On a scale of 1-10, how "hot" are 102g Remington golden sabers?

I'm looking for a warm or hot load to break in some new springs before I go exclusively to brown bear, federal FMJs etc.

The Remington 102 gr golden saber has a published velocity of 940 fps with 200 ft pounds of energy and a power factor (mass x velocity/1000) of 96.

For SAAMI spec ammo it's a 9 in terms of energy and a 10 in terms of momentum.   For comparison:

Win PDX 95 gr JHP at 1000 fps for 211 ft pounds and a power factor of 95.
Speer 90 gr Gold dot at 100 fps for 199 ft pounds and a power factor of 90  

On the low end of SAAMi spec loads, you'll find loads like the 90 gr FMJ at 920 fps with 169 ft pounds of energy and  power factor of 83, and lighten loads like the Buffalo Bore 70 gr glaser 1200 fps for 224 ft pounds but a power factor of only 84.

However, there are also some non SAAMI spec loads by Buffalo Bore:

95 grs at 1125 fps for 267 ft pounds and a power factor of 107; and
90 grs at 1175 fps for 276 ft pounds and a power factor of 106
100 gr at 1125 fps for 280 ft pounds and a power factor of 112.

If you include those loads on an absolute scale where power factor varies from 83 to 112 with a range of 29, and a resulting 2.9 per numeral on a  1-10 scale, the 102 gr Golden Saber is then only a 4.5 - which is a good indictor how far over SAAMI spec the Buffalo Bore loads are, and how hard they will work your pistol.  If you are planning on using hose loads i would not break the spring in, and I'd replace them often - maybe every 100-200 rounds, and quite frankly I would not use them on anything approaching a regular basis.

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For your purposes where you plan to use Federal FMJs, American Eagle has a 95 gr bullet at 960 fps with 194 ft pounds of energy and a power factor of 91.   Wolf, Prvi Partisan and Magtech FMJ loads have the same power factor.

102 gr Golden Saber  is a bit above those, but it's over kill just to break in a spring.  Shoot your pistol with what you plan to shoot and call it good.  Abusing a spring first won't add any benefit in terms of wear or reliability.

For a "hot" .380 load, you can go with the Buffalo Bore +P .380 loads.  For standard pressure, I would use Geco or RWS factory loads.

A little hotter than the Buffalo Bore +P and a lot cheaper Underwood Ammo 380 ACP +P 100 Grain Flat Nose .

and/or

I would stick with ball ammo.

unless you want to pay more.

What springs recoil ? leave slide locked back all the time while not in use.
Trigger ? Dry Fire while watching TV.

BTW
I don't believe in trigger jobs on SD firearms. I also found that lots of dry firing and live shooting will smooth out most actions.
Stronger springs are  fine, but I wouldn't go below factory .


When I break in a carbine or pistols.  I want to wear off the high points or get to the shinny marks.
I know some who shoot dry to  get the job done faster and with less ammo. just a few magazines should do the trick.

Now checking for reliability is a different story for me.  I like to shoot 1000rds or depending on the pistol model 500rds

I merely put a 16# wolff recoil spring on a new-to-me surplus pistol. I was told to run a few boxes of warm loads though it before going to ball ammo for plinking

I am considering UMC´s FMJ Leadless, which is reportedly a FMJ FP. I fear it´s loaded weakly.

And then there´s Fiocchi 8? grs Black Mamba - FMJ TC HP ( small HP ). Seems to be quite energetic, but the HP is mighty small.

And then there´s CBC Magtechs SCHP.

>jacketed< HP´s are outlawed for self defense, where I live ( Europe )

Solid Copper or JSP or FULL MJ HP´s are legal ... go figure

Guns are primarily a G 42, Smoking ( Tuxedo ) Gun is an ´84´s PPK like new.

Hermann

Personally I'd stick with FMJ for a 380 as the HP ammo has such a hard time getting penetration depths. Also, I consider a PPK a must for carry with a tux or smoking jacket.