First time out Happy/Sad

[Fat Boy]

The pup was whimpering so much I finally took It out for a walk yesterday.  What a nice gun.  Here is what I did and the results.  I took two 380s and two 9mm, first I shot 6 mags through the Sig 232 and was happy with the gun and the results.   Then I shot 1 mag through the LCP and got poorer results mainly because it's HORRIBLE to shoot, I have large hands and the gun is just not right for me.  Then I shot 2 high capacity mags through my Sig P226 and this baby shoots like a dream.  Every time I shot it I'm surprised at how nice it is and the results were good for me.  I am generally not that great of a shot, poor eyesight (age) and poor muscle control (struck by a drunk driver, years of therapy).  Then I brought out the R9 and shot the first mag of 9mm 147 Grain Federal Hydra-Shok, see pictures below.  I was very pleased and loved the smooth trigger and the results for me were good except a little low.  Now I do shoot low but this was a little lower than what I would've expected (probably I need to get used to the long trigger pull).  The first picture is of my first mag with the R9 at 7 yards attempting to take good shots.  The second picture is of my Sig P226 taking semi-rapid fire at the same distance, 7 yards, so you can see a comparison of my abilities(or inabilities).

these are 8.5 x 11 sheet a paper targets

these are 8.5 x 11 sheet a paper targets


After shooting the first mag and being pleased, I then shot four more mags, for a total of five, of ammo I had available as follows:
PMC Bronze 115 FMJ
Lellier & Bellot 115 FMJ
American Eagle 124 FMJ
Federal Hydra-Shok 147 JHP
Everything feed fine with no feed or jam issues at all except I did have a failure to fire.  Please let me know what you think why this happened.  When shooting my second mag on the 3rd round I got this.



This  round did NOT fire, just click,  I checked to see if it was seated all the way home and it did appear to be firmly seated.  I believe that this would be the 11th round through the gun so being dirty is not an issue.  I also do not see any looseness in the grip handle at all.  I believe it is well oiled, at least to my feel is seems so.  I did not want to pull the trigger a second time because I feared losing the round in the debris around me and not know what happened so here it is and I would a appreciate any help or recommendation, thanks.  I believe that the gun shoots better than my abilities. Overall I love this gun and will not be keeping my LCP, if anyone wants to buy a lightly used LCP let me know.

[kjtrains]

Looks like an ammo issue to me.  I would only use what is recommended here on the forum.  You had good results with all the other ammo, which is good, but surprising.

Use only the proven ammo on this forum for the best results.   I will dissent to others, however, who may have a better answer.

Really, a good range report.

[Fat Boy]

Thanks, you may be right.  It makes more sense to me that the wrong ammo would've jammed somehow but not to fire to me seems more of a gun issue BUT I am not that familiar with the R9 obviously.  I think in about 20 years of shooting I have only had one other failure to fire (from a center fire pistol cartridge) and that was from a hand loaded round, so yes I could see how it may be just poorer quality ammo.  I intend to shoot Federal Hydra-Shok 147gr. JHP if I continue to have a solid history of success with them.  I will have to read through the forums more to see if others have had the same issue when using non-approved ammo or if there has been any problems with Hydra-Shok.

[Fat Boy]

When I compare the PMC round I shot with factory shot rounds the hit on the primer is SIGNIFICANTLY less.  I wish I would've looked at other PMC rounds I shot to compare to and this would've probably helped me conclude that it is the type of cartridge.  Well back to the range I will go.

The very big surprise for me in this is the very manageable felt recoil of the R9.  I really thought moving from the LCP 380 to the R9 9mm was going to just plain over power me but the R9 to me is a pleasure to shoot compared to the LCP.  I am really happy with this gun and to be quite honest I am really happy that I am really happy....this would've been a bummer of a gun not to enjoy.

[Richard S]

FB:

You will know this, but for anyone new to firearms it is important to remember that when experiencing a failure to fire, the pistol should be held for a few seconds with the muzzle pointing down range before ejecting the unexpended round just in case there is a "hang fire" [slow-burning primer/powder] in progress. A "hang fire" which ignites while being ejected right in front of your face can ruin your entire day, not to mention various body parts.

Now, with regard to PMC ammunition, I didn't write this. One of the brand's vendors did.

[size=10]PMC ammunition stands for "Precision Made Cartridges". The ammo itself is made in South Korea, South Africa, and Boulder City, Nevada. PMC ammunition is not match grade ammo, but it is reliable at the range. It is also less expensive than other brands of ammo out there. For the money, PMC ammunition is decent and will get the job done. There is one caveat though; often shooters who reload their rounds don't care for PMC ammunition because they use an alloy case instead of a brass one, and some reloaders have mentioned that the primer holes in the casings were ever so slightly varied from one round to the next.

All in all, though, PMC ammunition is inexpensive, plentiful, and reliable. It just isn't match grade. Then again, it costs nowhere near as much as match grade either. A good value for the money: PMC ammunition. [/size]

http://www.ammosupply.com/category/911_9mm_ammunition.aspx

I choose not to load PMC in my R9.

[Fat Boy]

Richard,
Thanks for both pieces of information.  I would never point a gun that would be harmful to me or someone else with or without ammo in it.  But I can see that maybe I should've given it more time to "Slow burn".  I have never heard of a actual slow burn happening but have worried about it when this type of failure has happened with rifle loads or 22 rim fire, would this take longer than a minute?

[Richard S]

FB:

Thirty seconds is generally considered to be enough time to wait before ejecting a round which has failed to fire. If the powder has not ignited within that time, the round is most likely a "dud" which will never fire at all.

[Fat Boy]

Richard,
Thanks, thats about what I would've expected.  Very good information.

[sslater]

Fat_Boy,
I fired a couple of magazines s of PMC ammo in my 1995 vintage R9s last month.  The range had some for sale, so I bought two boxes, and saved my Winchester White Box stuff for another time.
All rounds fired without problems. I used the rest of the box in my full-size Ruger SR-9, also without issue.  When I examined the spent brass for reloading, I found that a few of the primer impressions were a bit light from the R9s.  Even the striker-fired Ruger made some light hits.  Makes me wonder what kind of primers PMC uses, or if they even try to batch run their components.  I guess Richard S is right - PMC is okay for practice but it certainly is not match ammo.

Steve

[Fat Boy]

Steve,
Thank you very much for this report and this is the way I am leaning till I get out in the range again and look for myself.  I should've been more careful to look at all the spent rounds and examine them.  Unfortunately when I was there the range was full and casings were everywhere.

[tracker]

Some foreign ammo has a tendency toward hard primers.
PMC is made all over the place so I don't know about that
one for sure but I agree with Richard, too.