9mm REMINGTON 124gr Golden Saber BJHP +P Review

[RDub]

Hello
Most of the 9mm reviews that I did were shot with two guns.
A SIG 365 SAS, with a 3.1 inch barrel and a Taurus G3 with a 4 inch barrel.
First I do forensic exam of the ammunition. Next I shoot a group while chronographing with each gun. 10 yards with the SIG, three rounds and 15 yards with the G3, five rounds. Chronograph is a Oehler 35P
Then the ammunition is shot out of each gun into a 55 gallon plastic barrel of water. The bullets are then recovered, photographed and then measured for expansion. In cases where the bullet fragments and loses its jacket, a weight is taken with all the recovered material and also a weight taken with just the lead core.
Here is the link to all the photos of the review;

9mm REM Golden Saber 124gr +P — Postimages

Data Sheet

Accuracy and the Standard Deviations with this ammo was pretty good. The Taurus does tend to throw one round off the group once in a while. The velocity for a +P labeled product is a little on the slow side, but still effective. Expansion was adequate and uniform although bullets from both guns had jacket separations. Ammunition is accurate and pleasant to shoot.
ammoseek.com shows cost range $1.25 to $1.73 per round.

 

[WR Moore]

Given the expansion, I'd like to see penetration figures.

The other day I was doing some testing and for S&G fired a standard pressure Nylcad 125 gr nylon jacket hollow point out of a 2 inch snub. To my utter astonishment, at 5 yards it expanded to 0.640 in. BUT: it only penetrated a corrected 7.74 inches. I then tried it with 4 layers of denim in front of the jugs. It penetrated over 12.5 inches, no idea of expansion, I didn't have enough jugs and it kept going.

 

[RDub]

Hi
It more than likely plugged up and didn't expand and behaved like a FMJ..
It is becoming widely known now that conventional HPs have a tendency to do this. Newer bullet designs have been successful in correcting this for the most part.
The water, as I've said before, is just a way of comparing one product against another in a medium that is always consistent.
There is no doubt in my mind that this product would penetrate sufficiently to do what it is intended to do, given reasonable circumstances.
Cheers

 

[Smeckler]

Thanks for the data. This is the round I use for training and carry in my Beretta Nano. The golden saber bullet is designed to expand well out of short barrels and seems to do well in the gel tests you can find online.

 

[WR Moore]

Hi
It more than likely plugged up and didn't expand and behaved like a FMJ..

Cheers

True, but if I'd had 1 or 2 more jugs in line I/we'd have a better idea of that. The Remington SJHP out of the same gun would have escaped if I hadn't had one more jug in line and it expanded to .545 in with 12.5 inc of penetration.

I really like the Golden Saber, I found out a long time ago that knocking a couple hundred (theoretical) f/s off the .357 125 gr JHPs didn't really effect expansion and was a whole lot easier on both gun and shooter.

ETA: checked the denim cloth. No evidence of a cookie cutter effect, just linier tears.

 

[Valmet]

I’ve always been a fan of the 124-gr+P GS load. For awhile it appeared that Rem stopped loading it.

I recall a time when the 125-gr .357 Mag was underpowered when compared to other .357 loads as at the time Rem was focused on diminishing muzzle flash.

 

[rwsmith]

Golden Sabers are....

Golden Sabers are one of my go-to rounds, even in standard loadings.