Target Sports

Questions about bullet types for autoloading pistols.

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  • d_holliday

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    I'm going to be honest with you about pistols. In current times, it's really hard to get a semi-auto pistol that isn't reliable. Granted, ANY pistol I buy, for carry or self defense purposes is tested with a minimum number of rounds to make sure it's reliable. I don't just assume just because a particular brand or model has a stellar rating that the one I have will be reliable.My thoughts are, the time to discover problems or issues is at the range, not when you life could depend upon the pistol.

    Also regular range trips keeps you a better shooter. Shooting skills will degrade over time if you don't practice on regular basis. Keeps you sharp, and keeps you in tune with your equipment. If you have multiple firearms, that you use or carry, practice with all of them as well. Different types of gun have different operations.

    It sounds like gun skills are like musical skills: you have to practice regularly with your firearm or musical instrument (piano, trumpet, harmonica, guitar, banjo, fiddle, drums, etc.) to remain good. It's different from riding a bicycle sans training wheels: once learned this ability is never forgotten for life: permanent muscle memory.
    DK Firearms
     

    zackmars

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    It sounds like gun skills are like musical skills: you have to practice regularly with your firearm or musical instrument (piano, trumpet, harmonica, guitar, banjo, fiddle, drums, etc.) to remain good. It's different from riding a bicycle sans training wheels: once learned this ability is never forgotten for life: permanent muscle memory.

    Largely true, pistol and precision rifle degrade the fastest, normal rifle and shotgun degrade the slowest in my experience
     

    Axxe55

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    It sounds like gun skills are like musical skills: you have to practice regularly with your firearm or musical instrument (piano, trumpet, harmonica, guitar, banjo, fiddle, drums, etc.) to remain good. It's different from riding a bicycle sans training wheels: once learned this ability is never forgotten for life: permanent muscle memory.

    All skills are perishable if not practiced on a regular basis. You may not forget how to do something, but if you have slacked off, you will be rusty!
     

    General Zod

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    There are some times when I have a pistol that happens to have FMJ ammo rather than JHP, and I can assure you I don't feel handicapped or compromised in the least.

    As long as you bear in mind that FMJ is more likely to overpenetrate when used defensively, then all is well. Hollow points dump their energy as they expand, which slows their penetration. FMJ tends to punch right through and keep going out the other side.
     

    lightflyer1

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    From looking at this chart most rounds even hp's penetrate deeper than the body is. Especially if the hp clogs with material on entrance. From looking at the chart there are very few rounds of ammo of any caliber that won't over penetrate. You have to worry about over penetration on every round you fire, not just FMJ.

    https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/self-defense-ammo-ballistic-tests/#9mm
     
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    seeker_two

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    That place east of Waco....
    As long as you bear in mind that FMJ is more likely to overpenetrate when used defensively, then all is well. Hollow points dump their energy as they expand, which slows their penetration. FMJ tends to punch right through and keep going out the other side.
    So....bad for home defense....great for mob defense.....gotcha.

    Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
     

    zackmars

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    JHP's function with zero problems in all my 1911's.

    Edit: and none were "tuned" to run JHP.

    Unless you are using a 100% USGI gun, with USGI magazines, your gun has most likely been "tuned" to feed hollowpoints.

    Even modern reproductions of ww1 and ww2 1911's are not the same as actual ww1 or ww2 pistols.

    That said, sure any random usgi 1911 might feed jhp's, but it is not the norm. Some of the most well known 1911 smiths built an entire industry, and for that matter the modern 1911, around making the 1911 able to feed bullets with wide meplats, like SWC's and HP's
     

    oldag

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    Unless you are using a 100% USGI gun, with USGI magazines, your gun has most likely been "tuned" to feed hollowpoints.

    Even modern reproductions of ww1 and ww2 1911's are not the same as actual ww1 or ww2 pistols.

    That said, sure any random usgi 1911 might feed jhp's, but it is not the norm. Some of the most well known 1911 smiths built an entire industry, and for that matter the modern 1911, around making the 1911 able to feed bullets with wide meplats, like SWC's and HP's
    Are you referring to how the manufacturer made the 1911, or to modifying the 1911 yourself?
     

    zackmars

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    Are you referring to how the manufacturer made the 1911, or to modifying the 1911 yourself?

    Both. Virtually everything on a modern 1911 is different from a USGI 1911. Not from a functional standpoint, but a dimensional one. From the magazine feedlips, spring, and follower, feedramp dimensions...
     
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    oldag

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    Both. Virtually everything on a modern 1911 is different from a USGI 1911. Not from a functional standpoint, but a dimensional one. From the magazine feedlips, spring, and follower, feedramp dimensions...
    It is not necessary to tune a 1911 coming out of the factory today for it to reliably feed JHP.
     

    zackmars

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    It is not necessary to tune a 1911 coming out of the factory today for it to reliably feed JHP.

    Which is my point, modern 1911's are not the same as they came back until the 90's when kimber brought custom features on production guns

    Used to be you bout a milspec 1911, sent it off to get all fixed up, now you can get a TRP or dan wesson gun that has all the bells and whistles you used to have to pay and wait for
     

    navysooner

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    Sometimes, you use what you happen to have. Shot placement is much more important than the type of ammo used. Hits with "ball" ammo trump misses with high dollar self defense ammo any day of the week.

    I'll bet you wouldn't be as confident to say that if you were the one being shot at with 380 ball ammo.

    ok have fun running away after your 6 shots of ball 380 have done absolutely nothing
     

    seeker_two

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    That place east of Waco....
    ok have fun running away after your 6 shots of ball 380 have done absolutely nothing
    I suppose you believe that a perp being stabbed six times with a 20" length of rebar could shrug it off and still be aggressive....because that's what being shot with 9mm or .380 is like.

    Pistols are long-distance stabbing devices.

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    Axxe55

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    I suppose you believe that a perp being stabbed six times with a 20" length of rebar could shrug it off and still be aggressive....because that's what being shot with 9mm or .380 is like.

    Pistols are long-distance stabbing devices.

    Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

    All the self-proclaimed "experts" like to say these things, but have never, nor will they ever step up, and prove to people their statements.

    Many of them like to say it's "strawman's" argument and can't be proven. Funny, quite a few times I have proven, using my own informal methods of testing how flawed and inaccurate their statements are.

    I have always premised my testing and methods that everyone needs to perform their own testing, using their firearms and ammo, as they may have different results that are different than my results, and that there are always better options in self-defense ammo.

    It's always very easy to sit from behind a keyboard and make such proclamations when you know you will never have to prove them to anyone. For that matter, I guess anyone could be a so-called gun and ammo expert!
     

    zackmars

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    All the self-proclaimed "experts" like to say these things, but have never, nor will they ever step up, and prove to people their statements.

    Many of them like to say it's "strawman's" argument and can't be proven. Funny, quite a few times I have proven, using my own informal methods of testing how flawed and inaccurate their statements are.

    a strawman argument is something like this

    Person one: carry JHP's and practice with FMJ.

    Person two: wow I didn't know FMJ's couldn't kill someone.

    You've constructed an argument no-one else is arguing
     
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