No problems today at the range

[sslater]

Well, I went back to the range today after getting only 6 rounds off last week before my R9S locked up.
Thanks to Erich's tip on a small sliver of metal in his gun, I found the same thing.

Today I went thru 80 rounds with only one failure to feed - and that was because I purposely limp-wristed a weak hand shot.  Even then, it took only a slap with the heel of my hand to put the gun into battery.  The final 4 rounds in that mag fired fine.

One question for you who have tried lots of different brands of ammo:  Muzzle flash.
I bought a box of Federal Personal Defense 124 gr. HydraShok at the range just to try another premium brand.  They were new stock, packaged in the latest box.  No issues with function.  All 20 rounds thru three mags fired fine BUT they made a tremendous muzzle flash.  Very distracting, and I'm sure I would have been blinded in a dark situation.  The Speer GDHPs have much, much less flash.  
IMHO, personal defense rounds should be using powder blended for low flash.  What do the Forum members think?

[Michigunner]

Steve,

That's an excellent point about the muzzle flash, something I never considered.  Obviously, it is of the greatest importance in a dark home setting.  We would be both blinded and unable to hear.  I still remember some of your earlier pictures which showed a mighty blast of light coming out of your Rohrbaugh.

Maybe we can find some published statistics about the various brands.

I'll pay more attention now to muzzle flash.

Bill

[harrydog]

I agree that Hydra-Shoks definitely have more muzzle flash than either of my two favorites, Gold Dots and Golden Sabers. I've never really liked Hydra-Shoks for that reason. This holds true for .45ACP as well.

[Erich]

Yay!

I'm glad my metal-chip-in-the-works story was of some use. It's a super-tight little gun, isn't it? Hard to believe Rohrbaugh can make something so precise and sell it for as little as they do - a real work of art.

Muzzle-flash-wise, I've also found that the HS throw it out pretty good. I was okay with the STHPs (115-gr) and the Remington UMC green box cheap-o 115-gr JHPs - shooting them at the indoor range, I noted that they offered diminished muzzle flash (at least the lots I had did).

cheers, erich

[R9SCarry]

Steve - glad the problem was identified - valuable lesson for everyone to remember.

Re muzzle flash.  Every time I did ammo tests it was good daylight and ya know - I never really took stock of any differences then.  

All I know now tho is, having fired off some GD's in lower light - they certainly have a low and acceptable (dull orange category IIRC) flash - not something that would be a problem I think.

[Calvin Cooledge]

Steve - glad the problem was identified - valuable lesson for everyone to remember.

Re muzzle flash.  Every time I did ammo tests it was good daylight and ya know - I never really took stock of any differences then.  

All I know now tho is, having fired off some GD's in lower light - they certainly have a low and acceptable (dull orange category IIRC) flash - not something that would be a problem I think.

My range has an incandescent bulb at the shooting station so you can load. It also has a switch to turn the light out. I became aware of muzzle flash when I first used Hydro-Shock in my .45ACP. I don't see it with the GDHP in 115gr. At least I'm not aware of it.
BTW-I'll try to take a pic of the Uncle Mike's sleeve and post it tonight. I love it!

Steve

[MurrayNevada]

I pretty much stay with GDHPs in all calibers.  An increasing number of LE agencies are using GDHP and it's always good to shoot the same ammo as your local PD.  It's hard for a plaintiff's attorney to demonize your ammo when the local PD or SD use the same ammo.  

[Seven]

+1 on the Gold Dots for just about any reason.  Too bad I have to special order the 115 gr standard pressure from my local shop...all they carry are the 124 +P our local cops use (and which are fine for my Steyr primary-carry...)