I use blues. Or blacks, which I do not think are generally available.
But the durability issue is with a good old (early 80's vintage) 9mm HP, and hot Cor-Bons. Will I damage my gun with continued use. I suppose 115's would be less stressful, or wearing...but would they be effective "stoppers," as far as the ctg goes.
Depends, of course, on what you're trying to stop. I've had no great problems with Federal 9BP or Remingtons 115 grain FMJ-hp
Also to be considered: muzzle flash should you need to use it at night. Try it some evening or in an indoor range with the lights turned down. You do not want to be surprised should such use be required in the wee hours.
I use 158gr. LHP's in my .38,
AKA *Metros*. Me too.
and like heavier bullets. There are some hairy possibities looming, and I sure don't want to be undergunned. I was considering Nyclad 124 H.P's too, for good expansion at lower velocity...if Cor-Bon JHPs are bad for the gun.
I've loaded 158-grain bullets in 9mm cases for my Uzi-semi, and found they worked well in my GP too. My GP will feed empty cases, and so the reversed 148-grain lead wadcutters I load for .38-200 S&W Victory models, #2 Mark1* Enfields and old H&R snubbies sometimes go in my GP too. I keep the velocities low enough that flash and leading aren't serious problems, but they're spectacular on filled 1-gallon jugs at 10 feet or so; it's one way to impress new shooters with what a handgun can do.
I'd hardly tell you to beat up a good GP with hot loads all the time. The Brits noted slide failures before anything else, and the Belgian two-piece barrel I replaced after around 20,000 rounds with a Stainless Bar-Sto tube, not because it needed it but before it did. I retired that barrel after some 80,000 rounds again, not because it really needed it, but I got a good deal on a new one, and that gave me both the old one and the original as spares. But if yours has the external pined and pivoting extractor, keep a close watch around that area for stress crack development. And avoid the British military 9mm ammo, really +P+ loaded by Hirtinberger and really meant for use in the L4A3 Sterling and H&K SMGs.
Yikes...what a menu of questions. I just don't want to beat-up my gun...but have no desire to carry what will not work well, and really get the job done. May have determined adversaries, now and then. I have been coming close.
If it really comes to that, have more than a handgun. If legalities or impracticality make that impractical, at least have a second handgun available; you may be able to fire shots from seperate locations and get the other folks wonderinng if you've acquired a friend or two on your side.
And if you know hostilities are about to commence, you could probably pick up a couple of FReeper visitors for the duration of your interesting times.
You got Kevlar undies? If not, what size are you.
-archy-/-