Quick question for the folks smarter than me.

Bought a new 9mm Shield with the intent to carry. Went to the range today to shoot it to make sure it behaved well and to try the defensive ammo I bought to carry with it (Hornaday Critical Defense). Shot 100 rounds of Remington 115gr FMJ to start and it all fired without a hitch. 4in groups at 20' (when I didn't pull the shot). After that, I shot 14 rounds of the Hornaday and they grouped about 6" left of where I was aiming.

Has any one else seen this? I know long guns can be picky about ammo, are pistols the same way?

Long winded question to get your thoughts, thanks.

Yes.  Try something else.

Critical defense sucks anyway.

What do you suggest as an alternative?

Speer gold dot

Ranger T 127 +P+ (RA9TA)

Or gold dot if I'm in a pinch.  I try to keep a couple years worth of ranger ammo cycles on hand.  

/thread.

Where are you finding ranger t?

Never seen it in the stores

Ranger T +P+ or Federal 9BPLE+P+, Neither are easy to find. Also, you may have changed hand position when changibg ammo or it could be fatigue,  100 rounds through  a small gun in ine session, especially  for somebody who didn't shoot a lot can be fatiging.

147 +p HST

I like sgammo, right now it's pretty slim pickings though.

I agree on fatigue, which means you may be Death Gripping the gun.  Will cause you (if right handed) to push left, and usually a little low.

Have been shooting Hornady CD for a long time (Glocks 17/19/26, Springfield 1911 Loaded 9mm, Springfield EMP) and not seen any issue at all.  ALL guns are picky about ammo in some way.  Glock may be the least picky, but the smaller the barrel and springs, the lighter the slide, the more issues you will have.  In those cases, your grip means more than on heavier guns.
















(not my hand)

 
 

 

After 100 rounds of 115, if the first round of HCD had more kick and you were starting to have some fatigue, you could have been Pushing the remaining rounds due to anticipating the harder recoil or using less trigger finger due to fatigue, or squeezing the grip harder due to recoil and/or fatigue or any combination of those (they all put you to the Left). If it is actually just anticipating harder recoil, going to a +P surely isn't going to help. So maybe try the standard velocity Hornady 124 gr XTP.

Before just scrapping using the HCD, why not start with a mag of those on your next trip to the range. Also since you have over 100 rounds through the pistol now, maybe buy a box of 25 or 50 of each of the better JHPs and go to the range fresh and just shoot 50 of one brand and keep the target marked with what it was, then shoot a different 50 on another trip and see which one prints best for you.  

If using a +P, my preference is the Federal HST 135gr +P but the Speer Gold Dot and Hornady XTP +P 124s are great also. The Federal 135 shoots good for me and kind of splits the 124/147 debate down the middle. I only practice with 115, for carry, its 124, 135, or 147 in 9MM. YMMV

IKH nailed it!  My preferred 9mm load is the Ranger T 127 +P+ (RA9TA) with the Speer Gold Dot 124grn +P my second choice.

As a matter of fact, the Winchester RA9TA I'm carrying right now I bought from IKH.

CorBon DPX 115gr

I appreciate everyone's insight.

100 rounds may have caused fatigue, in the future I'll shoot 25 or 50 rounds of carry ammo to determine what works best and try to limit any other variable (fatigue, flinching etc.)

Found some Gold Dots online and will try them when they come in and move on down the line.

Thanks all!

When CorBon makes 380 DPX that out performs most 9mm Luger...

I think I'll still stick with what the Doctor {Gary K. Roberts, LCDR, USNR} ordered.


Just pokin' with a stick, sir.  Your two are on his list, also.

Gold Dot Short Barrel shoots great out of my shield.

It sure is.  Doc GKR is a great resource so few have heard of.  

Also from a trusted source in the body armor industry. For soft armor the Ranger T load will defeat IIIA if two rounds are stacked in a 1-2" circle.  

This !! Use Gold Dot if the gun will not handle +p ammo

The ra9t did not preform well in testing done by tnouttdoors9. May have been a bad batch.  The federal hst performs flawlessly in 99% of testing. He may be a you tuber but the Ranger area still something to think about. I was disappointed because I am a Ranger ammo fan. Check out tnoutdoors9 his videos are to the point and informative.

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