ammo for .40cal

[lorcin25]

I just purchased a smith and wesson mp40c and I am itching to try it out. I need some ammo though and I will obviously practice with the cheap stuff but what is the best for personal defense? Thanks for the input in advance!

[just_a_car]

There really is no "best" when it comes to personal defense ammo, but there are a lot of 'good' ammo choices.

You really have to look at penetration, expansion and how it functions in different media. I found that the unofficial testing over at The Box O' Truth - Ammo Penetration Testing helped me out a lot on making my choice.

Personally, I chose to plink with the Winchester White Box 165gr and carry the Winchester Ranger SXT® 165gr.

[LarryO1970]

Originally Posted by just_a_car

There really is no "best" when it comes to personal defense ammo, but there are a lot of 'good' ammo choices.

You really have to look at penetration, expansion and how it functions in different media. I found that the unofficial testing over at The Box O' Truth - Ammo Penetration Testing helped me out a lot on making my choice.

Personally, I chose to plink with the Winchester White Box 165gr and carry the Winchester Ranger SXT® 165gr.

I would second this, excellent choices. I tend to gravitate towards Speer GolDot 165;s, but do not have experience with the Ranger SXT's. I think I'll have to buy a box or seven...

[Pumpkinheaver]

Cheaper than dirt had winchester ranger ammo for $15 and change last time I looked.

[lorcin25]

I just purchased a box of powrball ammo. Whew! I am used to buying ammo for a .22! That is quite the expensive jump!
I noticed though that the more grainage, the less fps it had. Why is that? ( I assumed that more powder meant more pushin')

What is the cheapest .40 ammo you can buy?

[just_a_car]

Originally Posted by lorcin25

I just purchased a box of powrball ammo. Whew! I am used to buying ammo for a .22! That is quite the expensive jump!
I noticed though that the more grainage, the less fps it had. Why is that? ( I assumed that more powder meant more pushin')

What is the cheapest .40 ammo you can buy?

The grains are the grain-weight of the projectile, so you're trying to push something that's heavier down the barrel with approximately the same amount of gunpowder... e.g. it will be going slower by the time it reaches the muzzle.

Cheapest .40S&W is likely going to either be surplus (if you can find it) or Wolf (steel-cased) or CCI (aluminum-cased). For instance, here's the cheapest I could find looking at two well-known low-cost ammo-dealers: 40S&W WOLF FMJ, 50 rd boxes.

[damage855]

For defense I would use winchester ranger. It was developed for LEO's and just recently released for private sale. our department has used it for years no problems very high quality.