1. .308 – Hirtenberger 150 Nato Match JSP (second choice Hornady 165 BTSP “lite magnum”)
2. .35 Remington – Handload 200 gr. Horn JSP @2150 fps (gun is a Remington M-141 Pump-16″).
3. 30-30 – Winchester 170 SilverTip (sub. any JSP for second choice)
4. 12 ga. – Winchester 1.25 Oz. Forester slug. (about any other slug will do for second choice)
5. 12 ga. – 2 3/4″ Federal Premium 000 buck (Rem 8 pellet 00 second choice but Win. Low Recoil is an equal)
6. .45 ACP – +P Winchester Ranger 230 “talon” (Triton +P 230 Hi-Vel is a close second, but 230 Hydra-Shok or Remington Golden Sabers are fine also)
7. .40 S&W – 165 Speer Gold Dot (currently switching to Triton 155 Hi-Vel – but any 165 or 180 would do also)
8. .38 Special – (yes I do own one!) Hand load 145 SilverTip @ 1100 fps from 2″ (experimenting with a plated full wadcutter @ 900 which has promise for Airweights).
9. .45 Super – hand load 230 Winchester JHP @1230 fps (Triton 230 is fine but out of print)
10. .41 Magnum – 175 Winchester SilverTip (Remington 210 SWC is acceptable backup)
11. .44 Special – 200gr. CCI blazer Gold Dot
12. .44 Magnum – 210 Winchester SilverTip (Triton’s new “Lite” is intriguing though)
13. 10mm – 175 Winchester SilverTip
14. 9X23 – 125 Winchester. USA JSP (second choice and maybe first after testing hand load 147 Golden Saber @1400)
15. .223 – military ball, any type. (In Rugers Winchester 64 gr. Power Point – won’t feed in my ARs).
16. .30 Carbine – Winchester 110 JSHP. (Remington or Federal 110 JSP is OK too) (only 1-8 see much use but the others are occasionally pressed into service)
In the almost never carried but what I have found that might work category:
1. .357 Magnum – 145 Winchester SilverTip, 158 Fed Hydra-Shok, 125 Triton, 125 Speed Gold Dot, 130 Federal Hydra-Shok.
2. 9mm – Winchester +P+ 127 Ranger Talon, Triton +P 135, Federal 135 Hydra-Shok, Winchester or Federal 147 JHP,
3. .380 ACP, .32 ACP, 25 ACP – you’ve got to be kidding – don’t load em! If you insist, then ball (the Federal Hydra-Shok in .380 isn’t too bad since it does not really expand just opens to a wadcutter if you are lucky – haven’t tried the Speer Gold Dot but they are good design). Fiocchi has a .32 JHP load that is supposed to go 1200 in a Walter PP but I have not tried it, the ball round is not that hot.
4. .22 LR – CCI Mini-Mag HP (HP because it penetrates in a straight line about 6-7″, unless bone is hit – which beats tumbling where you can’t predict – though with luck that can be effective also).
That’s all I can thing of at the moment – memory loss is a bad thing :-)
Press on!
Jim Higginbotham
Comments, suggestions, contributions? Let me know