Wednesday, May 31, 2017

My Little Town: Ammunition Manufacturing

You may recall this Simon & Garfunkel song.  It sneaks up on you; giving you at first a hint of nostalgia for small town life.



And then the full nastiness comes out.  Heaven forbid you live in a town where you go out to dinner and the restaurant owner knows your names and your kids' names!

Horseshoe Bend isn't really "my little town"; we live about 6 miles south of it.  It has some significant social problems.  One of the more memorable moments shortly after we moved to the area was along the old highway: it looked like a Saturday Night Live skit go awry.  A mattress, a pair of blue jeans, a bra and panties of the sort that I would expect a high school girl to wear, and the remains of a six-pack.  Go ahead, young lady; try and explain your lack of attire to Mom and Dad, assuming they notice.

Anyway, on to a happier note.  A few months back, I noticed a sign in Horseshoe Bend, for American Reserve Munitions, in the area of the old sawmill.  I went in a couple days ago.  They are not just a retailer, but also a manufacturer of ammunition.  Not just any ammunition, but some rather startling items.  They load some 9mm with a new bullet design, the G9:

It is called an external hollow point.  A solid bullet with those odd shapes that apparently produces quite a shock wave.

Instead of boring brass cartridge cases, they make them from aluminum (at the primer end) and stainless steel (where the pressures builds up).  Why do this instead of brass?  You have doubtless seen the aluminum cases used for some .22LR because it is cheap.  I am sure you can't reload aluminum; it does not have the ability to deform readily that brass does.  I know steel cased ammo has been used for a long time, and is apparently reloadable.  But why stainless steel instead of brass?  It weighs less because steel is much stiffer than brass for the same thickness.  How many more rounds can you carry if you knock an ounce off each cartridge?  I can see both SWAT and military getting some gain from this.

Anyway, their ammo seems reasonably priced and the next time I go shooting, I should buy a box of the 115 grain 9mm G9s, to see how they feed and function.

2 comments:

  1. remember to give your readers a full account if not a technical analysis. Some of us have 9mm, but are not thrilled by their "stopping" power.

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  2. I've noticed that sign for American Reserve too, the last couple times I drove through HB. RIght next to the Thunder Mountain Line Depot. Based on your report, I'll have to drop in there next time.

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