we have both the 165 grain,and the 180 grain and we shoot them back to back at the range and did not notice any differance.
and we are new to this,so thats prolly why.
ok i get it!!
personal defense use 180 grain.
for target,practice use either...
thanks !
Personally, I only shoot 165gr in .40. The 180gr bullet (which was originally designed for the 10mm's longer case) doesn't leave much room in the case for the powder, so a slight overcharge can lead to overpressure and blow up. It's rare, and it's unlikely to happen in factory loaded ammo, but it only takes once and I prefer not to risk it. Ammo makers make mistakes too.
Whatever you decide on for defense, you should try to find a practice ammo that has a similar load, so that you have some consistency between them. For instance, if your defense load is 165gr at 1050 fps, then try to find a practice load that's 165gr at 1050fps or as close as possible.
Different bullet weights and different powder charges will have different points of impact on the target, and will have a different sound and recoil impulse. If you ever have to shoot in self defense, you want that gun to feel just like it does when you're on the range.
I think its safe to say everyone got it right. The grain is the weight, just make sure you note, the higher the grain-the higher the weight of the bullet and most likely higher amount of powder. More powder is necessary when the bullet is heavier due to the larger mass needing to be moved. So a higher grain can be louder, and also have more recoil/kick than a lower grain
Generally, this is incorrect. There's only so much room in a case and the larger bullet takes up more space, leading to a lower powder charge. That's one of the reasons that larger bullets tend to travel slower than their lighter counterparts. That's also why it can take a +P (which is higher pressure) to move a heavier bullet at the same speed as a lighter one.
