Some Comments & Questions on Ammo, Chapter 2

jim haycraft · 09-04-2002, 03:52 PM

My original contribution on the subject generated far more responses than I (or perhaps, anyone else) expected). All were interesting and the discussion eventually evolved into a lively discourse on reliability - Luger vs Colt's 1911 .45, among other things. My problems, presented at length, involved a failure rate of about 17%, comprising 'stove-pipng' and failures to eject properly, but for the first shooting outing in 50 years, I was nevertheless pleased with the performance of my 1940 P.08. I put forth the possibility that the UMC ammo I was using, being about 2mm shorter than the desired 29.6 mm, was perhaps the culprit, and got a general agreement on this. Advised by many to get some 'cheap' Walmart 9 mm, I did make an attempt, but for some unaccountable reason, my local store was out of stock! I settled for the local gun shop's Winchester 124 gr. NATO and a box of PMC brand (made in S.Korea) and a little cheaper than the Winchester. Fired all 50 of the Winchester and 25 rounds of the PMC stuff, with nary a problem! Both brand's cartridges were right on the money as to length and functioned smoothly. I also unloaded 50 rounds through my 1911 WWII vintage Colt, again without incident, except for a blood-blister that developed on the web between my right thumb and forefinger; something was whacking me at each shot, but I was having too much fun to notice until after. I will eventually get some of the Walmart stuff and we shall see how that behaves. Thus, the comments; no questions this time! End of Chapter 2!

09-04-2002, 03:52 PM	#1
jim haycraft User Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 20 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Some Comments & Questions on Ammo, Chapter 2 My original contribution on the subject generated far more responses than I (or perhaps, anyone else) expected). All were interesting and the discussion eventually evolved into a lively discourse on reliability - Luger vs Colt's 1911 .45, among other things. My problems, presented at length, involved a failure rate of about 17%, comprising 'stove-pipng' and failures to eject properly, but for the first shooting outing in 50 years, I was nevertheless pleased with the performance of my 1940 P.08. I put forth the possibility that the UMC ammo I was using, being about 2mm shorter than the desired 29.6 mm, was perhaps the culprit, and got a general agreement on this. Advised by many to get some 'cheap' Walmart 9 mm, I did make an attempt, but for some unaccountable reason, my local store was out of stock! I settled for the local gun shop's Winchester 124 gr. NATO and a box of PMC brand (made in S.Korea) and a little cheaper than the Winchester. Fired all 50 of the Winchester and 25 rounds of the PMC stuff, with nary a problem! Both brand's cartridges were right on the money as to length and functioned smoothly. I also unloaded 50 rounds through my 1911 WWII vintage Colt, again without incident, except for a blood-blister that developed on the web between my right thumb and forefinger; something was whacking me at each shot, but I was having too much fun to notice until after. I will eventually get some of the Walmart stuff and we shall see how that behaves. Thus, the comments; no questions this time! End of Chapter 2!