NCJ Number
138913
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 40 Issue: 9 Dated: (September 1992) Pages: 35-40
Date Published
1992
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This article reports on the performance of the 9mm 147 grain subsonic hollowpoint and recommends an alternative duty load.
Abstract
When the 9mm, 147 grain subsonic hollowpoint was introduced in September 1987, it was hailed as the solution to a tough stopping-power problem. Thousands of police agencies adopted the 9mm subsonic as a duty load based on lab tests performed by a single agency, the same agency that claimed to have identified the stopping-power problem. Now, after 5 years of heavy street use, the problems with the 9mm subsonic are apparent. It has a poor stopping-power record. It overpenetrates in soft tissue and underpenetrates against bone and vehicles. It does not function reliably with police automatic pistols. This poor performance is not brand specific. Based on 200 actual shootings, the street results from all 147 grain loads from Federal, Remington, and Winchester are statistically identical. The solution to this officer-survival issue is also not brand specific. Every ammo company that makes a 147 grain subsonic hollowpoint also makes standard pressure and +P+ pressure ammo, which is much more suited to police use. The best loads for the 9mm are the Federal/U.S. Border Patrol 115 grain +P+ and the Winchester/Illinois State Police 115 grain +P+.