I did a wet pack test with several of my carry guns today. For my P3AT, I tried Fiocchi, S&B and Buffalo Bore. This is the first time I have used Buffalo Bore and it is some kind of great stuff! All shooting was done at 12 feet into overnight soaked phone books. Fiocchi went 6.5 inches with no expansion. S&B went 5.5 inches with no expansion. Buffalo Bore went 8.5 inches!. Unfortunately, went I was peeling the books to get the bullets, I dropped the BB in my stone filled drive way. It is all #5 grey stone and, though I looked and looked, I never found it. The recoil was sharp but I did not see any large fireball. The load I was shooting was the 100 grain lead truncated cone bullet. This lead is some kind of hard too. I can't wait until they come out with a .32 ACP load. 11/24/2007 I shot another wet pack so I could recover the bullets. This time, I used some government manuals which had thicker paper than the phone books. I soaked them overnight and squashed all the water I could out of them this morning. I shot two bullets from 15 feet out, one stock and one modified with a 1/8 inch hole drilled on my lathe and countersunk to about 1/4". Both bullets penetrated to 8 inches and neither expanded. I recovered both cases and they show no over pressure signs even though the recoil was snappy. I have just switched my magazines from the Italian made Fiocchi FMJ to Buffalo Bore. I will also be testing their 32 ACP as soon as I can get some. John from MD
Re: Buffalo Bore Ammo Test Report Thanks for that information! I had not tried Buffalo Bore ammo yet in any of my guns, but that penetration is impressive. Check your PMs.
Re: Buffalo Bore Ammo Test Report I went to Buffalo Bore's web sit. They do not list a ound in 380????? See http://www.buffalobore.com So what did you fire? Were did you get it????
Re: Buffalo Bore Ammo Test Report 224, I wondered the same thing and found it at Midway. http://www.midwayusa.com/ebrowse.exe/brandlisting?brandid=2118
Buffalo Bore has a reputation for loading some pretty hot stuff. I see they are getting into the service caliber and pocket gun calibers now. They were known for mainly loading big bore hunting ammo.
Just a thought without talking to Kel Tec and Buffalo Bore I WOULD NOT us this amunition in my P3AT. If you have been a board member for awhile or longer you may recall that Magsafe 380 that is offered as a +P load will blow up a P3AT. MagSafe's own web site states not to use in a P3AT. Buffalo offers thier 380 ammo as a +P. Now I know I will be corrected if I have this wrong but as I recall there is no set standard for a +P in 380. So one +P will work OK and another will blow your gun up, when it is in your hand! I know Kel Tec states +P is OK in limited amounts... But they will even tell you that Mag Safe will blow the gun up. As it looks like Buffalow is really hot loaded......... I would realy talk to them first and Kel Tec. Just my thoughts for the two cents they ae worth.
I assume that the BB round discussed here is a FMJ round. My 2 cents is that if we are talking FMJ, there is no need to get fancy. Pick a round... any round, that functions well in your P3AT. I have not seen an issue with the penetration of any FMJ in 380acp.
I called the nice folks at Buffalo Bore. They know of the P3AT. The guy I talked to ownes two, and has one in his pocket. His carry load is thier 380 load with 85 grian flat noise. They do make a JHP using Spear Gold Dot, but his personail feelings are that for CCW carry the 85 grn flat noise is the way to go. He states that fired from a P3AT if it hits the sternum it is designed to shater the bones. He has fired a lot of thier ammo though his P3AT. With no issues. Also states that they use extermly good and strong brass, with a very thick "thickness" at the base. The web site is being worked on getting updated. You can order from them or though Midway. After talking with this guy, I would fire thier stuff in my gun.
Just a comment on penetration. I have conducted quite a few wetpack tests from 12 and 15 feet with both .32 ACP and .380 ACP. There is a distinct difference in penetration from different brands and calibers. For instance, in the .380, Fiocchi penetrated better than S&B yet in the .32 ACP, S&B was the best penetrator. Fiocchi .380 penetrated more than an inch further than S&B and 1.5 inches further than Aguila. So far, Buffalo Bore is the best penetrating small caliber I have found and I have shot every brand that I could buy into a wet pack. I would have liked to try Santa Barbara but I could not find any at a reasonable price. All of the JHP ammo gave up penetration for penetration including Cor Bon. While they expand nicely, I don't feel that expansion at 4 inches beats penetration to 8 inches. Just my .02. John
Ballistics are up. The 90gr. GDHP could be very interesting. Claims 100 FPS faster than the Double Tap load. http://www.buffalobore.com/ammunition/default.htm#380
Again, if you were discussing JHP, the penetration/expansion issues have merit. But, any FMJ rounds in either 32 or 380 cal will surpass the FBI minimum penetration requirements of 12 inches. Note this old testing of 32 acp (FMJ at the bottom). http://www.goldenloki.com/ammo/gel/32acp/gel32acp.htm These rounds range from 13.6" for S&B to 15" for Fiocchi and WWB with 6 other rounds in between those extremes. That is hardly a significant difference. Bottom line for me? Pick any FMJ round that functions well and is accurate from your pistol. They all perform adequately and about the same. I see no real need for "boutique" FMJ ammo. :-/
