Federal Frangible Ammo

I got a screaming deal on Federal RHT 9mm 98gr. Ballisticlean Frangible ammo, so I bought a case of 1,000.  I go through that much ammo every 3 or 4 months and have ordered some extra in anticipation of another election run up.

Quick note on the possible election run up.  I’m not buying stuff that I won’t use.  Instead of having about three months of ammo on hand, I’ve bought about a year’s worth.  I’m also not planning on reselling it.  Don’t make a made dash to the store to buy something you may get stuck with.  Buy stuff you were going to buy anyway.

I got the RHT for three reasons (besides the price).  First, it’s actually brass ammo.  I normally shoot steel cased ammo from other countries because it’s a lot cheaper.  The cheaper the ammo I can get, the more I can shoot.  My Glock, AK, and Bushmaster don’t care if it’s steel or brass.  I sometimes need brass ammo depending on which range I’m going to.  Some don’t allow steel casings or Russian block ammo.  Some have a good reason and some not so good, but it’s not my range, so I respect the owner’s wishes.

Second, the ammo is “Ballisticlean” or non-lead/-toxic primers, powders, and can be used on some ranges that require “clean” ammo.  This ammo is less toxic than other more conventional ammo on the market and “Eliminates airborne lead..” according to Federal’s web site.  While this ammo isn’t listed on their site, there are a couple companies selling the ammo on the open market.

Last, I bought the ammo because it’s frangible.  I wanted some frangible ammo to do some up-close shooting on steel.  I’ve been using a Precision Target (I don’t know if you can get one anymore as the web site has been gone for the last week) Three-in-One target.  It’s a steel silhouette with a flipper on the side of the head and a flap in the dead center.  It’s a lot of fun to shoot.  I wanted to video some really close shooting of the target for training and the ShootersClubMembers.com web site.  Before I was going to stand nose to nose with a steel target and shoot it, I wanted to test the ammo to make sure it would work as predicted.

The Federal RHT ammo was a failure when it came to shooting steel.  I started at the minimum safe distance on this target of about 4 yards (safety note, always wear eyes when shooting steel, no matter the distance and test how close you can get to the steel a little at a time.  Also, never shoot steel that has dimples or holes in up close).  I had a tester shoot while I stood next to him.  Our test gun was a Glock 17.  A shot into the steel at 4 yards was no problem.  We took a step in to about 3 yards and were okay.  We took a half step in and that was it.  Both of us felt considerable blow back from the round impacting the steel and neither one of us was willing to get any closer.

I was hoping for more from the ammo.  I’ve seen videos of guys shooting rifles almost touching steel and was hoping for the same thing from this ammo.  It would have made some cool video and allowed for some really creative training.  Because I leave an extra couple yards of safety for shooting steel, this ammo really isn’t going to get anything more than FMJ can do on steel.  Since I got such a good deal on it, I’ll just save if for when I’m on an indoor range that doesn’t allow steel casing or wants the “clean” stuff.

Stay Safe,

Ben

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