# Best ammo for a Beretta Storm sub-compact for self defense



## possum (May 27, 2012)

My wife just bought this gun to carry and now we want to select the best ammo, considering speed of bullet in this short a barrel, how the bullet would perform after it hits it's target, and shape of bullet as it relates to feeding in this type of gun. It is 9mm parabellum. I have not chronied this gun but I assume with the short 3 inch barrel that speed will be reduced compared to my Ruger P85 and Browning Hi Power. I have read somewhere that some ammo is" engineered " by using special powders or blends to get greater bullet velocity out of short barrels. How does one find this out? Also, I know this has been debated often but how does the bullet perform[for instance how far will it penetrate, will it expand properly at the speed with which this bullet might have coming out of this gun?]?And lastly, will the shape of the bullet be conducive to proper and reliable feeding? Other than a forum like this, I do not know of another way to find out such info. Any comments would be appreciated.


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## berettabone (Jan 23, 2012)

Corbon..............


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## VAMarine (Dec 25, 2008)

berettabone said:


> Corbon..............


Could you be a little more specific? Bullet type? Bullet weight?



possum said:


> My wife just bought this gun to carry and now we want to select the best ammo, considering speed of bullet in this short a barrel, how the bullet would perform after it hits it's target, and shape of bullet as it relates to feeding in this type of gun. It is 9mm parabellum.


Bullet shape can be huge, the only problems I've had with 9mm feeding in any guns has been Speer 147 gain "Lawman" ammunition and some Remington Golden Sabers, shot of those two most 9mms will feed a wide variety of ammunition, but it's very important to test your carry gun with your carry load as point of impact can differ depending on load as well as checking for feed/function etc.



> I have not chronied this gun but I assume with the short 3 inch barrel that speed will be reduced compared to my Ruger P85 and Browning Hi Power.


Check out *Ballistics by the Inch : 9mm results *and you should be able to get a good idea on the velocity difference.



> I have read somewhere that some ammo is" engineered " by using special powders or blends to get greater bullet velocity out of short barrels. How does one find this out?


The only one I know of marketing ammunition specifically for* "short barreled" pistols is Speer *and the boxes are labeled as such:












> Also, I know this has been debated often but how does the bullet perform[for instance how far will it penetrate, will it expand properly at the speed with which this bullet might have coming out of this gun?]


Velocity is important for proper function (IE penetration / expansion), this is a great resource on looking at how some specific loads performed: http://le.atk.com/general/irl/woundballistics.aspx Geek out on that for a couple of days. But be advised that the Beretta you're talking about are typically going to be shorter in barrel length than the LE duty guns used in the tests.



> And lastly, will the shape of the bullet be conducive to proper and reliable feeding? Other than a forum like this, I do not know of another way to find out such info. Any comments would be appreciated.


As previously mentioned, bullet shape is a big factor in proper feeding, but with most modern JHPs and 9mm guns, it's a non-issue.

Now as for "the best" ammunition, there is no such thing. *All handgun rounds are pretty crappy stoppers*, but pretty much anything that has been approved for use by Law Enforcement agencies is a safe bet.

The big three are Federal HSTs, Speer Gold Dots and the Winchester Ranger T.

For the 9mm they're available in in some different bullet weights and velocities etc.

The best advice for determining "the best" for _that particular gun, _is to get some small samples of each load and do some chrono work and look at the results.

The Gold Dots, Fed. HSTs, and Ranger Ts have a good reputation for expansion, as well as some other offerings from Corbon and Hornady, but typically those loads in 25rd boxes cost more than the HSTs and Ranger Ts in 50rd boxes...if you know where to shop.
*
*For pretty much all my 9mm guns I've settled on the 124gr +P HST as I get favorable results from the variety of guns that I use. I want to pick up some of the Winchester Ranger +P+ in 127 grain and see how hot that is, but that's going to wait for a while.*

*I would be OK giving the Speer Gold Dot short barrel a try as well in addition to those above.

I pretty much skip the testing each load for velocity etc. and have faith in the terminal capacities of the big three and just focus on function/feeding.

I purchase most of my defensive ammo from:

*Ammunition2Go* and *Tactical Defense Solutions.


*


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## possum (May 27, 2012)

Thanks for the good info. Also appreciate the "buy ammo sites", always looking for a bargain. I am open to bullet type:As a deer hunter, I have seen easily expandable bullets "blow-up": we found the deer dead after a long track but it did not penetrate very deep and the famous knock-down [translate to stopping power] was not very good. On the other hand, I have had bullets pass through them so fast and intact that the entrance and exit holes were about equal. Again, the deer will die but it might run a far piece. The best bullets expand somewhat and penetrate deeply and usually have good knockdown power, depending on shot placement. I have learned what little I know through trial-and-error over the course of years. I do not plan to shoot the first person so hopefully will never know about "stopping power" first-hand but I believe in being prepared and learning from others. I am famous for reading a theory somewhere but not remembering where and this falls into that catagory: but somewhere I read that Gold Dots sometimes present feeding problems because of the frontal shape of the projectile. I have neverr shot enough of them in semi-autos [I hate it when the MSM talks about events where "automatic weapons" were used] to see any kind of pattern . We just had a terrible experience with Para Ordance pistols, they would not feed reliably nor fire reliably...hence the new Beretta Storm]. They even replaced the first '
"bad" gun and the second one would not function well either. Very disappointed that a North American pistol costing > 1000 bucks would not work so hope the Beretta is better. I noted the Speer short-barrel was listed with 3.5 inch barrels as compared to the normal 4 inch test barrel and the difference in velocity for a 124 gn bullet was only about 70 fps so it probaby is not very much different than their regular ammo. The manual for this gun recommends not using +P a lot so mI would not think it good to practice with them but would probably be ok for defensive carry Again thanks for your time in replying.


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## berettabone (Jan 23, 2012)

Corbon 990 90 gr. self defense.....


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## berettabone (Jan 23, 2012)

Barnes XPB 115 gr. hp.....Winchester Partition Gold 124 gr. JHP........Speer Gold Dot 124 gr. JHP....Federal Tactical 124 gr. JHP....Corbon 9mm+p 125 gr. JHP.


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## jdw68 (Nov 5, 2011)

There is so many loads that would work very well with this gun that they would be to numerous to mention. Speer gold dot 124 +P short barrel load, corbon 115 dpx, various federal HST loads. If you wanted to reduce the cost of the round and the recoil it produces you could use a plain Ol remington golden saber in 124 grain. This standard pressure load usually only cost about 20 bucks for 25 rounds and does very well out of a short barrel. Goldenloki.com published a gel test that was a standard pressure 124 grain golden saber that penetrated 15 inches and opened up to .621". Being a standard pressure they are easier to shoot accurately, and what more do you really want?


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