Tomac
Member
I just got back from the range after some informal and highly unscientific testing of the SilverBear 115gr 9x18 JHP for the Makarov.
Recoil is definitely stouter as expected but not really abusive (wouldn't want to shoot 100's of rds in one day, though). I fired 100rds total.
Accuracy doesn't seem to be as good as the Barnaul I usually shoot but that could be me.
I set up 4 1-gallon water jugs in a row and fired a single rd from 10' which was recovered in the 4th jug. It *almost* penetrated the 4th jug, actually making a slight perforation on the far side of the 4th jug. If memory serves then you divide penetration in water by 1.8 to get the appx penetration in geletin. So, penetrating 4x6" water jugs (24" total) should equal appx 13" penetration in geletin. Not bad.
Recovered the slug (see pic) and OAL is identical to an unfired slug I pulled for comparison (.52". unfired slug looks slight deformed from the pliers used in the pulling process). Expansion was lopsided, with about 1/3 not expanding at all (w/o multiple tests this is statistically insignificant). Petals are jagged & intact on all expanded sides and depth of the HP is still the same (.28", over half the length of the bullet). Expanded width at the widest point is .52" (it would be greater if the bullet had expanded evenly, I'll have to try the water jug test again). Weight feels about the same as the unfired bullet but I don't have a scale to precisely measure possible core loss.
Reliability: I used all 3 of my Maks (2 Bulgy's & the .62 EG, all w/21# recoil springs) and numerous Bulgy mags. The first full mag through all 3 functioned perfectly. I noticed that while they would feed the first rd when using the slide release, they would rarely feed the first rd if I just racked or released the slide by hand. In 100rds fired I experienced 3 FTF's (always from the 2nd rd in the mag, regardless of mag used) and a single anomaly I suspect is a QC problem: I loaded a rd in a mag but couldn't load a 2nd rd in the mag because the first was somehow stuck in the mag body. Several tries with this single rd in several mags had the same result so it was definitely the bullet. I loaded the bullet into the chamber by hand and it fired/ejected normally (although the bullet immediately after was one of the 3 FTF's, that might or might not be related to this particular bullet).
Conclusion: The SB 115gr 9x18 JHP is definitely a hot rd with acceptable accuracy for my needs. Penetration appears to be better than most other 9x18 JHP's with the added bonus of possible expansion & greater tissue damage.
However, I'm concerned about reliability. I'll polish the ramps on my Maks to see if that helps. If I can get this rd to be 100% reliable then it will become my carry ammo of choice until something better comes out.
Tomac
Recoil is definitely stouter as expected but not really abusive (wouldn't want to shoot 100's of rds in one day, though). I fired 100rds total.
Accuracy doesn't seem to be as good as the Barnaul I usually shoot but that could be me.
I set up 4 1-gallon water jugs in a row and fired a single rd from 10' which was recovered in the 4th jug. It *almost* penetrated the 4th jug, actually making a slight perforation on the far side of the 4th jug. If memory serves then you divide penetration in water by 1.8 to get the appx penetration in geletin. So, penetrating 4x6" water jugs (24" total) should equal appx 13" penetration in geletin. Not bad.
Recovered the slug (see pic) and OAL is identical to an unfired slug I pulled for comparison (.52". unfired slug looks slight deformed from the pliers used in the pulling process). Expansion was lopsided, with about 1/3 not expanding at all (w/o multiple tests this is statistically insignificant). Petals are jagged & intact on all expanded sides and depth of the HP is still the same (.28", over half the length of the bullet). Expanded width at the widest point is .52" (it would be greater if the bullet had expanded evenly, I'll have to try the water jug test again). Weight feels about the same as the unfired bullet but I don't have a scale to precisely measure possible core loss.
Reliability: I used all 3 of my Maks (2 Bulgy's & the .62 EG, all w/21# recoil springs) and numerous Bulgy mags. The first full mag through all 3 functioned perfectly. I noticed that while they would feed the first rd when using the slide release, they would rarely feed the first rd if I just racked or released the slide by hand. In 100rds fired I experienced 3 FTF's (always from the 2nd rd in the mag, regardless of mag used) and a single anomaly I suspect is a QC problem: I loaded a rd in a mag but couldn't load a 2nd rd in the mag because the first was somehow stuck in the mag body. Several tries with this single rd in several mags had the same result so it was definitely the bullet. I loaded the bullet into the chamber by hand and it fired/ejected normally (although the bullet immediately after was one of the 3 FTF's, that might or might not be related to this particular bullet).
Conclusion: The SB 115gr 9x18 JHP is definitely a hot rd with acceptable accuracy for my needs. Penetration appears to be better than most other 9x18 JHP's with the added bonus of possible expansion & greater tissue damage.
However, I'm concerned about reliability. I'll polish the ramps on my Maks to see if that helps. If I can get this rd to be 100% reliable then it will become my carry ammo of choice until something better comes out.
Tomac
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