- Joined
- Jul 27, 2025
- Messages
- 227
The other day my stepson and myself went to an indoor range in Wichita. I had originally intended to take my Pedersoli replica of the Remington rolling block but for various reasons, did not do so, instead, opting to shoot my S&W 986 with the Federal +P+ 9mm LE stuff. I also had some standard velocity Remington 115 FMJ range stuff, including some old rounds that needed to be shot up.
This is my first experience with the Federal ammo. The box lists it as 115gr JHP +P+ 9BPLE and I understand that it has a MV of around 1300fps. This is just shy of the 125gr 357 load at 1400 fps. I found it to be accurate in my hands and the first two moonclips, while they had very very noticeable recoil, were not all that unpleasant to shoot out of the 5" barrel of my 986. However, the pounding soon had its' effect on my hand and subsequent rounds did not feel nearly the same as the earlier ones. In all, I fired seven moonclips of the Federal 9mm and the remaining rounds were all the Remingtons that I mentioned earlier. Shooting the Remington ammo was a lot easier on my hand.
The gun, a S&W Model 986, is a seven-shot L-frame revolver with a 5" barrel and a titanium cylinder. It fits well in an N-frame IWB holster made for me by the late Jim Macklin and conceals quite well under a 'shoot-me-first' vest. Unlike many earlier sessions with this gun, there were no FTFs. This gun does not like Winchester or other harder primer ammunition, but does very well indeed with Federal or Remington. Shooting Winchester ammo, I would experience anywhere from 2% to 20% ignition failures and with the other brands, none. Sending the 986 back to Springfield was a waste of time as all that happened was that they (possibly) replaced the cylinder and pronounced to problem fixed.
The solution, then, appeared to be avoiding harder primers like Winchester, Fiocchi, and very likely S&B as well. This, while irritating, is a solution that I can live with.
All in all, I had fun with my stepson whom I have grown very close to since my move to Kansas, and had a productive range session as well.
This is my first experience with the Federal ammo. The box lists it as 115gr JHP +P+ 9BPLE and I understand that it has a MV of around 1300fps. This is just shy of the 125gr 357 load at 1400 fps. I found it to be accurate in my hands and the first two moonclips, while they had very very noticeable recoil, were not all that unpleasant to shoot out of the 5" barrel of my 986. However, the pounding soon had its' effect on my hand and subsequent rounds did not feel nearly the same as the earlier ones. In all, I fired seven moonclips of the Federal 9mm and the remaining rounds were all the Remingtons that I mentioned earlier. Shooting the Remington ammo was a lot easier on my hand.
The gun, a S&W Model 986, is a seven-shot L-frame revolver with a 5" barrel and a titanium cylinder. It fits well in an N-frame IWB holster made for me by the late Jim Macklin and conceals quite well under a 'shoot-me-first' vest. Unlike many earlier sessions with this gun, there were no FTFs. This gun does not like Winchester or other harder primer ammunition, but does very well indeed with Federal or Remington. Shooting Winchester ammo, I would experience anywhere from 2% to 20% ignition failures and with the other brands, none. Sending the 986 back to Springfield was a waste of time as all that happened was that they (possibly) replaced the cylinder and pronounced to problem fixed.
The solution, then, appeared to be avoiding harder primers like Winchester, Fiocchi, and very likely S&B as well. This, while irritating, is a solution that I can live with.
All in all, I had fun with my stepson whom I have grown very close to since my move to Kansas, and had a productive range session as well.
