Choosing the best 9mm ammo is critical for self-defense. Here are eight great 9mm loads that you can rely on in the worst conditions.
by Brad Fitzpatrick
In April of 1986, FBI field agents attempted to apprehend violent criminals William Matix and Michael Platt near Miami, Florida. Matix and Platt opened fire, mortally wounding two agents and wounding several others. In the aftermath of the tragedy, it was determined that Platt had managed to fire a number shots at agents even after being struck several times.
Following the Miami shootout, the FBI began to carefully evaluate their weapons and determined that the bullets fired by their agents had failed to effectively stop the threat. As a result, the FBI initiated strict protocols for ammunition selection, and in doing so they forever changed how law enforcement agencies and self-defense trainers viewed bullet design.
The major takeaway from this incident is that a weapon is only as effective as the ammunition that it fires. This is an important lesson for anyone who carries a firearm for personal protection since selecting the right defensive ammunition is critical to surviving an attack.
We’ve compiled a list of eight 9mm loads that have proven to be effective for self-defense applications. They have undergone rigorous testing and offer the penetration and performance required to stop a threat.
Hornady Critical Defense
Hornady Critical Defense ammunition is designed specifically for self-defense. It features Hornady’s FTX Flex Tip bullet, which utilizes a jacketed lead core hollow point design with a polymer tip insert. The Flex Tip insert is intended to resist clogging by heavy clothing. Clogging of the nose cavity can prevent reliable penetration and proper expansion, both of which are essential for stopping an attacker. The 9mm Critical Defense load fires a 115-grain FTX bullet at 1,135 feet per second from a four-inch pistol barrel and generates 329 foot-pounds of energy. There’s also a 9mm Critical Defense Lite load that fires a 100-grain FTX bullet at 1,125 fps, reducing recoil. Both FTX bullets feature skiving (cuts in the copper jacket) that help initiate and produce reliable expansion.
Fiocchi CovertX
The newest load on our list is Fiocchi’s CovertX. Italian manufacturer Fiocchi has been around for almost 150 years and opened their US facility in 1983. Needless to say, this brand knows how to build world-class ammo. Their new CovertX utilizes a Fiocchi-designed bullet with a jacketed hollow point and lead core. Fiocchi also designed unique powder formulations for each caliber to reduce muzzle rise and flash and to optimize performance. Loaded with nickel-plated cases, CovertX is available is several popular calibers. The always popular 9mm loading fires a 124-grain jacketed hollow point bullet at 1,115 fps. You can expect excellent results from this round, and it’s versatile enough to run effectively in subcompact, compact, and full-size 9mm autoloaders.
SIG Sauer Elite V-Crown
Sig Sauer’s V-Crown ammunition utilizes a jacketed hollow point bullet with a “stacked” design. Behind the V-shaped hollow nose cavity (from which the bullet gets its name) is a hollow “tail” section in the bullet that helps ensure consistent, reliable expansion and energy transfer. The bullet also features skiving and comes with a cannelure that prevents over expansion. The result is reliable expansion to around 2x the original diameter. Sig also uses premium, low-flash propellants plus nickel-plated cases to help ensure consistent feeding. V-Crown 9mm ammunition is available in weights of 147, 124, and 115 grains with velocities of 985, 1,165, and 1,185 fps, respectively, from a four-inch barrel. There’s also a reduced recoil V-Crown 365 9mm load that is optimized for short-barrel carry pistols with a velocity of 1,050.
Federal Hydra-Shok
Originally released in 1989, Federal Hydra-Shok was one of the first modern defensive hunting bullets offered in response to the 1986 Miami shootout, and it remains one of the best options for personal protection. Hydra-Shok utilizes a jacketed hollow point bullet with a head “post” inside the hollow nose cavity. This post is designed to prevent premature expansion and ensure that the bullet will penetrate deeply. On FBI protocol tests, bullets score best when they penetrate between 12 and 18 inches through various barriers. Hydra-Shok performs well across all these tests, making it one of the most reliable and versatile defensive 9mm bullets available. All Hydra-Shok ammunition is loaded with Federal’s premium components. It is available in two 9mm loads — 124-grain at 1,120 fps and 147-grain at 1,000 fps. I’ve tested both in ballistic gel with and without barriers. The results are always consistent.
Winchester USA Ready Defense
Launched in 2021, Winchester’s USA Ready Defense is a relatively new defensive load but it stacks up well against its older counterparts. Like so many other bullets here, it utilizes a jacketed hollow point design. But Winchester includes a polymer Hex-Vent insert in the nose of the bullet. Similar in concept to the FTX bullet, the Hex-Vent is designed to prevent the bullet from expanding too soon and failing to stop a threat. USA Ready Defense is also lot-controlled, which means that there is ballistic information for every single lot of ammunition published on Winchester’s website. There’s a single 9mm 124-grain +P offering in the USA Ready Defense ammunition lineup. It has a muzzle velocity of 1,200 fps and muzzle energy of just under 400 foot-pounds. In addition to its impressive ballistics, this ammunition also includes premium features like match primers and nickel-plated cases.
Speer Gold Dot
Speer Gold Dot ammunition is another defensive ammo that has been around for many years. Even in the face of newer competition, it remains popular with law enforcement professionals because it offers such consistent, reliable performance. This is due largely to the Uni-Core bullet. Construction of the Uni-Core bullet begins with a lead core to which copper jacket particles are electrochemically bonded one molecule at a time. This essentially eliminates the risk of jacket/core separation that you sometimes see in other defensive bullets. Bonded Gold Dot Uni-Core bullets hold up extremely well, often retaining almost all their weight while expanding reliably. My experience has also been that straight-line penetration is superb.
A new G2 version of Gold Dot includes a shallow nose cavity filled with elastomer (rubber-like polymer) for improved performance through barriers. There’s also a Carry Gun version designed for pistols with short barrels. Loads with 115-, 124-, 135-, and 147-grain bullets are available, meaning there are more Gold Dot 9mm ammunition options than any other round on the list.
Black Hills HoneyBadger
Black Hills HoneyBadger is an entirely different breed of defense bullet. It lacks a traditional open nose cavity such as you’ll find with jacketed hollow point bullets. Instead, the HoneyBadger is a monolithic bullet with flutes machined into the nose. The result is a bullet that is essentially barrier-blind because it has no nose cavity to clog with material. It looks like a drill bit and acts the same way in gel, effectively shedding energy on target as it rotates.
If you ever watch a slow-motion gel shot with these bullets, you’ll immediately notice that as the bullet rotates, the liquid in the gel expands, creating a massive shockwave. Although it’s certainly unconventional, it is a highly effective bullet design that leaves behind characteristic X-shaped holes on target. HoneyBadger 9mm ammunition is available in a 100-grain +P load at 1,250 fps and a subsonic 125-grain load at 1,000 fps. Both are exceptional for self-defense.
Remington Golden Saber Bonded
Remington Golden Saber Bonded began as a LE-only product, but it’s now available for everyone. Golden Saber uses a traditional jacketed hollow point design. The jacket and core, though, are hot-bonded to one another for almost total weight retention and improved penetration. Speaking of penetration, the nose design is narrower than some other bullets, so the Golden Saber Bonded is effective at shooting through barriers without overpenetration. The angled skives help the bullet expand evenly at relatively low velocities. The accuracy of these rounds also tends to be quite good. I test a variety of defensive handgun rounds when I’m evaluating firearms, and Golden Saber Bonded is almost always one of the most accurate rounds. Reliability is superb thanks to the premium components throughout. You can rely on this load to perform as advertised in self-defense situations. There’s a 124-grain +P 9mm offering that attains a velocity of 1,125 feet per second as well as a 147-grain load which reaches 990 FPS.
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