Corbon Ammo for SD

[BTR11584]

For years and years I have always liked and heard great things about Corbon. I was just wondering if they are better than the "big 3" for a SD round. I notice most LE agencies do not issued them, and they seem to be made from reloaded cases. I like the performance though, is this a quality brand for SD use?

 

[rcmodel]

Sure, but a little overkill price wise to practice with IMO.
And you should always practice with what you carry.

If you can put Walmart SD ammo where it needs to be put on target, dead is dead.

Sometimes less recoil, muzzle blast, and affordability is a very good thing, as Martha Stewart would say.

 

[creeper1956]

Years... decades ago, effective, mass produced defensive ammunition was, not so good to nonexistent. Certain popular LE cartridges, the .38 super, 357 mag and .45ACP worked pretty well in most configurations, and weren't begging to be "improved". For a number of reasons, 9mm and .38 Spcl on the other hand were found to be lacking.

Early defensive specialty ammo makers like Super Vel and Corbon made custom ammo with high quality bullets pushed to higher than, at the time, normal velocities. As "high tide raises all boats"... everything from .22 and .25ACP to .44 mag benefited from this ammunition "Renaissance". Credit to these early makers... without them to lead the charge, the larger makers may not have felt the pressure to get in the game.

These days, practically every ammo maker makes very good to excellent self-defense ammo, and the Corbon choice is no longer head and shoulders above the rest.

 

[smalls]

Sure, but a little overkill price wise to practice with IMO.

This. And the fact that my local sporting goods stores don't carry it, and my LGS's aren't around the corner from me like 5 sporting goods stores are.

It's good stuff, but no more magical than anything else on the shelves.

 

[Hit_Factor]

and they seem to be made from reloaded cases

I have not experienced reloaded cases. What brought you to this conclusion?

All of my carry ammo is Corbon. Most of my practice is not. There is no way i could afford that as much as i shoot.

 

[Skribs]

1) Does it cycle reliably in YOUR firearm?
2) Does it penetrate enough?

If yes and yes, it works.

 

[SHR970]

I still have some early 90's 9mm 115 gr. +P+ loaded with Sierra Bullets and AA#7 powder. Their claim of 1350 fps was not hype; this stuff honestly clocked around that speed in multiple platforms.

When 147 gr. HP bullets from the usual sources were failing to expand and still giving the 9mm a bad name, I carried this ammo in my duty gun and bet my life on it and for good reason.

As said previously, modern ammo has made it to what this stuff was....but there is still a fair amount of hype in some of the lines. I mean this in the context of pistol ammo more than revolver ammo. Revolvers have enjoyed certain advantages in HP ammo that pistols have not. I still bet my life at home on Federal 357B 125 gr. HP above all else in hand gun ammo. Hasn't changed in a generation and doesn't need to..muzzle flash aside.

 

[creeper1956]

I still have some early 90's 9mm 115 gr. +P+ loaded with Sierra Bullets and AA#7 powder.

He he he... I still have enough 20-30 year old .9mm, 38 Super and .45ACP stashed away that I'll never have to by "defensive/tactical" ammo again.

Come to think of it, I really need to build a new .38 Super.

 

[Steve C]

Super Vel was the first custom ammunition producer founded in the 60's to produce jacketed hollow point pistol ammunition. They went out of business in the mid 70's.

Corbon was founded in the early 80's and produce custom self defense ammo along with specialty wildcat ammo. Corbon produced ammunition for police departments but as the major companies got more involved in developing ammunition specific for the same customers its hard for them to gain market share. Like the newcomer on this market, Buffalo Bore, they purchased their bullets and brass from other manufacturers. Corbon didn't produce "reloads" but they used to use Sierra Bullets and Remington Brass.

Corbon produces good self defense ammo but as to if its better than others on the market or simply the same is not so clear any more.

 

[Lawdawg45]

For years and years I have always liked and heard great things about Corbon. I was just wondering if they are better than the "big 3" for a SD round. I notice most LE agencies do not issued them, and they seem to be made from reloaded cases. I like the performance though, is this a quality brand for SD use?

Your observation is correct, but they also don't issue Hornaday, Buffalo Bore or Speer in mass quantities, simply because of the cost. A department with 1000+ Officers, each carrying a duty, BUG, and/or off duty weapon will typically use tens of thousands of rounds each year, and a difference of .50 cents per round makes a huge difference in a departmental budget. The duty round here in Indianapolis is the Federal JHP, a good round but not my first choice.

Now to answer your question. I've used Corbon as a hunting round for years and have found them to be top in quality and performance.

LD

 

[19-3Ben]

but they also don't issue Hornaday, Buffalo Bore or Speer in mass quantities

I'll grant you that on BB and Hornady, but it's my understanding that the Speer Gold Dot is one of the more commonly issued rounds.

The duty round here in Indianapolis is the Federal JHP, a good round but not my first choice.

That statement doesn't really help without knowing WHICH Federal JHP. If it's the old 9BPLE load, Hi-Shock or the Hyrda-shock then yeah, those are outdated and outclassed by modern ammo. (though certainly not any less effective than they were when they first came out. Still good stuff.)
But if it's the HST round, which has gained acceptance in the LE community, that's a different story. The HST is considered among the best and most reliably expanding rounds currently produced (along with the Gold Dot, Winchester Ranger, and several others).

Back to the OP, I'll second everyone else. Corbon makes good stuff, but so do many other makers these days. I can't agree on buying cheapo defensive ammo at Wal-Mart, but will say that when LE surplus Speer Gold dot is avialable in 50 round boxes for $25-30, it's tough to justify a 20 round box of something from Hornady at $25.

 

[BlindJustice]

It depends on which line of ammo you get from Cor Bon

The conventional JHPs +P - bullets are sourced from
Sierra, and I shot them with other jhps from the Big 3 and
found the Big 3 JHPs expanded as you assume - the Cor Bons
expoded into almost wire like and far less penetration

However, the DPX lline uses the Barnes XPB solid copper wide
and deep HP that expand retain weight and many other manufacturers
like Double Tap offer similar loads.

Then there's the Glazer Teflon filled jell exotic stuff never shot
them but if you want penetration go DPX

Randall

 

[BTR11584]

Thanks for the tips. I must also admit I was mistaken, I do not reload so I assumed the outsourced brass was reloads. I shoot mostly 38 and 9, and I like Corbons velocity. Seems besides BB and Hornady the big three seem to load on the light side when it comes to "+p" loads.

 

[Lawdawg45]

Thanks for the tips. I must also admit I was mistaken, I do not reload so I assumed the outsourced brass was reloads. I shoot mostly 38 and 9, and I like Corbons velocity. Seems besides BB and Hornady the big three seem to load on the light side when it comes to "+p" loads.

Everything Hornaday sells is light and under powered, but you're way off with Buffalo Bore. Their ammo comes with a long list of guns that can't handle their ammo.........well, actually it's a very short list of weapons that can! Their .45 colt in +P is almost 2X the velocity of the Hornaday Leverevolution round.

LD