Newer "High-Performance" 9mm Ammo...

[Stephen A. Camp]

Hello. Over the last few months, I've been trying out some different 9mm ammunition in the Hi Power. One of these has been Corbon's 100-gr. PowRball. It is a +P load. The stuff's been consistent in performance when fired into water, "scientific" mud, and soaked newsprint. I have not yet shot any animals with it.

Those doing testing in 10% ballistic gelatin advise penetration right at 12" regardless of whether bare gelatin is hit or hit after passing through the dreaded 4-layers of denim test.

In water-soaked newsprint, it regularly went to about .62" in diameter. Shot to shot velocities have been consistent and average 1465 ft/sec. Accuracy has been surprisingly good. This ammunition in both 9mm and .38 Super has proven much more consistent than the first box or two I tried in .45 ACP. The forty-five PowRball was purchased right after it came out and ammo bought much more recently has been considerably more consistent so I THINK the load's been "fine tuned" to very acceptable levels.

This round should feed in about any Hi Power, humped feedramp or not.

It is +P so if you prefer not to shoot "hot" ammo in your Hi Power, I would opt for another load. On the other hand, this ammunition is not cheap and I personally cannot afford to shoot thousands of PowRball rounds.

I also tried some fast-N'-light Aguila IQ 65-gr hollow point ammunition. It doesn't cost nearly so much and is not marked +P anywhere on the cartridge or the box. I was surprised that it grouped quite acceptably. Recoil was noticeably less than with most 9mm rounds. It averaged just over 1500 ft/sec from the Hi Power and fed just fine. It is right on the edge of producing enough slide momentum to operate the Hi Power with an 18.5-lb recoil spring as I had a failure to eject; should work fine with the factory standard spring, 17-lbs. In every test I've tried involving soft targets, it has broken into three pieces not counting the base. It was designed to do this. Penetration in soaked newsprint is but 5." I'd be hesitant to use this for anything "serious," but think it would make a dandy pest or varmint load for critters in the raccoon to fox size.

This recovered IQ was fired into water from a Glock 26. Results are the same with the Hi Power. I don't trust this for defensive use.

I also tried some of Federal's "Personal Defense" Expanding FMJ ammunition. This is NOT the +P ammo initially brought out by Federal which weighed a bit more.

I'm not sure how this would feed from a humped feed ramp classic Hi Power, but it works fine in two Mk III pistols I tested it in. The stuff shot decent groups and expanded pretty consistently in various media. The bullet weighs 105-gr. It penetrated an about 6" in wet newsprint. I've not seen actual gelatin tests on this one. It reliably expanded to a bit over sixty-caliber. It is NOT +P. I tried it to see if any of this might be acceptable for folks not wanting to use +P. It is reported to penetrate from 10 to 12" in 10% ballistic gelatin.

I'm told that there's some controversy over whether or not the EFMJ "wounds" as effectively as regular JHP or PowRball due to the fact that when it strikes a target, the pre-stressed sides open and a hard, white silcone-like "bullet core" expands from between the slits. Some opine that its being softer and more rounded lessens its terminal effect. I've heard of but one shooting with the +P version. Supposedly, it worked just fine. The recovered bullet was reportedly in the neighborhood of sixty-caliber...a similar result seen in both water and soaked newsprint.

I'm doing quite a bit of "research" right now with LOTS of 9mm ammunition, some "old," and some "new." Thought ya'll might find this of interest.

Best.

 

[Lennyjoe]

Interesting.

I use Black Hills 124 Gr +P Gold Dot JHP ammo in my G19. Maybe you could give it a whirl?

 

[Stephen A. Camp]

Hello. I'll try, but have some equivalent loads with the same bullet that I might use if I cannot afford to buy more ammo.

Best.

 

[Mikul]

How far did the 9mm Pow-R-Ball penetrate into the telephone books?

 

[Stephen A. Camp]

Hello. It penetrated about 7" in the soaked newspapers.

Best.

 

[Bahadur]

Mr. Camp:

I was wondering what your thoughts were on how the non-plus P version of the EFMJ compared with the Federal classic 115 grain JHP (9BP) as self-defense cartridges.

 

[Brad Johnson]

Along with penetration, could you give us an idea of the wound cavity? A "self-defense" round with deep penetration but no wound cavity is no better than FMJ. There needs to be some corresponding tissue trauma along with penetration for me to warrant trusting my life to it.

I am more interested in the Aguila than anything else. Given the muzzle energy this round claims, 5" penetration should mean that all the energy has been expended in creating a massive wound cavity. A 5" deep, 5" wide hole in the Bad Guy's gut would definitely wreck his day.

Brad

 

[krept]

Thanks again for the great info...

 

[BHPshooter]

Thanks for that -- I'd been thinking a lot about that PowRBall ammunition. I just wish they made some that's not +P for practice.

Mr. Camp, when you decide to make you're own gun rag, I'll be your first lifetime subscriber.

Wes

 

[George Hill]

If you can find some Nyclads... thems the ticket for 9MM.

 

[Stephen A. Camp]

Hello.

George Hill: I have tested the Nyclads on living things, in water, and in the wet pack. They've worked fine for me. These can still be found. I'm told that they don't pass the dreaded 4-layers of denim test, but of the few I've recovered in years past from various animals, they expanded. This is one of my favs in standard pressure 9mm. I'd trust it today so long as it was fired from a service length barrel, ie: 4" or longer. It is pretty slow out of the shorter barrels in my experience..

Thefumegator: Thank you for your kind words. If you 've not been there, perhaps my site at www.hipowersand handguns.com might be of interest. It was updated yesterday again. Out to 15-yards or so from my Hi Powers, I find that about any 115 to 124-gr load and the PowRball hit pretty darned closed to the same POA. I fear from some stuff Mr. Pi of Corbon wrote that this bullet requires the +P velocities. As I understand it, the bullet is "hard" and designed to not only expand pretty massively, but to penetrate 12". It seems that this combination is required. Sad; I was thinking a similar load might be a peach for 9x18Mak, .380 ACP, and .38 Special snub fans. I was hoping it might be std pressure. Probably not, but who can really say? I have no inside information on that, just suposition.

Brad Johnson: The "permanent wound channels" in the wet pack were about an inch in diameter for the PowRball and about the same for the Aguila IQ, but only for like an inch or two. After that the little segments created smaller "wound channels." These did not travel very straight and acted differently for each of 5 shots. Not my first choice for protection, but in a frontal, unobstructed upper chest shot, I suspect one would ruin one's complete day....forever. I didn't include any permanent channel size as it is exaggerated quite a bit in wet pack compared to 10% ballistic gelatin as well as wound channels I've seen in animals....as well as autopsy reports from cases I was involved with or had access to before retirement.

Bahadur: I think that the 9BP and the std pressure EFMJ are probably both pretty lethal and effective if placed well, but that neither has "enough" to deck a determined aggressor with a less stellar shot or shots for physical reasons. I think this is true of any handgun caliber commonly used for self-protection. I do think that the EFMJ load is probably a more consistent expander if intermediate targets are hit or heavy clothing (like denim) is encountered, but that said, I have no problems using the 115-gr Federal JHP for protection. I do think that the +P loads are where the better 9mm "stopper" reside, but that does not mean that some standard pressure loads won't work well. I've seen the 9BP load do better than one might expect from paper ballistics, but have not seen anything shot with the newer EFMJ. I do understand that among the folks testing it in gelatin, there is some thought that the more rounded edges might not lend themselves to as significant of wounding as others. Me, I don't know on that point.

Thanks to all for the kind words.

I am working on project involving LOTS of ammunition that will be ready in the coming months. Right now, deer season's sort of interferring. Just got in tonight...which is why my response is slow.

Best.

 

[7.62FullMetalJacket]

Oops

Good work. Thanks. 9mm at 1500 fps. Wow.

 

[TN-popo]

Mr. Camp,
Let us know about any ammo needs for this upcoming project...always willing to contribute to a good cause!

 

[Greybeard]

Interesting. Interested.

Steve, hunter ed. classes keeping me hopping thru Thanksgiving, but if circumstances are such that you want to set up inside before or after, let me know. I've got a couple of Kahrs (K9 and PM9) if needed for short-barrel testing.

Lotsa family to be in town, but I'm hoping to get down to Market Hall show on 29'th or 30'th and pick up a little more PowRball and/or some of the EFMJ.

 

[Bahadur]

Bahadur: I think that the 9BP and the std pressure EFMJ are probably both pretty lethal and effective if placed well, but that neither has "enough" to deck a determined aggressor with a less stellar shot or shots for physical reasons. I think this is true of any handgun caliber commonly used for self-protection. I do think that the EFMJ load is probably a more consistent expander if intermediate targets are hit or heavy clothing (like denim) is encountered, but that said, I have no problems using the 115-gr Federal JHP for protection. I do think that the +P loads are where the better 9mm "stopper" reside, but that does not mean that some standard pressure loads won't work well. I've seen the 9BP load do better than one might expect from paper ballistics, but have not seen anything shot with the newer EFMJ. I do understand that among the folks testing it in gelatin, there is some thought that the more rounded edges might not lend themselves to as significant of wounding as others. Me, I don't know on that point.

My thanks to you for your detailed response.