Earlier this year I bought a Springfield Armory XD Mod.2 Subcompact 9mm for home protection and eventual CCW. I have been rolling my own cast loads for practice and to familiarize myself with the gun. While I am not ready to step up to CCW just yet, I am ready to load the gun for home defense.
The first thing I did was search the Interwebs for articles of ammo reviews specific to my firearm. The next thing I did was to search for articles on self defense ammo in general. Finally, I made the huge mistake of looking at the selection of defensive ammo on MidwayUSA.
Frankly, buying 10 boxes of this stuff to put through my gun is outside my budget. The best I can currently do is buy one box to shoot through it to ensure it functions, and one to load into the mags for use should a threat enter my home.
Now I realize this is a hornets nest here, but I am willing to take the chance. I need a a little advice on picking one of the seven gazillion options available.
One author felt that 125 grain ammo would not expand well at velocities typical for subcompact barrels. Of course there is ammo specifically designed for these barrel lengths now so...
I was considering one of the following but am open to anything...other than handloads.
- Cor-Bon DPX Ammunition 9mm Luger +P 115 Grain DPX Hollow Point Lead-Free
- Barnes TAC-XPD Ammunition 9mm Luger +P 115 Grain TAC-XP Hollow Point Lead-Free
- Cor-Bon Self-Defense Ammunition 9mm Luger +P 90 Grain Jacketed Hollow Point
- Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel Ammunition 9mm Luger +P 124 Grain Jacketed Hollow Point
- Hornady Critical Defense Ammunition 9mm Luger 115 Grain Flex Tip eXpanding
What I want to hear is, "That Hornady stuff is amazing!" because it is cheaper and comes in boxes of 25 :) Seriously, I would like to hear some honest opinions about ammo selection, and maybe some anecdotal evidence of performance in specific firearms etc. Anything you are willing to contribute would be appreciated.