This is getting out of hand and my autism is acting up so let me address something. Someone posted this in response to what I wrote concerning posting a Paul Harrell video and why .300 subsonic blackout may not be a good choice for home defense due to ammo costs:
I could be wrong but aren't you supposed to buy training ammo for the vast majority of your training?
To which I wrote this:
Lower power, cheap ammo is marketed as target and training ammo for those who want to shoot cheaply hence ammo makers market it as such.
Since someone posted this:
If your target bullet has the same weight and muzzle velocity as your defensive bullet, then they’ll feel the same when shot. It’s simple physics and it’s a waste of money to shoot a complex and expensive bullet at paper. Ballistics are irrelevant at self-defense ranges and penetration/expansion is irrelevant for practice.
For example, compare this 124 gr 1150 fps defensive bullet:
to this 124 gr 1150 fps target bullet:
The defensive ammo has an MSRP of $40 for 20 rounds and the target ammo has an MSRP of $27 for 50 rounds. It’s much better for your wallet to shoot target instead of defensive loads when practicing.
Go to Federal's website, go under handgun ammo, select "Federal Target." You know what is listed? 115 gr 9mm and other under weight ball ammo for their respective calibers.
You know what is listed? The 124 gr NATO spec ball ammo that you compared it to. Federal lists that under their American Eagle brand which is full powered NATO spec. They throw the category "target" tag on the listing but Federal doesn't consider it a low weight, low powered target ammo. Winchester does the same thing, they have the white box target ammo brand and then they have the gray box full powered ammo brand which they offer 124 gr FMJ 9mm. I think this is a bit of an apples to oranges comparison.
When I originally wrote my post, I was referring to low powered, under weight 115 gr as target ammo. I have always associated as so. My fault for not elaborating what I consider what. The point was, if you going to go to the range and only shoot the cheap 115 gr for your 9mm and rarely shoot your 124 gr JHP you rely on, you're not doing yourself any favors.
Concerning what I do since I have put myself on the crucible, I do shoot 124 gr 9mm FMJ for all my range and class visits and every couple of months shoot my Federal 124 JHP. In fact, my VP9-B can't cycle low power ammo reliably. HKPro forums as noted this, since when the VP9 first shipped, it came with the red recoil spring which could handle 100 gr and 115 gr reliably but had issues with 124 gr, where it would cycle and then go out of battery. HK's response to the issue was to replace the recoil spring with the one in the VP40 and now VP9s aren't great for low power ammo.* But imagine this situation if someone only shot the VP9 with the red spring with the low powered target ammo and you never really shot the full powered JHP. There is a question on how the pistol will handle itself shooting high powered ammo. In a self defense situation, the VP9 could suffer the described failure and now it's user is in a really bad situation because they are clearing a malfunction while their life is in danger.
There was a point in Paul Harrell's video on why he doesn't like hyper ammo, its because you never shoot it at $2 a round. Same issue with .300 blackout in subsonic, you'll never shoot it if it costs too much. You have to eventually shoot your self-defense rounds.
* I did a class and after 200 rounds of shooting ball ammo, we switch to 100 gr frangible for a steel shoot course fire while under a timer. I completed one course of fire but on the second, my VP9 stopped ejecting the rounds and eventually I had to stop. It was a good lesson on how to clear a malfunction while stressed but I have to hunt down the blue match recoil spring HK supposedly still makes.
