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kc17

Ammo brands and accuracy.

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I took my oldest brother on his first range trip today; his first time firing anything beyond a paintball gun. In addition to the goals of him shooting for the first time and shooting what will become his first gun once he gets his permit; I wanted to test the Blazer ammo I've been able to acquire in my handguns, I typically shoot Federal.

I ran some Blazer 115gr, Blazer 124gr and Federal AE 124gr. all FMJ RN. I seemed to be slightly more accurate with the Blazer, which I found surprising. I say seemed, because I was not being as scientific as I could/should have been. I did make sure I was at the same distance and tried to keep everything the same; but I did not paste the targets each time.

Not only was I not expecting a noticeable difference in accuracy, but even if I was, I'd think the Federal would be better. I know some guns prefer certain ammo as far as cycling or other malfunctions; and I'd read there can be significant accuracy differences with rifle ammo; but I was not expecting accuracy differences with handgun ammo at roughly 30-35 feet.

My next trip out, I'll have someone load the magazines and handgun so I do not know what ammo I'm shooting. I'll also past the targets each time so my point of aim is also the same each time.

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3 minutes ago, njJoniGuy said:

Personally, I like the "RollYourOwn" brand of ammo.

No one to blame but myself when every shot isn't an X:girl_devil:

That's my long term goal, I am a ways away from that though. I have much more factory ammo right now than primers. I'm in fair-good shape with powder & projectiles.

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Unless you are really, really good, you are going to find that most ammo is more accurate than you are.

I don't mean that as any kind of disparagement, just that variations in accuracy are more likely to be shooter induced than from the specific ammo being used.  

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54 minutes ago, Old Glock guy said:

I don't mean that as any kind of disparagement, just that variations in accuracy are more likely to be shooter induced than from the specific ammo being used.  

That was exactly what I was thinking. There are so many possible user variables, how could it be possible to really determine the difference with the ammo?

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3 hours ago, Old Glock guy said:

Unless you are really, really good, you are going to find that most ammo is more accurate than you are.

I don't mean that as any kind of disparagement, just that variations in accuracy are more likely to be shooter induced than from the specific ammo being used.  

That's what I'd always thought as well; and trust me I have zero delusions of being anywhere near that good. I'm more than willing to believe it was a coincidence or fluke, but not until I do some more testing. 

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It's been a while since I shot factory, but when I did, blazer was always quite consistent. And their bullets are decent. Which is basically all that matters. 

In general, even offhand, I find a difference in jacketed, plated, and coated. With accuracy increasing in that order more or less. 

Specifically, you will often find some guns like heavier or lighter bullets. Most of my 9s like 115, they all like fast 124 ammo though, so it is what I load. 

 

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I haven't ever been happy with federal accuracy, at least the American eagle and Champion lines. Even their 5.56 is 2-3 moa. Its literally just cheap reliable ammo.. I have plenty and don't shoot it.. the day I brought my first box of reloaded ammo to the range was the last day I brought a factory box with me.  Now I have cheap reliable ammo thats accurate, lol. 

Honestly, these are plinking type rounds, they are economical and for volume shooting. "Match" ammo is much more expensive if you want consistency.

 

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I did a small test today. From the start I will agree it was not the most scientific or accurate. I think it was still valid enough for my means and skills and for the most part satisfied my curiosity.

I evaluated five different cartridges. Federal Syntech 150gr Truncated Nose, American Eagle 147gr Round Nose, SIG Elite 147gr Round Nose, and two from Blazer, 115gr and 124gr, both Round Nose. With the exception of the Syntech all were FMJ. I shot 25 rounds of each, five rounds at a time. My wife loaded an inserted the magazines at random so I never saw which ammo I was shooting. She also removed and labeled the targets out my sight. Shots were from 25 feet, I did my best to stay as consistent as possible with grip, point of aim, speed, etc... Firearm used was my SIG P320X.

Looking at the data I focused on group size rather than point of impact or score of the target. I do have that of course, but if POA is consistent I think group size is more important. Out of the 25 magazines, I discarded the data from four due to not all five rounds hitting the paper. That happened twice with SIG and once each with Syntech and the 124gr Blazer. I see no pattern of group size based on magazine order; meaning I did not go small to large or large to small to large, etc...

Average group size smallest to largest: Syntech at 2.35"; AE at 3.67"; SIG at 3.87"; 124gr Blazer at 3.94" and the 115gr Blazer at 4.69". Tightest group went to the Syntech as well at 1.00", the worst went to the 115 Blazer again at 16". Syntech had three of the five best groups. Considering I had to discard data from one of the magazines of Syntech, that's still three of the four in the top five.

My gut tells me the three in the middle are close enough to be a statistical tie; but there is a legitimate and significant difference between the 150gr Syntech and the 115gr Blazer. Enough that I'll be setting the Syntech aside for competitions.

Once again, I know for the best results the gun should have been in a test rig and I probably should have run more magazines today. My plan was for double, but my wife was getting frustrated trying to stay organized so I took pity on her and ended early. I'm just thrilled I have a wife that not only supports, but also enjoys participating.

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