Problems with Federal 115 gr. FMJ in Polygonal Barrel

I'm not sure if this is the right forum, as it's discussing factory ammo and not handloads, but I know that this is a good place to ask ammunition related questions.

Has anybody here had any problems running Federal 115 gr. FMJ through a Glock? Any problems with plated bullets in a polygonal barrel?

I recently picked up a couple of boxes of Federal 115 gr. FMJ from WalMart to run during an IDPA match. I ended up shooting the worst match of my life, even though it felt like I was shooting okay. I just accepted my score and chalked it up to a combination of heat and fatigue, but really felt I should have done better than what the targets showed.

Today, I was chronographing some handloads, and ran some of the factory ammo through to establish a baseline. At 15 yards, resting my elbows on a bench, I could only keep 7 out of 10 rounds on an 8-1/2" x 11" sheet of paper!!! The velocity looked normal, and the ES and SD were both good, but the pistol did not like the Federal ammo at all. I ran some Remington ammo through that I had left over from the previous match, and it grouped perfectly, with velocities that almost matched the Federal. For what it's worth, my XD seems to shoot the Federal just fine, but not the G19. I'm still rather stumped as to why the G19 doesn't like the Federal, but the targets don't lie. Everything else before and after shot perfect, but the Federal was all over the place.

When I had first opened the boxes of Federal, I had noticed that the jackets looked off color slightly. Today, after picking up some flattened slugs after shooting a steel plate, I noticed that they appear to be plated bullets, and not FMJ. There were specs of copper on the base of the flattened bullet, but no signs of any jackets to be found. Has anybody else ran across any plated bullets being sold by Federal, under the guise of FMJ? Any similar issues with this ammo in a polygonal barrel?

I think this helps explain my horrible scores, for the most part. I'm not going to blame everything on the ammunition, as I was definitely fatigued that morning, but this really makes me wonder how much was me and how much was ammunition related...

Any similar experiences?

If it helps to keep it from being moved to a different forum, I'll post some chronograph results tomorrow. Thanks!

Thanks for the replies, everyone!

The ammo in question is Federal WM5199.

[/url] WM5199 by Concerned.Citizen, on Flickr[/IMG]

Here is a photo of the bullets in question:

[/url] Bullets by Concerned.Citizen, on Flickr[/IMG]

Here is a photo of the targets I shot with the Federal WM5199, and then the Remington UMC L9MM3:

[/url] Targets by Concerned.Citizen, on Flickr[/IMG]

These two targets were shot back to back, at a distance of 15 yards. I shot the Federal target on the right first, and after seeing the horrible performance, shot the Remington on the left to try to see if it was the ammo or the pistol. I had already been shooting most of the morning, so was pretty well warmed up by the time I shot the Federal group. There were 3 shots of the Federal group that were completely off the paper to the right.

Out of the 7 shots that registered on the chronograph, here's the Federal's velocity:

High: 1114
Low: 1094
Ave:1104
ES: 20.0
SD: 6.0

Here's the data from the 8 shots of Remington that registered:

High: 1112
Low: 1079
Ave: 1097
ES: 33.0
SD: 11.2

I still have another box of the Federal, and will likely experiment with it. I'm planning to run it through a few different pistols, and see if the problem is isolated to this one firearm, or if it's with polygonal barrels in general.

I've shot thousands of rounds of the same Federal ammo bought from the same WalMart, and never noticed a problem before. I'm guessing they changed their product line recently, probably as a cost-saving measure. I will be calling Federal on Tuesday to discuss the matter with them, and will be sure to post their response.

Nick93,

Your experiences confirm my original theory. I figured that the jacket and the lead core were too soft for the polygonal rifling to get a good purchase, and probably aren't being spun fast enough to stabilize.


bds,

I don't have anymore of the Remington, as I just finished off what I had left from a previous match. They looked and performed like normal FMJ bullets, so I have no concerns with them. I'll tear down one of the Federal cartridges next week, after I've had a chance to speak with Federal.

I'll try to track down one of the flattened slugs from yesterday's range session. I know someone had picked up a couple, and I'll see if I can get some photos.