Here's my list, for the calibers I'm familiar with: Most of these have been
proven out by Ammolab (when it was running) to not be crap.
Standard disclaimer: Shot placement is critical... always has been
always will be, but you already knew that.
9mm
Speer Gold Dot 124 gn, 124gn +P
Rem Golden Sabre 124gn, 124gn +P
Federal P9HS1 (124 gn, old hydrashock load, probably not made anymore)
Federal HST2 124gn, 124gn +P
Winchester Ranger 127gn +P+
Win Ranger 147 gn
Speer Gold Dot 147 gn
My overall favorite by far out of these is the Speer GDHP 124gn +P load.
(Coincidentally, it's also the NYPD duty load).
If one is recoil shy, the 147 gn loads are the way to go... but even the
124+P GDHP isn't all that harsh overall.
.38 SPL
-Speer GDHP 135gn +P load. (one of the better snubby loads out there)
(Note: Out of a snub, just about everything is a crapshoot and fails the
FBI ammo tests, so in a lot of cases it's a toss up. Some favor 158 gn
SWC loads, etc. Things look alot better stepping up even to a 3" bbl, and
way better at 4", due to the increased velocity making the HP work properly. At
snub velocities, most of the .38 loads dont make enough fps to get the JHP
to open well. 2" bbls can't generate enough juice )
.357 Magnum
-Speer GDHP 125 gn load. There are other loads in same bullet weight
that probably work as well, but this one definitely comes to mind first.
.357 Sig
Speer 125 gn GDHP - This is the FAM load, and is pretty much the
be all end all in that caliber. The Win Ranger load is pretty good
too in similar bullet weight, but is a LOT harder to find.
.40 S+W
-Winchester Ranger 165gn
-Winchester Ranger 180 gn
-Speer Gold Dot HP 165 gn
-Speer Gold Dot HP 180 gn
.45 ACP
-Taurus / PMC 185 gn copper hex (hard to find now, but good load, Corbon DPX might replicate, although their version is +P. )
-Remington Golden Sabre 230 gn (in regular or bonded core versions)
(This load is EXCELLENT in terms of feed reliability. If your gun doesn't
feed this load, something is wrong with it. )
-Speer Gold Dot 230 gn.
-Federal HST2 230 gn
-Win Ranger 230 gn (RA45T is the PN, I believe)
10mm Auto
-Winchester Silvertip 175 gn
-Doubletap 165gn or 180gn GDHP loadings.
Other decent stuff:
-DoubleTap ammo (he makes GDHP analogues, but better, and also has
a schweet 10mm Auto GDHP load). Obviously light bullet weights
approach gimmick zone, but most of his ammo is top notch. (mainly due
to the quality and velocity range of the speer GDHP bullets used).
Loads to AVOID like the plague:
Note: It's not that any of these -won't- work, it's just that during
testing, these loads all seem extremely lackluster to say the least, for
various reasons. Expansion failures, Penetration failures, or failures to
expand when faced with denim, etc.
-Any 9mm load in 115 gn bullet weight... bullet doesn't weigh enough to
penetrate far enough. Junk. 115 is fine for practice, but not much else.
-Any winchester "SXT premium" stuff in the black box, was supposed
to replace talon in consumer line, but most of it is shit, with the exception
of the 45 and 10mm Silvertips. (The 45 silvertip isn't too incredible, but
it works good enough in gel to not call it trash, either. Seems very low
recoiling as well. ) Both of THOSE come in a grey, not a black box,
though.
-Magsafe - more gimmick ammo. Overpriced Trash.
-Extreme Shock Ammo - Same as above, but costs more!
-Glaser Safety Slugs (Although, given a choice I'd take glaser any day of the
week over magsafe due to QC issues.. at least glasers
don't disintegrate in peoples guns!)
-Any Corbon load that doesn't have a DPX bullet in it; their regular JHPs are
a trash bullet design. (lots of expansion failures in testing).
-Old federal 230 gn hydrashocks (note, this is NOT the HST2 loading, which
works much better... but the previous generation of 230 gn hydrashocks
were trash... they just act like overpriced FMJ in even bare balgel.
-Federals personal defense line- many cases of overpenetration or expansion
failure in gel tests, with a few exceptions. The only redeeming feature of
this ammo is it's low recoil and good feed characteristics. (their .380 stuff
feeds well, and is probably no more or less lethal than any of the other
.380 loads... course .380 is in the danger zone anyways, but better than
nothing!)
-Federal EFMJ - Unless you can somehow or another legally carry in NJ,
this stuff is basically worthless. One department has dumped it already
because of numerous field failures of the bullet. (Maybe they just didn't
try it long enough, but the empirical evidence was that the perps were
taking too many hits without going down... )
Just my .02 cents. Take it for whatever it is or isn't worth.
Note: Those having trouble getting Win Rangers.... Hint- they show up at gun
shows quite frequently, and there are at least one or two guys that sell them
online via mail order.
-Mike