First, let me get right this right out of the way. The red (burgundy/maroon) box Federal 9mm 115gr will not make minor power factor out of a standard full size S&W M&P9. My wife discovered this today after 10 out of 12 grueling rounds in the Area 4 Championship when she failed chronographing. She ended up making 124.5PF after I talked the RO into trying another 7 rounds from a different box and lot number. She was in the 122-123PF range before then as the velocities varied widely. What really irritated me off were the folks using the $10 box steel case Monarch 9mm from Academy and had absolutely no problems making 128-132PF from various pistols.
She has used WWB 115gr and Fiocchi 124gr successfully in previous matches and had used all of her stash up before this match. The Federal is what we could find in quantity locally that was reasonably priced. This match cost us a $150 entry fee, and we bought $200 of the Federal 9mm to shoot at the match. We ended up using a good chunk of it during those 10 stages including a bit of pre-match practice to ensure POA = POI with that ammo. So, we're talking a $350 embarrassment here.
My question is would Federal be interested in hearing from me regarding this case or would they tell me to get stuffed? I haven't had any problems with their American Eagle 9mm making minor (barely) in previous matches. I wonder if Federal will admit that this is indeed a low grade, downloaded product manufactured specifically to meet Wal-Marts price requirement?
My wife and I have neither a chronograph nor a Dillon 650 yet, but they're both on the short list and would alleviate this embarrassment in the future. I don't plan to ever waste another dollar on Federal plinking ammo if this is what is considered the norm with it. After all, the ammo failed to meet SAAMI specs of 1150fps for 115gr. To make sure this M&P didn't have an abnormal barrel, we also shot other match competitor's ammo through it and it made minor power factor just fine within 1 or 2 points of all of the other's guns that used the ammo.
What are your thoughts and ideas?
She has used WWB 115gr and Fiocchi 124gr successfully in previous matches and had used all of her stash up before this match. The Federal is what we could find in quantity locally that was reasonably priced. This match cost us a $150 entry fee, and we bought $200 of the Federal 9mm to shoot at the match. We ended up using a good chunk of it during those 10 stages including a bit of pre-match practice to ensure POA = POI with that ammo. So, we're talking a $350 embarrassment here.
My question is would Federal be interested in hearing from me regarding this case or would they tell me to get stuffed? I haven't had any problems with their American Eagle 9mm making minor (barely) in previous matches. I wonder if Federal will admit that this is indeed a low grade, downloaded product manufactured specifically to meet Wal-Marts price requirement?
My wife and I have neither a chronograph nor a Dillon 650 yet, but they're both on the short list and would alleviate this embarrassment in the future. I don't plan to ever waste another dollar on Federal plinking ammo if this is what is considered the norm with it. After all, the ammo failed to meet SAAMI specs of 1150fps for 115gr. To make sure this M&P didn't have an abnormal barrel, we also shot other match competitor's ammo through it and it made minor power factor just fine within 1 or 2 points of all of the other's guns that used the ammo.
What are your thoughts and ideas?
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