Went to the range today and brought my Shield 9 and my 9C
to do some comparisons on how I shoot with 115 vs 124.
I've always thought that liked 124 a little better. Today really cemented that for me.
I brought a 50 rounds of Blazer Brass 115 and a 50 rounds of Aguila 124.
Shot the 115 through both guns first. (25 rounds each)
At 30 feet.
Not terrible....not great

Switched over to the Aguila 124 and shot 15 rounds through each gun ( I ran out of time)
same 30 feet
Except for 1 low and one high (both out of the shield)....much better
(The cover ups were .22 that I shot first with this target, too lazy to switch to a fresh target)
The 9C was dead on, those were my best shots of the day.

I think I'm going to shoot out all of my 115 grain 9 and just stick with 124. Kind of stinks though because 115 grain is much easier to find cheaper than 124 is.
Anyone else finding similar results with their 9 C's or shields?

My 9c definitely likes heavier as well.

Consider mail-order. You may not shoot much, but I can get cases of 124 for the same price as 115, and availability has been good. They sell singles too, but spreading the shipping cost over case orders is cheaper per round.


9mm Luger Ammo at SGAmmo

You shot 2 different brands in 2 different weights. You concluded the 124 was better than the 115.....how do you know the bullet weight is responsible? maybe the gun just prefers that Aguila load to that Blazer load?


To really compare "115 to 124" you need to compare the weights in the same brand, or at least compare several 115 loads to several 124 loads. I'd bet there are 115's that will shoot as well as that particular 124 and, likewise, 124's that will shoot no better than that particular 115.


In my area, I can buy Federal, Remington and Winchester all in 115 for about the same price. In my gun, the Federal is the clear winner.

__________________
Carry.."hope" isn't a strategy

I have Blazer Brass 124 and much experienced the same results. I used Aguila yesterday because ...well I had some
I'm also im mass so Mail order is a bit restrictive. Most sights won't ship to mass.
I do know of some so I am 'all set" It's just when walking into
any of the local shops around here , for some reason 124 is always a dollar a box more than 115. And I believe t's not just the guns , but the shooter may prefer the different perceived "kick" as well. I've been shooting a lot of .45 acp lately and the 124 felt "better" to me than than 115.
Who knows it may all be in my head , but the results were right in front of me.

I found that heavier weight bullets shoot a little better in my Shield also, I carry 147 gr. JHP as my carry/SD rounds-check out some 147 gr. Ammo next time you see it. Usually 115 gr. is available any where, the 124 and 147 a little harder to find, but becoming easier. I've not had any ammo that really shot terrible out of any of my pistols, but I know none of them are target grade pistols, although there are times that I think with tuning they would have a chance to be :-)

I thought my 9c and 9 full size liked 124s better until i recently got a great deal on some 115 fmj bullets. They shoot just as well as most 124s; I handload all my pistol ammo with a few different combinations of bullets/powder/primers and the all shoot well in my guns.
If the op is restricted to factory ammo, he would do well to stock up on the 124 ammo that he used on the second target.

I've kind of seen the same thing out of my M&Ps. Not that the 115 shoot badly, but the 124/125 gr seem to be just a little better.

It is unfortunate that the 124 cost a bit more, but the better performance is worth the added cost.

that's the plan

I have found much the same result between 115 and 124. I shoot exclusively 124 in my 9mms. You might find that that is also the most used 9mm weight in competitive shooting.

It's been my observation and experience that heavier bullets are more accurate than 115g and 124g in short barrel firearms. I carry 150g and 147g. Got several hundred 147g freedom munitions HP for practice. Prefer practice with very similar ammunition as to my carry ammo. Plan on picking up some 165g to try out soon.

I have 2 M&P 9c's and both shoot more accurately with the 124 gr. and 147 gr. than they do with 115 gr. bullets. I can't speak about the Shield because I don't own one.

__________________
James
On the Llano Estacado

When moving up in weight you increase bearing surface. All things being semiequal, heavier means longer, longer means more bearing surface to be stabilized. You should get a slight increase in stabilization.

Same for me. I prefer the 124 to the 115 in my Shield as well. I used the same ammo you did.

__________________
Mike
S&WCA #3065