Our Ammo: Q&A
Click here for more Q&A from our Manufacturer.
- Can I shoot your +P 380 Auto ammo in my LCP? Yes you can. Gun makers often warn against using any ammo that is not SAAMI spec. and there is no SAAMI spec. for the 380 auto +P cartridge. Gun makers do this to protect themselves from any liability in our super litigious American society. Buffalo Bore and others have tested our 380 auto +P ammo in the LCP and many LCP owners currently shoot our +P ammo in their LCPs and we've never heard of any problems from the "power" or "pressure" of the ammo, but obviously the use of +P ammo in these little guns should be limited to just enough to test reliable feeding and point of impact, then carry the ammo in your LCP in the event you need it, but don't go plinking with it.
2. Can I shoot your +P 45 Colt ammo in my Taurus Judge or my S&W Governor? No. The Judge/Governor is not designed to be strong enough to use +P ammo. If you'd like to use very powerful loads in the Judge/Governor, use our items 3E, 3F, 3H, 3I and 3J. These five loads are safe to use in ANY 45 Colt firearm and are much more powerful than ordinary 45 Colt ammo. These five loads are also much more powerful than the 410 gauge slug loads you can fire in the Judge.
3. Do +P loads accelerate the wear on my gun? Firing any ammo in any gun will wear the gun out eventually. Firing +P ammo in the same gun, will always wear that gun out faster than weaker ammunition would. Just how much faster would depend on many factors and would vary from make and model of firearm and make of +P ammunition.
4. Will shooting hard cast bullets in Polygonal barrels hurt the barrels? No. Please use the link below to read my short essay on shooting hard cast bullets in polygonal barrels.
5. Why are there several different Ballistics Charts for each BBA cartridge? Buffalo Bore posts a relatively wide range of Muzzle Velocities and their associated Exterior Ballistic Charts as a courtesy to our customers because we have no way of knowing what kind of gun you will use our ammo in. Generally, although not always, guns with longer barrels will exhibit higher muzzle velocities than guns with shorter barrels. It should also be understood, that even two identical guns from the same manufacturer with equal barrel lengths can consistently exhibit different muzzle velocities while using exactly the same kind of ammo out of the same box.
There are several different variables that help determine the final muzzle velocity of each firearm. We have posted a wide spectrum of muzzle velocities in an attempt to cover the full range of possibilities and even make room for the roguishly-experimental element also; we know you're out there. It is, of course, up to the customer to determine what the muzzle velocity is out of their own individual gun. Although there are a couple of different ways to measure muzzle velocity, the most common way is via the use of a 'Ballistics Chronograph.' Scroll to the bottom for a Google link that shows several different Chronographs and pricing. After firing several rounds and measuring the velocities through a ballistics chronograph you can calculate your average muzzle velocity. Now you can consult the Exterior Ballistics Charts we provide to more accurately predict what many of your bullet's characteristics will be downrange.
Things like velocity, foot pounds of energy remaining, drop in inches, flight time and even more can be quite accurately predicted at several different distances downrange by referencing the proper Exterior Ballistics Chart in accord with Your particular Muzzle Velocity. Ballistics Chronographs are relatively inexpensive and much more accurate for the dollar than only a few years ago. More and more of our customers are acquiring ballistics chronographs, finding their muzzle velocities and then using our Exterior Ballistics Charts to become very well informed gun and ammo users. Fortunately for us, these folks actually understand what their guns and ammo are doing downrange better than ever before and a well-informed Buffalo Bore Customer is very often a repeat customer as they know first-hand how well their Buffalo Bore Ammo is performing against other ammo and have little need to take a magazine's word or our word for it any longer.
6. Felt Recoil The single most difficult question we get is regarding which load/cartridge “kicks” the most. Felt recoil is highly subjective and there is no formula or definitive number that can be assigned. We can determine free recoil via the laws of Newtonian physics, but “felt” recoil is entirely dependent on many factors that cannot be defined or quantified. Example: I am CONTINUOUSLY asked about which 44 mag. or 454 Casull (insert any cartridge) kicks the most. However, if I was to give my opinion, it would be based on my hand shape, hand size, forearm mass and strength, bone density, experience, nervous system , mind set, weight/mass of the handgun, shape of handgun grip and how that fits my hand shape/size, etc, etc, etc. So, what I think I feel in regards to recoil, will vary at least a little, if not a lot, from person to person. Hence, asking any person other than yourself, about how much (felt) some cartridge kicks, is entirely pointless. Many, many times I have informed a shooting partner that “this load/gun doesn't kick at all”, only to have that person cringe in pain upon firing the first round and then refuse to shoot it any more. Further, I am convinced that folks, who are concerned about felt recoil, need to get out and shoot more, until they are so familiar with the recoil that they no longer think about it as a factor in their decision making. There is no substitute for experience.
7. "Stopping" bears with handgun or rifle cartridges I get asked about this OFTEN. Having killed dozens of bear and guided hunters for dozens more, I have firsthand knowledge. Additionally, I have been hanging around bear guides all my adult life and between us, we’ve seen over a thousand bears killed. We have come to some consensus on the best tools and methods of killing bears with guns. First, not all bears are the same. Grizzly bears have a much different mindset than the black bears species.
To stop a grizzly attack, you will PROBABLY have to kill it, but sometimes all you have to do is to hurt it badly and the bear will become dissuaded. So, when planning to stop grizzly attacks, it is best to use a cartridge that will kill it—the quicker the better. Interior grizzlies normally get no bigger than 500 lbs, but in Montana, I’ve seen interior bears around 900 lbs., but this is very rare. Coastal grizzlies, sometimes known as Alaskan Brown Bears, often exceed 1000 lbs. If you are relying on shoulder or heart/lung shots to kill such a bear, it takes a lot of cartridge. One that will make a big hole that goes very deeply through bone and into internal organs. If you hit him fatally in the chest area, you will then have roughly 15 to 30 seconds to stay alive before the bear learns he is dead. If you are relying on brain shots, it is not all that hard to kill adult grizzly bears. Almost any center fire cartridge of 357 bore or larger with a very hard non-expanding, flat nosed bullet will pierce a bears skull with direct /frontal (between the eyes) hits. From the side angle, shoot them right at the bottom of the ear canal. These two shots are instant death, if you are using correct ammo.
The old MYTH that bullets will slide off a bear’s skull is pure hogwash, when using modern ammo featuring bullets that will not mushroom when fired out of a powerful handgun. When using high powered rifles, it is OK if the bullet mushrooms as the high velocity of the rifle bullet, will puncture the bears skull regardless, because of its high velocity. 150 years ago, when the early settlers were heading west, the muzzle loaders they used, fired pure lead (very soft) round balls that would or could flatten out against bone and possibly slide off, leaving only a surface wound, when hitting a bears head. Unless you are using pure lead bullets that are rounded, this situation is no longer a concern. Black bears are very different mentally, than grizzly bears. Black bears come in red, brown, blonde, and black color phases, but they are all black bear species and should be considered “black bears” regardless of color phase. While black bears have much the same physical qualities (normally smaller) of grizzly bears, they GENERALLY have a much different mindset.
No comments:
Post a Comment