Ammo & Gear Reviews

Ammo Test: Here Are The Top Performers In .380 ACP, 9mm, .40 S&W, .45 ACP

Guns and Gear Contributor
Font Size:

The world of terminal ballistics is full of hyperbole and in a lot of cases, no apples-to-apples comparison of performance. It can be a challenge to know what ammunition is truly the “latest and greatest” versus just another gimmick that’s attempting to create a buzz with over-the-top promises.

The team at AmmunitionToGo.com just published a massive resource that includes ballistic testing data for 109 different self-defense loads, covering four of the most popular calibers out there today – 9mm, .45 ACP, .40 S&W, and .380 Auto.

In the test, they used firearms commonly associated with concealed carrying American civilians. The test results are meant to provide a snapshot of data with all loads tested under near identical conditions. This should allow for a fair comparison under the testing conditions, leading to a solid data point as you determine what ammunition is best for your self-defense needs.

Testing protocol called for using a four-layer cloth barrier and 10-foot distance, the results include common performance metrics that most shooters are a bit familiar with. These include concepts such as penetration depth, retained weight, and the expansion capabilities for each hollow point projectile.

Best Fit Based on the FBI Standard 

It’s difficult to say “this ammo is better than that ammo” because, for the most part, we’re all looking for different things. Some of us are looking at how a bullet expands. For others, it’s all about how far the ammo penetrates.

To help guide us, we looked at the results of the testing and selected a “best performer” in each caliber included in the testing. To decide what exactly “best” means, we leaned heavily on what the Federal Bureau of Investigation looks for when it tests rounds.

1. Penetration of between 12 and 18 inches when the ammo was fired from 10 feet away.

2. A heavy cloth barrier sat between the shooter and the Clear Ballistic Gelatin target. This exposed the bullet to the risk of getting clogged, which tends to lead to over-penetration in a soft target.

3. Consistent expansion that is more impressive than peers than its caliber is considered a “must” for any round to claim it performs better than another.

Best .380 ACP:

Federal HST JHP – 99 Grain

These 99 grain rounds by Federal met the F.B.I.’s standards for performance with excellent expansion for the .380 caliber, very consistent penetration and 100% weight retention.

Consistent expansion is a hallmark of this HST and it expanded to more than half an inch of diameter. One area that could leave you asking for more was penetration. On average, the HSTs in 380 ACP just barely crossed the 12” mark in the 5-shot test series with three of the five rounds falling below the 12” threshold held dear by the F.B.I.

Click here to see all .380 ACP results.

Best 9mm:

Black Hills with Barnes XP +P Hollow Point – 115 Grain

The Black Hills 9mm ammo loaded with a Barnes bullet performed very well in the tests with an average penetration of 13.5-inches and a beautiful, flowering copper bullet that spread out to a consistent .69-inches of diameter. Each of the five rounds tested performed within a hair of the others, which suggests this load is a very consistent performer.

The Federal 147 Grain HST round gets an honorable mention in this category and may be one that some shooters would prefer. It scored just a shade lighter in bullet expansion but made it for it by largely out penetrating the Black Hills load mentioned earlier.

Click here to see all 9mm results.

Best 40 S&W:

Winchester Ranger T HP – 180 Grain

The Winchester Ranger T 40 cal test was an interesting one in that four of the Winchester rounds performed just about flawlessly but there was one outlier that appears to be the victim of a plugged bullet.

On average, the 180 grain bullet expanded to .74” and an average penetration depth of 16.46” but in the five round test proved wildly inconsistent. Penetration ranged in the test from 14.3” up to 23.5” and expanded diameter was nearly as scattershot – ranging from .4” to .88”.

While the average penetration and expansion was as ideal as the Winchester Ranger T – the 180 grain Federal HST was another high performer that appeared to deliver a five shot test series that was more consistent.

Click here to see all .40 S&W results.

Best 45 ACP:

Winchester Ranger T HP – 230 Grain

Winchester’s law enforcement only round performed very well when fired from a Ruger SR45 (4.5-inch barrel). The .95” median expanded diameter was the best of the bunch of 31 different 45 ACP loads included in the testing. Like the Black Hills in 9mm, you might be a shooter who desires more penetration though. The Ranger T load fell within the F.B.I.’s standard each of the five shots fired but came in at an average of just 14.18” worth of penetration.

The Winchester Ranger T is quite difficult for most civilian shooters to find. If you need another suggestion for your 1911 or other 45 Auto pistol, check out the Federal HST, which also performed quite well.

Click here to see all .45 ACP results.

Conclusion

There’s no way of knowing what circumstances you might find yourself in when the need for self-defense ammo comes up. Because of that, it’s important that you understand what you load in your pistol and what you can expect from it. Of course there are other factors outside of the firearm and ammunition, one of them being the shooter.

If you can’t place shots appropriately, the best ammo in the world won’t help you much and if you’re not proficient with a firearm, you may not even have the ability to get a shot off.

You can see the full write up on the project and see how your specific self-defense ammo stacked up – click here.

Thanks to Brandon Black and the Ammo To Go team. Click here to visit AmmoToGo.com.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel