Test of Bargain 9mm Ammo

[max]

Guns & Ammo has a test this month (October) of budget 115 gr 9mm plinking ammo. They tested Federal Champion, Fiocchi Range Dynamics, Magtech, Remington Range, Sig Sauer Elite, and Winchester White Box. The author felt the Federal ammo was plated and not FMJ. The test pistols were 3 polymer framed with 4.5, 4.43, and 4.4 inch barrels. The pistols each had a red dot sight and the tests were fired at 25 yards. WW had the most consistent velocity, lowest extreme spreads, smallest average group size and second highest average velocity. Magtech had the highest average velocity and second smallest average group size. Sig had the most weight (.3 grains) and OAL (.002 inch) consistency. Fiocchi had the lowest average velocity. Remington had the largest average group size. The difference in smallest and largest group average was .07. The difference in average velocity was 87 fps. I wish the author had tested a CCI or Blazer branded product.

Posts:

 

[bedwards]

Also the Monarch. I've been running a lot of it lately.

 

[fiasconva]

I read a thread about this on another forum. WW seemed to perform pretty well. Maybe it isn't as bad after all? I've never had a problem with it.

 

[stansdds]

I'm sure that Federal has gone to plated bullets for most, if not all, of their FMJ semi-auto pistol budget loads. Federal and CCI/Speer are under the control of one company, so it's natural that Federal would be switched to the less expensive Speer plated bullets.

 

[rug357]

This is interesting because back in 2020 I I chronographed two Walmart factory fmj loads and my fmj reload to see how they compared. I shot WW 100 round pack 115gr fmj, UMC 115gr fmj and my reload of 124gr Winchester fmj bullet (2,000 bulk pack from Midway) with Win231 in once shot Speer nickel plated bras. WW ammo was purchased about 10 years prior while UMC ammo was only few weeks old. My reloads were 20 years old. All ammo were stored in air-conditioned closet.
I don't have my notes with me but the WW had the worst performance with over 100 fps difference between high and low velocity. UMC was better with about 50 fps difference. My reloads were better than UMC and more accurate than others.
Again, this was ammo that wee manufactured years ago.

 

[STORMINORMAN]

The SIG Elite 115gr FMJ appears to be significantly hotter (at a claimed 1185fps) than the others...? Jus' sayin'...

Cheers!

 

[max]

Sig didn't have any tests over 1200 FPS. Magtech and WW each had 3.

 

[MTC(SS)Ret]

I read the article. It was OK for the ammo he tested but some of the ones he included such as the Sig and Federal I wouldn't consider "budget". I wonder why he didn't test some of the obvious like Blazer, Monarch and S&B.

 

[rockquarry]

I seldom shoot any factory ammo, but with the cheap stuff or anything else, why not shoot what fires every time, feeds with 100% reliability, shoots to point of aim (or very close to it) and is most accurate? Why nitpick on differences of SD or ES, weight consistency of a cartridge, etc.? Pointless. Go with small groups and other factors mentioned in the first sentence. They're all that's important.

 

[Yendor357]

Polymer guns?

If they would have just asked, I could have loaned the some real pistols, and an AR IN 9mm.

The velocity data was relevant. The accuracy, not so much.

 

[rockquarry]

Polymer guns?

If they would have just asked, I could have loaned the some real pistols, and an AR IN 9mm.

The velocity data was relevant. The accuracy, not so much.

I don't understand. How is the accuracy not relevant?

 

[Phenix]

Guns & Ammo has a test this month (October) of budget 115 gr 9mm plinking ammo. They tested Federal Champion, Fiocchi Range Dynamics, Magtech, Remington Range, Sig Sauer Elite, and Winchester White Box. The author felt the Federal ammo was plated and not FMJ. The test pistols were 3 polymer framed with 4.5, 4.43, and 4.4 inch barrels. The pistols each had a red dot sight and the tests were fired at 25 yards. WW had the most consistent velocity, lowest extreme spreads, smallest average group size and second highest average velocity. Magtech had the highest average velocity and second smallest average group size. Sig had the most weight (.3 grains) and OAL (.002 inch) consistency. Fiocchi had the lowest average velocity. Remington had the largest average group size. The difference in smallest and largest group average was .07. The difference in average velocity was 87 fps. I wish the author had tested a CCI or Blazer branded product.

Posts:

Why would a writer for Guns and Ammo not be able to determine whether or not a bullet was a FMJ or plated?
Simply pull a bullet and look it over. Saw it in half if you want to.
FMJ bullets have thicker and typically do not cover the entire base.
Plated bullets tend to have a very thin covering.
If I were the writer's Editor I would be having a little talk with said writer about the value of thoroughness on technical matters.