Thursday, August 13, 2015

640 (rounds, not kilobytes.)

Yesterday at the range started out on the main firing line, where the BG380 digested another hundred rounds of the Fiocchi 95gr FMJ from Lucky Gunner without a hiccup of any kind. That brought the total rounds fired to six hundred. I then adjourned to the pistol bays with my chronograph and two boxes of JHPs from the assortment I had on hand around the house.

 First up was Sig Sauer's 90gr V-Crown JHP. The ten-shot string returned these numbers:
LO: 897.6
HI: 946.0
AV: 917.0
ES: 48.41
SD: 15.09
This is about 60fps slower than the box flap velocity claim, and gives an average muzzle energy of 168 ft/lbs. Recoil seemed milder than most of what I'd been shooting, too.

 Next was ten shots of Winchester's 95gr W380D "Defend" JHP:
LO: 837.5
HI: 933.5
AV: 886.8
ES: 96.05
SD: 27.89
That's also 60fps below the claimed velocity, and works out to an average of 166 ft/lbs. There was noticeable muzzleblast in the sunny, noontime pistol bay, which makes me wonder what it looks like in the dark. I'll need to look into that.

Then I went back to the main firing line to shoot both of these loads at ten yards for groups, just out of curiosity.
When shooting the Sig Sauer V-Crown, I had another light strike. This was the hundred and twenty-eighth round of the day, #628 of the test. The round functioned normally on the second attempt.

Because I'd used an extra round of the Winchester due to a chrono goof, I only shot one five-shot group with it. Just like the W380T 95gr FMJ, it printed high and left of the bull, into a group measuring 3.4". The Sig tended more towards straight left, with the better of the two groups measuring 2.9" and the other only a couple tenths bigger.

That's 640 rounds in the books with no cleaning or lubrication. There have been three light strikes on primers (#140, #357, #628), but otherwise the pistol has gone through the complete cycle of operation with each pull of the trigger. 1360 rounds to go.
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