Home Forums Reloading Handgun Reloading Lehigh 9mm & .380 ACP Bullets

I have handloaded Xtreme Penetrators and used factory Lehigh ammo in both calibers. The published handloading data is the same as what I am getting with factory Lehigh ammo. I can't use .380 or 9mm on big game critters here except in self defense, so I have had to use water jugs, meat and gel for my testing. Although I have info on water jugs on YouTube, here are gel tests with meat, bones and blue jean material. I carry factory Lehigh Xtreme Penetrators in my Glock 42 because they appear to be barrier blind and do not overpenetrate if they miss bone. I carry factory Lehigh Xtreme Penetrators in my Sig P365 when I am in the woods. Those have too much penetration for carrying on pavement, and I am happy with premium hollow points for carrying on pavement. I don't really see the point of a monolithic round in 9mm for self defense against people.

Turn the volume down because we have a lot of wind here.
954 fps out of my Glock 42. about 12 inches of penetration if they hit bone and about 14 inches if they didn't.

I have not been tempted to try the Xtreme Defense bullets in light of these results.

1152 fps out of a 3 inch Sig P365. They all missed the bone going in, but the first shot smashed a bone after going through the gel block. The third shot exited so fast that it moved the blue jean material.


For pure penetration, Buffalo Bore hard cast works as well. But, that is off topic.

YMMV. Good luck in your search.