Hornady TAP

swatmedic

swatmedic

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I posted this at arfcom, and since it is firearms related and didn't mention zombies or other such stupid shit, i never got any replies. So I am doing what I should have done in the first place and posting the question here.

I have been tasked with writing a member tested review of Hornady TAP CQ 230 gr. 45 ACP. I am looking for any experiences you folks may have.

I have never writen this kind of review before, so any suggestions on what info I should include would also be helpful. I do not have the ability to do penetration and expansion tests. I am planning on having some of my team mates who cary .45 run a few rounds through thier guns to check for feed/extraction issues the organization only sent me 40 rounds, so I don't have a lot of ammo to try.

any other suggestions would be great thanks.
 
First of all, 40 rounds isn't enough to test anything. Secondly, someone needs to define what your testing for, accuracy, velocity, reliability, expansion, penetration, etc, etc.

A couple of suggestions:

1) Define the question above

2) Contact Hornady and tell them you are testing new loads for your dept. for future purchase. However, due to budgets contraits, you cannot buy all the test loads and see if they will help you out by sending you some. I'd think 500 minimum.

3) Request from Hornady any data they have of testing. Also, any independant labs that may have tested and have data. Here your looking for penetration and expansion data tested to FBI standards.

4) Divvy up the ammo to 3 or 4 guys on your team, define testing parameters to them such as accuracy and reliability. This testing needs to be structured and followed exactly by everyone doing the testing. Any failures need to be pin-pointed to ammo, gun, conditions, etc. You should also have a "measuring" stick to compare. In other words, you need to test other ammo (current duty) in the same manner, by the same people, in the same weapons, under the same conditions to compare data.

That should get you pointed in the right direction. I'm sure others will have a few ideas, as well.
 
AmmoLab was a good resource in the past but is now pay subscription only. Here's a link in case your department is willing to spring for the $48 or $99 fee for access: http://www.ammolab.com

Firearms Tactical Institute has some interesting test info, but it is badly dated . . . some ammo has changed significantly since their last tests were done in 2002. http://www.firearmstactical.com/tactical.htm

These sites may give you some ideas on what to do and what to look for. The data itself may not be very useful unless you are certain that no changes in ammo mfg process has occurred since the tests were run.
 
Thanks for the tips guys. I should explain a little about the testing program. I am a member of the National Tactical Officers Assoc. They have a Member Tested program in which manufactureres supply products to be tested by the members, who in turn usually get to keep the product they test. In the past the items consisted of boots, gear bags, camel baks and the like. This program has been a good way for the testers to score some free gear (I last tested a Camel bak HAWG pack), and the members to get reviews from guys who actually use the stuff.
I dont think they expect a detailed scientific testing process from only 40 rounds, so I think I will round up 3 other guys on the team who use .45 and have them shoot a mag, and I will look for failure to feed/failure to fire type problems, plus ask the shooters their impressions about recoil, muzzle flash etc. We are a regional team, so everybody shoots what their departments issue, so I will be able to get some info on 4 different guns, including my usp 45c.
Thanks for the advise, and I will post what little info I can gleem from this exhaustive testing process.
 
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