Category: ammo

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.380ACP Alien Gear ammo CHP Cloak Tuck grip module assembly JHP P320 PP PPK/S Walther Winchester

Sister’s Birthday / P320SC Holster Fitment

My sister’s birthday is today.  She’s 40 years old.  I got tired of trying to guess what she wanted and asked her to tell me if she needed/wanted anything.  She said she wanted ammo.

She has a Walther PPK/S .380ACP.  She has a North Carolina concealed handgun permit and carries as much as she can (she’s also a federal employee, so she can’t carry anywhere near work…she can’t even leave her weapon in her car while on work property).

I bought her 200 rounds of Winchester Personal Protection JHP ammo.  It’s JHP ammo that is designed for defense (it is not range ammo).  I told her to ensue that she shoots 25 or so rounds to ensure the gun can fire the ammo without feed or extraction issues.

When speaking on the phone with her, she also stated she’d been watching my Facebook posts and had gotten herself an Alien Gear IWB holster (the Cloak Tuck 2.0).  I was very surprised, as I thought she was carrying in her purse.  She asked for belt suggestions.  I told her to go back to where she bought her gun (in Fayetteville) and ask them if she could try her 1.25″ belts (she shouldn’t need anything bigger for the PPK/S).  I told her that a good strong belt is essential but she’s already been wearing the holster and says it’s extremely comfortable for her.

On a different note, I saw someone on the forums complaining about their P320 Subcompact’s round trigger guard and the fact that the grip module assembly might not fit in other holsters designed for other sizes of P320 handguns. Well, I’ve a P320 Compact shell for my cloak Tuck 3.0 IWB holster. I’ve the P320 Compact and have the parts to convert it to Subcompact. I converted it and tested fitment in the aforementioned holster…it fits without issue, probably because I’m using the Compact slide with the Subcompact grip module. In that configuration, the slide dictates fitment more than the SC’s trigger guard. That’s a good thing, since I didn’t want any more holsters / shells.

UPDATE:

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ammo battery failure Grand Power P11 Remington sight radius Springfield XD

Range Visit – XD Mod 2 & Grand Power P11

I spent an hour at the range last night and shot 130 rounds out of my XD and 60 rounds out of the Grand Power.

It felt so good to not divide my attention between more than 2 guns, although I did want to shoot one of the 1911s.

I started with the XD first and immediately put 9 of 10 rounds in a close grouping.

7 yards out, using Remington UMC 115-grain JHP

The thing about the Mod 2 is that it shoots extremely well for a subcompact 9mm, as the sight radius of such guns is very small.  This gun still has a small sight radius, but the recoil and snappiness is somewhat negated by the Grip Zone texturing of the grips.  The front fiber optic helps, especially since I’ve problems focusing on the front sight (I wear corrective lenses).

As I shot five different targets, my groupings got progressively worse.  I’m pretty sure it was due to incorrect finger placement on the trigger and not being smooth on the trigger, as I began to impact left of aim.  Still, it was fun to challenge myself.

I also fired the XD better with the shorter magazine (vs. using the longer magazine that has the mag sleeve).  Don’t ask me why that was the case.

The Grand Power was acting wonky.  It didn’t jam or fail to extract, but it may’ve been failing to feed due to a dirty feed ram, as the gun was failing to fully go into battery after expending and ejecting a round.  It was an intermittent issue, though, because it didn’t happen every magazine bu when it did, it was almost back-to-back failures to return to battery.

The weapon was clean when I brought it to the range.  The ammo I was shooting must’ve been extremely dirty to cause issues between 1 and 60 rounds…in fact, the gun was extremely dirty after that range visit…more than I expected for 60 rounds.  The gun was lubed, and I made sure the pivot point on the rotating barrel had lubrication.

I don’t think it was the mags that were the issue.  When I racked the gun slowly, I didn’t notice any binding.  The only thing I can think of is that the feed ramp got dirty quickly and was hampering the feeding of the next round, which would keep the slide from fully going forward.


Possible causes:

  • Ammo that doesn’t have enough powder.
  • Dirty ammo that gets the feed ramp really dirty.
  • Limp wristing (I highly doubt that’s what happened, but I list it anyways, just in case I AM limp wristing).
  • Feed ramp doesn’t like hollow point ammo.
  • Feed ramp needs to be broken in (I doubt this, but read that someone had an issue with a ramp being too polished).

UPDATE:  Well…look at this  –>  http://www.handgunforum.net/beretta/30881-failure-feed-px4-storm-compact-9mm.html.  This looks similar to my bullet list above…looks like I am on the right track.  How does this relate to my P11?  Well, the small Beretta PX4 Storms have rotating barrels as well.  It seems that these type guns might not like lighter ammo and might be prone to limp-wristing as well.

Of the two guns, I fired the XD better.  That wasn’t the case the last time I took the P11 to the range.  Blame the failures to go into battery.

I did not get any video footage, as my camera wasn’t charged before I left for the range.

I fired 100 rounds of Remington UMC 115-grain JHP, 20 rounds of Remington UMC 115-grain FMJ, and 10 rounds of Remington HTP 115-grain +P.

I’m looking forward to the next range visit so I can put more rounds through the XD and become more proficient with it.  I’m not quite looking forward to re-experiencing issues with the P11, though.

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+P ammo cartridge casing FMJ grain JHP round

Defensive Ammo

One thing I never ask about in gun forums is ammo recommendations.  Why?  Because the answers you get will be highly subjective in nature, and although there are some guys who want to play as scientists and provide ballistics research articles, charts and other such resources, what it boils down to is this:  there are no humans that are bullet-proof on this earth.  When a bad guy breaks into your home at 2am, more than likely he’s not wearing armor, so shoot what you’re most comfortable with, ammunition-wise.

The suggested choices are JHP (or, jacketed hollow points), though.  This is because JHP is designed to do damage to flesh, but will also be less likely to over-penetrate (ie, go through the targeted body and into another person or object that might contain a person — house or car or other room).  Some people actually prefer FMJ, or full metal jacketed, but unless you know the backdrop, that is a dangerous ammunition to use for self or home defense, as the over-penetration potential will be high.  The danger is that a round could over-penetrate an aggressor and be a danger to others in the house (or even a danger to your neighbor in his or her own home).

The question I would’ve asked on a gun forum is, what type of defensive ammo would you use and why?  This question wouldn’t pertain to ammo brand, but more of what grain bullet would be preferred.  Grain refers to the weight of the projectile, not the amount of powder in the casing.  Some ammo makers use lighter-grain projectiles, as since they weigh less than standard bullets.  For example, standard .45ACP ammo is 230-grain.  I bought 20 rounds of 185-grain .45ACP…while the round might not be hotter (ie, more powerful due to additional powder in the cartridge), the 185-grain round will travel faster than a 230-grain round with the same powder charge, since it weighs less.  As well, the round will fly straighter.  The heavier round will have more penetrating power since it would have more mass than a lighter grain projectile.  There are also heavier non-standard rounds.  For example, standard grain for 9mm is 115-grain and a heavier grain is the 124-grain or 147-grain 9mm round.

To be honest, it won’t matter what type of round you use.  What counts more is shot placement.  In a typical defensive scenario, if you hit center mass 5 times, a bad guy isn’t going to be walking away no matter what type of round you’re using, JHP or FMJ, 115-grain 9mm or 147-grain 9mm.  Even .22LR pistols can kill if shots are accurately placed (I’ve read several articles where people have killed intruders with .22 caliber handguns).

I’ve some +P JHP that I mean to experiment with (bought them from Gander Mountain in both .45ACP and 9mm…I believe it’s Remington).  +P usually means more powder than normal is within the cartridge.  I’m not sure if it is actually needed, but if I decide I want more, I know where to pick it up locally.

I also have that .22TCM 1911.  Many people assume that this gun shoots .22LR.  Uhmmm….no.  This round is a shortened and necked-down .223.  It has a lot of powder and when shot from a 5″ .22TCM 1911, muzzle velocities are well over 2000 feet per second (or FPS).  Commander-sized 1911s will shoot the round a bit slower (a tad under 2000 FPS).  Rock Island Armory also has a .22TCM rifle…when shot through that barrel, the muzzle velocity for this round exceeds 2800 FPS!  The round is JHP, but will still punch through 3/16″ steel with ease (video here).

Several good ammunition articles are here and here.

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ammo ammunition Cabelas Dicks magazines P220 SP2022 Walmart

My Magazines Have Arrived!

A few days ago, Cabelas had an online-only Sig Sauer magazine sale…$22.49 for each magazine in stock.  Since Sig mags tend to be expensive (running around $50 each), I decided to get three to augment what my P220 came with.  It came with 2 x 8-round magazines.  I bought 1 x 8-round mag and 2 x 10-round magazines.  Note that this sale ended yesterday.

They arrived this afternoon and I immediately cracked them open and loaded them with rounds so that they’d break-in.  I also marked all five magazines (I numbered them), in case I needed to track mag failures.  Of the five, I loaded one with my Hornady JHP 185-grain rounds (which reminds me…I need to find an outdoor range so that I can test the JHP to ensure the gun will shoot them.

I also ordered 2 x 15-round magazines for my Sig Sauer SP2022 9mm that hasn’t arrived yet.  This is the gun that people have a difficult time finding mags for, so I wanted to take advantage of the sale…once I saw that they had them in stock, I ordered two.  The SP2022 only comes with one magazine, so I probably needed to get extras anyways.  I haven’t bought 9mm ammo yet…I’ll buy a box or two of FMJ and a box of JHP in 9mm when I pick up the gun from the FFL.  I marked these mags, too.

Hopefully, I’ll be able to go shooting this weekend and try out the new gun and extended P220 mags.

My next project will be to find an online store where I can order ammo in bulk, to cut costs.  I buy my ammo from Dicks since they’ve been having holiday sales, but I think I can do better by buying online.  I’d check Walmart but I’ve never been able to get someone to help me in the firearms section.  :/