Observation on Parabellum ammo

[some_finn]

Originally posted by Ron Wood
With regard to the US "myth", it is reality born out of experience and not quite so silly as you may think. With the powders that are currently being loaded, it requires a fairly hot load to achieve consistent performance.

Well, let's say that I think it is kind of a misinterpretation.
It's not that a Parabellum requires hot ammo, it requires ammo loaded with a slowish powder (as this thread would seem to support this view).
Probably ammo manufacturers prefer to use faster powders as less of it is needed.
Also I suspect another reason may be mismatched, poorly fitted pistols that just don't work the way they should. So battering them into submission may help some but I don't think it is a healthy solution in the long run.
One or the other of these issues, or sometimes both combined may have caused the US "need" for hot ammo in Parabellums.

I write "US need" as this idea is completely alien to Europeans and if anything, most Euro Parabellumists think especially mild ammo should be reloaded for Parabellums. Many will not shoot any commercially loaded ammo as all of it is, as I wrote earlier, hotter than the original load.

Originally posted by stefanosg
Anyone ever try "Bullseye". I've recently started reloading and my Dad's always used Bullseye by Alliance.

If this thread is correct and Parabellums like slower powders, Bullseye would be just about the least suitable powder there is, as it is one of the very fastest pistol powders.
Unique should be good, or Hodgdon HS-6, or AA No 5.
I've only ever used Vihtavuori powders so I have no personal experience with these, but the relative burning rates indicate they are between VV N330 and N340 so they should work very well with 115 and 124gr bullets.