[Tropical Z]

Ive never been able to find official stats on Silver Bear ammo,in particular id love to know the factory scoop on their 145grHP's in 9mm and their new 200 grHP,45acp.Has anyone shot the .45acp? I remember reading here that somebody had chronographed the 145gr,9mm load at 1200 fps which would pretty much make it a superior loading as far as 9mm goes.If anyone ever finds the factory stats for this ammo,please post a link.;)

[WonderNine]

I would buy a box to shoot out of my Hi-Power and chrono for ya, but I'm afraid it's laquered in which case I wouldn't shoot it.

Btw, 145gr. @ 1200 would be about 464ft/lbs of energy, I kinda doubt it.

[PCRCCW]

I wouldnt doubt the velocity of the Silver Bear in 9mm...seriously! Mid 400's isnt that outragous for a STOUT 9mm. Corbon does it all of the time.

They make the only Mak round that smokes the Corbon of the same caliber...it just has NO consistancy.

What I would doubt is the quality of the ammo. Silver bear is the only ammo...I wont take if it was given to me. Sorry.............

The ES #'s given on most ammo tests show very poor consistancy from round to round and my own experience with the stuff hasnt been good at all.

Shoot well...........

[mrapathy2000]

they dont use laquer atleast on all of theyre rounds. most I have seen have nickel or zinc plated steel casings. mostly zinc.

[Tropical Z]

Maybe ill call Zanders and see if they have stats.I like the Silver Bear ive shot and so have the guns ive put it through.

[Trebor]

I ran a Michigan CCW class on Saturday. One of my students had a Makarov and was using Silver Bear 9X18. He had numerous malfunctions that bound up the pistol and he finally had to borrow some different ammo from another shooter to finish the course of fire.

The other student using a 9x18mm pistol had a Polish P-64. The slide would only lock back on that about 1/3 of the time. He loaned his Sellior and Belliot ammo to the student with the Makarov and switched to Wolf 9x18mm. Once he switched to Wolf, he also had problems. In both cases live rounds would get stuck in the chamber and had to be pushed out from the muzzle with a rod. This happened at least once with each pistol.

In the future, I will not allow my students to use Silver Bear or Wolf for the range portion of my class. I already ban reloads. This is based on the problems I've seen in the classes I've attended as a student,and the problems my students have had in the classes I've run.

[WonderNine]

In both cases live rounds would get stuck in the chamber and had to be pushed out from the muzzle with a rod.

:eek:

[meathammer]

Once he switched to Wolf, he also had problems. In both cases live rounds would get stuck in the chamber and had to be pushed out from the muzzle with a rod. This happened at least once with each pistol.


(Picture billboard ad above freeway, dumbfounded shooter holding jammed pistol) Got Wolf? :D

[PCRCCW]

Using Lacquer coated ammo and shooting ALOT of ammo quickly can coat the chamber with lacquer. If it starts to cool.......it will turn into glue.
Ive had this happen in my guns.................

The only gun I trust with such ammo is my Makarov...Ive yet to have a problem with it in ANY regard.......and it aint gonna be S/Bear.

Shoot well.

[chevrofreak]

Silver Bear = nickel plated steel case

Brown Bear = laquered steel case

Silver bear is no different than shooting a premium hollowpoint round that uses a nickel case.

[bountyhunter]

Silver bear is no different than shooting a premium hollowpoint round that uses a nickel case.

NO. Steel cases will jam some guns even without the lacquer. The design of the gun (unlck time) actually assumes the expansion and contraction rate of the case will be brass, not steel. brass is more elastic than steel. It's a fact tht some guns will not cycle steel cases properly and some will. In most cases, a tighter throat will choke on steel because the steel case does not "contract" back as far after the initial expansion from the firing compared to a brass case.

[FireInTheHole]

a tighter throat will choke on steel because the steel case does not "contract" back as far after the initial expansion from the firing compared to a brass case.

Exactly. I bought a 500 rd case of this stuff earlier this year from AIM and after the first 50 rds extraction became troublesome in my 92fs. It seems like such a good buy at the time...:barf: took a long time to shoot it up... basically just 50 rds per range trip. Accuracy was acceptable.

Might work in a glock and the lack of laquer would be a plus for rapid fire. (although the bullet is sealed in with red gunk.)

[Neal Bloom]

Brother in-law bought 1000 round case of Silver Bear in 9mm. Cartridge stuck in his P99 while shooting the first box. He gave the rest to me since I have a 9mm revolver. Tried it in a FEG PJK and the very first cartridge stuck. Had to push it out with a brass rod. Did not attempt it in the Browning Hi-Power. Works great and is very accurate in SIG P225 with no problems. Once it is all gone I will not get anymore as I like ammo that I can use in all my 9mm guns.

[pbhome71]

I shot 2 boxes of the 9mm Silver Bear 145gr in my Glock 19. So far so good. It shoots well and eject well. May be I luck out. I got mine from AIM.

I am thinking about getting some more.

-Pat

[PCRCCW]

"Silver bear is no different than shooting a premium hollowpoint round that uses a nickel case"

Big NO!

"NO. Steel cases will jam some guns even without the lacquer. The design of the gun (unlck time) actually assumes the expansion and contraction rate of the case will be brass, not steel."

"Cartridge stuck in his P99 while shooting the first box."

"Tried it in a FEG PJK and the very first cartridge stuck."

"Once it is all gone I will not get anymore as I like ammo that I can use in all my 9mm guns."

Um, Big Yes! First shot in my 39 series S&W's overexpanded in the Chamber......it would SHOOT EVERYTHING! Until this ummm, "Ammo".


"I am thinking about getting some more."

Good luck Pat!

[chevrofreak]

I didnt mean that they would be reliable, I meant that they wouldnt be hard on the chamber by being steel/steel contact, or gumming it up with laquer :p

[bountyhunter]

It seems like such a good buy at the time...

True, until you factor in the cost of the new extractor after yours gets it's tip rounded over from trying to yank on a steel rim all day with the cases jammed in tight.:what:

[Tropical Z]

Its hard to believe all this.If my Hi-Point can digest Russian steel case ammo without a problem ANY gun should be able to.I even emailed Hi-Point asking them if i should avoid steel cased ammo in it and all the guy said was "no,why?"

[bpisler]

I've put 550 rounds of various russian 9mm thru my KP-95dc with no problems at all,i'am not surprised.:)

[cheygriz]

I'm having a hard time understanding all of the bad mouthing of Wolf and Silver Bear. I've used tons of the stuff in a dozen different guns and never had a problem. Students in my classes have burned tons of it in my presence without problems. I've seen ONE 9X18 Wolf round stick a bullet in the barrel! ONE!

I've also seen Remington, Winchester and Federal misfire, or stick a bullet in the barrel.

The so-called lacquer problem, I've never seen! Hold a propane torch to the lacquered case, and the lacquer doesn't melt, it burns!

And there's absolutely nothing wrong with steel cases! Period!!!

Our own government arsenal's manmufactured tens of millions of rounds of steel cased ammo in WW2 and they caused no problems whatsoever.

[chevrofreak]

Wolf is ditching the laquer on their cases anyway. They are switching to a polymer coating that is getting favorable reviews from those that have used it.

[PCRCCW]

Cheygriz...hey if youve had better luck with it than me....more power to ya!

Ive had the opposite.....very bad results with Silver Bear! not Wolff......

The #'s the stuff gives you if you ever chrono it will tell you the company has VERY LITTLE quality control. It gives the largest ES data of any ammo Ive ever seen.

If you like it...by all means shoot it.

Shoot well.........

[Ky Larry]

I have come up with a "system" that works for me. I shoot Commie ammo (Wolf, Silver Bear) in my Commie guns (AK's,CZ's, Mak's). Everything else gets brass cased ammo. Also, I shot a Wolf steel case .223 in my Contender. The case stuck and was very hard to remove. Never again.
YMMV. Good luck.