Any terminal ballisitc info on a 95gr 9mm manufacturered by Radway Green?
Just spent some time with a very interesting organization that is using this ammo, but was unable to get much info about it. No idea if it is +P, velocity, used in handguns or subguns or anything. I just saw empty boxes- no indication on them of anything other than weight and caliber.
Anything?
The Ball or Hollow Point?
There was concern with SIG P226 cracking with military standard and heavy 9mm. Maybe a way of getting a faster bullet with slightly less frame battering?
Don’t know if it was JHP or ball. I assume that it is a HP, but was looking to see if anyone had hard data. The unit primarily uses G17s (but also employs several others) and a few different 9mm loads.
If it’s loaded to max pressure, it will actually probably wear out guns faster than heavier stuff. Slide velocities will be significant.
My recollection is that most of the 95gr stuff was JSP, an early approach to reducing ricochet threats.
I wouldn’t volunteer to get shot with it, but I don’t think any of it falls within the “happy zone” of current terminal ballistics thinking in terms of pen/exp. Doctor Roberts would obviously be the guy with the answers …
Wasn’t LAPD or NYPD issuing 95-gr loads in the past?
I know that for a while NYPD was issuing 124gr JHP. But I don’t know on what scope
NYPD never issued any soft points. we did have test rounds in .38 spl. it was speer 158 gr. +p soft point. i have a few boxes of it, for history purposes only. i don’t believe we ever did anything w/ soft points in 9mm. i have aleast a box of evertthing we carried or tested for carry.
I believe the Illinois State Police used a 95gr JSP for a while when Smith & Wesson 9mm autos were issued.
LAPD’s first 9mm issue round was the Federal 95 grain soft point. John Pride told me that the round expanded a little and then the core and jacket usually separated, with the jacket remaining behind and the the core making a complete penetration of the shootee. All in all, not very good performance, but the powers that be still wouldn’t authorize hollow point ammo, so the JSP load was the compromise.
Actual chronographed velocity from their Beretta 92FS was 1300-1325 fps for the load.
IIRC, the LAPD went from the 95 gr JSP, to 115 gr JHP, to 147 gr JHP.
What was their reasoning for each of the transitions?
To improve terminal effectiveness and more rapidly incapacitate dangerous threats to officers and the public.
Nice to know my memory’s not completely gone. Thanks gents.
And if my memory serves correctly, the progression was Federal 95 JSP, Remington 115 JHP (was it the +P version, Doc?) and then Winchester Ranger Talon (RA9T) 147 JHP…
About the Radway Green 95gr JSP 9mm ammo—a few months ago I bought from Ammunition to Go a batch of 9mm 95gr JSP(XM9R01) made by Federal from RG components. Brass is marked RG with an 03 date. Primers are crimped. The bullet appears to be the same one that Federal used in its 95 grain l.e. ammo. The seller described this stuff as British sub gun ammo that could be safely fired in handguns and mentioned the intention to produce a round with less glancing upon impact with hard surfaces.
Various cops turned writers gave the original Federal round poor reviews years ago. The RG version mentioned here is hot ammo that shoots well in my Glock 19. I suspect that its performance is the same as the old l.e ammo. I bought it cheap and like it for plinking but consider it obsolete.
It seems to me that the progression to the 147’s has begun to swing back toward middleweights in the upper midwest… 124-127 gr offerings.
I’ve shot this load into water. Zero expansion, high penetration, you could have reloaded the bullet and shot it again.
Not my first choice unless I was rabbit hunting with my Glock.
Doc, you may recall that we use the 124gr +P Gold Dot here. We are one of the few 9mm agencies in the area, but all of the rest around here use the +P Gold Dot or 127gr +P+ Ranger-T.
We did some gello testing here of the various 147gr loads when I was running the range program. I’d carry the Gold Dot, Ranger-T or HST without any heartburn. I did most of our shooting with my G26s so I could get an idea how the little guns performed.
Portland reports the 147gr HST working well for them, LAPD still issues the 147gr Ranger-T, it’s a very proven load.
What is the difference in performance between the +P+ and +P loads of the 127gr Ranger-T? I see both listed in the win site:
http://www.winchester.com/lawenforcement/testing/testing.aspx#
If you go to “Launch Testing Comparison Tool” the difference in performance doesn´t seem to justify the +P+ extra recoil, blast and wear on the gun, am I missing something?
What about these loads compared to the Speer 124gr +P Gold Dot, is there any meaningful difference?
I believe you will find only the 127 gr RA9TA is +P+, while both the 124 gr RA9124TP and RA9BAB are +P.
What Doc said.
And as far as how they compare to the Gold Dot, not much difference at all.