The Sermonette
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. -James 4:7-10 NRSVUE
Greater China?
H/T CW at the Daily Timewaster
Beware the Russian Banana Peel
Marina Yankina (right), another top Putin ally, has been found dead after mysteriously falling 160ft from a building.
Let’s say that you were invited to visit Russia and to a balcony 160′ AGL and you saw a banana peel on the decking – would you be justified in feeling triggered? Yes, definitely. yes.
You’d think that the Russians would mix up the assassinations a bit and find somebody who could write a convincing suicide note. It’s almost as if Slick Willy Clinton was the President of Russia these days. All those suicides and not one note.
Israeli Defense Infrastructure – in the UAE?
Yes. JERUSALEM — An Israeli defense company has inaugurated a new facility in the United Arab Emirates and plans to show off a high-energy laser weapon to attendees of the IDEX conference, taking place in Abu Dhabi this month. H/T Claudio and I’m as blown away as he is. It’s a new world.
KC3 – Coronation scheduled for May 6. I’m afraid that I’ll be busy that day. All the best, Jolly good show old boy, chin up, heavy is the head that wears the crown and all that, etc.
Ammunition Reviews – Because this is the Lord’s Day…
(praise the Lord and pass the ammo, etc.)
Depending on your reaction, this could be a regular feature here. at VM. I am reviewing factory loads here, not hand loads. I do hand-load special application ammunition but most people don’t.
These particular 9mm loads are reviewed for use in lightweight self-defense applications. The tool must fit the use. I’ve test fired them in Ballistic jell and against non-human living flesh targets (feral hogs) to evaluate their effectiveness from Sig P365 SAS and Sig P365 XMacro handguns. Essentially they are the same platform but to me, they carry differently. (stock photos)
The SAS (Sig Anti-Snag) has nothing to hang up if you carry it in a pocket or are drawing from a holster. No sight, no safety catch, nothing.
The P365 SAS is equipped with an FT Bullseye sight integrated into the rear of the slide. The FT Bullseye sight uses a combination of fiber-optic and tritium (FT) technology to provide illumination during both day-and night-time shooting conditions. To aim the pistol, simply center the green dot inside the larger green circle, place the dot on the target, and fire.
Since the sight sits on the same plane as the bore, the pistol shoots to point of aim. I found the P365 SAS to be one of the most accurate pistols I’ve ever shot at close-quarter concealed distances. If you’ve been searching for a micro-compact pistol that you can actually hit something with, this is the handgun for you.
Another plus is the pistol’s capacity. The P365 SAS ships with two 10-round magazines—one that seats flush with the frame and one with a pinky extension for a more comfortable grip. With an additional round in the chamber, that’s a total of 11 rounds of point-defense love.
The Sig P365 X-Macro has night sights that are silencer/suppressor friendly. I’ve installed a Romeo Zero Elite optical sight. The magazine capacity is 17 (+1). It’s still a small, concealed-carry firearm but with 2 spare magazines, that’s 52 rounds of point defense love. The tested firearm has a True Precision barrel threaded for a silencer/suppressor.
So one is more of a deep-carry point-defense handgun and the other is what I would characterize as a point-defense tactical handgun.
Now to the 9mm ammunition tested and reviewed. I’m traditionally a .45 ACP shooter, but developments in new 9mm ammo have increased the lethality to the point where, I’m crossing over to the other side when it comes to micro-compact handguns. Who would have thought that I’d recommend 9mm? Well I carry and I do particularly for this purpose.
(1) Fort Scott 9mm 80 grain +P – T. U. I. (Tumble Upon Impact)
Fort Scott Munitions™ 80 grain 9MM Luger TUI™ ammo is a match-grade handgun bullet, with a Tumble Upon Impact™ action that exceeds the performance of a standard expanding bullet for decisive terminal impact. Engineered to create a dynamic wound cavity.
The plus is that this copper bullet (1300 FPS) is light and flat-shooting. It creates massive wound channels as advertised and the tumbling action of the bullet does a number on a flesh-and-blood non-human target. The muzzle flash coming out of that 3.1″ barrel is considerable and if you are going to carry them, you should train with them (obviously) at night as well.
(2) Black Hills Honey Badger 100 gr 9 mm +P
Hollow points may falter when it comes to how deeply they can penetrate. I’ve seen many people survive wounds from 9mm hollow point bullets including shots directly into an eye at point-blank range. The doctors out there would say good, and the warriors out there say WTF?
This 9mm +P cartridge by Black Hills solves that problem with its unique 100-grain Honey Badger projectile, which delivers deadly terminal performance without the need for a nose cavity that could slow it down.
A Honey Badger bullet looks like a drill bit. As its scalloped sides rotate within a target, they will channel and direct soft tissues outward to create a massive wound cavity. And because the Honey Badger is made of solid copper rather than a core and jacket that could separate, it keeps a stellar portion of its weight as it consistently penetrates to over 12” inches in depth.
This round also flies at about 1300 FPS and has a different profile with a significant wound channel (not as significant as the TUI – above) but wicked deep penetration that you’re unlikely to see in a hollowpoint. It penetrated all the way through a feral hog/razorback at 20 meters with a 1.5 to 2-inch wound channel.
Summary: Both the Honey Badger (Black Hills) and the TUI (Ft. Scott) cartridges exceeded expectations. The lightweight 80 grain TUI round is a man-stopper as a point-defense solution. It is not designed to defeat kevlar body armor and trauma plates. These are not the ideal rounds to marry with a suppressor. For that, I like the Super Vel 115 gr Hush Puppy. But that’s another review.
My carry suggestion is the Ft. Scott TUI for the Sig P365 SAS and the Black Hills Honey Badger for the Sig P365 X-Macro (tactical). Both +P. rounds shoot flat. The Honey Badger is going to give you remarkable penetration for this application married to the wound channel.
Helpful? Useless? Let me know your thoughts. I have thick skin. I’m constantly testing different ammunition for different applications to make the tool fit the use. Because I live in a place where I can drive to a location that is infested with feral razorback pigs, I’m able to test on living tissue. The ballistic gel is useful to see the pattern but the proof against nasty, angry, aggressive pigs shows me more.
Other work demands far from the WWM will diminish my ability to pursue my hobby but I’m willing to do testing within my platforms if you’re curious and I can post pictures. I don’t do videos. I’m not Hickok45 – who is exceptionally cool.
Meme of the Day
Thanks for the ammo test. I’ll look into both of those.
You might also like to look at Sellier & Bellot’s XRG line. Their 9mm 100gr. hollowpoint is also solid copper, with a claimed velocity of 1,312 fps – and, interestingly enough, it outperforms that claim in live testing. Its gel results look impressive, but I haven’t seen any live tests on piggies or the like.
For a video review of 9mm, .40 and .45 XRG loads, see:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0QWVl_uXCM
It’s good to share this sort of information including testing data. It’s fortunate that we live in a place where people take shooting and ammunition seriously. Ultimately the ammo has to match the feeding and shooting characteristics of the particular handgun. As a young man, I started off shooting a Browning High Power (HP) that I received as a high school graduation present from my father. The handgun was throated and ramped to accept the old 90 gr Super Vel bullets. As with most military pistols it had been designed to fire jacked (hardball) ammunition. At some point, I switched 115 gr JHP.
As I mentioned above, I saw a lot of people survive hits from the older 9mm ammo. Distressingly, I switched to .45 ACP +P and today to +P+ ammunition which required some organic changes to a tougher recoil spring(S) and titanium guide rod. The Israelis did a lot of work experimenting with these components and I incorporated them. Today, improvements in pocket-carry micro-autos such as the P365 SAS with an impressive 10+1 9mm capacity make them appealing. The newer and more lethal 9mm ammo and more particularly the engineered bullets with a +P punch make the game new again. I’ve never been shy to tune my firearms with different barrels, slides, recoil springs, etc. to give me the results that I want.
Thanks for the ammo review – gonna look locally for that Honey Badger.
Test fire it. The rounds both cavitate and penetrate.
A 365 XL having recently followed me home, “this thread is relevant to my interests.”
Thank you muchly.
It followed you home because it loves you.
Well, I feed it, so……
Ammo review. Thanks indeed, and yes, more please. A review I would be interested in is this stuff–
https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/handgun/9-x-18mm-makarov-95-gr-ftx-critical-defense#!/
With all the surplus Makarovs out there, I would guess I’m not the only one. Mine is a surplus Hungarian PA-63. Well two actually, one as a spare. Back when I had my FFL, my cost was $99. In essence, a communist knock-off of the Walther PPK, with an aluminum frame.
I should add an FYI caveat here. In stock trim, the PA-63 has two major annoyances. First, the hammer spring makes the double action trigger pull horrendous, something like 20lbs. Reducing the hammer spring tension means you have to increase the recoil spring. Fortunately Wolff sells both, and they are an easy swap.
Second, the magazines do not drop free. The slide stop tab on the follower drags inside the mag well. This is fixable, but requires a bit of fine tuning.
I did both fixes to all the PA-63’s I sold.
Before the canoeing accident I had a CZ83. While most were chambered in .380, mine was a 9 Mak. I found it to be a pretty decent shooter and the greater capacity was a plus.
One day at the range a kindly gent let me shoot his CZ-82 in 9 Mak. Being all steel and with a fatter grip, it was a delight to shoot, both single and double action. For CCW, I was torn between that vs the extra weight and bulk over the PA-63. Eventually I stuck with the PA-63, although I had good intentions of snagging a CZ-82 sometime along the way just for grins. Never got it done.
I generally run either Gold Dots or Hornady Critical Duty. I may have to give the Ft. Scott product a try. Besides, they’re something of a local company about an hour’s drive south.
Historically, I’ve edged toward Hornady Critical Duty and if I had more than one handgun, you’d likely find Hornady ammo stacked in the magazines. With the addition of P365s, I set off in search of point-defense ammo options besides the old faithful.
much appreciated. i’ve been carrying a glock 43x to augment my ruger lcr .38 lately. i haven’t been comfortable w/ 115 fmj in it but it hangs up on traditional ogive hollow points. i’ll give these a try.
Are you feeding the local mountain lions? If so, the steady food supply and increasing risk at and near the hovel might provide incentive for unwanted neighbours to move to greener pastures.
I don’t have razorbacks in my neighborhood. There are javelina in the area but I don’t see them very often. I have to farther afield to get to the feral hogs and people are happy to have me cull their numbers. I met a guy local to the hogs who uses dogs. The dogs drive the hogs into the kill box. In this particular area, the testing process provides reliable targets.
Reading Hunters ‘Swagger series’ gave me an appreciation of the depth there is of firearms and weaponry, and the fact I know very little of the science and tech. Your study here, as in past posts (and others blogs), is enlightening to say the least. Design for functionality comes in many disciplines…and is truly fascinating. Who knew? (well, you guys do) Add to the Sermonette the tried and true axiom: “When seconds count the police are minutes away.”
Petey Butt is a joke and a pawn…yet like most Lefty’s is cognizant of how stupid he looks or sounds. “No shame of embarrassing oneself” seems to be the operating factor of the day with this administration. For him to whitewash the Ohio Superfund Site debacle of epic proportions, due to a level of amateur hour incompetence done ‘intentionally’ by authorities (not meant in the conspiratorial sense), shows a level of tone deafness and moronic that illuminates this administrations “equity” idiocy. There are many in positions of “authority” operating as such, making them dangerous to all.
“Resist the deil…” One of my favorite Scriptures to remain vigilant.
*not cognizant
“When seconds count the police are minutes away.”
When you call the cops, order a pizza. When the cops arrive, offer them some of the cold pizza.
In point of fact, there is a 2.5-hour response time from the local sheriff and I’m so far out that pizzas aren’t delivered here. So it would be nice if the sheriff brought me a pizza and didn’t eat it on his drive (chased by a couple of beers).
Where I live in copper basin Alaska the police office is forty miles away but whoever is on duty could be a hundred or more miles away in three different directions! I have a .357 and load 180 gr hard cast around home. If I go to the big city I switch to Hornardy XTP hollow points to reduce the threat behind a target from over penetration if I had to shoot. I am using hand loads and the hard cast is primarily in case a bear shows up and won’t leave!
I think that’s prudent.
The bears where I live are smaller and less aggressive, but I have the .454 available for them.
To me, the 9mm comes into its own in that 0-7 feet shooting situation and the magazine capacity for 8-10 potential targets.
I live in western SD and Black Hills Honey Badger is my choice for carry ammo. I appreciate the reviews and look forward to your insights.
I’m thinking The Almighty might be showing what happens when the sermonette is disregarded.
Ammo reviews are cool!
Never heard anything bad about Honey Badger, the tumbling round is new to me.
I do wish it were easier to learn what guns are rated for +P.
Go to the mfr site. Taurus lists almost all of theirs.
US must contain a large number of former pristine fishing lakes & rivers which used to accommodate engine powered craft are now too shallow or contain metal, wood, or plastic obstacles for anything but lightly loaded canoes. Cause-too many hunters and fire arms enthusiasts boating with too many of their firearms aboard, who have foundered their craft due to various causes.
Cletus Valvecore
Ah yes, it’s like paddling through a downed World Trade Center in some of these lakes given the frequent capsized boats, loaded with otherwise serviceable firearms.
LL, I appreciate the dive into a particular gun, ammunition combination. It is interesting. I am just a dabbler in reloading but find it fascinating.
As far as carry is concerned, when I do carry a 9mm I usually stick to Critical Duty.
As far as the Transportation Secretary is concerned; just another member of Clownworld. Too bad that he is in a position of power instead of somewhere where he could do no harm.
SecTrans is your leader.
Well he thinks he is anyway. I sometimes wonder if these people actually think they are doing a good job. If so, their ability to self-deceive is astounding.
They’re celebrated in the executive branch as its stars and future presidents.
Shocking, that you are stealing FJB’s “blow a lung out” talking point.
Old Pedo Joe used to advise keeping an old 12 ga coach gun (side-by-side) and shooting it into the air to scare people off.
Typical comment by politicians who have little understanding of deadly force while armed security details protect their sorry rear-ends.
The armed men who surround Biden swore to protect the nation and the Constitution. How ironic.
Exactly. Read a book by a Clinton era SS Agent, conflicted didn’t describe it. He did his duty but eventually retired, couldn’t handle the lies.
I’ve sometimes wondered if research and development for the .45 could improve it, or has it already reached peak ability?
There are a lot of excellent .45 ACP options. For a micro-auto pocket pistol, you’re going to have to content yourself with a smaller magazine capacity. My point is that as 9mm ammo becomes more lethal, carrying it on that platform becomes acceptable. The P365 X-Macro which is larger than pocket carry but still small and light has 17+1 rounds in a single mag. That’s a lot of firepower in a small, light compact. The +P rounds are loud and there are muzzle flash issues associated with night shooting, but this is a DEFENSIVE handgun with ammo designed for point defense.
There are other options for more offensive handguns & ammo.
i.e. the Ruger Super Alaskan Redhawk in .454 Cassul is great for large predators but it’s a large, heavy weapon and it can be carried in a pocket if you’re wearing suspenders, I guess.
Read elsewhere a comment about a derringer that you could get in .45-70, .454 Cassul, or .500 AE: “Basically, it’s a metal war club with a built in flashbang”.
As for the 9mm, if my shopping fanatic handicap ever let me get some purchasing done, I suspect I’d pass on the .45 due to arthritic joints.
Bond Arms. No relation 😀
I’ve heard that a lot of the new bullet designs for the 9mm don’t work in the slower .45ACP.
But they do work in the .40S&W. Of which I own. Why? It was cheap, ammo was cheap, and I had a butt-load of scrounged ammo. It works. Still waiting for Florida Free Concealed Carry to pass and be enacted, so’s I can carry concealed.
As to Russia-China, I’ve been saying this since the first day of the Russian invasion. And even moreso as things have gone sideways for Russia’s ‘short and victorious war.’ Russia’s tenuous hold on Siberia has always relied on its ability to move forces from West to East. And now that they can’t, I mean not want but can’t move jack doodlysquat eastwardly, they’re screwed. Only the somewhat stability of Putin is keeping the nukes from flying, and that may change if the ChiComs get froggy.
.45 ACP +P+ allows some of the newer, more high-performance bullets to be effective but you should also modify your older firearms that were designed for .45 ACP. Once modified, they don’t cycle the slow ammo as well.
The Honey Badger made the .380n relevant again.
Some things to consider:
Reliability
Penetration
Tissue disruption
Bullet integrity
Accuracy
Muzzle blast/flash
Recoil
Platform/caliber selection
I appreciate hardware and ammunition reviews. Keep ’em coming LL!
I’m loving my Taurus G3C.
Couple 100 cheaper than the Sig 365 I Iooked at.
Accurate way out with the armalaser I put on it which is pocket friendly and only $90. 13 rounds.2 mags.
There were complaints about the SAS sights.
I like the honey badger bullets.
A friend of mine hosts a radio show, Trigger Talk.
A friend of his does testing of self defense rounds.
https://www.triggertalkradio.com/category/ballistic-test-results/
I like the SAS sights, but they take some getting accustomed to.
The low-profile SAS sights recall similar gutter-style sights of the ’70s, and on Colt’s New Agent.
They should be advantageous on a defense pistol.
Are they harder to get used to than red dot optics?
Is the ported barrel on the Macro useful or even necessary?
And what about the flat trigger?
ASP:
https://youtu.be/4trmOFxuJw0
Detonics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CQSikXOC-g
1-I’m not big on a ported barrel, but I have an extended and threaded custom barrel on the Macro, so the porting isn’t a factor.
2-It’s not unlike becoming accustomed to a red dot.
3-I like the flat trigger.
I read a story a few years ago all a car thief being shot in the forehead Point Blank with a 32 Caliber semi-automatic. The police arrested the guy when he went to the hospital but he refused to have the bullet removed as it would be evidence against him at trial.
Oh, I have stories. Shot in the eye with a 9mm, shot in the cheek with a 9mm, etc. Of course, it was crappy ammo. I’ve seen them myself. I’ve seen a few shot in the back of the head, “execution style” without the shooter realizing how thick the skull is there. The bullets didn’t penetrate but deflected. In one case, it circled around under the skin and blew out his forehead. He had headaches but he was fine, etc.
Bill King was shot in the eye at point-blank range with a 9mm by the son of the FBI Special Agent in Charge in Reno. The shooter was an officer in the USMC who took the contract. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-03-16-me-1954-story.html
If you take a contract, don’t be cheap.
Use all the bullets.
The article didn’t say, was the shooter an USMC officer AND the son of the SA?
Two to the heart, one to the head. It’s a sensible motto.
No, it didn’t. The article was written pre-arrest. The suspect left a full palm print. Should have worn gloves.
Yes Sir I’ve seen that same thing happen. He lost an eye and had headaches too but lived. (Different bad guy) After seeing too many 9mm terminal ballistic get a ways and everyone salivating to hoard 9mm ammo. I decided that the old nail driver never let me down. Heavier? yes. Cost more to reload? yup. But it has yet too fail me or my country and with a Kimber Ultra Raptor II it lightens the load and remains extremely accurate. On deployments would carry the Kimber Custom Tactical LE with the 8+1 mags and still do when necessary. Most (shootings) not gun fights…gun fights people think sound cool and could leave the bad guy/s still alive. In a shooting I’m the only person left. But I digress. Since statistically most (shootings) happen within 3-7 feet with your target moving and shooting at you as well I’m more concerned with the internal ballistics of the weapons system working properly to throw a chunk of 200-240 gr at your target so even if you winged them it will put them out of action. I enjoy doing my own reloading but if I had to go with a good internal/terminal ballistic coefficient I choose the Federal Solid Core .45 Auto+P. https://www.federalpremium.com/handgun/premium-handgun-hunting/solid-core/11-P45SHC1.html Teflon coating sold separatley. ;}.
And great sunday sermon.
I have the Kimber Raptor II and I may be a fashionista because I bought it contemporary with my purchase of my Ford Raptor in 2014. For the past 8.5 years now I’ve carried it (too) for the same reasons you suggest, but I have Hornady Critical Duty loads in the mags. So we have similar tastes in that. It’s an out-of-the-box Kimber and handles the +P loads just fine. I did not modify it. As often as not in Arizona, I carry it open rather than concealed.
Because of some of what I’ve been doing requires a more concealable handgun, I opted for the Sig P365 SAS, which is great in that role. Then, more recently, I’ve had a higher-threat environment at work and decided that I wanted the 52 rounds of point defense ordnance to put on target should that be necessary, carried in a shoulder rig. The Glock 21 (highly modified) was my go-to for many years and is still available, but I’ve been experimenting primarily because the cost is not an issue and can.
Thus, having spent the past 50 years in high-threat situations (off and on), I’ve mixed and matched based on experience. The 17+1 of lethal 9mm ammo in a very light and relatively small handgun had an appeal.
Also for a nice compact sling or shoulder fired 9 mm I recommend the Kel-Tec Sub 2000 gen2. I built a suppressor for it that can still pack a punch at 100 yards with some Winchester 127 gn +p was little effect on accuracy. I love the breakdown feature so you can put it in a daypack when hiking or even a Coach purse… My girlfriend put her purse. Now she wants one. It’s a nice solid package that you can even push out further than 100 yards with MOA accuracy. M-carbo makes a lot of good attachments, trigger systems, muzzle brakes and of course the optics switch so that you are able to throw an optic on there if you want or quickly switch back to iron sights all without affecting the folding capability. For that it recommended an EOTech just a simple Red Dot sight if that’s your thing. I especially like the 30 round Glock magazine compatibility. I have both the Glock mag and a Korean knockoff both work just the same. The Sub 2000 is also classified as both a pistol and a rifle in most states so you can conceal carry with it.
Always had a soft spot for one of these–
https://www.gunsamerica.com/digest/imi-timber-wolf-ahead-of-its-time/
What an excellent sermon, straight from the Good Book. And a helpful pistol review too, but surely the closing infographic wins the prize. Good work.
Reviews are good. Moar plz.
Don’t be sure doctors are glad to see persons survive getting shot. I’ve met plenty of physicians (not the majority, mind you, but no few) who’ve become deeply cynical and generally despise humanity as a whole. On a converging but not exactly parallel track, the TV and movie portrayal of “I’m a doctor damnit, and my patient’s welfare ALWAYS comes first!” makes me roll my eyes. The medical “education” process (credentialaling pipeline) selects for ass-kissing, knuckling under to “authority” and doing the expedient instead of the right thing. Frankly it’s a miracle so few doctors are shits. (If nothing else, the Covid/vaxx thing is prime evidence that the welfare of the patient is not #1, 2, or 3 on the list of priorities for the average physician.)
Mayor Pete is the logical conclusion of equating victimhood with quality and moral worth. (To be accurate, not actual victimhood but rather membership in a GROUP that has either experienced or CLAIMED victimhood. A kid growing up in Birmingham, MI whose dad is a GM exec and whose mom is a judge is NOT a victim no matter how much melanin he has. Similarly, a kid growing up in Brookline, MA whose mom is a Harvard Med School professor and whose dad is chief legal counsel at a Fortune 100 company is NOT a victim no matter how many of her co-ethnics were murdered, regardless if the author of the industrial murder was Adolf or Saddam or Pol Pot. And so forth. On the other hand, a Scots-Irish kid who grew up impoverished in Appalachia with two drug-addicted parents somehow is automatically privileged.)
Mayor Pete was installed because he is a superficially presentable member of a claimed victimhood group. He checked a diversity box. Period dot. The sad thing is that there ARE qualified, competent homosexuals out there, but “our” power brokers couldn’t be arsed to actually unearth one.
There are competent homosexuals. Admiral Dick Levine, the tranny luggage thief and Mayor Pete are not.
Some guy posted a video the other day from a town 60 miles southeast of New Palestine showing birds dropping out of the sky and littering the parking lot of his apt. complex. Not even down wind. People are now breaking out in rashes and having difficulty breathing. Scary stuff.
Very scary – as was the Federal Govt’s decision to wash its hands of the whole matter.
I heard that they changed their minds, but holy cow.