Bats, Balls, and Beyond

It's important to put careful consideration into which type of gun you buy to use for home defense. Many people favor handguns in this application for a number of reasons. This type of firearm is compact, making it easy to store in all sorts of areas of your home, and it can also carry several rounds. If you've decided to buy a handgun for home defense, your next step will be to decide what type of ammunition to use. There are all sorts of options for each caliber of firearm. When it comes to protecting your family and your property, you'll want to use ammunition that offers these features.

High Expansion

Different types of handgun ammunition expand at different rates. For home defense, ammunition that has a high level of expansion is a good choice. As a projectile expands upon hitting its target, it does internal damage. Conversely, a projectile that expands only minimally can pass through the target without causing a lot of damage. When you're faced with the difficult situation of having to draw your firearm and pull the trigger to defend your family, you want to be confident that you can neutralize the threat. This can mean that just one or two well-placed shots can be enough to neutralize your attacker.

Low Recoil

When you look at different types of handgun ammunition, you'll see some products that are labeled as having low recoil. Low-recoil ammunition is desirable in many applications, but it can be highly advantageous when it comes to defending your home. While the gun itself can also play a role in recoil, shooting a low-recoil round will not cause your firearm to kick back significantly. When a gun has low recoil, it's easy to keep the barrel on target and fire subsequent shots with accuracy — something that you may need to do.

Overpressure

You'll identify overpressure handgun ammunition by the "+P" logo on the box. This term describes ammunition that has more gunpowder inside of it than other types of ammo, which means that the bullet fires at a higher velocity. The major advantage of using overpressure in the defense of your home is that the higher velocity will allow the bullet to penetrate farther into your target — which can play a significant role in neutralizing the threat.

Visit a retailer that carries a wide selection of products like gun ammunition to shop for ammo that offers these features.