Ammo Tests

Late last year, Remington introduced a new line of range ammunition specifically made for use with suppressed firearms, Remington Subsonic, launched in 9MM, .45 ACP and 300BLK.

Hornady has been slaying it in the ammo department. You’d think they’d take a minute to rest. But this week I tried three new Hornady offerings and each was a winner.

In spite of the desert winds gusting over 18 mph, some of us were making contact with the plate, at 1,760 yards – one full mile – with a 6.5 Creedmoor.

We got a chance this week to really wring out the new 224 Valkyrie loading from Hornady, the 88-grain special announced at the NRA show back in April. Valkyrie has been a strange animal over the last year. It has the potential to change how we think of small frame AR’s, and what they are capable of. But it has not been without controversy.

In addition to making tissue look like it went through a blender, G9 also touts an unparalleled ability to penetrate auto glass, and stay on target. This is a bigger problem than you might think if you have never spent any time blasting auto glass.

With great ammo, you can turn a $400 handgun into one that shoots as well as a gun that costs many thousands. The opposite is true as well. Sometimes cheap ammo can turn a handgun that cost many thousands of dollars into one that shoots about as well as a cheap one.

You literally cannot ask for anything more than that out of a pistol bullet. When moving at pistol velocities, a projectile’s only real wounding mechanism is penetration.

One of the great stories of 2018 was the introduction of a new caliber by Federal, the 224 Valkyrie. Initially announced in October of 2017, by SHOT Show 2018, the world was abuzz. The 224 Valkyrie promised to turbocharge the small frame AR rifle, with ballistics that blew the doors off past challengers such as 6.5 Grendal and 22 Nosler. It helped that it was released and backed by Federal, a giant in the ammunition industry. But still, many people questioned the new caliber? Would it deliver? And would it catch on enough to remain available?

I’m a big fan of all things 10MM, and Speer got my attention recently when the ammunition maker announced the new Speer Gold Dot 10MM Auto Personal Defense round, firing a 200-grain Gold Dot bullet.