Handgun Ammo:More Flavors than The CandyPalace—and better in a gunfightthan a gooseberry gum drop!Right and bottom of page: Hornady’sTAP and FPD cartridges haveearned awards from the industryand praise from users, whoasked “Can it get betterthan this?” Hornadyresponded with these newCritical Defense rounds, loadedwith their hard-hitting patented FTXslugs. Check that “mushroom farm” atright, okay? Nickel cases and low-flashpropellants are just icing on the cake —or on the mushrooms, whatever …There are a lot ofTaurus Judge revolversout there, and agrowing number ofBond Arms Rangerderringers too.While lots of outfitsmake decent .45 Coltrounds for ’em,Federal Premiumis the only makerI know producing.410 gauge shotshells specifically for handguns — and making themup to Federal’s Premium Personal Defense standards. Take your choiceof two loads: one-half ounce of #4 shot, which oughta be one ferocioussnake-shredder, or four pellets of 000 buck, sufficient to ruin any badguy’s day. Powerful medicine indeed.John Connorthe Golden Age of fill-in-the-blankmay be a trite cliché, but if this ain’tthe Golden Age of Handgun AmmoI will eat my cap, yours and CaptainBob’s too. Just lookin’ at the arrayof high-performance and specializedammo for almost any application canresult in a severe case of cartridge conflict,but the good news is, almost any choice youmake among the premium products will bean excellent one.For example, let’s say you’re lookingfor low-penetration reduced-ricochet homedefense ammo: frangible rounds abound,50 WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM • MARCH/APRIL 2010
and virtually all of ’em deliver maximumterminal effect; selective but super-effective.In general purpose self-defense loadsyou’ll want adequate penetration throughheavy clothing, auto glass and assorted barriermaterials while retaining mass and reliableexpansion. Again, your choices aremany and varied, and the science involvedin their designs is stunning.Concerned about the capability ofyour Ruger LCP or Kel-Tec P-3AT? MikeRintoul at Grizzly Cartridge just developeda .380 ACP round which reliably expands to2.2"! You finally went to a Cowboy Shoot,got crazy and bought four single-actions infour different calibers including a .45 Schofield?Not to worry; Jeff and Kristi Hoffmanat Black Hills have the finest-shootin’frontier ammo in all your favorite flavors.Hunting heavy hogs with a .44 Magnum?What Randy Garrett doesn’t know aboutpower and penetration would fit in a .<strong>22</strong>’shollowpoint, and he puts it all into his GarrettCartridge Hammerheads.You’ll find these and more below —and then you tell me if I oughta be butterbastingmy ball cap, okay?Connor OUT.*For more info: www.americanhandgunner.com/productindex.html and click on WebBlast on the homepage for more ammo ideas!Speer Gold Dot rounds, below, are a top choice for both cops and citizens, offering all-around superiorperformance plus this bonus: lower-priced Speer Lawman training ammo, top, is matched to its brotherGold Dot loads in recoil and shooting characteristics —a great combination!If you’re a hardcore handgun hunter,you already know about GrizzlyCartridge and their great game loads.After more than a year of development,Grizzly Xtreme Personal Self-DefenseAmmunition will be available beforethis issue hits print. Featuring radicallyexpanding bullets like that “fan blade”image on the front of the box — I’ve seen the recovered slugs! — and 100-percent weight retention,these are some astounding rounds. Would you believe 1.95" expansion of a .44 Special firedfrom a Charter Arms Bulldog at 850 fps? Yup.You’ll find more about Garrett’s game loads for the .44 Magnum round on WebBlast, but just in case you contemplate defending yourself against dirtbags, DodgePower Wagons, small to medium dinosaurs or the Devil himself, you’ll want to checkout Randy’s mighty .44 Mag Defenders. their 310-gr. “SuperHardCast” rounds comezippin’ out of a 4" revolver at 1,020 fps and hit like bricks. Now, Randy Garrett saysthey have “modest recoil,” and I believe him. But “modest” is a very relative term.If you shoot a .40 S&W — and I hear maybe nine or ten of you do — youmight wanta know you can now stock up on Winchester Supreme Elite BondedPDX1 ammo, the same rounds selected by the FBI as their primary duty ammunition,in .40 S&W. Extensivelytested against real-world standards,the PDX1’s six-segment jacketand bonded coreperformed superblyfor the FBI’sevaluators, andit will for youtoo. Availablein 9mm, .40,.45 ACP and.38 Special.Check ’em out.WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM 51