Range Report: Tanfoglio/Doubletap (chrono data inside)

[WheelMan]

I received some ammo from Mike over at doubletap yesterday and got out to the range this afternoon to try it out.


First a bit about the gun. It's a Wonderfinish witness compact in 10mm with a 3.66 inch barrel. The only modification is a Wolff 22lb recoil spring and extra power firing pin spring.

I tested four loads and they came out like this

1. 220 grain LFP 1052 fps 540 ft/lbm
2. 180 grain Gold Dot 1208fps 583 ft/lbm
3. 155 grain Gold Dot 1299fps 580ft/lbm
4. 135 grain Nosler HP 1421fps 605ft/lbm
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   The velocity figures are the average of a five shot string which really isn't enough for good numbers but I wanted to save most of the ammo for other tests.
   
   There were no failures of any kind and ejection was vigorous even with the heavier spring. Recoil was on the order of a stoutish .357 mag out of a 4 inch ruger (although it's been awhile since I had one of those, it was considerably less than my .44 and considerably more than my .40)
   
   My recorded values are between 77-87% of doubletaps published values with a 4.6 inch G20 barrel. That's about what I expected. Also, the heavier the bullet the less velocity it lost compared to the longer barrel. This was also expected.
   
   Two caveats. It was cold today, in the high 20's so that probably depressed the velocities a bit. Also I got a higher extreme spread on the 155 grain and 135 grain then I did on the other two. The wind was picking up a little and I think it might have been swaying my chrono a bit. So those two numbers probably aren't as accurate as the first two.
   
   Overall I'm impressed with this ammo and this gun. Obviously there's more testing to do but If I had to pick one of those loads right now for self defense use from this weapon I think I'd go with the 180 grain gold dot.

 

[000Buck]

Excellent. I always appreciate chrono results, especially for 10mm. That DT sounds like some good stuff!

 

[agtman]

Thanks for your report.

On GT's 10Ring a while back, there was a thread discussing the velocity-loss issue involving the "short" barrelled 10mms. The 3.78" G29 was mentioned as was the Witness Compact model. There were some interesting comments on the ballistic merits of a sub-4" 10mm pistol.

A few posters had used chronographs, and while their testing wasn't real extensive, the general consensus seemed to be that less velocity was lost from short tubes when firing heavier bullets (180gns, 200gns) - especially the heavy and fast loads.

The light-n-fast 10mm ammo (using bullets of 135gns, 150gns & 155gns) showed significant fps drop-offs, as I recall. I don't believe the "middle-weight" 10mm loads were tested (165gn, 170gns, 175gns).

 

[MCNETT]

Good report! This is the first report that I've seen with the Witness Compact.
-Mike

 

[jem375]

As soon as it warms up a little, will try some of the DT ammo also in my Witness 10MM compact, and will use the stock recoil spring and see what happens.......