9mm Sellier & Bellot 124gr JHP 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 Sellier & Bellot 124gr JHP — Postimages

Data Sheet

First off, we can safely say this ammunition doesn't come anywhere near the 1200 fps advertised velocity. That aside, for the money the product isn't all that terrible. Velocity and accuracy was mediocre, but expansion is acceptable and uniform. Jacket separations and significant fragmentation did occur. Standard Deviations with both guns were very tight with single digits however. All in all the ammunition is Ok and pleasant to shoot.
ammoseek.com shows pricing as $0.30 to $0.44 per round and comes in boxes of 50. Very economical.
Link to S&B website;

9 mm LUGER / 9 mm PARA / 9 x 19 – JHP 124 GRS SB9D – Sellier & Bellot

 

[Bald1]

Interesting. A lot of their ammo is labeled with pretty hot velocities. I wondered if their numbers were inflated. I have some 240 44 mag ammo but have yet to shoot it

 

[Fishinfool]

I have never chronographed any S&B ammo, but it has worked well for me in handguns at the range, and the 140 grn in 6.5 cm is the cheapest, and most accurate factory ammo in my Bergara chassis rifle - A hair over 1 inch, 5 shot groups at 300 yards, very consistently.

Larry

 

[STORMINORMAN]

At around 3 rounds for a $ with a jhp bullet... How wrong can you go?

Cheers!

 

[alwslate]

I like S&B .32 ACP but my experience with their 9mm is similar to yours. Underloaded inaccurate junk.

 

[LVSteve]

For reasons best known to the Czechs, the length of their test barrel is 6". Even so, looking at the BBTI website and using their velocity variations with barrel length suggests the ammo is not quite as spicy as they say.

 

[SnidelyWhiplash]

I've always found S&B ammunition to be quality stuff...shot very good and clean. I never used it for anything beyond range ammo though...all was FMJ. I did once have a case of their 9mm ball ammo marked for submachine gun use only...I had an Uzi SMG at the time. That ammo was loaded stiff!

The Colt/CZ Group now owns S&B...I think good things will happen with the brand now...even more than before.

 

[Michaelp57]

The only s&b ammo I've tried and would not buy again is their 12g buck. Way too smokey, especially for the indoor range. Otherwise, I've had only good experiences with s&b, whether it be 10mm hollow points or cheap range fodder 30-06.