Ammunition for a glock 19

Question
QUESTION: Hello,
 i have a glock 19, i was wondering what kind of ammo is best for it. should i use regular metal jacket, hollow point, or what about +P or +p+ will any of these work better than the others? thanks for your input.

ANSWER: Dennis,

Please advise me of what your primary function is concerning ammo, or in other words..... home defense, carry, target, "off duty", etc.

All of the ammo that you mention have their place and if I have a better idea what you require/expect from your weapon and ammo, I can better advise you.


Thanks,
Sid Lark

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: hello again,
sorry about the confusion, i will be using the gun for home defense, carry, and probably some target also. right now i am using CCI Blazer 115 grain, in an aluminum jacket, i know this to be a good target round. i was wondering first off if +p or +P+ could be used. and second off which would be the best round for carry, home defense. sorry for the confusion,
         thanks for the help

Answer
Dennis,

As you can guess, this is going to most often depend on who you are asking. I've been involved in some heated (both public and private) discussions concerning the selection of 9mm for a service weapon in the first place so I will admit to some prejudice against the round from the start.

Now..... with that out of the way lets move on.

The 9mm was the caliber/round of choice of most agencies upon the initial switch from revolvers to semi-auto pistols. It didn't take long (a year or two) and users began telling tales of very poor performance out of the standard velocity 9mm. load. (I expected same)

In my experience the 9mm 124 grn. Full Metal Jacket is the "standard" by which most ammo is judged by and compared to.
The second would probably be the 115 grn. Hollow Point load.

The rush to develop newer and higher velocity ammo (to meet demand) has resulted in the +P and +P+ loads. The plot thickens right about here when it comes to the numbers. The SAMMI specs. for standard 9mm ammo is to not exceed a pressure of 37,400 psi however most of the +P+ ammo exceeds that number with the upper limits being in the 42,000 psi area.

Having been both a consumer on the civilian side and a user on the law enforcement side, I've had the opportunity to deal with the loads in question. Generally speaking the higher velocity ammo in question is designed for use by the "non-civilian" market with the standard being geared towards the civilian user.

The pressure developed by the +P+ loads often exceed the proof load for a particular pistol/mfg. The cartridges in question should never be used in pistols with aluminum frames and they MAY (?)even cause damage to some steel pistols due to the higher pressure/s.

Most major manufactures of 9mm pistols will not support the use of this +P+ ammo. This is due largely to liability issues and also some question on the part of the manufactures as to how long their pistols will properly function with the use of the ammo in question. Some have done testing with both positive and some very negative results.

To the point of Glock.......... Glock has tested the model 19 pistol with +P+ ammo and the model began to experience malfunctions to include (but not limited to) the slide not going completely into battery and the slide also rebounding out of battery. When shooting standard velocity ammo the pistol (19) did not experience either of these problems.

In my personal opinion using the +P or +P+ (or any higher than standard velocity cartridges) is nothing more than users trying to get magnum performance out of a non-magnum firearm. It can promote malfunctions and border on being unsafe.

I have tested all three types of ammo and found that the standard velocity (900 to 100 fps) cartridges group better, recoil less, and are much easier on the weapon. If you can't hit what you are aiming at due to excess pressure/recoil or weapon malfunction, it really doesn't matter how high of a velocity the cartridge is capable of producing, you'll just "miss faster" !

My personal preference and recommendation would be to stay with a standard velocity load in a heavier bullet (eg.147 grn.) made by both Winchester and Federal to name two.

FMJ for target and HP for self defense in standard velocity cartridges with a "heavy" (for caliber) bullet. Keep in mind that technically you should be target shooting with the same load that you plan on using for self defense for very obvious reasons however, not everyone does as they are "supposed to". You can work that one out for yourself depending upon needs/expense etc.

This is a very involved subject with few "right answers". What I've given you is merely my personal opinion and not necessarily an answer for all situations all of the time. If you have any doubts about your pistols ability to safely digest either +P or +P+ you can (and should) contact the manufacture and/or refer to your owners manual for reference and mfg. recommendations.

I know that is a long answer to a short question but to do the question justice, the above explanation was necessary. I hope that I have helped you sort the issues out and not confused you in the process.

Be safe and thank you for the question Dennis.

Sid Lark

Hi Dennis,

You are very welcome and I'm pleased that I could help. One last item...... I'll assume that you know I intended to write "900 to 1000 fps" instead of "900 to 100 fps" ? Other than that I guess we are good. Take care and shoot safely. ---Sid---