About once a week I am asked about ammo. Most people ask "which is the best self defense ammo" or "which bullet has the best penetration." This is a loaded questions. No pun intended. Let's be honest, getting hit with any bullet is always potentially lethal. In any case, I'll take some time to talk about various factors that affect penetration and the effectiveness of self defense ammo.

99% of self defense ammo is sold using a hollow point (HP) bullet. The idea of the HP is simple, it expands once it hits something thereby creating a larger wound cavity. Larger wound cavity = more bleeding. Most gunshot victims do no die from lethal hits to the CNS. They die because they bleed out before getting the hospital.

Penetration is often incorrectly associated with self defense ammo. As I stated above, a hollow point expands and sometimes breaks into pieces depending on the design which effectively decreases penetration. A standard bullet (ball ammo) does not expand and will retain the classic bullet shape until it hits something very hard like steel or bone that will eventually deform the bullet.

So while ball ammo will penetrate more effectively than a HP, it won't open a large wound cavity like modern self defense ammo.


The reason HP ammo is used for self defense is two fold:

• Creating large wound cavities
• To prevent bullet exit

I already covered the wound cavity theory. Over-penetration which referrers to bullets that enter the then exit the body present two main problems. First, it may hit other people or objects behind the original target. Second, if the bullets passes through a human body with too little resistance, it lacks effective "stopping power."

Smaller calibers like .22, and .380 aren't associated with stopping power because the bullet weights are simply too light. The classic example of stopping power is the .45 ACP which travels relatively slow but has considerable mass. Personally, I always choose the heaviest HP bullet I can find for my own self defense loads. Be it 147 grain 9mm HPs or 230 grain .45 HPs you get the best of both worlds: large wound cavities AND stopping power.

When you consider the cost of reloading, 9mm isn't viewed as a real money saver. Heavier bullets like .45 ACP or rifle cartridges that take large amounts of powder are going to make it worth your while to reload. When purchasing in bulk, heavy bullets and gun powder can yield a much cheaper price per round by reloading them.

Here is a look the figures based on my personal experience as a reloader. These figures are associated with components purchased in bulk including shipping prices and/or tax:

• 115 grain FMJ - .11
• gun powder - .03
• primer - .04
• case - .03
• RELOAD PRICE - .21
• FACTORY PRICE - .31

Now, you could save .03 per round by using cases picked up from the range, or a few more cents by using plated bullets. If you reload 1000, the cost savings at the my highest price point is $100. By reloading 115 grain ammo, you could essentially produce 683 more 9mm rounds for the same cost as purchasing factory ammo. These figures do not factor in the cost of the equipment or your time needed to reload; just the raw materials.
Let's look at the cost of reloading 147 grain 9mm ammo:

• 147 grain FMJ - .13
• gun powder - .02
• primer - .04
• case - .03
• RELOAD PRICE - .22
• FACTORY PRICE - .38

It's very difficult to find 147 grain 9mm ammo that is not a self-defense round. It's even harder to find it in stock; and it's nearly impossible to find in bulk. The .38 per round price was based on the cheapest ball ammo (not self defense ammo) and it wasn't even in stock. Again, using a plated bullet and free brass should knock off another .05 bringing the cheapest total for reloaded 147 grain ammo to $.17 per round.
So for all you guys who like shooting suppressed, or just prefer the 147 grain bullets... It may be time to jump on the reloading bandwagon.

If you are into NFA stuff, you probably already know the issues that have plagued the system brought online to speed up the processing of ATF forms. For those who don't, here is a quick recap of what has happened since October of 2013.

The object of the eforms system was simple, to eliminate much of the administrative waste associated with the paper forms. Specifically, the snail mail, check cashing, and data entry. So they decided (about 5-10 years too late) to take advantage of something called the Internet. Sometime in October, the ATF activated the online system and started accepting forms 1,4 along with some others to test the functionality of the system.

Fast forward 3 or so months, and the forms were approved. Seasoned NFA buyers were excited as the paper forms during the same time period were taking at least double to be processed. While the rush to start using the eform system started and chatter about it grew, rumors started flying. While I was never able to confirm the validity, rumors were the 3 month turn around on the eforms would not be the norm. It was simply because the ATF wanted to test the system.

At any rate, everyone liked the new system as it eliminated the need to mail all the forms and use a paper check/money order. As more people started submitting forms the online system started experiencing problems. The site was constantly down for "daily maintenance" which seemed to last days or weeks at a time. It became a guessing game of checking the website and trying to login. If you were lucky enough to login, you would usually get some type of error or the site would be so slow you would eventually get frustrated and give up.

Fast forward a few months and the ATF posted announcements on the site about how FFLs/SOTs were causing the site problems by submitting the forms in batches. The announcement stated that going forward anyone who uploaded forms in batches would have their account suspended or revoked.

Shortly after that the entire system was taken offline with a message that stated:


Due to maintenance, the eForms system is unavailable. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you in advance for your cooperation and patience.

In the interim, all imports forms (Forms 6 Part I and 6A), NFA forms (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9 and 10), and AFMER reports (Form 5300.11) must be submitted via paper, including any eForms in draft status.

As of around late February/early April the system is back online but the only option is to file a form 6 which is used for importation; something us civilians will never use. However, I did have a form 1 still in draft status. As I mentioned above, the system was always down or so slow that I was never able to completely submit it. I was able to successfully pay and submit my form 1 and it now in the queue to be processed. This makes me wish I had started a few other "drafts" in the event I want to submit any other form 1s until the rest of the system is back online.


In conclusion, none of this really surprises me. If we look historically at anything the government tries to do on a large scale it always fails. USPS, mortgages, the heathcare website... the list goes on. I still have a form 4 that needs to be submitted for a suppressor and at this time I don't have much choice than to send it via snail mail. The only good thing about this mess is that I have enough NFA stuff to hold me over while I wait 11+ months for the paper forms to come back.