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.40 ammo chrono results: most powerful

buschmaster
recently I tested 11 different ammo's in 4 Glocks and 5 barrels with a chronograph. that would take a while to write up and I don't have time. but here is the best of the best.

Lone Wolf 5.3" G35 barrel in a G22
long-barrel.jpg

shooting this,

ammos-Underwood-XTP-155.jpg

Underwood 155 grain XTP bullet, part# 223

results:
1354 ft/sec
631 ft-lb KE
210 power factor

yowza.
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Comments

19 comments

Date Votes
  • KenK/84Bravo
    Thanks for the information and the research buschmaster.

    Unfamiliar with Underwood ammunition.

    Have about 6 .40's though.
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  • buschmaster
    what I did with the ammo was, pick the most interesting JHP's and FMJ's for self-defense, other FMJ's that are completely unknown (unpublished) velocity, a few typical range fodder FMJ, and this particular Underwood which should be the hottest of all (it was) and chrono them in all 4 lengths of Glock barrel plus a Gen4 barrel to see if there is any velocity loss in that.

    because when a box of ammo says "1000 ft/s" it's very much useless. what barrel length was that? what's the velocity in shorter and longer barrels?

    and bullets have different velocities in different barrels anyway, due to differences in rifling cut and jacket material. check out the Buffalo Bore website and it's not unusual to see a short barrel actually faster than the next longer barrel, with the same exact ammo. so 1000 ft/s in a mfr's test barrel does not mean 1000 ft/s in a Glock barrel.

    so, if I want to know what WILL these ammo's do in different size Glocks, there is only one way to find out. buy the ammo, buy a chronograph, get out there with the guns and do it.

    so I did it. when I publish the results you have 11 different ammo's to choose from that you KNOW what they WILL do in your Glock. of course there are 1536,743,9865 other brands and types of ammo but these you will know.
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  • buschmaster
    Underwood is super high power ammo. all of it can be considered +P or +P+. that means that their .40 can't be shot out of a stock Glock barrel due to lack of case head support. you have to use an aftermarket barrel such as Lone Wolf, KKM, Bar-Sto, Storm Lake, Double Diamond, etc.

    their ammo is loaded with Hornady XTP, generic JHP, FMJ, and the Lehigh XP and XD penetrator bullets. they use Starline brass.

    Double Tap and some Buffalo Bore are high power like that too. BB will tell you explicitly which ones need an aftermarket barrel.
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  • KenK/84Bravo
    Thanks for the education Sir.

    Valuable information.
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  • buschmaster
    hey! "I went to college for this" :mrgreen:
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  • SG
    Interesting info! I know that Liberty 50g 9mm exceeds the manufacturer rated 2000fps out of a 4" barrel. I can just imagine what it might do out of a sub gun.
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  • mrmike08075
    I have some 9mm +P carbine or SMG only ammunition - it's full metal jacket and from Israel (blue tip) that can break 1400 FPS on the chronograph from a handgun...I ran samples for testing through my French MAC 1950 (2REP)

    I now only fire it through my Spanish Destroyer mini Mauser bolt action officers presentation grade carbine - but velocity through the carbine did not yield much of an increase through the much longer BBL...

    I have some Spanish 9mm Largo that is also designed for use in a carbine or SMG. I only run it through my Star Model A super / only ran some through it for testing purposes and it hit 1350+ FPS on the chronograph from the aforementioned semiautomatic handgun...

    I have a stash of .32-20 WCF HV rifle and carbine only ammunition - and this little bottle necked / stepped down cartridge not only zips along but performs much better through a long gun (a bolt action rifle with detachable magazine ) than its companion SAA Colt revolver clone..

    The Japanese Imperial military / the naval infantry produced two different strengths of 8mm Nambu cartridges - one for the less then robust nambu family of propriety semiautomatic handguns and one for the conversely much better made family of SMG's (great gun with a strong action but poorly made magazines)

    Again this particular bottle necked cartridge puts up better numbers from an SMG or long gun as opposed to a handgun...

    I suspect that the .30 caliber Mauser / 7.62X25 tokarev / .30 cal Luger may have different performance results when switching from pistol to carbine or SMG but think the results might vary greatly...

    Mike
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  • buschmaster
    7.62x25 ammo did vary greatly in power because like the others you mentioned there were different intended purposes. handgun, smg, rifle. higher/lower pressure and much slower burning powder for the rifles which would be ineffective in a short barrel handgun.

    semiauto pistol ammo in a smg really should be specialized with slow-burning powder because of such a small case capacity. the fast-burning powder normally runs out of gas around 5 to 5.5 inches. if I ever got into handloading .40 I would work up loads with slow powder to take advantage of long barrels, something factory ammo doesn't do.

    might eat barrels though.
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  • select-fire
    Used Underwood Ammo for years... I have that exact load in the nightstand with my 5" XD .40. One wicked rd. I also have some old Underwood..they tuned it down in the 135 gr. but mine are 1450 FPS.. that would most likely be out of a 4". I shoot their 110 gr V max out of the .308 and they scream at 3400FPS.
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  • buschmaster
    135 @ 1450 out of a 4" barrel.

    for .40 cal, 189 power factor in a 4" seems about the limit. more than that is +P. what you got there is 196. yup, that's Underwood for you.
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  • mrmike08075
    I do have a uberti baby rolling block carbine that accepts .357 magnum and .38 special and .38 long colt and has a conversion breech block allowing a switch to .38 endure...

    I have an H&R Handi Rifle chambered in .357 maximum that takes the magnum / special / and colt...

    Allowing the development of rifle and carbine only - long gun only loads for what are traditionally seen as "only" a handgun cartridge - and many ammunition manufacturers will not produce a cartridge beyond the capabilities of the average industry standard handgun...

    Buffalo bore and other produce "ruger" only handgun ammo (or say freedom arms or BFR) and some will load specialty cartridges specifically for use in long guns only...

    Even amongst rifle cartridges there is often a specialty high performance high velocity high chamber pressure ammunition offered for "ruger no.1" rifle only (as an example)

    For well l over 100 years almost all commercially available .45-70 ammo loads were limited to those safe to chamber and fire in a surplus trapdoor rifle... in order to avoid the liability attached to having the action detonate like a hand grenade while pressed up against the shooters face...

    I have always wanted to see the performance specs of several traditional handgun only cartridges when fired through a carbine or short rifle...

    Thompson contender modular Lego guns went a long way towards allowing shooters to explore how traditional pistol loads might perform in a suitable carbine or short rifle...

    .401 herters power mag - .357 atomic - .455 webley - .50 desert eagle - .460 Smith and Wesson - etc...

    And thanks to dedicated curators and seekers of knowledge - shooting and handloading experts like the OP of this thread we get a glimpse into the proverbial undiscovered country.

    Mike
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  • bambihunter
    While I don't shoot the .40 S&W, I do shoot a 40 caliber. I am a big fan of both Underwood and Double Tap. I am partial to the latter because he was around promoting and running the 10mm auto at the speeds intended not loading down to the .40 S&W levels during that time (early 2000's). He used to spend a lot of times on the various shooting and reloading forums I frequented and seems like a good guy (Mike McNett). Some speculate both manufacturers use some type(s) of blended powder. I don't remember about Underwood, but unless it specifically states it is +P then it falls in the pressure levels allowable for a given caliber. Of course the longer and tighter the chamber the less damage to your brass or chance to blow it up. I have shot thousands of his hot rounds through my G29, along with a lot of my slightly watered down stuff.
    I shoot his 135 grain loadings for my CCW gun. That is hard to beat for that purpose. I also use his heavy 200 grain loads occasionally when the needs arise.

    10mm 135gr Controlled Expansion:
    1600fps / 767 ft.lbs. - Glock 20
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  • toad67
    http://ballisticsbytheinch.com/40sw.html
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  • shilowar
    I bought a bunch of high test Underwood 10MM. Haven't had a chance to shoot it out of my RO Elite yet but looking forward to it. Pricey stuff though.
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  • buschmaster
    bambihunter wrote:
    While I don't shoot the .40 S&W, I do shoot a 40 caliber. I am a big fan of both Underwood and Double Tap. I am partial to the latter because he was around promoting and running the 10mm auto at the speeds intended not loading down to the .40 S&W levels during that time (early 2000's). He used to spend a lot of times on the various shooting and reloading forums I frequented and seems like a good guy (Mike McNett). Some speculate both manufacturers use some type(s) of blended powder. I don't remember about Underwood, but unless it specifically states it is +P then it falls in the pressure levels allowable for a given caliber. Of course the longer and tighter the chamber the less damage to your brass or chance to blow it up. I have shot thousands of his hot rounds through my G29, along with a lot of my slightly watered down stuff.
    I shoot his 135 grain loadings for my CCW gun. That is hard to beat for that purpose. I also use his heavy 200 grain loads occasionally when the needs arise.

    10mm 135gr Controlled Expansion:
    1600fps / 767 ft.lbs. - Glock 20

    every time I Bing for low flash ammo I keep running across this web page.

    https://www.shootandreload.com/2014/12/02/handgun-ammo-with-virtually-zero-muzzle-flash/

    he's using VV-N340 which he says performs just like CorBon's loads, which I will note are up there as much as you can get without going +P. so if you add more powder you might get Underwood/DoubleTap type loads or at least something you would like.
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  • buschmaster
    toad67 wrote:

    that's not a Glock barrel, and they don't do 3.5", 4.5", 5.3" so ??? not much use to me
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  • buschmaster
    shilowar wrote:
    I bought a bunch of high test Underwood 10MM. Haven't had a chance to shoot it out of my RO Elite yet but looking forward to it. Pricey stuff though.

    all the 10mm Underwood test videos I saw suggest that... you're gonna like it. :D
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  • select-fire
    I have a lone wolf 6" barrel out of the XD Springfield with Underwood 9mm +P+ 124 gr gold dots at 1300. Buzzing faster with 6" barrel near .357 status.
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  • bambihunter
    shilowar wrote:
    I bought a bunch of high test Underwood 10MM. Haven't had a chance to shoot it out of my RO Elite yet but looking forward to it. Pricey stuff though.

    If you like the 10mm auto as it was intended, you'll like Buffalo Bore, Underwood, and Double Tap, as well as the discontinued Normal original loadings.
    If you compare it against other semi-auto calibers the 10mm is expensive. If you compare these hot loads which were loaded to original specs, then you should compare them against the prices of the magnums like the .357, etc. then they don't seem unreasonable.
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