Hornady Crit. Defense Lite in a 5906?

[Brian Parrish]

Here is my new to me 5906! I got it at Long's Jewelry and Pawn in Winston for $400 out the door. He has been very good to me through the years. It had just come in. Very nice condition, not a former LEO turn in but a safe queen many years.

I want to use this gun for the Bill Drill, a fast-shooting recoil control drill invented by Bill Wilson of Wilson Combat. When I was much younger and athletic, I could draw from concealment and put 8 shots in the A zone at 8 yards in three seconds. I did this with a 380, the Sig P230, which I gave to a beloved one many years ago. SO now I want start training with the 5906 to better my time and eventually transition to doing it with the 3913NL.

I am very interested in the Hornady Lite Load, with its 100-grain bullet at 1150 fps. Designed for small 9mm pistols, especially for women who really would rather shoot a 380 instead, it looks like something that I want to try.

In a review of the gun at "thetruthaboutguns.com" TTAG Contributor said that the one he tested hated light bullets. For him the bag rest group at 25 yards was over 8 inches with a 115 gr projectile. The 147 gr HST grouped within 2 inches.

Here is the article:
Affordable Handgun Review: The Smith & Wesson 5906 9mm Pistol - The Truth About Guns

What do you think?
Does your 5906 group well with 115 gr bullets?
Anyone ever shot the Lite load at all?
At $35 a box of 25? Before I waste the money please advise.

Kind Regards and Thanks for the Help!
BrianD

 

[ISCS Yoda]

5906 police trade-in. Not nearly as pretty as yours!

I haven't shot it in years and it's too large for an EDC so it sleeps in the safe. However, to answer your question without any experience whatsoever, you have two choices - -

1. Go with the TTAG review.

2. Spend $35.00 and find out for yourself.

Personally, I like number 2 better.

 

[BigBoss3006]

Long's is pretty close to me, very cool! They rarely seem to have 3rd Gens but i dont check that frequently

 

[GaryS]

147gr was the standard loading when the 5906 was designed. Mine will shoot 115, 124, or 147 with acceptable accuracy, but likes 147 the most.

If I were carrying it for self defense, 124 or 147 would be what I would use.

As to 380, I found it snappier in my Bersa 380 than was my 3913 with 147gr 9mm.

 

[Brian Parrish]

147gr was the standard loading when the 5906 was designed. Mine will shoot 115, 124, or 147 with acceptable accuracy, but likes 147 the most.

If I were carrying it for self defense, 124 or 147 would be what I would use.

As to 380, I found it snappier in my Bersa 380 than was my 3913 with 147gr 9mm.

Would your plan and training then be to take one shot and assess? (regardless of how fast you shoot.)

So I have always done, and even doing Bill Drills I will have a flash sight picture for every shot.

May I know your opinion of "double taps", "controlled pairs" and also "mag dumps"?

The Bersa shows similar specifics to the Sig P230 and 232. Both are simple blowback operation. I may try this with 147 grain rounds.

Always appreciate you Gary!
BrianD

 

[cherrypointmarine]

I shoot 124gr in all my S&W' 9mm's . I even shot them in my PC guns , I don't even buy 115gr anymore .

 

[VASCAR2]

I have only seen one 5906 that was unreliable in all the S&W 2nd & 3rd generation pistols I was around. All but this one pistol would function reliably with any ammo I ever tried from 88 grains to 150 grains.

My Agency issued 115 grain ammo but I shot a lot of hard cast out of my S&W 9's. Back in the early 80's I experimented with many different 9 mm bullets and powders. The S&W 2nd and 3rd gen 9 mm pistols would feed empty brass.

I remember Speer had a 100 grain JHP bullet and 9 MM cartridge. My 39-2 had no trouble feeding that bullet in factory ammo or my reloads.

Just my unsolicited opinion but you'd need a shot timer to detect any difference in split times between the Hornady light and a good 115 or 124 grain JHP. The 5906 is heavy and soaks up a lot of recoil. In real life I'm not sure three hundredths of a second is enough difference to make a diffrence. Sounds like a good experiment none the less.

 

[stansdds]

It has been my experience with a 39-2, 439, 6906, and 6946 that 115 grain FMJ ammo is likely to be the least accurate. Better accuracy comes from 115 grain JHP loads. With bullets of 124 to 147 grains, accuracy seems very similar regardless of the bullet being FMJ or JHP.

 

[AlHunt]

That's very expensive ammo to just be blazing away at .70/round. I'd think the lowest cost range ammo would suffice for skill building. I've had a couple of 5906s over the years and see no reason it shouldn't function well for this purpose.

 

[Brian Parrish]

I shoot 124gr in all my S&W' 9mm's . I even shot them in my PC guns , I don't even buy 115gr anymore .

Go on, with my thanks!
BrianD

 

[Imissedagain]

We use various 115gr bullets in our 380s.
Hornady 147gr XTP and FMJ bullets in our 9mm pistols.
That's all I buy.
M59 (carried most often for decades), Sig P239 and
the minty BHP range gun.
Had to do a careful polish on the M59 & BHP,
a couple of decades ago, for the young ones
Hollow Point happiness.
Rock solid since then..