Cor®Bon 125 grain +P Show & Tell

[wyntrout]

I just got my latest and last batch of ammo from the good deal at Cabela's just now.
It's somewhat wasteful of packaging, considering the boxes were free to slide about in the huge box. I haven't tried this stuff, yet, but I may go to the range today with the K9 and PM9... and an UpLula, of course! I hope to make this my defense ammo and will practice with the S&B 124gr FMJ as well. I'll give my impressions later. I don't recall having shot 9mm +P before... at least not store-bought. Pix at 640x480 follow.
Wynn

[ripley16]

Nice pics.

Let us know how the ammo performs.

[medezyner]

I wanted to buy 4 boxes of that Cor Bon and 4 of the Hornady 124+P XTP for some comparison shooting impressions...I ran out of money for both, but the Hornady is on it's way. The Cor Bon is on sale for 21.99 at Cabelas. I wonder if that $20 off is still happening?

[wyntrout]

I wanted to buy 4 boxes of that Cor Bon and 4 of the Hornady 124+P XTP for some comparison shooting impressions...I ran out of money for both, but the Hornady is on it's way. The Cor Bon is on sale for 21.99 at Cabelas. I wonder if that $20 off is still happening?

That's what I was referring to. It ended the 11th and I was making this last order at a quarter to midnight that night. I have to pay for all of this ammo and stuff... and a new 58" plasma tv, wall mount, and OH YEAH! My PM9 by the end of the month. If I can get off this darn computer, I might go to the range. I'm kind of addicted to this "chat" stuff since I found this site and joined. I used to be real active on Ham radio back in the seventies and after a few years I stopped yakking so much on the air. I'm getting lots of typing practice now, which ain't a bad thing.
Wynn

[Vinikahr]

That's what I was referring to. It ended the 11th and I was making this last order at a quarter to midnight that night. I have to pay for all of this ammo and stuff... and a new 58" plasma tv, wall mount, and OH YEAH! My PM9 by the end of the month. If I can get off this darn computer, I might go to the range. I'm kind of addicted to this "chat" stuff since I found this site and joined. I used to be real active on Ham radio back in the seventies and after a few years I stopped yakking so much on the air. I'm getting lots of typing practice now, which ain't a bad thing.
Wynn

I know what you mean. :4:

[wyntrout]

Between trying to finish the last few days' papers, staying glued to this computer too long, and a small GI problem, I decided to wait on the range trip and took a short nap.
I may get there tomorrow. I checked with my wife and she wasn't interested in going with me. I would have to have been in separate cars, because she shoots a few mags in a couple of guns and she's ready to go. This saves ammo, I guess. I couldn't reload ammo fast enough for my first wife. She loved to shoot. I started our two kids early with guns so I wouldn't have to worry about them exploring and experimenting with the unknown and forbidden. It's nice to satisfy their curiosity and teach them to respect guns early on. Helping a 5 or 6 year-old child hold and fire a pistol -- .38spl -- for the first time lets them see what happens under controlled conditions, not accidentally. The blast and recoil leave them not wanting to pick one up and pull the trigger in play, but they learned to shoot. I did hold onto the gun... not like the guy that let his 8-year-old son fire an Uzi full-auto, unaided. That was a real tragedy. Here I go again...
Wynn

[Vinikahr]

Between trying to finish the last few days' papers, staying glued to this computer too long, and a small GI problem, I decided to wait on the range trip and took a short nap.
I may get there tomorrow. I checked with my wife and she wasn't interested in going with me. I would have to have been in separate cars, because she shoots a few mags in a couple of guns and she's ready to go. This saves ammo, I guess. I couldn't reload ammo fast enough for my first wife. She loved to shoot. I started our two kids early with guns so I wouldn't have to worry about them exploring and experimenting with the unknown and forbidden. It's nice to satisfy their curiosity and teach them to respect guns early on. Helping a 5 or 6 year-old child hold and fire a pistol -- .38spl -- for the first time lets them see what happens under controlled conditions, not accidentally. The blast and recoil leave them not wanting to pick one up and pull the trigger in play, but they learned to shoot. I did hold onto the gun... not like the guy that let his 8-year-old son fire an Uzi full-auto, unaided. That was a real tragedy. Here I go again...
Wynn

Please, do share! :4:

[medezyner]

I started our two kids early with guns so I wouldn't have to worry about them exploring and experimenting with the unknown and forbidden. It's nice to satisfy their curiosity and teach them to respect guns early on. Helping a 5 or 6 year-old child hold and fire a pistol -- .38spl -- for the first time lets them see what happens under controlled conditions, not accidentally. The blast and recoil leave them not wanting to pick one up and pull the trigger in play, but they learned to shoot. I did hold onto the gun... not like the guy that let his 8-year-old son fire an Uzi full-auto, unaided. That was a real tragedy. Here I go again...
Wynn

Some of my fondest memories was shooting with my father & grandfather with a .22 in more rural areas of NH a long time ago...a time before open spaces were consumed by over development. I started my kids with an air rifle and then on to small calibers. Always emphasis on safety and respect. You lose sight of that, you have tragedies like that that 8 year old. So senseless. But thats a rant for another thread.
I'd be real interested on your impressions of the Cor Bon when you get the chance to escape to the range.

[wyntrout]

Will do. I've got to get going so I can get back and cook. I have some errands plus the range trip. I'll just take the 9mm's this time.
Wynn

[Tap]

My PM9

Mine seems very partial to the CorBon +P 125. It just does not like 147's.
I want to see how the other +P 124's shoot as soon as I can find some.
But for now it is full of Cor Bon--------------if any BG's want to know.
Thanks for the idea on the SB's.

[wyntrout]

PM9 & Corbon 125gr Range Report

Will do. I've got to get going so I can get back and cook. I have some errands plus the range trip. I'll just take the 9mm's this time.
Wynn

I'll try to do a range report from Tuesday afternoon. We've had weather here and my DSL come and goes. My wife is back at work earning more money for me to spend now. Not all is milk and honey, though. My job is everything else, and the darn dishwasher had been down for parts since we got back from Christmas vacation. I'm the cook and chief bottle washer... gardener, plumber, electrician, house-cleaner(poor), laundry-washer, and general unlicensed handyman, among other things. Washing dishes is completely above and beyond the normal call of duty.

Tuesday afternoon I took my K9 and PM9 to shoot some of the S&B 124gr FMJ and the CorBon 125gr JHP +P. I started with my old patched target, shooting at the upper right rectangle with the K9 and then the PM9, using all mags full of the Federal 135gr HS that I had been carrying. I started with empty guns and loaded full mags with the slide release method. No problems with the K9's first mag. Then the PM9 -- FT feed first round with K9 7-round mag. Same thing with the PM9 7-round mag. It seems that ALL of the 9mm 7-round mags are loose in the PM9 magazine well. There's close to 1/8" movement in and out when the slide is locked back. There is resistance to upward movement when the slide is closed. The top rounds would be stuck at the lower right bottom of the feed ramp. I tried pushing up on the bottom of the mag and the rounds would feed when I released the slide. With the mag in the lowest position it's just not far enough up the darn ramp. I would have to pull the slide back some to drop the magazine.
I shot 35 rounds of the Fed 135 HS and then started on the S&B. That seemed to work pretty well but after a few mags through the PM9 it failed to feed. I looked and the feed ramp was black. I field-stripped the gun and cleaned the ramp. That worked better, but only 40 or so rounds had been fired through the PM by that point. When I switched to the CorBon 125's with the K9, I had failure to feed on the first round. I tried again and things went smoothly with the K9, but when I switched to the PM 9, the first round chambered and fired, but stove-piped. I saved that shell because it was there in the gun. With the +P CorBon there was a louder report, brighter flash, and more recoil, but not bad -- definitely controllable. I never felt the need to put on a glove with the PM9.
Again, most of my shooting was not slow-fire or with a rest. I did try shooting with my forearms supported by the unstable tray/shelf which is about 3 ft high -- not comfortable. Of course that changes bullet impact, too.
Most of my shooting was at 7 yards with maybe a mag each gun at 15 yards, hurried firing.
I wound up cleaning the PM9's feed ramp twice (stripped) and several times I tried wiping the ramp with a piece of cloth and my finger through the ejection port, but that's not great, but the rounds do strike the right side of the ramp.
I shot 35x Federal 135gr HS,
100x S&B 124gr FMJ,
50x 124gr Truncated FMJ, and
39 CorBon 125gr JHP +P, with about 2/3 of all rounds through the PM9.
I decided to not carry with the CorBon until I try it again. I also decided that I definitely need to get some more 6-round flush magazines for the PM9. They seem a bit tighter and less apt to have feed problems.
When I cleaned the guns, I got out my "dremel" and polished the heck out of the feed ramps on both. I have pictures of the before, but not the after. They are shiny bright now. The K9's looked the worse before polishing. I hope that helps for the next range trip.
This shooting is expensive! I figure $100 - $110 for that trip, counting $11.25 for the range -- no time limit. Again, I was there about 2 1/2 hours of fun. I took lots of pix and after turning the target over at the end to shoot the smaller target I had taped on the bottom, the target fell off on the way back and the store doesn't allow target retrieval. So, I departed sans target.
I wasn't shooting for tight groups<snicker> and I feel that I could hit what I was shooting at, but all indications are that I jerk the trigger or tighten my fingers too much, as the preponderance of shots hit around 7:30 or so at 3-4" from the general area where I was "aiming". I still haven't tried single-handed or weak hand shooting.
Wynn
Pix of cases and then target, as I resize some.

[wyntrout]

Pix of K9 &amp; PM9 feed ramps

Here are a few of the before pix of the feed ramps. I forgot to get the after pix before reassembly and loading. PM9 is easy to strip down and I tried to show the bore ~ dusty?
Wynn

The PM9 ramp actually looks smoother and brighter.

[wyntrout]

Man! It's hard for me not to jerk and/or squeeze with my whole hand. Snap-capping at a light-switch screw head sure shows me that. Then there's the figure eight movement of my sight picture and my jerking of the rigger as the sight picture approaches my desired aimpoint. If I really wanted to be embarrassed at the range, I would put a laser on my pistol and show how steady my grip is! In the movies I think they use a well anchored tripod to give that steady little dot, especially if they aren't trained snipers with sandbag rests.
Anyhow, I have a lot of practice to do. The recoil masks my jerking, but the holes in the target sure tell the truth.
Wynn