[Charlie Petty]

Harvey, would you please cite the issue and page?

FWIW I have some of the ammo but have only really tested the .45 ACP. I found that there was a large extreme spread of velocity (about 150 fps) which certainly could be perceived as light or heavy. Accuracy was surprisingly good and comparable to other generic ball. I had no function problems with either .45, .40 or 9mm but that was a very limited amount of shooting. I did not see anything grossly wrong with the brass but have no tried to reload any of it.

I agree with distinguished counsel's view of IMI and some of their GI .45 ball ammo- either standard or match- has been exceptionally accurate.

 

[Charlie Petty]

The way the Gunnysack column works is that I submit four items every other month. At the last moment we learned that one of the items which we had seen at the Shot Show was not going to be available. It was an imported product and the deal with the importer apparently went sour.

It really was the day before deadline and there wasn't time for me to get something to them so Roy filled in with something he could do quickly.

It was a positive review based on his experience, but other than chronograph data mine would have been similar and what I posted earlier. I did not have any trouble and even though there was considerable variation in velocities none were so high as to indicate an overpressure and the average value I got was very much in the ballpark for .45 ball ammo.

The good news here is that Harvey reported on HIS experience instead of "I heard" which is often the case. He had objective evidence and my test would support that.

Nothing in my experience supports any "bad brass" story but I promise to check that out and let you know.

 

[Charlie Petty]

You did mean flash holes didn't you?

 

[Charlie Petty]

sorry... couldn't resist.

Actually off center firing pin strikes was a big issue with the FBI 1076 and can be a problem with 1911 types if the top lugs are too shallow and allow the barrel to go up too high. But off center strikes are meaningless in terms of accuracy until you begin to get misfires.

 

[Charlie Petty]

I shot some more .45 today and examined the brass. There were no off center flash holes. Nor were there any unusual marks from the extractor or ejector which would be present if the brass was "soft". There did seem to be a bit of variation in recoil as reported before, but it didn't cause any malfunctions.

 

[Charlie Petty]

Fred, why would I lie?

 

[Charlie Petty]

I don't think you meant to either, but in effect you did.

I have something at stake here because even though I did not write the piece it did appear in my column.

When this first arose I reported what I knew at the time and after hearing several comments such as yours I said that I would check further. I did and posted those findings. All you did was repeat your orginal comment, dismissing my findings. At least you did allow for the possibility that things had gotten better.

Not long ago we had a similar situation with Savage rifles. Several people, myself included, said good things about them but one member dismissed it out of hand. "Junk" I think was the word used.

Well, this illustrates one of the genuine problems the firearms industry faces: closed minds.

I'm sure that American ammunition had problems and that the Savage rifles of 20 years ago were not as nice as those made today, but there never seems to be room in the gunshop grapevine for things to improve.

I'm an old fart now and love the guns made by S&W and Colt back in the 30s. The finishes were incredible and the actions smooth as silk, but those days are gone. The problem- of course- is that very few could afford to buy hand fitted and polished guns anymore. Today work like that is done by very smart machines. And, at least in the case of S&W the revolvers made today are mechanically better although not as pretty.

Consumers in the firearms industry are incredibly resistant to change. Remember when composite stocks first came along and everybody talked about how ugly they were? What is the best selling stock material today?

Plastic mainspring housings and MIM parts on 1911s are replaced- not because they are inferior- just because they're different.

But count on this: if the next box of that ammo I shoot turns out to be bad, or the Savage rifle I'm expecting next week is junk I'll tell you about that too.

:soap: