Chronographing Practice/Range Ammo

[chanroc]

Has anyone recently chronographed commercial practice ammo between brands (e.g. Winchester White Box, American Eagle, Remington UMC, CCI Blazer, etc)? I often hear conflicting anecdotal tales at the gun store that brand x is "hotter" than brand y. This week was that Blazer Brass is weaker than Winchester White Box and dirtier too. All seem to go bang just fine in my guns, but was curious if there's any grain of truth to this. I don't have a chronograph, or I would try each one out and post the results.

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[alwslate]

I have chronographed all four at various times in the past but it's been
a long time since I have chronographed any WWB. My more recent
chronographing has shown that Blazer is the fastest followed by
Federal with Remington in distant third place. Rem 115 gr FMJ is so
weak that it will not even cycle the action of some of my guns.

 

[Otreb]

I've chronographed a number of pedestrian range ammo in .38sp, magtech, umc, www and generic Rem jhp loads. I like the 158gr magtech but must admit www 130gr ball was extremely consistent SD and very low ES velocity wise in several guns. I've only chrono'd Blzer Brass 124gr and Magtech 115gr in 9mm, generic Rem Htp 230gr jhp and Fiocchi 230gr ball in ..45acp.
No surprises or anything special, they're pretty much paper ammo.

 

[chief38]

I have chronographed many of the .38 Special SD loads over the years. Other than Buffalo Bore ammunition I've NEVER found a load that actually does what the manufacturer says it will. The BB is spot-on and sometimes just a drop faster. Speer's Short Barrel GD 135 grain still falls short of stated velocities, but at least respectively close enough.

A chronograph is a very valuable tool and today is very affordable. For just over $100 bucks (you can split the cost among a few shooting Bud's) you can see how your particular firearm performs with any ammo you like and at least you will have first hand info on how they perform.

If you reload, a Chronograph is a GREAT advantage in tailoring your loads.

 

[moxie]

FWIW, it really doesn't matter with range ammo how fast it's going as long as it cycles the gun and is accurate.

But out of curiosity a few years ago I did some chrono testing of 5 lots of factory 9mm 115 FMJ stuff. Here are results:

1. WWB WCC 12, NATO crimped...1156 fps

2. WWB WIN...1227 fps

3. WWB WIN...1173 fps

4. Rem. UMC...1157 fps

5. Fed. Champion...1169 fps

Conclusions?

All were equally accurate and worked just fine. With the exception of lot #2, all were between 1150 and 1200 fps which is perfect out of a 3" M&P9c. And lot #2 was only abut 50 fps faster than the rest. Interestingly, the slowest of the bunch was the military NATO WCC 12 crimped primer load. But only by a hair and still plenty adequate.

For comparison purposes, I also tested some SD rounds. Results:

1. Fed. HST 124 +P...1236 fps

2. Rem. GS 124 +P...1126 fps

3. Speer GD 124 +P 1157 fps

Overall conclusion? None of the factory low end range ammo was inferior or deficient in any way. It was not weak, wimpy or underpowered. It wasn't dirty. It was accurate. And velocity-wise it was right in there with three lots of some of the best SD high-end ammo available. The Rem. UMC was even the exact same velocity as the Speer +P Gold Dot! These results indicate that 115 grain generic ammo is a very good practice analog for top end 124 +P ammo.

So, take your pick. Empirical data or internet hooie.

 

[alwslate]

Ammo specs can change over a period of time depending on a variety
of reasons without any change in the listed ballistics. My most recent
tests of factory 115 gr FMJ ammo in my Browning HP are as follows;
Speer Lawman 1237 fps
CCI Blazer 1180 fps
Federal Aluminum 1186 fps
Federal Brass 1155 fps
Rem UMC 1079 fps

124 gr FMJ
ZQI Nato 1167 fps
Swiss Geco 1145 fps

 

[moxie]

That is pretty much consistent with my testing.

The majority of 9mm in 115 and 124 seem to clock between 1150 and 1200 fps

 

[OKFC05]

I don't have a chronograph, or I would try each one out and post the results.

The results would only be valid for the specific lots of ammunition tested. The next lot may not even have the same powder, since commercial loaders custom blend and use commercial powders.
They test and stay within a window of performance, but vary within that window from lot to lot of ammo.

 

[Pisgah]

After over 50 years hanging around gun shops, I can state without any doubt that if you assume everything you hear in one is a crock you will be correct at least 9 out of 10 times. This is probably a higher average of being right than I have in deciding what to have for lunch.