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Practically Shooting

Bought Some .40 Ammo Today


CamuMahubah

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Getting used to the Glock 23's recoil has taken a bit but I'm pretty much there. Had an almost "zen" like moment the other day at the range shooting up bowling pins! Got in a zone and it seemed like I was firing a laser. Knocked down five bowling pins at 25 yards with 6 shots. There was no recoil felt or observed during this booming!

LOL...I've only been firing 180gr hardball though from Remington, Fiocchi(very hot), and winchester. Maybe the Fiocchi was 170gr. It was really messy on my hands loading it. I liked the way it shot but my fingertips were covered in this greyness. Don't wanna get lead poisoning so I'll pass on that ammo next time. That or get some latex gloves.

Anyways I bought some HP's today. Maybe tomorrow I'll get to the range and see what the Glock likes. I need a SHTF ammo.

Here's what I bought and yall be sure and tell me what yall think of any of this ammo if you have experience with it.

Remington Golden Saber 180gr 20ct $20.79

Winchester Silvertips 155gr 50ct $25.99

Hornady XTP 180gr 20ct $15.99

Supposedly the Silvertips is what LE uses around here. That's what the guy said who sold it too me.

The Golden Sabers look awesome for an HP.

And since Hornady is made in Nebraskastan I figured I'd support the local boys!

Any good .40 HP's you guys have shot and like? Thanks for yalls time! t-up

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100 rds Remington UMC FMJ 180gr

100 rds Federal FMJ 180gr

50 rds Fiocchi FMJ 170gr

100 rds Federal American Eagle 165gr

That's what we've shot through the Glock 23 so far. So I've got 350 rds through the 23 and I have been using Ballistol to clean the barrel and lube the gun.

Two days ago I went out the range by myself and was walking out to the 200yd line to pick up some bowling pins and halfway there I spotted two pumpkins hanging out on top of one of the rifle targets!

As yall prolly know by now "Pumpkin Loitering" of any kind is not tolerated at the range.

So I shot 'em! My first pumpkin kill. I was about 50 yards out and said pumpkins took the bullets like nothing hit them. I was thinking I was missing until closer examination showed I scored quite a few hits. The back of the pumpkins were all blowed out but I'm not sure that was from the .40 as each pumpkin had been hit by a high-powered rifle previously.

Tomorrow were going out again and there are four pumpkins being detained in the living room as we speak awaiting a kangaroo court(they were caught "loitering" in the foyer) and a range sentencing!

Will be using the HP's this time. And won't be shooting from 50 yards this time.

What range should I shoot the HP's at said Pumpkins for max effect? I wanna shot the HP's at paper too, to kinda get an idea which brand and weight I feel most comfortable with in the Glock. I'll do that at about 7 yards.

Now the recoil of the .40 doesn't bother me at all anymore. It's nothing to sneeze at but I've changed up my grip and I feel more comfortable. I'm no longer squeezing the grip as hard as I can trying to keep the gun from moving. Now I'm using a firm grip but a bit more relaxed concentrating on aiming and recoil only seems a factor when firing repeated rounds one after the other. If I take my time and aim and do double taps the Glock shoots accurately. It is not a machine gun!

So should I expect more recoil from these HP's? I've heard the Hornady's are quite hot!

cheers2

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Best way to nail pumpkins with a handgun load (shotguns work the best IMO) is to drill 2 holes into Mr. Orange and fill him full of water then about 25-50 feet. Hit him with a nice JHP at the center of mass and much better "action" then without the water.

The fiber of pumpkins don't allow for as much poof as thin skinned items. Nothing beats a milk jug IMO for spat!

Take a 1 gallon milk jug and hit it with a .357mag 125gn JHP or .44mag 240gn JHP and vapor is the rule!

Take care, bill

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Shot up the pumpkins today! Fun!

It was so cold and windy one of us sat in the car loading magazines while the other was shooting. The Glock performed flawlessly.

100rds WWB 180gr FMJ

38rds Winchester Silvertip 155gr HP

8rds Hornady XTP 180gr HP

8rds Remington Golden Saber 180gr HP

So that's 503 rds total through the Glock. One less than 504 cause I kept one of the American Eagle FMJ last time out to compare to the Winchester FMJ and left it in the gun closet.

I'd say the Glock is broken in.

The FIL came out today and he says it has been 28 years since he fired a gun. Wow! He really amazed both myself and my BIL with his shooting prowess. The "old man" beat us both in rounds fired per bowling pins knocked over. And he destroyed the pumpkin at 25 yards in heavy gusts of wind and 11 degree weather. What a great shot! He blames it on having to be a good shot growing up poor on a farm. "Sometimes we got hungry and all we had was a .22" were his words when I asked him who taught him how to shoot. Hunger. He's the oldest of ten and I know his dad was a drunk so I can imagine having to put some meat in the pot while his "old man" was in town at the bar.

Ewww! Jackrabbit! Blah!

He liked the Glock so much I offered to let him have it right there on the spot. It'd give me an excuse to go buy that M&P. He politely turned down the offer. That ain't gonna stop me from getting that M&P though. Wow! I want one. Just like I wanted this Glock. I LIKE HANDGUNS!

I'll be watching the Cabela's flyers...

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MORE. Haha yah guys shoot more and buy more handguns. I'm glad there is no limit on guns one can own.

Decided to go out today and pick up any pieces of pumpkin that might not have gotten picked up. The club I belong too prides itself on a clean range and I follow that mission. I knew we'd picked up the pieces but I needed an excuse to get back out there because I needed to shoot the Golden Sabers and Silvertips again. Had to tell the wife something it being Thanksgiving and all...she understands!

The Silvertips have more recoil despite being a lighter bullet. 155gr versus 180gr for the Sabers. Both were accurate enough. And if you go to the Remington site and compare the .40 vs .45 Golden Sabers at 180gr and 185gr respectively the .40 almost perfectly mimics the .45 in velocity and energy in this loading. I like it and I think it is a good choice for a home defense round. The .40 snap seems mellowed out a bit and more controllable for repeat shots.

I still want to try the Hornady TAP ammo and that will be next...

So now the Glock has 521 flawless rounds through it... grin

Happy Thanksgiving Yall!

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Well that is contrary to what I have read and always heard. Though I know it has some ring of truth to it from my recent experience with the 155gr Silvertips vs the 180gr Golden Sabers.

Interesting tidbit. The Sabers have Nickel plated cases. Great for corrosion resistance in a loaded magazine that sees long term storage.

Neither of my magazines are loaded until I get to the range though.

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Heavier bullets have more recoil but the muzzle snap seems to be less than with lighter bullets. .45acp recoil (with much heavier bullets than .40, i.e. 230 gr) is described as a "push" rather than a "snap". Also a lighter bullet has more powder behind it. For example; if you were loading max loads with Power Pistol, a 155gr bullet would have 8.6gr powder, a 180gr bullet would have 7.3 gr powder, and a 200 gr bullet would have 6.0 gr powder. That's a 41% difference in powder.

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Yah a big difference between the .45 and .40 is the pressure curve. The .40 is loaded to higher SAAMI pressure and reaches max pressure almost instantly while the .45 is on the other end of the spectrum. This I learned from researching the net and do not pretend to be and expert.

More powder equals more recoil in the .40 for sure...

I'm gonna keep a box of Golden Sabers for the times I hope never happen. They have a reputation for being a easy recoiling load. They shoot fairly well in my Glock. That said I still have many more HP's to try out.

Fun! t-up

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  • 3 weeks later...

521

50 rounds of Federal Champion 180gr FMJ

40 rounds of Winchester WB 165gr FMJ

50 rounds of Independence 165gr FMJ

79 rounds of Remington UMC 180gr HP

219+521=740 rounds through the Glock.

Really like the Independence. Proved very accurate. The brass was headstamped Blazer. Maybe I'll have to give the Blazer Brass a go next.

Remington UMC HP's not so good. I don't know why but the stuff made the Glock FTE 5 times out of 79 rounds. The empty case would get caught by the slide during the return stroke or whatever it is called with another round going into battery at the same time. I guess some would call it a "stovepipe" when this occurs. The Glock just doesn't like it. It was kinda a letdown too because my Army Ranger buddy was out shooting with me and he is not a fan of Glocks. He is a 1911 aficionado and doesn't understand why I chose the G23 over a 1911. I thought I would let the gun speak for itself and handed him the gun and a magazine with 12 rounds of Remington UMC 180gr HP's...

You know I could go on all day about Glock reliability and design but when the gun "stovepipes" twice out of 12 rounds and the shooter is already biased against the Glock it just makes my points seem pointless.

And then it happened three times when I was shooting the stuff. I was worried something was wrong with my extractor or magazine until I brought out the Winchester and the Federal and the gun shot like a Glock again.

Maybe a bad box with a few weak rounds. I know it is Remington's cheap stuff but it wasn't a good showing for the Glock. To be fair I'm gonna buy another box of the stuff and see what happens. Maybe two or three boxes next time I buy ammo. I dislike trouncing any product until it fails so much that it is obvious.

And for the record I wasn't trying to bring my buddy to the Glockside nor did I have any pitchers of Kool-Aid on the table. It's just that the guy trash talks Glock or most any other pistol that ain't a 1911 and I thought I'd open up his eyes a bit. I'm not biased against the 1911 one bit, in fact my "dream pistol" would be an Ed Brown all day long, all year long! Simply wanted my bud to see there are other options out there. He's not dumb and after shooting the WWB I think he agreed with me that it was prolly weak ammo but I really dislike making excuses...

Now if only I could find that Independence stuff at the Federal Champion price...

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Went out again this morning for some more Glock work. Fired the remaining 21 rounds of the UMC and it stovepiped again! mad Ah well, it doesn't really bother me as it's just target ammo. Yup same thing that happened to Hickok and the same ammo albeit in .40 S&W. It's just cheap stuff and maybe my spring is still really tight I dunno...

Fired 50 of the Federal Champion 180gr FMJ and 60 rounds of WWB 165 gr with no problems. I made sure and lubed the gun a bit with Ballistol before I went out as I hadn't cleaned it since the last range trip. And it is 22 degrees out so don't know if that had anything to do with it.

740+60+50+21=871 rounds through the Glock. Would have been 871 flawless rounds had I not bought the UMC!

Remember how I was complaining about the recoil of the .40 when I first got the Glock? It doesn't even bother me anymore and I shot a bowling pin from 100 yards today. The bowling pin shattered into little tiny white pieces and wood. Musta been on it's last leg. Confirmed kill though and was really satisfying to hit something like that from 100 yards. I have to say my skills with the G23 have improved to the point that I feel like joining the GSSF and going to the Grand Island match next year. That should qualify me for the Civilian Marksmanship Program and then I can bid on an M1 Garand or .30 carbine. Not that I need one but the Garand is gorgeous in my book!

The G23 is a very satisfying handgun to own especially for a first time semi-auto owner. I still wish I had bought the G19 sometimes and yah I prolly shoulda bought that M&P40 as it's American made, but this Glock sure ain't the worst purchase I've ever made. Fun little gun and it shoots too! This gun is way more accurate than I am.

Hope y'all don't mind me keeping this thread going with a running tally of rounds fired through the Glock with my opinions on different ammo and my reflections on the gun.

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I really don't like shooting rifles that much. I do not know why. Glocks work well !!!It is the UMC ammo. I like expensive 1911 but you can buy 3 or more Glocks for the price of a nice 1911. And the Glocks are probably more reliable. But then I shot this guys 1911 race gun and it was magic. But then for what is cost magic should be expected.

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Hmmm...wonder which "mod" changed the titles of my posts in this thread? Explain yourself please. I did say please...

Ahem...now back to more important matters!

Fired 29 rounds of the Fiocchi 170gr FMJ yesterday and my previous opinion of this ammo is the same. Very accurate and loaded hot! I like the way it shoots but I cain't stand the way it smells! Almost like rotten eggs or something.

50 rounds of WWB 180gr FMJ down the pipe like clockwork. Winchester White Box is always a good buy in my book.

871+79=950 rounds through the Glock with no trouble except for the UMC causing about 7 FTE's outta 200 rounds. And I do not limp wrist.

Anyways didn't realize I was exactly at 950! We stopped shooting because it got too cold. I wonder if the fact that the Glock now has 950 rounds through it will hurt the selling price. Of course I'll be honest and even give the next owner a link to this if I do sell it. I might be stuck with it if I cain't get what I want outta this gun. Which ain't really a bad thing in my book. Nice gun! t-up

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SteveS I Prolly won't sell the Glock but there are other guns that I want...

Yah you are right I won't get much for it if I do sell it. The most value I can get out of the Glock is in a lock box by the nightstand!

It's just not the best range/plinking gun...

I have a gun in mind for that purpose...working overtime to get it! smile

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  • 2 weeks later...

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