ISP 9 mm Ammunition
Not a trooper but a 9 mm packing Illinois cop from the era....
The first trooper I saw with a Model 39 was a famous range master who was essentially beta testing the pistol. He was carrying Super Vel 90 grain JHP. THAT didn’t last.
(He was also toting a plain barrel S&W M-76 SMG.)
Early articles in police and gun magazines stated that Remington 124 and Winchester 115 grain JRN ammunition was used in testing. An experimental 95 grain cartridge – perhaps a .380 bullet – was tested.
The ammunition adopted for issue was the special order Winchester-Western Q4032 100 grain JRN loaded in nickel W-W cases loaded to a nominal 1400 fps velocity / 436 ft. lb. energy.
The bullet was more blunt than typical 9 mm hardball but not nearly so much as the failed S&W / Amron “Hemi” bullet. Other manufacturers subsequently loaded similar ammunition.
In about 1975, ISP adopted the soft point Winchester-Western 100 grain Power Point W9MMPP, also nominally at 1400 fps. I never saw anything but brass W-W cases in standard commercial WW boxes. Many other Illinois agencies used this ammunition.
In about 1978, ISP adopted a Federal 95 grain flat nose, truncated cone soft point, again in nickel cases. The bullet looked very much like the Super Vel 112 gr soft point.
Winchester made a 110 gr. jacketed SWC bullet that ISP loaded on their own machines for practice ammo.
As reported by ISPCapt and others, in the next few years the ISP used several different 9 mm loadings, including W-W 115 Silvertip, a special WW 95 gr soft point and Federal 9BP and 9BPIL 115 gr JHP, before landing on the Q +P+ W-W 115 gr JHP.
I have a couple of boxes of the 9PB IL. Memories vary as to whether this was +p or +p+ ammunition. The case heads are simply FC 9MM. The boxes carry a warning that the ammunition was loaded to higher pressure than other cartridges without stating how much higher.
The special Illinois Federal .38 E IL 125 gr. JHP also carries a high pressure warning; case heads are marked FC LE.
Last edited by SG-688; 03-16-2018 at 08:17 PM.
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