Ammo Comparisons

The folks at Ammo to go sent me an e-mail with links to their ammo testing results. The available data includes gel penetration, bullet weight, price/round, Average MV for the test quantity, and other technical information. Some people care a great deal more than others about the quality of the doom they throw about so here's the place to start.

I was impressed by the variety of results with MV's ranging from the mid 900's to the low 1200's and gel penetration ranging from 12 to 24". One would think that 12" would suffice for most threats and that one also featured sub-fragmentation that made the wound cavity look like an H.E. round had gone off in it. If you expect to face acid spitting near unkillable aliens, this may be the stuff for you despite the $2.50/rnd price tag.

I shoot cardboard targets along with the occasional steel popper or plate with arthritic hands so I look for something with a middling weight and modest velocity. I also use the ammo in a pistol caliber carbine at greater ranges than the pistol so getting a velocity boost from the carbine is a plus. Alas, that latter bit of info is not usually extracted. The last batch of ammo I tested was a "training and defense" setup that featured some very fast powder as witness the minimal difference in MV between the pistol and the rifle of 100-150 fps as I remember. That stuff would likely work very well in compact guns with the fast burn time offsetting the minimal time the bullet spends in the barrel. Some of my hand loads have shown as much as 300 fps velocity improvement. Blazer ammo w/180gr bullet is rated to 1000 fps from some mythological test pistol, and delivers 1400 fps from my carbine. Nice jump. Impressive muzzle flash from the pistol too, I bet.

Anyway, here's some links to their test results which feature sub-links to more detailed information, including pricing:

You can see our results for each caliber at the following pages:

9mm: https://www.ammunitiontogo.com/index.php/cName/pistol-ammo-9mm#gel-test

45 ACP: https://www.ammunitiontogo.com/index.php/cName/pistol-ammo-45-acp#gel-test

40 S&W: https://www.ammunitiontogo.com/index.php/cName/pistol-ammo-40-sw#gel-test

380 ACP: https://www.ammunitiontogo.com/index.php/cName/pistol-ammo-380-auto#gel-test

Hitting any of these links makes available links to several other calibers with most of the popular ones shown. LOTS of information here if you want to compare Blasto DRT defensive ammo to Everyday Range Fodder.