Which Defensive Ammo Is Best For the SIG Sauer P365?

I’ve been carrying and shooting the SIG Sauer P365 since early spring of 2018 – I was able to snag one not long after seeing them when they were introduced at SHOT Show 2018.  I’ve put together a lot of useful data in the months I’ve been working with the firearm for a long-term review (which I’m working on) but I also wanted to look at some defensive ammo choices for the SIG P365, and look at how they performed.  We live in a wonderful time in history in that there are many, many suitable defensive ammo choices available to consumers.  There’s also a lot of data out there that available on how these various choices perform in various testing protocols – ballistic gel tests and so forth.  That’s not what I’ll be testing.  What I’ll be taking a look at is how various ammo choices perform for me in the P365 from a reliability perspective, feel and controllability, as well as accuracy at different distances and cadence of fire.  For the test, I chose to use a consistent bullet weight across the 9mm ammo choices I looked at – 147 gr.  This will help create a level playing field for comparing the various rounds, and 147 gr. is my own preferred bullet weight for my defensive ammunition.  Note that this choice is a personal preference that may conflict with your own valid reasons for selecting a different bullet weight for your carry weapon.  I also chose to not consider +P rounds for testing in the P365.  I consider +P rounds more difficult to fire from a micro pistol like the P365 due to the increase in both felt and observed recoil, with minimal ballistic benefit in a scenario in which I may be forced to use my carry weapon.  In my home defense firearms, I do load +P rounds – my home defense firearms are larger and better able to absorb the increased recoil with both mass and weight, and there is a greater likelihood that I might be shooting through barriers to stop a threat during a home invasion – a situation where the +P round would be of benefit.  In my state, during an outside the home defensive engagement, I have a “duty to retreat” if possible.  Which means shooting through a barrier may in some cases call into question as to whether the shooting was necessary and proper.  It’s more likely that I’ll be in very close proximity with a clear line of sight on my attacker should I need to use my defensive handgun.  I also chose to not perform the various test phases from a bench rest position, because if I have to deploy my defensive pistol loaded with defensive ammo, it won’t be from a bench rest.  Taking the shooter out of the equation does provide a better picture of the accuracy of each round fired, but it also eliminates the ability to evaluate other characteristics of the ammunition which I’m interested in comparing.  As a competitive shooter, I shot a lot – at least 1000 rounds a month.  I’m capable of producing reasonably consistent results on demand from the distances used in this test as you’ll see in the below target photographs.

METHODOLOGY

The online vendor Target Barn generously provided approximately 50 rounds each of the following 147gr. 9mm popular defensive ammunition options used for test and evaluation:

• Federal Hi-Shok
• Winchester PDX1 Defender
• Speer Gold Dot
• Federal HST
• Hornady Custom XTP

Testing of each ammunition option included three separate phases:  5 rounds fired at a slow, deliberate pace from 8 yds./24ft., 10 rapidly fired shots from 8yrds./24ft., and 5 rounds fired from 25yrds./75ft.  After each phase, the target was photographed for comparison purposes.  After three phases of testing were completed, the process was repeated to ensure consistent results for a total of 40 rounds of each ammunition option fired.  This left 10 rounds to use in the eventuality a phase needed to be re-shot for whatever reason.  The 5 round phase from 8yrds. and the 5 round phase from 25yrds. were all shot on a white painted circle target, while the 8yrd. rapid fire phase was shot on a target painted to approximate the USPSA “A Zone” to better illustrate verticle stringing.  During all three phases of testing, the following ammunition characteristics were evaluated:

• Does the ammunition fire reliably in the SIG P365?
• What is the felt recoil?
• What is the observed recoil?
• What is the observed accuracy?
• What is the accuracy relative to the other ammunition options tested?

FEDERAL HI-SHOK 9MM 147 GRAIN

• Manufacturer – Federal
• Grain Weight – 147 Grain
• Muzzle Velocity – 1000 fps
• Jacket Type – Jacketed Hollow Point (JHP)

 

 

Reliability:  100% with no failures

Recoil:  Very manageable at all rates of fire, with no observed impact on accuracy or ability to fire the weapon.

Accuracy:  No errors in accuracy attributable to the ammunition were noted.  One “flyer” noted at 25yrds, and one slightly low hit on the rapid fire target – both likely attributable to user error.  Accuracy relative to the other ammo choices tested was neither appreciably better or worse in all three phases.

 

WINCHESTER PDX1 DEFENDER 9MM 147 GRAIN

• Manufacturer – Winchester
• Grain Weight – 147 Grain
• Muzzle Velocity – 1000 fps
• Jacket Type – Jacketed Hollow Point (JHP)

Reliability:  100% with no failures

Recoil:  Very manageable at all rates of fire, with no observed impact on accuracy or ability to fire the weapon.

Accuracy:  No errors in accuracy attributable to the ammunition were noted.  Accuracy relative to the other ammo choices tested was neither appreciably better or worse in all three phases – all shots fired during all three phases were inside the preferred target areas.

 

SPEER GOLD DOT 9MM 147 GRAIN

• Manufacturer – Speer Gold Dot LE
• Grain Weight – 147 Grain
• Muzzle Velocity – 990 fps
• Jacket Type – Jacketed Hollow Point (JHP)

Reliability:  100% with no failures

Recoil:  Very manageable at all rates of fire, with no observed impact on accuracy or ability to fire the weapon.

Accuracy:  No errors in accuracy attributable to the ammunition were noted.  Accuracy relative to the other ammo choices tested was neither appreciably better or worse in all three phases – one round landed slightly above the preferred target area on the 25yrd. target, but this is likely an error in marksmanship and not attributable to the ammunition.

FEDERAL HST 147 GR. 9MM

• Manufacturer – Federal Premium
• Grain Weight – 147 Grain
• Muzzle Velocity – 1000 fps
• Jacket Type – Jacketed Hollow Point (JHP)

Reliability:  100% with no failures

Recoil:  Very manageable at all rates of fire, with no observed impact on accuracy or ability to fire the weapon.

Accuracy:  No errors in accuracy attributable to the ammunition were noted.  Accuracy relative to the other ammo choices tested was neither appreciably better or worse in all three phases.  The grouping on the 8yrd. slow fire target was noticeably tighter as compared to the other ammo choices tested this appears to be an anomaly.  The groupings on subsequent two phases of test fire were not appreciably better relative to the other ammo choices tested.

 

HORNADY CUSTOM XTP 147GR. 9MM

• Manufacturer – Hornady
• Grain Weight – 147 Grain
• Muzzle Velocity – 975 fps
• Jacket Type – XTP Jacketed Hollow Point (JHP)

Reliability:  100% with no failures

Recoil:  Very manageable at all rates of fire, with no observed impact on accuracy or ability to fire the weapon.

Accuracy:  No errors in accuracy attributable to the ammunition were noted.  Accuracy relative to the other ammo choices tested was neither appreciably better or worse in all three phases.  One round on both the 8yrd. rapid fire target and the 25yrd. target was outside the preferred target zone for each target.  These appear to be errors in marksmanship as opposed to issues with the ammunition itself.

CONCLUSIONS

Going into the test, one could reasonably predict that each of the ammunition options chosen would, if the shooter was doing their job, exhibit very similar shooting characteristics to the other ammunition options in the test.  And that’s exactly what was observed during this test.  I was very pleased that 100% reliability of the SIG P365 with all ammunition options tested, and through all testing phases.  If I wouldn’t have loaded my own magazines and known which ammunition option I was shooting, I don’t think I could have told them apart based on their shooting characteristics.  I was particularly impressed with how pleasant the SIG P365 was to shoot throughout the test.  In particular, I was extremely impressed with the P365’s performance on the 25yrd target – that’s a relatively long shot on a pretty small target for such a small, short-barreled gun.

for individuals that choose to rely on a handgun as a tool for self-defense, the choice of defensive ammunition is very important, but also very difficult.  I think that all too often people make this decision based on too little data.  Yes, gel tests are an important consideration, but they shouldn’t be the only data point used to make this decision.  I would argue that it’s even more important to, as I have done in this test, try several different options to see what shoots best for you out of your own gun.  Think of it this way:  you’ve spent hundreds (and perhaps thousands) of dollars on a firearm, magazines, a holster, and hopefully training.   So spend a few bucks to buy a box or two of several different defensive ammo options and see how they shoot for you.  Ultimately, my goal for this article wasn’t to crown one single ammunition choice as the overall winner.  My goal instead was to encourage the reader to do their own similar testing as part of the many data points associated with selecting the right defensive ammunition for their P365.  Based on my own research and experience, I tend to recommend Federal HST or Speer Gold Dot – both tend to do very well in ballistic gel testing and both have a track record in three-letter agency and local law enforcement adoption.

Special thanks to Target Barn for providing the ammunition used in this test.  Please visit www.targetbarn.com for all your ammunition needs.