Is Personal Defense Ammo Worth it? Absolutely

When it comes to defending your home, you may consider buying a gun such as a pistol, shotgun, or AR15. However, people don’t often consider what type of ammo they’ll need not only to shoot someone in a home defense situation but to practice with. Both the type and brand of ammo you choose can help you when it matters most with things like accuracy, stopping power, and penetration. If you’re relatively new to guns you may be confused by the endless types of ammunition and brands to choose from. You may have heard of personal defense ammo, but don’t understand what’s so special about it. Let’s break it down.  

1. What is Target Ammo and Personal Defense Ammo?   
2. Safety   
3. Stopping Power    
4. Reliability

What is Target Ammo and Personal Defense Ammo?

Most target ammo will be classified as a full metal jacket (FMJ). You may also hear target ammo by another name, range ammo. According to Wikipedia:

“A full metal jacket (FMJ) bullet is a small-arms projectile consisting of a soft core (often lead) encased in an outer shell (“jacket”) of harder metal, such as gilding metal, cupronickel, or, less commonly, a steel alloy. A bullet jacket generally allows for higher muzzle velocities than bare lead without depositing significant amounts of metal in the bore…”

FMJ ammo can be much cheaper than other types of ammo because they are easier to produce. But why not use them as personal defense ammo? It has to do with how the bullet impacts an object. Again, Wikipedia makes this clearer by saying:

“By design, fully jacketed projectiles have less capacity to expand after contact with the target than a hollow-point projectile. While this can be an advantage when engaging targets behind cover, it can also be a disadvantage as an FMJ bullet may pierce completely through a target, leading to less severe wounding, and possibly failing to disable the target. Furthermore, a projectile that goes completely through a target can cause unintentional, collateral damage downrange of the target.”

When you use full metal jacket ammo you are more likely to pierce someone and have the bullet keep going. The bullet may not do as much collateral to stop someone in their tracks. Not to mention, there’s also the possibility that you accidentally shoot through a wall and harm someone else. In some instances, range ammo can be terrible for home defense.

Personal defense ammo that is hollow points are different and prevent some of the possibilities. Let’s break it down even further.

Safety

One of the worst problems about firing a gun in your home is the possibility that you may shoot through your drywall and end up hurting one of your family members. With personal defense ammo, that problem is negated (although not entirely – when dealing with guns there is always the chance that something goes wrong). They are designed to expand on impact. 

Furthermore, they’re designed to expend their energy on the target it just hit. What does this mean? It means that whenever a hollow point self-defense round hits an intruder it will cause more damage to the intruder, and release its energy. Importantly, this means it won’t go through a wall. So if you miss your shot, you don’t have to worry as much.

Stopping Power

Since hollow points are designed to expel their energy upon impact, it’s going to do more damage to whoever you’re shooting. We’ve all heard and read the stories of people surviving and living through bullet wounds. When it comes to defending your home don’t you want the most stopping power you can have at your disposal? The best way to do that is with personal defense ammo. Not only will it damage vital organs, but it’s going to expel more power onto its subject, possibly knocking them off their feet (depending on the caliber).  

Reliability

Since hollow point personal defense ammo is so popular, bullets are often engineered to withstand humid environments and last a long time. Obviously, you want to keep any gun-related ammunition in good condition, but you can feel a little bit better knowing that this specific type of ammo was made to be durable.

Are you considering buying personal defense ammo? Want to find the best ammo for you at the best price point? Don’t worry we can help! At Spring Guns and Ammo we have experts that can help you find the best gun and ammunition for the right price. Contact us today and get the ammo you need.