Wednesday, August 13, 2014

That's a relief.

So, I got an email flyer from Tactical Defense Solutions, a company with whom I'd dealt before, announcing that they had some Sumbro 9mm ammunition in stock for $12 per 50rd box. I needed some 9mm blasting ammo and twelve bucks was as cheap as I'd seen brass-cased reloadable pistol chow in a while, and so I ordered some.

Like many people, after placing my order for something, I then went to Google to validate my decision. This was the first thing I found:

WARNING: Sumbro 9mm Ammunition WARNING

STAY AWAY FROM THIS AMMO UNLESS YOU ARE RUNNING PROOF TESTS ON SOMETHING.

"Well, that's just festive," I thought.  Although the stuff I ordered was 124gr, and the ad specifically stated that it had soft commercial primers, so maybe it wasn't suspect?

I took some to the range today and chrono'ed a ten-shot string...

Hot Or Not?
1104 feet-per-second average out of a full-size M&P for 124gr 9x19 is not hot at all, and the primers all looked normal, with no flattening or cratering. The lot number/mfg. date stamped on the inside of the box flaps is "02-14-2014".

MAYBE YOU SHOULD SPECIFY THE LOT NUMBER IN YOUR THREAD TITLE, UZITALK DUDE, AND NOT PANIC PEOPLE. THANK YOU!

13 comments:

Matt W said...

Well to be fair, he did list the lot # in the body of the post...

That being said he lists 2 different lot numbers, 01-02-2013...and yours, 02-14-2014.

Besides, isn't an M&P rated for +P? so the likelihood of a catastrophic failure would be minimal...

Tam said...

He listed "02-02-2014".

At any rate, the stuff I got is in no way "+P", so I'm not worried. :)

BGMiller said...

Sumbro isn't in anyway related to Sumdude is he?


BGM

Paul said...

When I first saw sumbro I thought where is tam hanging out now.

Looks to be a good price for some cheap practice ammo.

I've been getting 50 for around 15 a box at wally world so I've got a few rounds I could expend, should I ever get time to be at the range.

Matt W said...

I tell you, for inexpensive 9mm ammo, check out Freedom Munitions. $0.25/rnd for 124gr. reman or $0.27/rnd for 124gr new including shipping (flat $5 right now). Hard to beat!

Anonymous said...

It's not my intent to be fulsome, but your posts are the sort that I wish more people would write. In this case, you provide some actual data, not just a "It kicked harder than I'm used to" or "Dude! This stuff ROCKS!"

Ditto your ongoing posts about the PPX: you provide round count, photos to show wear (or lack thereof) and some thoughtful remarks about accuracy and performance.

Again, I wish more people would take this sort of trouble.

Jay Dee said...

One of the problems I encountered with 9mm/.38 caliber guns is the range of bore sizes. Ideally, the bore diameter of the 9mm is 0.354 plus or minus a few thousandths while the .38/.357 is supposed to be 0.357. In practice, I've seen bore diameters ranging from 0.350 to 0.370.

A high pressure load developed in a Browning Hi-Power with a bore diameter of 0.358 will be dangerously high when loaded into a S&W with a 0.352 bore.

Something that manufacturers seldom discuss is that they use one set of bore tools for all their 9mm/.38 caliber guns. In the past, Smith would measure 0.354 while Colt 9mm barrels would measure 0.357. The rationale is cost savings; the two calibers are close enough to allow one set of bore tools.

In any case, you need to understand how these affect your gun and ammunition.

Old NFO said...

Ummm... I'll pass... I'm not 'that' desperate yet.

Kevin R.C. O'Brien said...

BG Miller beat me to it. I was thinking that Sumbro is Sumdood from the Ambulance Driver Files.

Anonymous said...

There was a huge amount (several pallets) of Sumbro 9mm at Knob Creek during the last shoot that was being blown out cheap as "+P+ sub-gun only" ammo. The seller had a copy of the HP White pressure test (including lot number) that went along with each purchase. I picked up one of the sheets for reference and so I will have to find it if anyone is curious about the exact number, but I know it was above 38,500 PSI. The boxes I examined said the ammo was made in Macedonia.

Aaron
the gunshow obscure ammo guy

Tam said...

Aaron,

There's a copy of the sheet at the Uzitalk link. HP White measured that lot at 45k psi. That's gonna blow up somebody's buzzgun.

Tam said...

Aaron,

There's a copy of the sheet at the Uzitalk link. HP White measured that lot at 45k psi. That's gonna blow up somebody's buzzgun.

Kristophr said...

Gecko45 prefers 45k psi ammo.

It gets him through his 500 round pre-breakfast shoots faster.