Projectile advancements worth upgrade?

[fsumach]

Have the last 10-15 years brought meaningful advancements in bullet technology to the extent that an upgrade is recommended?

The reason for asking, my 9mm carry ammunition supply consists of Federal Tactical Bonded 124 and Gold Dot 124+P. I have a good supply of each. Both of these were introduced at least 10-15 years ago (my supply is not that old though). Is there any compelling terminal ballistics reason to sell current stock to rotate them out for new iterations, I.e Hornady Critical Duty or Gold Dot G2?

Platforms are Glock 19, and S&W Shield.

Thanks!

[SBRSarge]

The Hornady CD and Speer G2 are great. So are what you use now, and they are proven reliable in your guns.

Shoot what you have. Put the bullets where they need to go and you’re fine.

My Dept might switch to 9mm in a year or so. We’ll likely use the G2 147gr. It rocks In the FBI protocol. But then, so do the others.

With any of your options, no need to over-think it. Bullet placement is what matters way more than which of these you shoot.

[ggammell]

Have the last 10-15 years brought meaningful advancements in bullet technology to the extent that an upgrade is recommended?

The reason for asking, my 9mm carry ammunition supply consists of Federal Tactical Bonded 124 and Gold Dot 124+P. I have a good supply of each. Both of these were introduced at least 10-15 years ago (my supply is not that old though). Is there any compelling terminal ballistics reason to sell current stock to rotate them out for new iterations, I.e Hornady Critical Duty or Gold Dot G2?

Platforms are Glock 19, and S&W Shield.

Thanks!

Nothing significantly improving over what you have. The Fed Bonded doesn’t have a following for whatever reason but I recall it being on “the list.” Gold Dot +P is still doing good work around the country. If you had been rocking 90s vintage PLBE then I’d say hell yeah upgrade. But you already have good stuff. Hornady is the newer kid in the market but again, I don’t think it’s any major improvement.

[motor51]

Just FYI, my department was switching from old gold dots to the newer G2, but was told their performance out of short barrels was not as good as the older gold dots.


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[Todd.K]

The newest designs focus on getting to the deeper end of the penetration window, especially through barriers.

The previous gen designs you reference will reliably meet at least the minimum spec with generally a bit more expansion.

This may or may not matter to you based on your needs, but it's way less than the last generation advancement. I think it was made because of the high percentage of LE shootings that happen in or around vehicles.

[vicious_cb]

I havent seen the need to switch from HSTs since the late 2000's.

[fsumach]

Thanks all, sounds like what I have is good to go.

[Glock9mm1990]

Still believe HST to be the best all round hollow point. Not a fan of the G2 or anything that Hornady offers.

[Straight Shooter]

Still believe HST to be the best all round hollow point. Not a fan of the G2 or anything that Hornady offers.

You are about the first one besides me to publicly say you arent a fan of anything from Hornady. GOOD.
Ive several reasons, none of which I care to go over again, but Ive stated them here a few times.
Others may think its the best ammo on Earth. Ok, fine. I dont like it and unless they change some things, wont.

[HardToHandle]

Most of my points have been covered well above. Bonded projectiles were the major development over the last 15 years, followed by optimizing cartridges to more common shorter barrel lengths.

Not sure all the most recent innovation meets my specific needs. More penetration is good but balanced bonded bullets seem Goldilocks for me. I have a healthy amount of 9mm Gold Dot G1 laid in and believe it will continue to be viable, if not still best of breed.

In .38 Special revolvers, I generally only carry two inch snubbies. The bullet performance gain has been impressive for the short guns, but those same rounds wouldn’t be optimal in four inch or longer barrel. Federal retirement of the well balanced Nycald Hollow point is probably more a result of the declining.38 sales, but I miss it.

We might be in a Golden Age of cartridges. Pretty awesome but also hard to surpass.

[Ron3]

You are about the first one besides me to publicly say you arent a fan of anything from Hornady. GOOD.
Ive several reasons, none of which I care to go over again, but Ive stated them here a few times.
Others may think its the best ammo on Earth. Ok, fine. I dont like it and unless they change some things, wont.

I spent 5 minutes looking for what you've said about Hornady before. I couldn't find anything negative.

I like most of their ammo. At least you didn't call it "Horn-a-DAY". (Or say "am-bee-DEX-tree-us")

I'd like to hear your beef with Hornady. (perhaps beyond they tend to use mild amounts of powder)

[1168]

You are about the first one besides me to publicly say you arent a fan of anything from Hornady. GOOD.
Ive several reasons, none of which I care to go over again, but Ive stated them here a few times.
Others may think its the best ammo on Earth. Ok, fine. I dont like it and unless they change some things, wont.

Hornady makes some good projectiles. You just have to launch them a little harder, and the factory loads are a little soft, further exacerbating that issue. For example, Critical Duty 135gr is one of the few rounds that I prefer the +p version of.


I spent 5 minutes looking for what you've said about Hornady before. I couldn't find anything negative.

I like most of their ammo. At least you didn't call it "Horn-a-DAY". (Or say "am-bee-DEX-tree-us")

I'd like to hear your beef with Hornady. (perhaps beyond they tend to use mild amounts of powder)

[Drifting Fate]

I would feel very comfortable using what you have. Any marginal improvement is offset by marksmanship.

Undoubtedly there will be a large leap sometime in the future, it's what technology does, but it hasn't happened yet.

Lead or copper which opens quickly, penetrates moderate barriers (for "civilian", not nesc. LE), and reaches the vitals with enough punch to do damage and is 100% reliable will do the job if you do yours.

[Grim.Patriot]

My $0.02.....the Federal Bonded and Spear Gold Dots are still viable choices for self defense. If you have a good supply of these cartridges and feel confident carrying them, stay the course. IMHO the Federal HST loads tops the list of current defensive handgun cartridges for both 9mm and 40S&W. What I find really exciting is the industry addressing barrier performance for the 5.56/223 loadings. I'm looking forward to seeing more testing and real world results from loads such as the 556 NATO Federal XM556FBIT3/XM556SBCT3 with the Trophy Bond Bear Claw projectile.

[Glock9mm1990]

My $0.02.....the Federal Bonded and Spear Gold Dots are still viable choices for self defense. If you have a good supply of these cartridges and feel confident carrying them, stay the course. IMHO the Federal HST loads tops the list of current defensive handgun cartridges for both 9mm and 40S&W. What I find really exciting is the industry addressing barrier performance for the 5.56/223 loadings. I'm looking forward to seeing more testing and real world results from loads such as the 556 NATO Federal XM556FBIT3/XM556SBCT3 with the Trophy Bond Bear Claw projectile.

I’ve slowing been stocking up of the XM556SBCT from an online source as much as I can afford because that ammo is the shit.