Why You Should Use Jacketed Hollow Point Ammo for Self Defense
If you’re a newer arrival to the world of concealed carry weapons, you may not know what kind of ammo to use in your pistol. However, choosing the right concealed carry ammo is just as important as the gun you pick to defend yourself. Long story short, a full metal jacket bullet does not make good self defense ammo. Instead, you’re going to want to go with a jacketed hollow point. We’ll learn why in this post.
What is a Jacketed Hollow Point (JHP)?
If you’re unfamiliar with different types of ammo, you may not be very familiar with jacketed hollow point rounds. This could be true even if you’re the kind of person who mostly just shoots at a range for fun. In that case, you may not have encountered them yet.
A jacketed hollow point bullet has a small hole in its tip (a “hollow point”). This causes the bullet to expand or “mushroom” on impact, creating a much bigger wound channel than a standard full metal jacket bullet.
What Makes Jacketed Hollow the Best Ammo for Self Defense?
Why are jacketed hollow point rounds considered the best for self defense? There’s actually two reasons. First, as we mentioned, hollow points create a large wound channel. That gives them more stopping power, meaning it takes fewer bullets to neutralize your threat.
But that’s not all. Using jacketed hollow points also makes a self-defense scenario safer. Since hollow points expand and stop within your target, they have a significantly lower chance of passing through, or “over penetrating.” That’s hugely important, since you don’t want your bullet to pass through a threat and hit an innocent bystander.
Why You Should Avoid Using a Full Metal Jacket Bullet in Your Concealed Carry Pistol
In contrast to hollow points, full metal jacket rounds don’t mushroom or expand once they hit a target. Instead, they conserve their momentum and keep moving ever onward. This leads to two outcomes. One, you have less of a chance of dropping your target. Second, there’s a higher chance of over penetration. That includes not just targets, but walls and other pieces of cover as well.
Full metal jacket rounds aren’t entirely useless, though. In fact, there are some scenarios where they’re better-suited than hollow points are. One of the main situations is at a shooting range. Hollow point bullets are significantly more expensive than full metal jacket rounds are.
How much more expensive are we talking? Right now if you’re lucky, you can get Federal brass 9mm (the good stuff) rounds for about 30 cents per round. In contrast, Federal’s hollow point ammo costs 55 cent per round on a good day. Unless you want to take out a second mortgage, you’re not going to be using your hollow points on range day.
Your gun and ammo are only two parts of your concealed carry kit, though. Your holster is just as important. And nothing is going to beat a custom leather holster for your concealed carry pistol. To discover the best concealed carry holster for your specific needs, take our four-question survey.
