots from Speer. Critical Duty from Hornady. HST from Federal. If you are interested in Copper bullets look at G9 or Lehigh.


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