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WHile i enjoy my wait in the "waiting room" thought i would peak my head out and ask a question. What is the best personal protection round for a .40 S&W?

None.

really it's all personal preference. Every time someone comes out with the latest and greatest, another company claims the same thing. Just stick with a jacketed hollow point and you'll be fine.

I agree that it is personal preference, as well as what functions well in your firearm of choice...

I use Speer Gold Dot in all my guns and it works for me.

Speer Gold dot is a good round in ANY caliber. It's a proven performer and if I carried a 40SW that's what I'd load it with.

getusumtx wrote:WHile i enjoy my wait in the "waiting room" thought i would peak my head out and ask a question. What is the best personal protection round for a .40 S&W?

Any jacketed hollowpoint that goes bang every time you pull the trigger.

Another Gold dot fan here. Although, in reality, the "best" round is the brand that feeds, goes bang and ejects 100% of the time. Some semis are just downright persnikity and you don't know which one that may be without shootin' a bunch of 'em.

I've been trying out the Federal Tactical HST.

Well, you've gotten good advice so far. Personally, I'd limit it to the good, proven modern designs. Personally, I use 155gr Speer Gold Dots in my longer barreled guns and 180gr Speer Gold Dot Short-Barreled in my sub-compact. Federal HST, Federal Tactical Bonder, Winchester Ranger-T, Winchester Ranger Bonded and Corbon DPX are all excellent SD rounds as well if your gun likes 'em.

Also remember...Shot placement is far more important than the bullet you're shooting.

the "best" round is the brand that feeds, goes bang and ejects 100% of the time

I like revolvers too.

I use Federal 180 gr Hydro-Shoks in mine. There may be better, but I'm familiar with that one, and it's good enough.

In my XD-40 I carry CarBon 140 gr. DPX. DPX is rather expensive for practice when my typical weekly practice session is 100 rounds, practicing with both iron sights and laser, so I use Federal 165 gr. FMJ for most practice. I find the POI of these two rounds to be consistent at ranges out to 45 ft.

Of course I always fire a couple of the DPXs at each practice session just to confirm all is well.

I of course am not saying that DPX is the "best," only that after some research I concluded that it appears to meet my personal requirements. I have some Buffalo Bore 23A20s on order to give a try. We use Buffalo Bore 20E20s quite satisfactorily in my wife's S&W Airweight .38 revolver. The flash suppression of the Buffalo Bore appeals to me.

Jim

In the offerings from the major American manufacturers there isn't a bad choice in .40 S&W JHP ammo. I use Federal HST 155 gr in my M&P but, wouldn't feel disadvantaged with any weight of JSP from any major ammo maker.

Tactics and bullet placement are more important than ammunition as long as it feeds and fires in your gun.

MoJo wrote:
Tactics and bullet placement are more important than ammunition as long as it feeds and fires in your gun.

Fast Accurate rounds downrange is the best kind.

I use Gold Dots in the XD40 because they've been 100% reliable when feeding, firing, and ejecting (and I like their short-barrel product in the 642 revolver as well). My last online ammo order found me purchasing several different HP rounds to check function and reliability. I got a little of everything from different manufactures in different bullet weights. Everything from REALLY fast 135gr. Hydra-shocks to more standard 180gr. Hornady XTP. So far, no issues with any of them. While I haven't spent hundreds of dollars testing hundreds of rounds of the different brands of HP ammo, I figure that any problems with the design of a particular defense round causing function problems in a particular pistol would manifest itself in short order (less than 50 rounds).

In fact, the only problem I've had with any ammo through the XD40 was one bad primer on a CCI Blazer Brass FMJ round used for range work. Upon further inspection, it looked to be set sideways. From what I've seen, the XD eats anything you feed it. Of course, your experience may vary.

Cheers!