"Best" Self-Defense Rounds

This is not meant as a recommendation. I don't know you. I don't know how you shoot. I don't do recommendations. But, I love the hell out of ya because you're my fellow Yank, or much-beloved Brit, or even silly-ass Australian, so from 40 years of shooting everything that walks, crawls, flies, shoots back or stands still with a bullseye printed on it, these are the rounds I've found work the best for me.

Winchester Ranger SXT. Available in 9mm, .40 caliber, 45 semi-automatic. Best penetrating, expanding and nasty ass handgun bullet available. Doesn't come in .38 or .357, so for those popular rounds...

Speer Gold Dot. Can't go wrong with this brand in ANY handgun caliber, but it shines in .357 magnum.

PMC Eldorado Starfire. For my money, better or at least as good as Speer Gold Dots, but very little shit-hit-the-fan street results because it is not issued to law enforcement, and is still under the average shooters radar. Expands like you wouldn't believe, and the mushroom'd petals are wicked.

The thing to keep in mind is what you're using the bullet for. Target practice means you want the best round available that works in YOUR gun, has recoil characteristics that are not objectionable, and let's face it, should be cheap as well. For self-defense you want all of the above PLUS a bullet that has been designed to penetrate a minimum of 12" through ballistic gelatin, and expands at least 1.5 times it's original size. Handguns aren't the most powerful weapons in the world REGARDLESS of what you've seen on TV or the movies. Most men don't even feel a 9mm round hitting them, let alone possessing the power to knock them down, and while I've touched on THAT topic, there isn't a handgun round in existance that can knock a man off his feet, so remember that in the real world deadly force is the last resort and the chances are great that ONE SHOT is not going to end the threat.

Modern handgun ammunition is light years ahead of the old stuff, and by old I mean anything from 10-15 years ago. We've come a long way in being made more capable and ready to defend ourselves, and our family, and it's just plain foolish not to take advantage of what modern technology has to offer.

Specialty Ammo: I've included Double-Tap Ammo in this listing, but it's hot-loaded, and not for the recoil sensitive. Translation: Loony lefties don't even think about it, it's a man's load. 158 grain bullet cranking out of a 4" barrel at 1400 feet per second. And since it doesn't appear that I can include more than 2 pictures per posting, I'll upload the Starfire and Double-Tap pics in another entry.