Ballistic gelatin test results - Glock 27 (various .40S&W JHPs)

[Brass Fetcher]

Firearm : Glock 27 with 3.46" barrel length

Ammunition : Various .40S&W

Block calibration : All depths are corrected, except where noted (12.5cm @ 607 ft/sec)

Shot 1 - Federal 165gr Tactical HST HP (part #P40HST3). Impacted at 1064 ft/sec. Penetrated to 11.6" (using velocity range of 800-1000 ft/sec from Figure 10-10 in Bullet Penetration) and was recovered at 0.703" average diameter.

Shot 2 - Winchester 165gr Ranger Bonded JHP (part #RA40BA). Impacted at 996 ft/sec. Penetrated to 13.5" and was recovered at 0.570" average diameter.

Shot 3 - Winchester 180gr Ranger SXT (part #RA40T). Impacted at 894 ft/sec. Penetrated to 12.6" and was recovered at 0.617" average diameter.

Shot 4 - Remington 165gr Golden Saber (part #GS40SWA). Impacted at 994 ft/sec. Penetrated to 11.6" and was recovered at 0.661" average diameter.

Shot 5 - Cor-Bon 165gr JHP (part #40165/20). Impacted at '2031' ft/sec (chronograph malfunction). No correction was attempted as the bullet experienced heavy fragmentation - fragments were recovered at 9.1", 9.5", 9.6", 13.4" and 14.0". The jacket was recovered at 16.0" plus the 4" needed to travel to the front of the polyester bullet arresting box. The lead core was recovered at unknown distance in the bullet arresting box at 0.469" average diameter.

All shots fired at 10 feet distance from the face of the Glock 27 muzzle to the front face of the gelatin block. The picture of the block depicts the penetration track of the 165gr Golden Saber. Please note that no preference to any brand of tested ammunition should be inferred by the relative orders of the ammunition, as they were tested or pictured.

 

[Gordon]

Wow, thanks again! You can really see why the .40 S&W was developed! Thats about perfect performance in a handgun that can be controlled in rapid fire (not necessarily a Glock 27!).

 

[briansp82593]

thanks 223 ive been waiting for a good .40 one

 

[briansp82593]

Impacted at '2031' ft/sec (chronograph malfunction).

man if i didnt see malfunction i would be like hey guys, drag that big steel plate over here i want to show you something

 

[waynedm]

You can really see why the .40 S&W was developed!

The .40 Short and Weak was developed because the FBI couldn't handle the 10mm recoil.

All of the ballistic tests I've seen the 9mm penetrates more.

 

[Redhat]

What's penetration got to do with it?

 

[busy_squirrel]

Glad to see a .40 test, especially since I have two of those in my ammo safe.

 

[DMK]

Pretty cool. I'm glad to see a 165gr test. My CZ40B seems to shoot 165grs the best. Most of the .40 tests I've seen were 180gr or 155gr.

Looks like any of them except the Cor-bon would get the job done. Nice to have options.

 

[Marshall]

Thanks for the info! Heck of a good round!

 

[Brass Fetcher]

You're all welcome. This was a fun test to have done...

Question - what info do you think benefits the 'average gun owner' more ... tests like this, or perhaps, a test of a more offbeat cartridge like the 9x18mm Mak? I would like to think that testing something that has not been done before, but that people still carry, like the .41 Mag that I did, for instance, would be a big help - just to give people an idea of what to expect from a caliber?

 

[FieroCDSP]

The .40 Short and Weak was developed because the FBI couldn't handle the 10mm recoil.

All of the ballistic tests I've seen the 9mm penetrates more

From what I've read, penetration isn't everything, it's the size of what is penetrating.

The FBI was looking for a bullet that would do the most damage, and penetrate respectably. I'd say the 40S&W is doing exactly what they designed it to do. Penetrate 12" and expanding out to .60" (almost 3/4" for the Corbon)...

Honestly, I'd rather pack that kind of punch in a smaller cartridge and be able to control the recoil than have to fight it for a minor amount of penetration that wouldn't really matter, except on someone that weighs 400 lbs, if then.

As for the 9mm... the war has begun anew.... I'd rather have the 40 than the 9mm, but that's my preference, and to each their own.

 

[mdao]

I really wasn't that impressed by the .40S&W results. I mean, they're still great, but not significantly better than the 9 mm, or even .38 spl results.

The Ranger Bonded's performance is fairly depressing given that a .38 spl snubby shooting the old FBI Load out-expands it at the cost of a little penetration. The Ranger SXT doesn't do much better. The Golden Saber in 9 mm 124 gr +P easily outperforms it's middleweight .40 cal counterpart. The Federal Tactical 165 gr was impressive though. I'd love to see how it performs in 9mm and .45.

My guess is that bullet design has caught up with the caliber wars and rendered it nearly obsolete. Even though the .40 has a edge at the lower end of JHP quality, there just isn't that much difference between top notch 9mm and .40 performance.

Of course, revolver fans could have argued that long ago since even the FBI load in a snubby can get very close to 12" penetration at .6" diameter.

JE223:

You know that there's no link to donate on the Donate page of your website? I manged to find the link on front page, but found that kind of odd.

 

[asknight]

Sign me up in the Federal HST camp!

 

[Sylvan-Forge]

Thanks again JE223!

 

[Brass Fetcher]

Thanks for that - I remember being in a pinch for time when I was making the the 'donate' page... maybe I will get to fix that up tonight!

I don't think that these results should be typical of all .40S&W guns ... remember that this was 3.5" long barrel. The ammo is probably optimum out of a 4.5" to SMG length barrel...

 

[Brass Fetcher]

Special thanks to:

mdao, for his monetary contribution to www.brassfetcher.com . This is how I pay for my gelatin powder and the ammunition used in the tests.

 

[the naked prophet]

Did anybody notice that most of those loads were downloaded significantly? Even the Wal-Mart special Remington UMC hollowpoints are faster than that. The 180 grain JHP I get at wal-mart goes at approximately 950 fps, although that is from my 3.5" barrel.

I wouldn't think the barrel length would make THAT much difference. Are they downloaded for shooting comfort?

 

[Deadmarsh]

That CorBon seemed to mimic the .357 Magnum perfectly. It certainly would be my choice of the group tested. Nice test


Dead

 

[Brass Fetcher]

I can tell you that they kicked plenty hard out of the G27... !

 

[1man]

Thank You JE223 for the test!
I've always wanted to see all these rounds tested together. I've completed my reliability test(200rds. per gun) with the HST for my HK USP compact. I still have my rounds to test it in my Sig P229. I need to run the test with my Glock 23 and 27(but that will be no time soon, not my primary carry guns).

 

[GCW5]

Thank's JE223 for the test. I'm carrying 165 gr SXT's in a 4" XD. My own testing with water in milk jugs lined up can only show so much.

 

[CZ223]

Great Test

But I gotta know why you didn't run another one of those corbons by the chronograph. Do it, do it, do it, Pleeeeease?

 

[Brass Fetcher]

That might happen next time I go to the range. Donate 1USD for the bullet, and we'll call it even.

 

[EBRDude]

People can say that the .40 is no better than XXX caliber, but I am pretty sure I don't want to be shot by any of them.
Any plans on doing the 357 SIG?

 

[daysleeprx]

How about testing "budget" HP ammo? Like the WWB JHPs, Remington UMC, Fiocci, etc. I think it'd be interesting to see what the differences between these and the higher end SD ammo are.