Defensive Ammunition...

One of the suggestions I received for a topic this week was "carry ammo". This is one of those topics that - like Glock vs. 1911, or chili, beans or no (beans) - will often result in back-and-forth between different camps with little resolution. Some folks swear by Federal Hydra-Shoks. Others prefer Speer Gold Dot. Others won't use anything other than Winchester Rangers.

There are other areas of contention as well. Some folks suggest using the same type of ammunition as the local police department, figuring that, in case of a defensive shooting, it makes it harder for a DA to paint the shooter as "bloodthirsty" for using hollowpoints if it's the same bullets sitting in the gun of the bailiff standing next to the DA. Others claim that loading your own defensive ammo is a one-way ticket to the Greybar hotel if you're ever involved in a shooting, the idea being that a prosecutor would have a field day describing a handload to a (presumably gun-ignorant) jury.

Then there's bullet size, weight and construction. There is, of course, the holy war between 9mm and .45 ACP - with speed and capacity up against larger size and heavier bullet. The 9mm adherents point to the superior capacity and faster velocity of their preferred round; the .45 ACP zealots call out the relatively poor performance of the 9mm in battle and the fact that while a 9mm hollowpoint may or may not expand, a .45 ACP hollowpoint will never contract. Others, like the pantsless followers of the 10mm or the near-godlike admirers of the .357 Magnum, prefer a mix of speed, size, and power in their defensive ammo - but don't mind hunting far and wide for it.

I'd like to say that I researched my defensive ammunition choices exhaustively, reading dozens of magazines and blogs in my quest for the perfect carry ammunition. Reality, however, is that I went with whatever my local gun shop had in stock at a reasonable price - hence why most of my carry ammo is Federal Hydra-Shoks... I do have Speer Gold Dots in my P3AT, as they're designed for better expansion out of a short barrel; I also have a number of "other" defensive ammo acquired by luck or good timing, like the Winchester 9mm I picked up on sale at Wal-Mart or the 200 rounds of .38 Special +P left over from the local sheriff's office annual qualification shoot that my dad scored for me (nothing like answering "the sheriff's office" to the question of "where did you get the ammunition you used in the shooting" if it comes down to it...).

What's your preferred carry ammo, and why do you prefer it?

That is all.