Short barrel specific 9mm ammo, is there a any real difference?

[Kenk]

Now that I own a few pistols with short (3? or less) barrels, I?m starting to question my carry ammo choices a bit, and if there is actually anything to this short barrel marketing scheme. After researching numerous articles and videos, some by folks like Ammo Quest, the very long winded Paul Harrell, as well as many others, are there a real differences. From what I understand, a 115, or 124gr +P offers the best velocity and expansion out of such a short barrel. Then you have ammo manufactures that offer short barrel specific ammo such as Federal?s Personal Defense HST Micro, and Speer?s Gold Dot Short Barrel Personal Protection 9mm Luger +P. The question is, is there any measurable difference in ammo specifically marketed for these short barrels in comparison to the standard 124gr HST +P, or Gold Dot 124gr +P. I understand the thought process behind using a +P load is to make up for the loss in barrel length and to achieve the desired expansion and penetration. Ultimately, is this a marketing thing, or have these companies actually altered the bullet design to better expand at lower velocity?s. Because I have a significant amount of Federal HST, and Speer Gold Dot in 124 +P, it seems silly to buy into their marketing, if there?s really nothing gained ?Thoughts

[Graybeard]

LuckyGunner Labs site has clear gel testing of some of the SD ammo marketed for short barrels. I don't currently carry anything in 9mm marketed for short barrels. I do carry Speer Gold Dots for short barrels in .45acp and that looks to definitely be a different bullet than the standard Gold Dot. They have a larger cavity and thinner walls for rapid expansion.

The subcompact 9 I carry occasionally, or as a backup, is still loaded with 115gr Hornady FTX ammo. Given the way of the world these days I find myself carrying my 3" K6s with 125gr Barnes all copper hollow points more often. Those are serious performers in expansion and penetration.

[Kenk]

Hey Graybeard, are there the ones your talking about? TAC-XPD? DEFENSE

[Kenk]

I think my Underwood 147gr +P+ using Speer?s Gold Dot bullet would work well, just not sure how strong my new Taurus GX4 is. It says in the manual +P is fine for limited use, but is still a concern

[John A.]

Here's a subject that I went through very thorougly a couple of years ago.

For starters, yes, there is a difference.

A lot of difference.

In a barrel that short, you need a very fast burning powder that will get the bullet up to speed very quickly because it has such a short amount of time in the bore to do what it does.

As for commercial ammo, the one that stands out to me the most is the sig short barrel ammo.  (quite literally the name of it).

It's the best performing that I know of.  There may be something better, but as I said, not that I know of that is specifically designed for less than 4" barrels. 

See, I bought a p365 a few years ago.  On paper, it has a 3.1" barrel I think.

Which, technically is true.  But, about 1-1/4 inches of that is the chamber.  So, in real world terms, the barrel is essentially shorter than a snub nose 38, and less than 2 inches of room to develop whatever velocity as it's going to be capable of.

I have never been able to find any of the sig short barrel ammo, but I have worked out a rather hot load using BE-86 and 124 gr speer gold dots.  Out of that little pistol, I was getting around 1090 fps.  And decent enough accuracy out where I would feel comfortable at 20 or so yards.

I'll be honest, it's got some muzzle flip/recoil to it being as short and small as the gun is.  But, it's what I carry in it. 

If you shoot a standard 115 gr 9mm round through it, I was barely achieving 1000-1035 fps with commercial stuff.  And a large amount of flash, which was wasted powder because there was no where for it to burn to help propel the bullet any faster.

If you'd like my carry recipe, I don't mind sharing it with you.  You've been so good at helping me, it's the least I could do to return the favor.  As always though, work it up for your gun to make sure it'll be OK and make sure you are not getting any pressure signs in yours.  But, it works quite well in mine.

Hit me up in PM if you'd like it.

I could maybe get 115's to maybe barely break the speed of sound (which for me is around 1116 fps) but the 124 is banging up to that point already.  A few of them actually did, while a few were slower.  That's where my 1090 fps average came in.  But, 9 gr of bullet length is probably not worth my time and primers and powder to see if I can squeeze any more out of it because the 124's seem to be pretty much meeting my expectations.

This video is pretty good.  It shows the difference over the chronograph using both the longer and shorter barrel lengths.  Note the huge difference in velocities.  The short barrels do lose at least 100 fps.  You can fast forward to about 10 minutes to see the writing if you don't want to sit through the tests.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEKTbmf_PLw

[Kenk]

Thanks John, Will PM you later. Also ( great explanation on that by the way : )

Ken

[Graybeard]

Yes Ken, the .357 125gr TAC-XPD is what I carry most often in my 3" K6S. Ridiculously hard to find and expensive now. Glad I have a few boxes.

[Kenk]

Thanks Graybeard!