MandolinMan
New member
hey all,
Recently bought a Sig P938 ( which I'm loving so far) and am searching for the right cartridge for the gun.
After breaking it in with a few boxes of fmj ammo, I loaded it up with Hornady Critical Defense ammo and have been carrying that way for the past week.
Well today I decided to do a little backyard ballistic testing using water to test expansion. ( disclaimer: I'm fully aware that this testing has little 'real world' value as bad guys are not made of water. Nevertheless I consider it a valid indicator of performance under certain conditions. After all, In the early days of FBI ballistic testing, they used precisely the same setup: 55 gal. drum filled with water. )
Anyway, I was surprised to find that the critical defense ammo gave Zero expansion. So I repeated the test with 124 gr. hornady XTP's and some 115 gr. PMC hollowpoints. Results were exactly the same: very deep penetration and no expansion.
In contrast, ALL three of these rounds expanded very nicely out of the longer barrel of my BHP.
My hypothesis: the shorter barrel generates lower velocities which are inadequate for proper expansion.
My question: What rounds should I consider? As I understand, this is a problem universal to short barreled guns.
I need a cartridge that I can depend on to give me at least some expansion. The three rounds so far have been no better than fmj ammo.
Anyway, Thanks.
Recently bought a Sig P938 ( which I'm loving so far) and am searching for the right cartridge for the gun.
After breaking it in with a few boxes of fmj ammo, I loaded it up with Hornady Critical Defense ammo and have been carrying that way for the past week.
Well today I decided to do a little backyard ballistic testing using water to test expansion. ( disclaimer: I'm fully aware that this testing has little 'real world' value as bad guys are not made of water. Nevertheless I consider it a valid indicator of performance under certain conditions. After all, In the early days of FBI ballistic testing, they used precisely the same setup: 55 gal. drum filled with water. )
Anyway, I was surprised to find that the critical defense ammo gave Zero expansion. So I repeated the test with 124 gr. hornady XTP's and some 115 gr. PMC hollowpoints. Results were exactly the same: very deep penetration and no expansion.
In contrast, ALL three of these rounds expanded very nicely out of the longer barrel of my BHP.
My hypothesis: the shorter barrel generates lower velocities which are inadequate for proper expansion.
My question: What rounds should I consider? As I understand, this is a problem universal to short barreled guns.
I need a cartridge that I can depend on to give me at least some expansion. The three rounds so far have been no better than fmj ammo.
Anyway, Thanks.