[lelandray]

I got home from lunch and found a case of it sitting on my porch. So the first thing I did was open a box and put on my hearing protectors. The ammo is advertised as being identical to the Nato loading, with a 124-grain FMJ moving at 1,251 fps. The rounds look good, with brass cases and crimped primer pockets. They're advertised as Boxer primed, though my press doesn't like primer crimps, and I'm too lazy to remove them.

I fired 24 rounds through two magazines loaded 13 and 11 so that I'd have exactly two full mags left. Feeding was fine, and the mags locked open on the last round fired through my satin chrome Mark III with the 18.5 recoil spring installed. One round did not fire, but cocking the hammer for a second try made it go bang. Everything worked well--until I picked up the brass, that is.

Every single casing showed completely flattened primers, and one primer was perforated very cleanly, with evidence of gas leakage. What I'm wondering is whether the flattening is attributable to soft primers and high pressures or to high pressures alone. As I said, functioning was 100% except for that one that needed a double strike.

Anyone used this stuff before? I'm stuck with the other 976 rounds of it; I bought it simply as a means of practicing with +P ammo without the +P cost, and I hope I can use it for its original purpose.

 

[lelandray]

I fired the rest of the box, and the results were the same as before, though with one failure to feed. This could have been the fault of the magazine--I simply don't know.

The primers were still flat (no surprise), but none of them appeared to be pierced.

 

[effenn]

you think perhaps this stuff could be sub-gun ammo, loaded at high pressure????

I had thought about ordering some....

 

[lelandray]

The claimed ballistics info is almost identical to the 125-grain Cor Bon stuff I'm carrying, but the C-B doesn't flatten the primers. FWIW, the ballistics info was in the catalog description, not on the ammo boxes.

One interesting thing about the boxes is that, although the ammo is made in Greece, the warnings and disclaimers on the boxes are in German and English.

Subgun ammo? Hmmmmmm... I wonder just how much hotter it would be?

 

[lelandray]

Okay, this is not totally unexpected, but it is a bit interesting.

I have four factory mags for my CZ75, purhased used but in near mint condition from a friend who got it from Action Arms back in the early 1990s.

I just now loaded all four mags, two with ten rounds each and two with fifteen rounds, using the Olympic ammo. I went out back and started shooting.

In fifty tries, the CZ functioned correctly every time, and the flattening of the primers was not quite as pronounced, but it was still very much a factor.

Did I mention that the CZ fired every time without a single burp? The next test will be to shoot a full box through the Beretta Brigadier, which has a beefed up slide designed to stand up better to repeated battering from hot loads.

 

[strider72]

Subgun ammo....that's funny. Nato spec 9x19mm ammo is hotter than most of our loads...actually it is supposedly equal to our +P loads. As far as the CZ75,Beretta,and other guns working ok with them...they are designed for 9x19mm NATO Spec ammo.

 

[effenn]

funny yes,
But I had a friend who purchased a large quantity of Hirtenburg 9mm specifically designed for subguns. It broke his sig after about 300 rounds.
no, I do not know the specs on the stuff, but it was found out later on that the stuff was specifically for subguns.

 

[strider72]

OK...if my head wasn't up my butt...I would have remembered the German stuff...that Hirtenberger is HOTTT!! Haven't seen any in years.

 

[strider72]

Here is some info on the Hirtenberger SMG ammo...even gives headstamps and such. www.sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca/~ab133/Archives/Digests/v01n600-699/v01n658

 

[jonnyc]

I picked-up some Olympic brass on my range this weekend. Lots of blown heads, flat and blown primers! I won't go near the stuff.

 

[Guest]

I would guess it is an excessive pressure problem. Remember, just because velocity is similar to other loads it doesn't mean the pressures are the same. It could be operating at sub-gun pressures. You never know about foreign ammo.