Sellier & Bellot ammo. Good or Bad?

[epijunkie67]

I've been trying a few different kinds of ammo in my marlin lever .357. In addition to the typical wally world stuff I also tried out a box of S&B 158 grain soft points. It seems to function pretty well and I got to wondering about performance. I checked online and got the following comparisons.

These were all pistol numbers
Name.......................grain.........muz vel.............muz energy(ft/lb)
S&B soft point...........158...........1394.................683
Win superX SP...........158...........1235.................535
Win supreme partition..180...........1180.................557
Remington express.sp...158...........1235.................535
Remington express..hp..180...........1145.................524

The S&B looks pretty good, BUT the test barrel is 7.5" as opposed to 4" for Winchester and Remington. It also can't tell me about terminal performance. It also doesn't tell me about numbers and performance out of my rifle length barrel.

Anybody here ever chrono S&B ammo? Anyone us it for more than paper punching? Thoughts on real world performance?

 

[Snowdog]

If you do a search here, you'll find the consensus believes S&B ammunition to be excellent stuff. Personally, I put it in the same catagory as Winchester, Remington and Federal. Around 90% of the ammunition I've put through my Kimber Custom Classic has been 230gr S&B FMJ and I couldn't be happier.

 

[Z_Infidel]

S&B 158 gr SP ammo is what I use exclusively in my 1894C. It has proven to be reliable, accurate, and deadly on woodchucks.

 

[mtnbkr]

My experience with S&B (32acp and 6.5x55) has been positive.

Chris

 

[goon]

The S&B .357 I shot was pretty hot. I bought it by mistake and ended up giving it to a friend. We then wound up shooting it from his SP-101. It had more thump and roar than anything else we shot that day.
As far as quality I have had 1 misfire from S&B ammo in the about 2000 rounds of it that I have shot. I have shot more of it than anything else (other than handloads) and I consider it as good as most any US brand. The only thing I have discovered is that the brass is kind of rough for reloading (at least the 9mm). It didn't like my primers.

 

[heypete]

I too have had positive experiences with S&B. It's loaded a bit hot, and has snappy recoil in 9mm.

I'm trying to burn off the last thousand rounds of it I have, just so I can switch to Miwall ammo exclusively. It's less expensive, and I've found it's just as good. That said, I wouldn't hesitate to buy S&B in the future.

 

[jem375]

I shot some in my Mak and had 2 stovepipes in 50 rounds and won't buy anymore...

 

[MoeMentum]

I like S&B ammo. I use it often.

 

[yesterdaysyouth]

s&b is good stuff, but there is no doubt it's hotter than the domestic stuff...

 

[Commissar Gribb]

S&B stuff is a great alternative to WOLF ammo for people on fixed budgets. Still cheaper than white box ammo and very clean/High quality.

I dont shoot Wolf in my AR15s anymore but S&B still makes good plinking ammo.

 

[MilsurpShooter]

My Yugo M48 loves the 8mm stuff, shoots great with it, however my wallet doesn't care for it as much as the gun, $12.00 give or take a dollar for 20 rounds is a bit high lol

 

[Chipperman]

I've fired lots of S&B in various calibers. Overall I'm very happy with it.

The only potential downside I've seen is that the .223 seems variable in "hotness" sometimes. When shooting at night, I could see that some rounds threw a lot more flash than others. No big difference in accuracy noted (but I'm usually not precision shooting).

I have not noticed this in other calibers. I don't know if this was a "funny" ammo lot, but I've spoken with a couple other shooters that noticed the same thing.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

I've had only good results with it in 9mm, .45 ACP, 7.62x25, .303, and 8mm. I've read that the primer pockets (at least in .303) are a bit shallow, which can cause problems with reloading, but other than that, no issues.