When your handgun skills improve to the point that this makes a difference, you should try a variety of ammo to find what each individual gun likes the best. Therefore, you can tame the felt recoil of .40 S&W or .45 ACP by shooting the slower, heavier projectile. The best of both worlds...better momentum than a 115gr, and better velocity than a 147gr. For example, one ounce is equal to 437.5 grains. Some guns are better with different types of ammo. Okay, so the first part: what you gain and lose with lighter-for-caliber bullets compared to heavy-for-caliber bullets. The Effects Of A Higher Grain Weight With 9mm Ammunition 9mm rounds are better with lower bullet grain since they often have a higher muzzle velocity, lower recoil, and are relatively more accurate. So what happens when you switch to a higher grain weight such …  A firearms education site built on trusted content by firearm enthusiasts and members of the special operations community. The stuff you take out to the range to blow off a few magazines. Essentially the idea comes down velocity vs momentum. For example, you’ll find Federal American Eagle 9mm ammo in, 115 gr., 124 gr., and 147 gr. 9mm ammo by Tula Ammo is non-reloadable and non-corrosive ammo with Berdan primer And never over 2-3/4” high inside of 300. I like to go with a middle of the road grain. The 150-grain ELD-X bullet stayed supersonic past 1,200 yards while the 162-grain ELD Match was supersonic to almost 1,400 yards. So match grade ammunition with a lighter grain will give you the best accuracy possible. Gold Dot 9mm 115 gr. There are also some practical reasons why it might matter. The slower the bullet, the less reliable expansion will be. So, how much does this matter in the real world? The .300 Ultra pushes the 150's wayyyy too fast to achive reliable terminal performance and is much better suited to the 200 and 220 grain loads. For more than 100 years, it has served the needs of hunters and sport shooters, law enforcement and even the military. Momentum is a simple equation, p=mv. But there is one thing to consider when going out on range day. As you can see by these back-of-the-envelope calculations, a heavier-for-caliber projectile has slightly more momentum than a lighter-for-caliber projectile sitting over the same charge of powder. For short range pure horsepower Barre burning hunting loads, look for the 3500-3700 fps node. Not every gun can handle every manufacturer’s ammunition. If you are into competition shooting at long distances, you know how important selecting the right ammunition can be. .45 ACP doesn't result in quicker incapacitation from blood loss, and .44 Magnum will not take your head clean off. And so on and so forth; examples abound in their test results across different calibers. Make sure that your gun can properly load, feed, eject and reload the actual ammo that may one day save your life. However, there’s a lot more to consider. (Sir Isaac Newton wins again.) But keep in mind, that this is situation dependent and there is no definitive yes or no answer. But at the same time, long-range accuracy will suffer with a heavier grain. A very small unit of weight measurement, in fact. Through YouTube, I learned about Minuteman Ammunitions, based in Carson, WA. FMJ rounds (left) and 95 gr. Brands differ in "cleanliness", reliability, and price. JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. The main thing that a larger grained bullet means is that it will drop faster than a smaller grain bullet during the trajectory. For instance, most 9mm loads are either 115, 124, or 147 grain, but occasionally you might see a 95 grain, 110 grain, or some other oddball load. The topic of self-defense ammunition raises the question of projectile grain weight and the degree to which it matters. There is one additional factor to consider in hunting that doesn’t matter in self-defense, and that is bullet trajectory at long distances. JSP rounds (right). Since 1 gram is approximately a paper clip, I’m sure this gives you an idea of how small a grain is.Many people think that grain refers to something with the gunpowder or propellant used. A heavier bullet travels slower but hits with more momentum, while a lighter bullet has a flatter trajectory and greater velocity. This is repeated in Winchester’s Power Max cartridges. If a bullet fails to expand - which happens, even with premium ammo - it still can be effective by penetrating vital structures. It really depends on the bullet in question. So a higher grain can be louder, and also have more recoil/kick than a lower grain Does grain weight actually matter? Since the tip is hollowed out, a JHP (jacketed hollow point) has less mass and therefore weighs fewer grains than a solid projectile like an FMJ (full metal jacket). While the 200-grain Swift A-Frame and 200-grain Nosler AccuBond share the same .301 SD, the A-Frame's B.C. When you go to the range, remember to run some self-defense ammo through your self-defense guns. Superformance ammo from Hornady stands out for its high muzzle velocity.The ammo is remarkably powerful, and it can squeeze a little bit of extra range out of most guns.It is also accurate, and particularly resistant to wind drift. Also, the portion of recoil that you feel is influenced by the force of the slide going back. Momentum, after all, is Mass x Velocity and therefore means more force hitting the target, when quantified by a metric other than foot-pounds. Sound complicated yet? Depending on the situation, a higher grain may be better for you. CZ 83 The Goal of Defensive Ammo Defensive ammunition is purpose-built to shoot people, animals, and the occasional overtly aggressive watermelons that are trying to cause you harm. The following rounds are FMJ rounds that are not recommended for self-defense except in cases of dire necessity when nothing better comes to hand. Is higher grain better or is lower better for a pistol - Answered by a verified Firearms Expert We use cookies to give you the best possible experience on our website. While this ammo with manufacturer code Q4172 is a wise choice for practice and plinking, it is less convenient for competitions. Does it make a difference if you're carrying 9mm 147-grain or 115-grain? The main thing that a larger grained bullet means is that it will drop faster than a smaller grain bullet during the trajectory. Choose A Lighter Bullet Grain If… A smaller bullet can be effective if overall speed and distance is your goal. Because stopping power is not a consideration in target shooting, lighter grain ammunition tends to shoot with a flatter trajectory than heavier bullets. Anyhow, a 115-gr projectile has a mass of 7.45 grams (0.00745 kilograms) and 1150 feet per second (ballpark velocity for 115-gr 9mm bullets) works out to 350.52 m/s. Now, the conventional wisdom is that a heavier bullet will dump more energy into the target, and penetrate further into soft tissue though (possibly) at the cost of expansion. So a 55gr bullet weighs (approximately) 0.13 ounces. Ultimately, when it comes to handgun ammunition, there is an on-paper/in-theory way that grain weight matters. Most new shooters assume that the term grain refers to gunpowder, and the number of grains is equal to the amount of gunpowder in a cartridge, i.e., a 55gr 5.56mm FMJ. The same 180-grain bullet with a muzzle velocity of 2,450 fps will perform almost identically. It is also the case that heavier bullets will tend to have higher sectional density than lighter bullets of the same caliber, though it's typically a very small advantage. A 9mm bullet weighing exactly 124 grains. The slightly less short answer is that a heavier projectile has some on-paper "benefits" but that they might not add up to much in the real world. Speaking of distance shooting, that segues nicely into our next shooting scenario. (REEEE!) By shooting a heavier projectile, you'll actually feel a bit less recoil since you will have reduced slide velocity. There are other ammunition testing resources out there. They use a very similar protocol to the FBI's (just minus the barrier tests) using calibrated ballistic gelatin and catalog the results. And still has a surplus of energy 6-700 yards for North American medium game. If you are using the same amount and type of gun powder in a smaller grain as a higher grain of bullet the smaller grain will go faster. 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