The size of concealed-carry pistols continue to dwindle, whereas the performance is heading the opposite way. It is not difficult to find good defensive ammo and it is difficult to match a load with what a particular carry gun can actually produce with the barrel length, size of grip, and recoil envelope.
Brand loyalty and bullet weight trends are not the most helpful divider, platform class is. A four inch 9mm can take advantage of increased velocity and controllability whereas a three inch micro-compact can frequently have bullets and powders that open reliably at lower velocity. The same rationale is replicated in.380 pocket pistols and .38 snubs, in which the non-expanding solids or engineering to expansion-at-low-velocity can avoid the usual constraints.
1. Big 9mm Pistols: Speer +P Gold Dot 124-grain
Fuller-size carry guns (approximately 4-inch barrels and above with full grip) can capitalize on the loads of duty that rely on velocity as a dependable way to achieve proper expansion. The +P Gold Dot have 124 grains of Speer is also a standard due to the bonded construction of the bullet that is designed to consist of the bonded bullet structure that does not release the jacket but expands.
The general mechanical benefit here is that a longer barrel enables the cartridge to achieve its desired maximum speed and the larger grip enables the shooter to manage +P recoil when firing rapid strings. In that combination, the reputation of the load of its street-proven character is less mythological than uniform terminal behavior as it is free-sleighed at the velocities with which it was designed to operate.
2. Big 9mm Pistols: Federal 147-grain HST
Loads that were heavy-for-caliber 9mm started to find favor as soon as the new-fangled hollow-points started to grow reliably at lower impact velocities. The reason why the 147 grains HST by Federal is popular is due to its tendencies to both exhibit deep penetration and great expansion when the gun has sufficient velocity, and the mass is sufficient to accomplish tasks with slightly shorter barrels.
Tolerance is the attraction in the real-world of engineering. The performance range of the load is wide enough that it can act in a predictable manner over a range of barrel lengths and velocities, and this is precisely what happens when one load is shared among a number of 9mm pistols in the household.
3. Small 9mm Pistols: Hornady 115-grain Critical Defense
Micro-compacts sacrifice barrel length and grip leverage, and that alters the concept of optimal. The Critical Defense line of Hornady tips its hat to that fact by constructing bullets that expand consistently at carry-gun velocities and whose recoil is controllable in lighter pistols.
There is 10.75 to 11″” of penetration with steady expansion on independent gel work, and the average results of chronographs in the same test came at 1,096 fps. It is such consistency that is of concern: short barrels often fail to deliver as much as box velocities would, and so loads that remain predictable where barrel becomes the limiting factor are of particular interest.
4. Small 9mm Pistols: Fiocchi CovertX 124-grain JHP
Even some more modern defensive lines are built around compact and micro-compact pistols with no compromise. The CovertX by Fiocchi is in that configuration, using a purpose designed JHP along with the nickel-plated cases and caliber specific powders designed to allow the highest rate of feeding and reduce flash.
On the 9mm load, the 14.0 inches penetration was recorded on the Gel testing published on the CovertX with an expansion of approximately .64. That fits in the real carry-gun sweet spot of which so many testers seek: enough penetration to get to vital anatomy, expansion on which not hinged on a service-length barrel.
5. 380 ACP Pocket Guns: Federal 99-grain Micro HST
380 ACP exists within the context of short barrels and small grips, and such loads that perform better with lower velocity count. The 99-grain Micro HST of Federal is specifically designed to do that and is advertised with a 935 fps rate and features such as nickel cases and a bullet shape that is tailored to feed consistently in pistols which tend to be finicky.
The load average in testing by a 2.75-inch Ruger LCP was 959 fps. The same test revealed that there was a distinct variable: heavy clothing has the capability to clog hollow points, as opposed to bare gel where the bullet expanded to approximately.588 and stopped at approximately 11 inches. That opposition is how the .380 balancing act works, mass can purchase penetration, but expansion is not ensured once cloth is included in the system.
6. 380 ACP pocket guns: Black Hills Honey Badger 60-grain Solid
The non-expanding solids are the subject of another design philosophy: take expansion out of the equation and apply the geometry to do work. The projectile of the Honey Badger program is a copper solid machined with flutes that is CNC machined and is designed to deflect the tissue radially rather than expanding outward like a hollow point. The idea is to become less sensitive to clothing and some barriers to light by not having a pluggable cavity.
A .380 Honey Badger by Black Hills has been recorded at ~1,100 fps by carry-size guns and has been recorded to reach 1,104 fps by a 2.8-inch Taurus Spectrum, with gel performance reportedly over 10.5 inches of penetration. In the context of engineering, it is a path to a repeatability in the caliber where hollow points may have difficulties expanding in a way that is consistent.
7. Special Snubs 38 Special: +P Lead Semi-Wadcutter Hollow Point 158-grain
The 158-grain +P LSWCHP is maintained as a classic because it traditionally addressed a real issue: early jackets hollow points tended not to expand with snub barrels whereas soft lead hollow point tended to. The mass of the load is also helpful in the penetration of a cartridge which is typically fired by 2-inch barrels.
Neither is it a modern solution as a gadget, but rather a legacy design which continues to be operational due to the low-velocity reality of snubnose revolvers being in agreement with its material properties and geometry. It has remained popular with numerous manufacturers loading versions of it, and the non-nostalgic popularity is based on utility.
Regardless of caliber and gun size, the universal truth is mechanical: small barrels slow down, small frames give more felt recoil, and both line charge bullet design and powder choice. To have performance more relevant to what the cartridge would be able to achieve in real carry guns, the load is matched to the platform.
The most stable arrangements are those that consider the core length of barrels as an input and not an exception. That one variable will frequently prove in the concealed-carry universe the reason why a load that seems perfect on paper will turn out to be but fair-average, or even surprisingly good, once it leaves a three-inch muzzle.
