Posted: 6/25/2007 1:35:15 PM EDT
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Hello all, I have a Taurus revolver chambered for 9MM Luger, and I was curious if I could shoot surplus +P+ 9MM ammo out of it. Think I'll be ok? I also have a Glock 19, but I don't think my Glock could withstand this ammo. The 9MM in question is sub machine gun ammo, so what do you guys think? |
| Don't do it. Find a subgun or a buddy with one to shoot it in. Why risk damaging good firearms with ammo they were not designed to use repeatedly (actually, my money would be on the G19 for better withstanding those loads, if you were to fire them in a handgun)? |
You sure it's Izzy? My father bought a pile of Egyptian +P+ 9mm subgun ammo in the early/mid 80's...the primers were so hard, striking it 3x might set it off. They usually went off at the 4th or 5th trigger pull. I know because after he got the ammo we went to the range, and it was almost comical. BANG click click click BANG click click BANG click click click click BANG ...you get the idea. I don't think he made it through a full mag in his then-new Sig 226 before he gave up on it... |
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There's a guy at our club who shoots the Hirtenberger L7A1 stuff in his 9mm AR. He says he's shot a bunch of it and it really smacks the gongs - you can definately hear the difference. He says he's put a few mags through his Glock, but I'm sure it's not something he does often. |
That would be excellent ammo for flinching drills on the range! |
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I've got a bunch of L7A1 leftover from a case I bought 7 or 8 years ago for an HK94 I had at the time. The 94 is long since gone but I've shot that ammo through a number of different handguns with no ill effects. HK USP - loved it BHP - didn't really like it (made the poor handgun rattle) Sig P239 - didn't care for it Glock 17 - didn't have any problems P7M8 - It seems to LOVE the Hirtinberger An employee at my local range put a handful through his Glock longslide (34 maybe?) with no troubles Just my 2 cents, B. |
Email sent |
Reminder to self.... do not buy any used handguns from GillTX06. 
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Big +1. Hirtenber L7A1 did no damage to my Glock 17. A friend at a local gunshop fired all 1200 rounds through his 17 w/o problem. Works fine in my CZ 75 series too. I would not try it out of a Beretta though since you'd be likely to catch a piece of the slide in the face. L7A1 = Velocity: 124 grn at 1350 to 1400 FPS - makes you wonder why anyone bothers with that stupid Sig cartridge. |
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Osprey, LOL, really the only one which was possibly not the best idea IMHO was the BHP. Even the Sig felt fine, just too snappy for my comfort. The USP actually stated in its manual that limited +P+ was OK. The sweet discovery for me was how much my P7M8 seems to like the stuff. I'm considering using the L7A1 for carry ammo, ball profile + scorching hot velocity seems like a pretty good combo. I'm looking around for ballistic reports on the stuff. Later, B. |
 Now that is the most asinine thing I've heard all week. Sounds like a pretty good combo for shooting through an attacker and the 2-3 innocent bystanders behind him too. Are you serious????
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Blacksnake, a) scorching hot is a relative statement, would you be afraid of shooting 357sig because it might shoot through 2 or 3 people? b) I was referring to ball profile for ease of feeding c) as I already stated with a fair amount of clarity "considering using" and "looking around for ballistic reports". I'm obviously not going to run around with the stuff willy-nilly without crunching numbers and/or doing some tests on my own. d) relax Later, B. |
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This must be the Southern Ammunition stuff. I bought a 2k round case of it. Mixed headstamps/vintages. Some have found 380 mixed in. Some is corrosive. Some is not. Was obviously issued, returned, and tumbled. Worked fine in my SMGs, handguns hated the hard primers. Moot point anyway, I hear they've been out of stock for some time. |
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OK, A little digging around later...has anyone else heard that L7A1 is steel jacketed? I found a few mentions on other forums that mention this. Now, mine look to be normal FMJ bullets loaded into Hirtenberger marked brass. I can certainly see how steel jacketed rounds would lead to gross over-penetration given the likelihood of maintaining their shape. If these are fully steel jacketed, then plated over with copper, I can see why they might not make the best carry choice, barring the unlikely need for shooting through windshields. Later, B. |
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9mm FMJ is known for its extreme penetration in flesh (22" is common) with standard-pressure loads. I would imagine that 30+" would be possible from a handgun with +P++ subgun FMJ loads, so, yeah, there is a big-time over-penetration risk. And, of course, the FMJ wound channel is quite narrow. If you can manage to hit the right spot, it's still deadly, but it's not very forgiving of less-than-ideal shots. -Troy |
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I should also mention that this ammo should NOT be used in HK stamped guns (MP5/HK94/SP89) nor in the Marlin Camp Carbine, as neither are designed for even +P ammo. The HKs will break bolts, and the Marlins will crack receivers. The Ruger PC9 *is* rated for +P ammo, but not for this stuff. Remember, this is ammo designed for fixed-firing-pin, open-bolt guns like Uzis, MACs, and STENs. -Troy |