By Josh Wayner
Gun writer, Josh Wayner, reveals the results of his 9mm velocity trial.
U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- Ever since I first mentioned doing a .45 ACP muzzle velocity article, people have been asking me if I would do a follow-up with the 9x19mm. It didn’t take much to convince me. What seemed like moments after making my calls to get .45, I was again on the line with several of the same fine companies to acquire some 9mm.
I’d learned that doing 33 separate factory loadings in four pistols in the same conditions was a tall order to fill. Believe it or not, hours of chronograph work and loading magazines can get exhausting. I decided to further streamline my test by using three pistols from the same manufacturer. In my .45 version of this test, I ended up with three Sig pistols and a Smith and Wesson. For my 9mm velocity test I would use only Glock pistols.
My test pistols came in the uniform shape of a Glock 43 (3.39”), Glock 19 (4”), and Glock 34 (5.3”). These three pistols offered me a large variance of length along with the consistency of rifling type and 1:9.84” twist rate. The 25 loads tested characterize a spectrum of what is available today at retail and have representative samples from the least expensive range ammo to the most advanced self-defense loads made for the 9mm round.
Testing conditions were 50 degrees Fahrenheit with full sunlight. Rounds were fired over an Oehler 35P chronograph at a distance of five feet from the muzzle. The velocities displayed are an average taken from six readings. Due to the large amount of information gathered in this test, standard deviation and high/low velocities are not shown. This is meant to give a clear and uncluttered picture to the consumer or end user in regard to what is currently available off the shelf. All loads and pistols are available commercially at the time of this writing.
So what did I learn from the 9mm Velocity Test?
As you can see from the data, the 9mm is heavily impacted by barrel length. This stands in contrast to the results from my .45 ACP test, which was relatively unaffected. Across the spectrum, the .45 had no discernible or predictable muzzle velocity reading between barrel lengths with the shortest length often outpacing the longer ones. The 9mm had a very distinct and predictable ‘step’ in every load tested. The Glock 43 offered the slowest MV with any given load, the Glock 19 always brought up the middle, and the G34 achieved the highest numbers.
I found this interesting as I was expecting certain loads to perform better in certain barrel lengths. I have found in my many years and many hundreds of thousands of rounds spent that longer barrels aren’t always more accurate or faster given a set of loads or controls. What miffed me most about this test was that the gains across barrel lengths were essentially predictable. The velocity gains experienced were so unsurprising that I found that I was able to guess before looking at the chronograph by the time I was shooting the Glock 34.
The consistent data is wonderful, but it made for a rather boring graph when it was all said and done.
The stand-out loads among those that I tested are again from Lehigh Defense. Not only are the Lehigh loads the most visually appealing due to their artful machining, but they ranked the highest in uniformity and had some of the lowest SD (standard deviation) of anything tested. The Lehigh Defense 70gr HERO loading exited the muzzle at a staggering average of 1784fps from the G34 and only lost 234pfs going down to the minute G43, which works out to only 15% loss. The Federal 147gr Hydra-Shok JHP had a total velocity average difference of only 54fps across barrel lengths and a total loss of 5.5%
Something I noticed was that the percentage of loss among all nine millimeter loads between extremes in length was approximately 10%. Using this reasoning, you really don’t lose much between a pocket gun like the Glock 43 and a full-size Glock 34. This is a valuable consideration to those who want one load across the board for their carry gun and duty rig. It is also something to consider when deciding on a load to purchase that you know will be used in a variety of pistols for a variety of purposes such as IDPA or 3-Gun.
9×19 Ammo Data Spreadsheet
9×19 Ammo Data Graph
Thank you to the following 9 mm Ammunition Manufactures for their support in this exhaustive 9mm velocity test.
- American Eagle : https://www.federalpremium.com/ammunition/handgun/caliber/45-auto
- Black Hills Ammunition : https://www.black-hills.com/shop/new-pistol-ammo/45-acp/
- Blazer Ammo : https://www.blazer-ammo.com/
- Buffalo Bore Ammunition : https://www.buffalobore.com/
- Federal Premium Ammunition : https://www.federalpremium.com/
- Hornady Manufacturing : https://www.hornady.com/store/45-Auto/
- Lehigh Defense : https://www.lehighdefense.com/
- SIG SAUER Ammunition : https://www.sigsauer.com/products/ammunition/
- Speer Ammo : https://www.speer-ammo.com/products/golddot.aspx
About Josh Wayner:
Josh Wayner has been writing in the gun industry for five years. He is an active competition shooter with 14 medals from Camp Perry. In addition to firearms-related work, Josh enjoys working with animals and researching conservation projects in his home state of Michigan.
I can tell you from my experiences the hotter the ammo the more difference between barrel lenghts especially the 5 & 10″
were can i get a job like yours, just shooting
I am looking at building a 9mm in AR platform and would be interesting to see the difference between a 5″, 7.5, 8.5″, and 10.5″ barrel length to see if there in much increase in the velocity.
I have tested multiple barrels and loads and found that a 1/4 inch usually equates to 25 to 35 fps. I found the same thing using mag primers vs stock.
Wish you had more ammo brands like in the 45 acp test you did. Wonder what would be the longest barrel before a 9mm starts dropping speed.
This testing is very valuable to many 9 mm shooters. I know it would have been a lot more work but I was slightly disappointed that you did not include the Glock17 with the 4.6 inch barrel. The G 17 is probably the most carried pistol in American LE. Few people carry the G 34 however which is usually used for competition shooting. I am certain that many readers would be interested in seeing the difference between the G 19 and G 17 velocities. Everyone I know who carries a 9 mm including most LE officers use +P ammo. I… Read more »
A 124 grain plus P will not start dropping velocity until somewhere over 16 inches of barrel.
A 147 grain non plus P might start dropping or least stop acceleration at less than 16 inches.
Any 9mm up to 147 will increase all the way up to 17″ none increase beyond that.
Mr. Mudgett…. Per chance were you assigned to Devonshire Division of LAPD? Partnered with Ofcr Perry Hutchison… It would seem fitting to re-hash a couple of events… Richard Harvey
I guess now it’s time to do the same with .380, with all the advances in ammo technology and proliferation of .380 pistols for concealed carry. My Browning 1911-380 actually has a longer barrel than my Kimber 1911 Ultra CDP. And Federal claims that their new Hydra-shok Deep in .380 consistently meets FBI standards for penetration, expansion, and weight retention. I’ll be anxiously waiting to hear your findings.
Great and very useful data: I would however like to see this same test done with the common barrel length of AR-9 and other like P.C.C.’s and 9mm platforms chambered in 9mm. to find out what would be the optimal barrel length. Somewhere between the barrel lengths of 4.4″ in which i think is redundant for a P.C.C. If you are going to use that short of a barreled P.C.C. just stick to a pistol and out to a max of 16″ P.C.C. AR-9’s and other like 9mm platforms. The masses want to know
Check out ballisticsbytheinch.com. They’ve got lots of data on many calibers. Most of the 9mm-luger cartridges they tested are still accelerating out to 16″, but most of the gains occur by about 10″. My preference is to pull up the energy graph for nice visual reference.
Pulling up graph for 223 one sees energy increasing almost linearly with barrel length up 18″ where the graph ends. Makes me question my choice of 10.5″ pistol. Lusting after a 20″ from which to shoot green tips.
I see you thanked Sig Sauer and Black Hills at the bottom, but no results for either in the spread sheet and none for Sig in the graph.
This a very important question for me,
What exactly will 50 feet per second actually do for self defense reasons?
Does it create better expansion or significant penetration?
Because if fifty extra FPS is negligible, then having a g34 over a 19 really is for sight radius only and the need for more velocity really doesn’t mean much for self defense.
Right?
As far as the exact affects for self defense reasons?
I don’t know, however, this translates to a roughly 10% increase in energy being put into your target. Unless there is a study detailing the effectiveness of a round based on kinetic energy, whether or not this is negligible for your purposes is up to you.
At “Self-Defense” ranges for a pistol, 50 fps will provide no positives or negatives. Shot placement and Round choice will be the determining factors for desired outcome.
I’m a little bit late to the party, but thanks for this. I’m in the middle of chosing a duty weapon, and settled on the PPQ. I was wondering if I’d be losing much by staying with the 4 inch barrel as opposed to the 5 inch. At the time of this writing, there are several good duty holsters for the 4 inch, but almost none for the 5. If, as this data suggests, the external ballistics are practically negligible, then I can feel confident that I’d be better served by getting the model with the best retention holster options… Read more »
Josh – thank you for this. I am not a Glock guy by any means, but ammo is ammo and I always find tested results like these to be useful. It is waaay better than me using my own time, ammo and chrono buddy to get it done.
Just for amusement value (not scientific) … I once fired a glock 17 with a fmj 115 gr bullet into a ten inch square creosoted fence post. I pushed a wire into the hole to see how far it penetrated. About 7 inches. I then fired the same round into the post at an angle from an HK-94 (16″ barrel). The angle was about 45 degrees because I feared complete penetration if fired 90 degrees. When I stuck the wire in the hole I was very surprised to see that the bullet had completely penetrated the post, at least 12… Read more »
Another factor to consider is the direction of the grain of the wood. If the bullet enters the wood at 90 degrees to the direction of the grain, the density is much greater than if the bullet is travelling parallel to the grain. That’s why baseball bats must be held a certain way because of the grain.
Was this test set up as a DOE (Design of Experiments) or an OFAT (One Factor at a Time) test? If a DOE, were there any significant interactions? Would it be possible to get the raw test data?
Very interesting test. It would be great if the test was run as a Designed Experiment (DOE), rather than just testing for on factor (muzzle velocity). A DOE would show interactions between variables that are more significant than a single variable alone.
Good article
It’s blurry. What about Glock 17?
Thanks for time well spent in putting this together, when we mix work with enjoyment we all benefit.
The prospective of gun use (effective distance) and barrel length is to myself most important you don’t want to bring
a G43 to an AR15 fight. Loads and bullet design are next factored into specific use, it is the icing on the cake to select a velocity to maximize that use.
If you load your own and clock your loads, this is not news. Even if you use only factory and clock the loads, this is not news. But it makes for a fairly good read for those new to external ballistics.
unable to see the data graphs from the article
click on the “expand picture” button on lower right hand corner.
Interesting. I have done a lot of chronograph work with different barrel lengths . Some has been published here and I am working on other barrel length projects. Also I am comparing velocities from a handgun & rifle with the same round & results are eye opening. as are some of my other tests. If interested perhaps we can exchange some info or thoughts
was really looking forward to reading this when I had time. Sadly was much shorter than expected. I had hoped for more than just a speed comparison. Josh surely has the skills to know that the results of this test on recoil and accuracy are more important than VELO only. Especially without comparing the loads terminal performance at different ranges (especially in the case of the 70grain hollow body Lehigh). Also the title of the article seems to contradict his conclusion that the extremes are seperated by a mere 10%. Thank you, however for the work on showcasing the loads… Read more »
We Americans are statistics addicted, any article without tons of statistics will probably go unpublished. You got a bad guy? choot em. If he don’t go down choot em again.