Patrick Sweeney - Choosing Handgun Ammo: The Facts that Matter Most for Self-Defense

This book is dedicated to all those we wish to protect, who depend on us, and who are secure in the knowledge that we will do all within our abilities to keep them safe.

For some, it is the populace they serve. For others, it is the country. For me, it is family and friends.

In particular, Felicia and the rest of us here.

Big Book of Ballistics by Philip P. Massaro

P.O. Ackley: Americas Gunsmith by Fred Zeglin

Cartridges of the World 15th Edition edited by W. Todd Woodard

Understanding Balistics: Complete Guide to Bullet Selection by Philip P. Massaro

Straight Talk on Armed Defense by Massad Ayoob, et. al.

Deadly Force: Understanding Your Right to Self Defense by Massad Ayoob

GunDigestStore.com

It may sound glib, but a handgun without ammunition is an awkward club. You must have ammunition, and it must be appropriate ammunition for the handgun you have. In some situations, selecting ammunition is not actually an option. For instance, if you are a law enforcement officer, you will usually be issued the ammunition that you will use. No other is authorized, and unless you are shooting at the range with ammo you paid for yourself, getting caught with the wrong ammo can have unfortunate effects on your career. Ditto for ammunition in a military unit. You use what youre issued, and no other.

The reasons vary. In LE, the department wants to ensure that its officers, deputies, agents, whatever the term, are using the most appropriate ammunition for the firearms they are authorized to use. In both LE and military situations, there is also a strong impulse to keep the otherwise uninformed from choosing poorly. Thats right, uninformed. You see, and Im not slamming anyone here, many people in law enforcement and the military are not firearms experts. In fact, in some departments and most military units, being the gun guy is not necessarily a good thing.

Generally speaking, users receive the type, amount and thoroughness of training that those in authority have deemed appropriate and budgetarily possible.

How often do you go the range and practice? Once a year? Twice? Once a month? Most police departments deem firearms training to be appropriate when done once a year, including both training and qualification. It may consume as much as 100 rounds, and it may not.

In the military, once a year is a high standard. Unless there is a war ongoing and a unit is rotating to the noisy place, military personnel who have small arms issued to them will go to live-fire (real ammunition) once a year. Maybe. If the unit is going overseas, theyll get refresher course, more range time and more ammo. If not, then it is possible for someone in the services (USMC an obvious difference) to shoot a rifle in basic training, and then for the rest of their career participate only from time to time in an odd social event called Fam Fire. Fam Fire, or Familiarization Firing, can consist of being handed a small arm rifle, handgun, shotgun with a limited number of rounds in the magazine. They point it in a safe direction, pull the trigger until the ammunition is exhausted, and hand it back.

Ive been studying terminal ballistics for a long time, but the early days were the film days. This is the earliest useable photo I have of bullet testing, and the date on the back is from the Clinton Era. Weve learned a lot since then.

Thats it.

I say these things, true they are, not to embarrass anyone, but to make a particular point: your friend the police officer or your distant relative in military service may not be any more familiar with firearms than you are. In fact, should you have any knowledge at all and visit him or her, you might find yourself in the odd position of being the Subject Matter Expert on firearms at that place and time. Not that they would defer to you, theres the matter of status to consider.

You may have an encyclopedic knowledge of the subject, but due to their authorization and certification they will mostly expect you to defer to them. If you ask a question and get a wrong answer, it will be almost useless to argue, even socially an error.

I tell you this not to depress you, but so that you will recognize the landscape you are in, and to prepare you for the upcoming information.

In this book, I have a number of goals. I want to dispel urban myths, Internet fables and common knowledge that just aint so. I want to impart knowledge on anatomy, ballistics, the law, physics and hydrodynamics, mechanical engineering and perception. I also want you to recognize that while Im telling you all this, doing so to the best of my own knowledge and abilities, I am not a doctor, a ballistician, a lawyer, a physicist or a certified professional engineer. So, if I tell you two plus two equals four and you are going to bet your life, freedom and bank balance on it, it behooves you to get a second opinion. Chances will be very good that you will find those who agree with me, and those who do not. Thats life, and this is America.

Also, I want to prepare you. While Ive been told Im a funny and entertaining writer, and that Im an easy read, there will be parts of this book that will not be funny. They wont be easy. And they wont be grist to make you popular at cocktail parties. This is serious business, because were going to discuss the need to shoot human beings in self-defense. There, Ive said it.

As much as I hate to hear anti-gunners say, Its only purpose is to shoot people, about the bad gun they currently hate most, we are specifically embarking on a journey to learn about defense ammunition used to shoot humans. Ill talk about use on game animals, when appropriate, but when it comes to defensive use of a handgun there are a lot more instances where lawful defenders have had to use a handgun to shoot a person than those where they had to shoot a bear. As a matter of probability and statistics, there are more people than bears looking to hurt you. And you have an astronomically larger number of interactions with people than with bears. So, people it is.

In the course of the book I also say some things that some might construe as a bit critical of the FBI. Look, I know FBI agents. But where my knowledge, experience and education brings me to a different conclusion or perspective than that of the FBI, I would be derelict in my duty as an author to not say so. I have worked to dial back the snark.

There is knowledge from forever and there is knowledge that is newly learned. Some of what everybody knows is correct, and some of it was wrong or has been superseded by new knowledge. Ill try to sort those out and explain why, when and what.

Where appropriate, I will tell you the source of the information I have gathered. Some of it came from confidential sources and, while the knowledge gained is useful, the particular people involved are either not germane or do not wish to be identified. Some things you just arent going to know and youll just have to take my word for it. So, if I havent already scared you off, lets get down to it.

My intention starting out was to offer the best loads in each caliber. What I found was that the world had moved on. Had I written this book 20 years ago, it would have been possible to offer sage advice on the good loads, the marginal loads and the bad ones. Today? Everyone makes good ammo. No one makes bad ammo. Some of it might not perform as well as youd like, but that is more a function of the limitations of the cartridge or the shooters using it than the ammo companys abilities.