Sellier & Bellot 9mm Ammo - Opinions?

[jdh2580]

Anyone used it before? What are your opinions?

[Charles L. Cotton]

I've shot many thousands of rounds of S&B .45ACP. I used to buy it when I needed brass. Now that factory ammo has gone through the roof, it's cheaper to buy new brass and load it. Actually, I have so much .45 ACP brass, I'm not likely to ever need any more.

The only complaint I have about S&B is the very tight primer pockets. Once-fired brass often crushes primers on the first reload. I never have a problem after the first. I don't buy S&B any more for that reason.

Chas.

[BobCat]

I shot quite a lot of S&B 9 mm 115 grain ball years ago, when it was ~$5 / box of 50. I still pick up S&B brass if it is lying around. Nothing wrong with S&B ammo that I know of.

[bkjunk]

I picked up 1000 rounds at a gun show a few months ago for my xdm 9mm. While it has been accurate, I get lots of FTE's. About 3 in 50 will not extract and 3 rounds had to be removed with a pair of needle nose pliers. The case lable said '9mm luger - Range Safe Ammo - Copper plated steel case - 115 grs."

I would try it again, I just wouldnt buy it in bulk.

[Revet]

It has been my sole practice ammo for several years--never a bad round. The only feed or ejection problems were gun or magazine issues.

[NcongruNt]

I shoot it relatively frequently. It's good stuff, never had a problem with it. It seems to be pretty consistent, much more so than WWB.

[03Lightningrocks]

I have used it in 9mm. Only problems I had with it was in my sig 229 stainless when it was new. The slide would not go back far enough to strip a round off the magazine. I shot a couple hundred rounds of WWB through it and now it seems to cycle fine with the S&B. I guess it was tight. No scientific data for this but I think the S&B loads are on the safer side rather than hotter side.

[Bob Landry]

A range I worked at sold S&B. I had several cases split from two different lots. These were .357. I wondered if they were over charged or if it was just cheap brass that couldn't hold up to the pressures. I didn't shoot any more of it and didn't think about it again until a customer came back to the range desk with a box of .25 with several split cases.

That being said, a lot of my .45 cases are S&B and have been loaded multiple times with no issues, but .45 is a low pressure round

[pedalman]

I use it as practice ammo in my G19. I have yet to have a problem with it, and I still have another 600 rounds waiting for me. I will agree with Chas about the primer pockets. I reloaded my first batch of S&B, and the primer pockets are a bit tight on the first reload.

[OverEasy]

I've shot S&B in 32acp, 9mm and 357sig. I had a few 'light strikes' with the 357sig in a G33. I had read on the internet that people considered S&B to have hard primers. I do not feel that is an ammo problem!! I had no 'light strikes' with the same S&B in a Sig P229. I had a Glock extra power firing pin spring installed in the G33. Since then I have not had any 'light strikes' with the Glock.

I would recommend the brass cased S&B ammo. If you have problems shooting it, I would look at the gun as the source of the problem not the ammo.

I have noticed looking at factory supplied balistic info that S&B generally has higher MV and ME values than Winchester WB, Reminton UMC and others.

Regards, OE

[Revet]

S&B centerfire handgun ammo ballistics: http://www.sb-usa.com/pistol.htm

9mm
124 gr. FMJ (brass case, steel case): 1181 fps, 382 ft. lbs - at muzzle.
115 gr. FMJ (brass case, steel case): 1280/1281 fps, 421/420 ft. lbs.
.45acp
230 gr. FMJ (brass): 853 fps, 371 ft. lbs.

[Captain Matt]

I used to shoot a bunch of S&B when I got it cheap. Good range ammo.

[JackRR]

Year or so ago I got several boxes 9mm 115gr fmj when it was at a good price. I thought it shot better than the WWB. I would buy more if I could find it at a good price. Now days i'll buy anything if it is stock!!!

[NcongruNt]

I've shot S&B in 32acp, 9mm and 357sig. I had a few 'light strikes' with the 357sig in a G33. I had read on the internet that people considered S&B to have hard primers. I do not feel that is an ammo problem!! I had no 'light strikes' with the same S&B in a Sig P229. I had a Glock extra power firing pin spring installed in the G33. Since then I have not had any 'light strikes' with the Glock.

I would recommend the brass cased S&B ammo. If you have problems shooting it, I would look at the gun as the source of the problem not the ammo.

I have noticed looking at factory supplied balistic info that S&B generally has higher MV and ME values than Winchester WB, Reminton UMC and others.

Regards, OE

And apparently, this is an issue inherent to striker-fired pistols. Stephen Camp started a thread a while ago on this subject.

http://www.texasshooting.com/TexasCHL_F ... t=+striker" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It seems that striker mechanisms do not measure up in simple force against the primer that traditional firing pin mechanisms do, and can have issues with light strikes on harder primers generally found in eastern european ammunition and in some domestic-production stuff. From the thread, it looks like OE overcame this problem by simply going to a heavier firing pin spring.