Paul Harrell gives us a really interesting video on ammo storage. What he finds is that if the ammo works, it seems to work well. Unfortunately, he had some failures to fire in the batch he left in his car for a year. He suspects (and I suspect too) that further exposure to high temperature and humidity would have further degraded the ammunition performance.
I spent just a little time to locate U.S. Army temperature and humidity storage specifications for ammunition, and while I found a bit of information, I ran out of time on that research project. I suspect there is much more than what I found.
Q:I live in rural upstate New York, and summer temperatures reach in excess of 90° F—with car and attic temperatures exceeding triple digits. Is there a known “maximum safe temperature” for the storage of ammunition? What would be the ideal conditions to store ammunition?
A: Nitrocellulose, the primary ingredient in smokeless powder, is hygroscopic, which means it absorbs water from the air that can affect both shelf life and burn rate. Coatings and stabilizers, such as methyl and ethyl centralite, are added to prevent this. Unfortunately, the effectiveness of these compounds is reduced as the temperature rises.
The standard advice is to store ammunition in a “cool, dry place.” Manufacturers try to store powders at 70° F +/- 5 degrees. For handloaders, the best advice is to store powder in a cool basement or an interior room that is of “comfortable” temperature.
The only thing I can think of to say is if you live in New York, get out.
Virtually every copper bullet we’ve seen tested performed magnificently. They seem to hold together well (they don’t explode in tissue), and they have good expansion. Thus, they appear to be very good hunting bullets.
Well, this is extremely disappointing. I have several boxes of this sitting around. Ammo manufacturers need to understand that exploding bullets don’t jive with hunting.
Anything that .22 LR can do, .22 WMR can do better, in a bolt gun, at least. While the magnum rimfire shines in manually operated actions, getting it to run reliably in a semi-auto is a rather large ask. The problem lies in the cartridge’s power factor, as it is too high for an unmodified blowback action yet not strong enough to operate a conventional gas-operated feeding system. Of the two, delaying a blowback system seems to yield the best results, but getting it there through simple means can be challenging. Challenges become motivation to a team of German engineers, and motivation becomes a product. Clear evidence of this concept can be found in the WMP, or Walther Magnum Pistol, a semi-automatic handgun chambered to fire classic .22 Magnum.
That seems to be the issue requiring the engineering, yes? Cartridges that are too powerful (with powder that burns too long like a rimfire cartridge) for the slide to be opened prematurely lest the shooter get injured and/or the bullet lose velocity, versus the opposite concern of running a full size gas operated gun. Walther solved that problem.
So the big question, what makes it run? Surprisingly, not much. While most German products are overengineered to a fault, the WMP simply utilizes the hammer mechanism to provide the delay needed to hold the pistol together while firing. All it took was getting the weight of the hammer and spring tensions just right. This leaves us with fewer failure points that ultimately add production costs to the firearm, resulting in a win for everybody.
Like most rimfires, this pistol has ammo that it’s going to like and ammo that it isn’t going to like. Much respect goes to Walther for not shying away from this fact but instead embracing it by listing a large cross-sample of what works and doesn’t work right on the website. While I am not too proud to take advice from a manufacturer, I couldn’t stick strictly to the list. However, I was confident that my choices would function well enough for paper punching. After rounding up three different ammunition weights, I slapped a Primary Arms SLx RS-10 mini reflex sight to the gun and headed out to the range.
It’s set up with an RMR footprint, which amusingly makes the optic cost as much as the gun.
We decided that the best distance to test this rimfire was 25 yards, as most squirrel and rabbit engagements happen right around this distance. However, for fun, I set up 8-inch AR-500 gongs at 50 and even 100 yards just to see how far I could push things. Starting with the Federal Game-Shok load, I snugged up a sandbag rest and sent my first round downrange. Expecting some sort of muzzle flip, I was delighted with how flat the gun shot. Typically when a bore axis sits that far above the hand, things get jumpy, but this just wasn’t the case. After firing my second shot, I had an accuracy concern, as I couldn’t spot an additional hit on paper. After clearing the pistol and walking downrange, I realized that the reason I couldn’t find it was because it was in the same hole as the first! Returning to my shooting point, I fired three more shots and turned in a group that measured just 1.10 inches. Things only got tighter from that point, with groups measuring as small as .81 inch, rivaling the accuracy of handguns that cost several times more. The other two types of ammunition also shot rather well, and all three made it through the test without a hiccup.
Stepping away from the bench, I decided to push out to the 50-yard target, which this gun had no trouble covering with a good two-handed shooting position. Even plopping rounds onto the 100-yard gong was relatively effortless, leaving more on the shooter than the firearm itself. Through it all, the muzzle stayed just about parallel to the ground, allowing me an unobstructed view of my impacts. That’s important in the field, as we need to be able to see if we struck that unassuming tree rat and he fell or if we whizzed one past his head and he ran up the back of the tree. As I digested magazine after magazine of ammo, I experimented with the Quad Release mag-catch system. I found the paddles to be a terrific option for gloved hands, while the button-style frame release provided a familiar feel. The best part is that no matter what you are used to already, there is zero learning curve in this department.
After exhausting more than 200 rounds of ammunition, my day on the range came to a close. I found the WMP to be accurate beyond words and reliable enough for the type of high-volume shooting that accompanies a good small-game hunt. It also makes an excellent pistol for bigger critters like opossums and raccoons, as it has the energy to dispatch them humanely with a single shot.
He also shot 30 grain bullets which runs counter to Walther advice, but he did it with no problems (except that I saw his groups opened up a bit with the lighter bullets, but of course his MV was higher too). Otherwise, his accuracy was outstanding.
“Even though (Wagner leader Yevgeny) Prigozhin acted out, yelling give me ammo, give me ammo, there was no actual ammo hunger,” says Ocherkhadzhiev. “The problem was, they used six times more ammo than is tactically and academically called for. They just buried the Ukrainians in shells. And in these conditions, the Ukrainians still defended.”
I don’t want the discussion thread to turn into a political one. That’s not the point of the post.
But I find this remark utterly fascinating. I know that when the Marines first joined the fight in Afghanistan, the Taliban were surprised at the fact that they (the Marines) could carry a half dozen magazines in a tactical vest and stretch the ammo out to cover a 24-hour fire fight under the supervision of good NCOs (the NCO corps in the U.S. military is entirely a product of Western culture and Eastern and Middle Eastern armies completely lack such a structure, focusing instead on commissioned officers, in the end making them less capable or efficient, something I’ve written on extensively). The disciple of targeting, fire control, etc., surprised the enemy combatants.
Similarly, the practice of the Taliban was to bury U.S. troops in fire. Seldom would they take the attack straight to U.S. forces except en masse (Battalion versus Company). I’ve also written extensively on that subject in Massing of Forces.
Now, if we could just get Marlin to come out with a new model 444. Maybe Ruger needs to hire me to tell them what to do. It seems like I keep running into them a lot.
While I have carried a .44 magnum before, I’ve advocated use of the .45 handgun all along for big predator defense. But not just shooting any ammunition. First, watch this video by Chuke’s Outdoor Adventures, where he advocates use of the HK USP 45 because it can handle 45 Super, then I’ll comment on the .45 Super versus the 450 SMC.
Just to make sure what I’m telling is correct, I’ll check one of several boxes of 450 SMC I’ve got. Yep, checking the box of Double Tap ammo, it says 230 grains, 1130 FPS (5″ barrel). I shoot it with a 1911, but with a 22# spring rather than the customary 16# or 18# spring.
In the late 1980s, gunwriter Dean Grennell took .451 Detonics Mag. brass and trimmed it to the same overall length as the .45 ACP cartridge case, thus creating the .45 Super. Grennell wrote an article for the February 1988 issue of Gun World Magazine, discussing his new version of the .45 ACP, which was capable of pushing a 185-grain bullet to 1,300 fps. In the August 1988 issue of Gun World Magazine, a second article about the .45 Super—written by Tom Ferguson—appeared. Ferguson was interested in Grennell’s concept cartridge, but he wanted to take things a step further. He took a handful of .451 Detonics Mag. brass and a 1911 pistol to Ace Hindman of Ace Custom 45s. Hindman came up with the idea of heavier springs in the 1911 to make it more suited to the higher-pressure cartridge.
In 1994, Fernando Coelho—owner of Triton Cartridge—reached out to Garey Hindman, Ace’s son, who was still converting 1911s and even some Smith & Wesson Model 4506 pistols to accommodate the.45 Super. The problem with the cartridge was a lack of suitable brass. Coelho had recently started Triton Cartridge and felt that with his background in load development, coupled with actual in-house pressure testing, he would be able to come up with reliable, factory-loaded, .45 Super ammunition. A deal was struck and Coelho reached out to Starline Brass to get the ball rolling. The folks at Starline worked with Coelho to establish correct internal case-wall dimensions, web-area thickness and overall hardness of the cartridge case.
But, just like the .300 BLK found fame because of its name, the.45 Super—as a commercial cartridge—was doomed because of what it was called. You see, when Ace Hindman passed away, his son trademarked “.45 Super.” When Triton made factory-loaded .45 Super ammo, Garey Hindman would get a royalty, which was something a bit unusual in the ammunition business. Because of this, no major firearm or ammunition manufacturer would offer .45 Super guns or ammunition. There was also the concern that a shooter might load and fire .45 Super ammo in a vintage .45 ACP revolver or an old 1911 and get an unpleasant surprise.
All this led to the birth of the .450 SMC. Coelho was fed up with the inherent issues of the .45 ACP/.45 Super cartridge case and the damage being done to the potential growth of the .45 Super. One of the case problems was primer flow; you could experiment with different brands of primers and powder, but most of the time primers would flow back around the tip of the firing pin. The solution: switch to a small-primer pocket and utilize a small-rifle primer. Coelho reached out to Starline again, asking the company to make .45 Super brass with a small-primer pocket. That solved the primer-flow problem and Triton Cartridge soon began offering factory-loaded .450 SMC ammunition. It was loaded to a maximum average pressure (MAP) of 32,000 psi, which is slightly higher than .45 Super pressures, but still less than the 37,500 psi pressure of the 10 mm. The new name—.450 SMC—solved the trade-mark problem, and Triton had two loads: a 165-grain bullet at 1,450 fps and a 230-grain bullet at 1,150 fps.
When Triton went out of business in 2003, it looked like the .450 SMC was doomed. But, another new ammunition company stepped up to offer one of the most potent and practical magnum-category, .45-caliber, defensive-handgun cartridges ever created. Mike McNett of DoubleTap Ammunition recognized the usefulness of the .450 SMC and his Cedar City, UT-based company now offers six .450 SMC loads.
Comparatively speaking, the hottest factory 185-grain .45 ACP load you can buy will generate only about 1,140 fps, and the fastest 230-grain offering only about 1,000 fps. Essentially, what you get with the .450 SMC are 10 mm velocities with a .45-caliber instead of a .40-caliber bullet.
Of course, since no one is manufacturing .450 SMC handguns, what you’re probably wondering is what you have to do to shoot .450 SMC in your .45 ACP. Well, a .450 SMC cartridge can be fired in any .45 ACP handgun. However—and this is a big however—it should only be fired in full-size .45 ACP handguns that have a +P rating. (A 20- to 22-pound recoil spring in your favorite 5-inch 1911, or a 21- to 23-pound spring in a Glock.)
Given the primer problems with the 45 Super, the 450 SMC is the clear winner in this contest.
As I’ve told the 10mm guys before, you can shoot your smaller bullets at over 1100 FPS, or you can shoot 230 grain bullets at over 1100 FPS. Take your pick.
As for the HK pistol, the advantage would be that its magazine is double-stack and holds 12 rounds. The 1911 I shoot holds 8 rounds. Here is the upshot of the 1911 design – with a Wilson Combat or Chip Mccormick Speed Mag, you can increase the magazine capacity to 10 rounds. The downside is that you have to get used to the bit of additional interference with the extended magazine.
The downside of the large bore revolver cartridges such as the .44 magnum is that the punch from a short barrel handgun (I consider 5″ to be short) is rather painful, especially when using something like Buffalo Bore loads. Pain when defending your life is irrelevant, but it’s not irrelevant on the practice range.
In any case, I consider 450 SMC to be a legitimate big predator defense round. If you want to use the HK or a Glock pistol for that purpose, that’s user preference.
Outdoor Life has a great article on various sorts and bullet weights and types of 5.56 ammo. I won’t lift a lot of prose out of the article, and you’re recommended to read his view of .223 and 5.56mm interchangeability. The summary list of ammo follows.
I don’t necessarily agree with everything on the list (e.g., I find Winchester ammunition to be quite dirty). I would also add to the list (e.g., I find PMC ammunition to be relatively inexpensive and good range ammo, and it’s not on the list).
However, this is shooter’s choice. If you have a favorite for some purpose, drop a comment including a URL.
8 months ago
