Actually, I didn't buy large quantities of ammo at the gun show yesterday, I just wanted to riff off that UPS ad campaign...
I did buy another ".30 cal" ammo can. I use them for storing loose range ammo, and I currently have ammo cans for .22LR, .38Spl, 9mm, .44Spl, 5.56x45, and a .50 caliber can I use for .45ACP. I think this new one will be for either .32ACP or .32 S&W Long.
I also grabbed another two 30-round P-mags. I have probably close to forty 30-rd AR mags, plus assorted 20- and 10-rd magazines. I think that comes from living through the "Assault Weapons Ban" Era of '94-'04; just like the Great Depression left my grandparents inveterate hoarders of string and rubber bands 'til their dying days, I will probably never feel like I have enough magazines on hand, but I try and keep it down to a dull roar.
The most important acquisition was in the ammunition department. I've been carrying 230gr. standard-pressure Remington Golden Saber ammunition in my CCW piece for about a decade now, and the newest ones I have are probably four years old. I'm down to a couple hundred and it's getting time to just burn them up. Unfortunately, the Golden Saber is one of the harder loads to find priced reasonably in 50-round boxes, while ammo sellers at the local show often have Federal HST or Winchester Ranger in stock, so I picked up some of each to use for function testing.
Lastly, I scooped up a box of Hornady .38 Special 125gr XTP on general principles. The number of commercial standard-pressure JHP loads in .38 is small enough that I feel compelled to buy a box any time I notice it on sale, specifically for use in older revolvers that aren't +P rated. I mean, if I ever suffered a blow to the head and decided to CCW my Model 12, I'd need something to put in the cylinder, right?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
21 comments:
I have a couple of boxes of "Winchester White Box" 45 ACP ammo that will, if the shooter does his part, hold a 2" group at 50 yards. Yeah, you read that right. The stuff is super exceptionally accurate. I'm saving it, almost certainly for years, until my ability starts to measure up to what this ammo can do.
It was manufactured in the 1940s and I have no qualms about it every becoming "too old".
If it's good, save it.
Ed,
I'm not worried about it "going bad"; after all, I have hundreds of rounds of 8x56R that date to the late '30s.
But there are better loads available in .45ACP these days than Remington GS and, now that I'm down to my last hundred or so, I may as well shoot it up and replace it with something that's better and cheaper and easier to get.
It's all personal blah blah yadda yadda and everything, but I'd like to read your function testing results.
The HST seems to be good stuff. Around here, the local cop shop with the state contract sells it for about 24 bucks per 50 as does Palmetto State Armory.
I fired one of those Savage .32s and got the worst hammer bite of my life.
Al T.
WV - "sonal". God I hope not!
I guess they figure anyone who wants to CCW an old .38 Special will probably be willing to handload for it.
Mulliga,
It's also a lot easier on the shooter than +P in an Airweight or AirLite J-frame; there are some people who will never become proficient with +P's in those platforms due to the blast and recoil. Better a center-mass hit with a std. pressure load than a miss with a +P. :)
Didja happen to see any 38S&W floating around? I've put my hands on a few old IJ top breaks that eat that load (they're coil springers, so safe to shoot) and I haven't found any that weren't apparently gold plated, based on the price. I've even thought of turning down some 38 special brass but the cases are probably too thick that far down the cartridge.
I was going to say LG deserves your biz; I just ordered some stuff that is a tough find around here and some everyday things like a thousand-pack of 22lr just to avoid WallyWorld...and you can never have too much 22.
Then I see that even they don't have your GS in 50-packs, and the 25's they do have are about a buck a round...that Golden is some pretty aptly named stuff.
But they do have some good prices and their ordering system is quick and easy; if the shipping is as advertised, I'll use them again. Thank you for the referral.
AT
AT,
I have no objections to LuckyGunner as a business. As a matter of fact, I will be ordering from them later this week. Nowhere outside of certain people's hyperactive imaginations have I even suggested otherwise.
This is the absolute last time I will say this: GO. BACK. AND. READ. MY. ACTUAL. WORDS.
"But there are better loads available in .45ACP these days than Remington GS "
Sure but how much better are they really?
I'm not arguing that you should hoard your GSs, only that I'm not at all sure the newer stuff puts bad guys down any faster.
It seems that most of the advances are designed to deal better with various obstacles than necessarily stop bad guys better. It's a good thing, mind you, but does it matter to your circumstances?
In any case, Gold Dot and HST are quite good people stoppers.
Terry
Terry,
HST and Ranger T do better on clothed gelatin tests and Golden Saber was known for its pyrotechnic characteristics. The difference is marginal enough that if GS was as cheap and widely available as the newer rounds, I probably wouldn't care...
Plenty of hyperactive imaginations to go around it would seem, Tam...especially as to points and intent.
Still, perception = reality as they say, and nowhere is that truer than in business, marketing, and media.
Breda's post created a totally false one about the LG promotion, for reasons I and others speculated on but that only she knows for sure. When added to the almost absurdly hilarious irony that the criticism of what she derogatorily labeled "gunbunnies" comes from someone who labels *herself* a "gunchick" and until recently sported a perky-tittied pink cartoon cowgirl looking for "love" in the sidebar...well, let's just say that the perception she created of herself is pettiness and cluelessness.
She has a right to her opinion of course, you have yours, and I have mine. I guess we'll have to leave it at that.
AT
1966 is old? :-)
Dirtcrashr,
"1966 is old? :-)"
When it comes to alloy-framed revolvers it sure is. :D
Correct me if I'm wrong but that works out to what 7 cans? That's all? I had a much higher opinion of you.
Personally we have a database of the different cans from the .30's for pistol calibers to 40mm cans of .223 and another collection for fired and cleaned brass. What can I say, I was once an overpaid road whore for the semiconductor industry. Those days are LONG gone now.
Og, that won't work: .38S&W uses a larger-diameter bullet, so the case is larger-diameter too. I know Starline makes new brass for it, very good stuff. Bullets for .38 Special may or may not shoot well in a .38S&W pistol, have to try them and find out; if the bores are a touch large for that, try hollow-base wadcutters.
Tam, any opinion on Gold Dots?
WV=gretopsy: "Gretopsy for a new coroner!"
"Golden Saber was known for its pyrotechnic characteristics."
You say that like it's a bad thing. Who doesn't like pyro? Upon coming into possession of Mom's 2" Taurus I decided to cover the bases with 158 gr. SWCHP standard pressure loads, they being rare to none on the shelves. The first box of 250 Hornady bullets arrived with 2 or 3 bullets rattling around in the box, the rest having escaped through a hole in the corner, doubtless leaving a trail of distress and panic in their wake. The Taurus is all steel, but still-a bit of a wakeup call.
TXGunGeek,
"Correct me if I'm wrong but that works out to what 7 cans? That's all?"
That's just loose ammo intended for the range. Other stuff is kept boxed or in those MTM CaseGard boxes. But, yeah, last night I realized that I have, for instance, only about 300 rounds of .32 H&R Magnum on hand. :(
I've been getting the unbonded GS 230 grain at gunshows for $15-20 for a 20 round box, which wasn't bad while it lasted. I got such a good deal on them to begin with that I stuck with them, and with the added bonus that they shoot well in my gun. It was too expensive to switch brands at that point. I was recently given a box of Gold Dots, so I might be upgrading as well. The GS have been excellent so far though.
I'm down with carrying an M12 as a CCW, but I like standard-pressure 158s out of it, rather than 125 grainers. I need SOME kind of upgrade from the ballistics from a small 9mm.
Your title reminded me of John Ringo's The Last Centurion.
Post a Comment