125 PF Off the Shelf Ammo

[Flea]

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this post. Anyway, do you have a recommendations for 125PF ammo that reliably passes chrono in a G34? I'm a novice to all this and don't know if one needs to err on the high side and get a PF a fair bit above the minor floor. I shot Federal Syntech 150g 9mm and it chronoed at 145. Federal and Precision Delta are in the 135 range, at least what it says on the box or website.

 

Thanks

[RePete]

The only way to find out is to chrono ammo out of your gun.  What works in mine may/will not work in yours.

 

When I run factory, it's CCI Blazer Brass 124gr, Federal American Eagle 124 and 147 out of my gun.

 

Don't play the game at or close to 125pf it will bite you, I run 137pf never been bitten.

 

I was doing chrono at a major IDPA match and a gentleman, from  Idaho,  passed chrono on the last shot, his pf was 125001.  I sought him out to let him know and said use a bigger shovel for the powder.  A year later at a State match that I was working, he saw me and thanked  me.

[RJH]

What you're going to run into is that most ammo is going to be Chronoed out of a 4-in barrel. You're five plus inch barrel is going to give you higher velocities. If you want to hit that sweet spot of about 130 power factor you're going to need to reload.

 

My carryops rig has a 5+ inch barrel as well, and factory ammo that I have chrono'd all ends up being 140 plus power factor. There's a huge difference in feel between 141 and my 131 power factor reloads. Good luck

[Flea]

I was afraid you guys would say what you said. Is there reasons why no factory ammo guys produces 132ish PF out of 5" barrel?

[RJH]

3 minutes ago, Flea said:

I was afraid you guys would say what you said. Is there reasons why no factory ammo guys produces 132ish PF out of 5" barrel?

I would guess it would be so that the ammo would work in all guns. Sometimes you start getting the power factor low and you might have to change the spring rate for reliability, but ammo manufacturers want their ammo to work in the most guns possible

[ddc]

20 minutes ago, RJH said:

I would guess it would be so that the ammo would work in all guns. Sometimes you start getting the power factor low and you might have to change the spring rate for reliability, but ammo manufacturers want their ammo to work in the most guns possible

 

I agree. Also if they are going to have ammo which is "USPSA certified" then it would have to reliably pass chrono in any reasonable gun used for USPSA competition.

That gun could very possibly have a 4" barrel or even shorter.

[Darqusoull13]

48 minutes ago, Flea said:

I was afraid you guys would say what you said. Is there reasons why no factory ammo guys produces 132ish PF out of 5" barrel?

Order the Federal Syntech 150 grain loads. It's going to be as close as you can get to your goal of softest possible recoil and it's certified so you're good at chrono. Bonus, it runs clean and cool. 

[Flea]

4 minutes ago, Darqusoull13 said:

Order the Federal Syntech 150 grain loads. It's going to be as close as you can get to your goal of softest possible recoil and it's certified so you're good at chrono. Bonus, it runs clean and cool. 

That's what I used and it chronoed at 145.

[Darqusoull13]

Just now, Flea said:

That's what I used and it chronoed at 145.

Then you passed chrono. You've got a fast barrel. Awesome! Poppers will go down more often. 

In my Shadow 2 I achieved 137 PF with the 150's. In a couple different PCC's with 10" - 14" ish barrels I'm between 140-145. None of that matters other than all of those PF's are greater than 125. 

Guys waste years of their lives trying to get 125 PF with this and that reload when really all that time could be spent dry firing, live fire practicing and improving. If the rabbit hole is where you find happiness that's awesome. Go down and chase it. If you want reliable ammo that meets PF, there's plenty of great options. Go shoot  

[Flea]

3 minutes ago, Darqusoull13 said:

Then you passed chrono. You've got a fast barrel. Awesome! Poppers will go down more often. 

In my Shadow 2 I achieved 137 PF with the 150's. In a couple different PCC's with 10" - 14" ish barrels I'm between 140-145. None of that matters other than all of those PF's are greater than 125. 

Guys waste years of their lives trying to get 125 PF with this and that reload when really all that time could be spent dry firing, live fire practicing and improving. If the rabbit hole is where you find happiness that's awesome. Go down and chase it. If you want reliable ammo that meets PF, there's plenty of great options. Go shoot  

Can't disagree with that thinking.

[RJH]

11 minutes ago, Flea said:

Can't disagree with that thinking.

 

I'm going to counter that thinking with what I would consider more correct thinking LOL, then you decide what you want to do.

 

Buy a press and learn to reload, now your ammo cost half as much as it does today. And that's even figuring elevated component prices, because you're paying them anyway. Now, you don't have to do any crazy amount of tuning, just buy some tight group powder or something along those lines and get the power factor down to about 130. Now you're going to deal with less recoil and you're still going to knock steel over just fine. Also while it will take a little while to pay for the press, in the end you'll be making your ammo at about half price so you can practice twice as much.

 

There's no good reason to shoot 145 power factor ammo in a minor division. If I'm shooting limited I shoot 170, yep that makes minor but there's no way in hell I'm shooting 170 in the division that I'm going to be scored minor in anyway. I'm also not going to shoot 145 anymore than I have to, because 130 is way more better. I do think people can get carried away with trying to find the world's flattest 125 and a half power factor load, but dropping power factor to some degree is definitely worth it in my opinion.  good luck

[Flea]

3 minutes ago, RJH said:

 

I'm going to counter that thinking with what I would consider more correct thinking LOL, then you decide what you want to do.

 

Buy a press and learn to reload, now your ammo cost half as much as it does today. And that's even figuring elevated component prices, because you're paying them anyway. Now, you don't have to do any crazy amount of tuning, just buy some tight group powder or something along those lines and get the power factor down to about 130. Now you're going to deal with less recoil and you're still going to knock steel over just fine. Also while it will take a little while to pay for the press, in the end you'll be making your ammo at about half price so you can practice twice as much.

 

There's no good reason to shoot 145 power factor ammo in a minor division. If I'm shooting limited I shoot 170, yep that makes minor but there's no way in hell I'm shooting 170 in the division that I'm going to be scored minor in anyway. I'm also not going to shoot 145 anymore than I have to, because 130 is way more better. I do think people can get carried away with trying to find the world's flattest 125 and a half power factor load, but dropping power factor to some degree is definitely worth it in my opinion.  good luck

Can't disagree with this thinking either....other than the fact I won't be reloading anytime soon or possibly ever.

[racerba]

10 minutes ago, RJH said:

 

I'm going to counter that thinking with what I would consider more correct thinking LOL, then you decide what you want to do.

 

Buy a press and learn to reload, now your ammo cost half as much as it does today. And that's even figuring elevated component prices, because you're paying them anyway. Now, you don't have to do any crazy amount of tuning, just buy some tight group powder or something along those lines and get the power factor down to about 130.

the factor is not just the price but availability of primers...they are starting to become more available, but not always readily available.  BTW - prices are also crazy elevated...

 

[Boomstick303]

You can buy specific PF ammo from boutique ammo makers, but it will be hard to find Lower PF from main stream manufactured ammo sources, with the exception of maybe Federal Syntech ammo which is designed for competition uses.  I have not checked the PF for the various bullets weights in the Syntech line so it might be worth looking into the PF of other bullet weights, but I imagine you will not get ammo down to 125 PF.  

 

Places like Atlanta Arms Ammo, ELEY, and other small outfits. This ammo will typically bottom out at 130 PF, so there is a little fudge factor to ensure the ammo passes Chrono in various conditions.  The problem with this ammo is it is rather expensive and its not always in stock.  

 

Of course you need to Chrono the ammo out of your gun to make sure you are making the PF you want.  The info on the box is most likely not based on the gun you are shooting.  

 

I would strongly recommend you do not shoot for 125 and shoot for 130 PF for the reasons stated above.  

[Flea]

36 minutes ago, Boomstick303 said:

You can buy specific PF ammo from boutique ammo makers, but it will be hard to find Lower PF from main stream manufactured ammo sources, with the exception of maybe Federal Syntech ammo which is designed for competition uses.  I have not checked the PF for the various bullets weights in the Syntech line so it might be worth looking into the PF of other bullet weights, but I imagine you will not get ammo down to 125 PF.  

 

Places like Atlanta Arms Ammo, ELEY, and other small outfits. This ammo will typically bottom out at 130 PF, so there is a little fudge factor to ensure the ammo passes Chrono in various conditions.  The problem with this ammo is it is rather expensive and its not always in stock.  

 

Of course you need to Chrono the ammo out of your gun to make sure you are making the PF you want.  The info on the box is most likely not based on the gun you are shooting.  

 

I would strongly recommend you do not shoot for 125 and shoot for 130 PF for the reasons stated above.  

Sage advice for sure. I have shot some Precision Delta and Eley and they both would probably chrono at 140 or above out of my G34.

[RJH]

2 hours ago, racerba said:

the factor is not just the price but availability of primers...they are starting to become more available, but not always readily available.  BTW - prices are also crazy elevated...

 

 

Trust me I know. That's the main reason I know what factory 9 millimeter shoots out of my gun. That's some of the first factory ammo I bought in years. Hell, I bought a 9 mm just because I couldn't get small primers for my limited gun. Right now I'm shooting mostly single stack cause I have more large pistol primers than anything else. But they are findable if you look hard enough, but I'm just shooting other stuff right now for the most part

[Cuz]

7 hours ago, Flea said:

Can't disagree with this thinking either....other than the fact I won't be reloading anytime soon or possibly ever.

What Generation is your G34?  My reloads chrono between 127-135 depending on which Glock I shoot them out of. My Gen5 G17 & 34 are the slowest and my Gen3 34 is the fastest. Maybe buying another gun is your answer if you never plan to reload. 

[fcernese]

These are softer then Federal Syntech 150's and make 131 pf out of Glock 17 -

 

https://atlantaarms.com/products/select-9mm-124gr-fmj.html

 

[Johnny_Chimpo]

I can hardly tell the difference between 130 and 140 PF, but then I grip the s#!t out of the gun as high as I can.

Edited May 25, 2022 by Johnny_Chimpo

[Flea]

2 hours ago, Cuz said:

What Generation is your G34?  My reloads chrono between 127-135 depending on which Glock I shoot them out of. My Gen5 G17 & 34 are the slowest and my Gen3 34 is the fastest. Maybe buying another gun is your answer if you never plan to reload. 

Gen 5. Stock barrel.

[AzDanMan]

Black Dot Ammunition if I remember correctly from before I started reloading they load their ammo at 130 PF for 9mm. Maybe give them a try.

[HOGRIDER]

While I have used and chrono'd the 150g Syntech in 2 different competition pistols; and have noticed slight fps variations from different lot numbers, I have never found a round that chrono'd at a 966+ velocity when the "published" velocity is 890fps for a 133.5PF.

 

https://www.federalpremium.com/handgun/syntech/syntech-action-pistol/11-AE9SJAP1.html

 

If yours is chrono'ing that high I would definitely contact Federal for discussion!  Especially being shot from a quality Gen5 barrel!

 

And, IIRC, the 150 Syntech is USPSA certified and will not encounter chrono'ing at any match. Under Member Resources at USPSA.org:

 

https://uspsa.org/ammunition

 

 

 

Edited May 25, 2022 by HOGRIDER

[HOGRIDER]

BTW:

 

If you happened to be shooting the Federal American Eagle 147, then by all means you would be in the 145+ PF range.........

 

https://www.federalpremium.com/handgun/american-eagle/american-eagle-handgun/11-AE9FP.html

 

Just in case.......

 

[GMM50]

Bang and Clang LLC has 115g 9MM  at 115pf (steel challenge) and 160g 9MM at 144pf.  Both from a 5 inch barrel.

Edited June 6, 2022 by GMM50

[Old3GNR]

i bought a 1000 round box of Remington 115 gr which made 127 in my HK VP9.