Liberty Ammo and Steinel Ammo

[Big Frank]

I got some Liberty Ammo today. I never bought any before because I thought the super light and fast bullets were a gimmick and wouldn't penetrate deep enough. They have a line of ammo called Overwatch that uses heavier bullets than the Civil Defense ammo. The Overwatch .45 ACP weights 105 grain, and the velocity of 1600 FPS gives it 604 Foot-Pounds of Energy. Civil Defense 45 ACP+P weighs 78 grains, and the velocity of 1900 FPS gives it 600 Foot-Pounds of Energy. The 105 grain bullet should penetrate more the 78 grain bullet.

I bought one box of the Overwatch to try out, and one box of .380 ACP Civil Defense. It's blemished ammo with the heads dyed red for identification. I'll try these in my LCP. The bullet weighs 50 grains, and the velocity of 1500 FPS gives it 250 Foot-Pounds of Energy. Both are loaded in GFL brass -- Giulio Fiocchi, Lecco, Italy. Some people who reload say Fiocchi brass is great, and others say it goes straight in the trash. It may have off center flash holes, or split the necks after a couple reloads. I don't reload, so as long as it goes bang it should be okay. They also make Ultra-Lights that use the same Civil Defense projectiles with Shell Shock Technologies’ two-piece cases.

And I got one box of Steel Plate & Range .223 ammo with SinterFire lead-free, frangible projectiles. The bullet weight is 55gr at a velocity of 3100 FPS, giving it 1173 Foot-Pounds of Energy. I already have sub-sonic ammo, and regular .223 ammo in several bullet weights, but didn't have any frangible ammo. Now I do. There was Christmas sale when I ordered the three boxes of ammo.

[Big Frank]

I forgot to mention the 223 cases were Grind Hard brand.

https://grindhardammo.com/

[Big Frank]

UPS just delivered my package of Steinel Ammo at 8:30 pm. I bought one box each of:

.380 Auto 80 grain Solid Copper Hollow Point, Velocity: 1,050 FPS (3.5″ Barrel), Expansion: .94″.

.45 ACP +P 230 grain Solid Copper Hollow Point, 880 FPS (5.5″ barrel).

.357 Magnum 125 grain "Prick" hard cast, gas check spire point, 1,770 FPS (6″ barrel).

.44 Magnum 215 grain "Spike" hard cast, gas check spire point, 1,500 FPS (5.4″ barrel).

I'll use the last two to drill some holes with my Contender. Maybe by then Andy will have some .357 Max. ammo in stock. The .380 bullets look just like the .45 bullets, but tiny, and not like the ones in the picture. I've see pictures of ammo online with that bullet style before. I ran the velocities and bullet weights through a ballistic calculator and came up with 196, 395, 860, and 1074 foot pounds of energy.


https://steinelammo.com/all-available-calibers/handgun-ammo/380-acp/380-auto/

https://steinelammo.com/all-available-calibers/handgun-ammo/45-acp/45-acp-p-230gr-solid-copper-hollow-points/

https://steinelammo.com/all-available-calibers/handgun-ammo/357-magnum/357-magnum-125gr-spire-point-rnfp-copy/

https://steinelammo.com/all-available-calibers/handgun-ammo/44-magnum/44-magnum-215gr-hard-cast-spike-20-rounds/

[Big Frank]

Here are links to, and pics of, the Liberty Ammo I bought. The .223 is the cheapest at $1.50 a pop. I'll have to see if the .45 ACP will feed in any of my pistols.

https://libertyammo.com/product/civil-defense-380-acp-blemished/

https://libertyammo.com/product/overwatch-45-acp/

https://libertyammo.com/product/steel-plate-range-223/

[Rastus]

I like the light Liberty Civil Defense.  It really lightens the load for summer carry.  I have an LC9 that love it.  The accuracy is not as good as other ammo but at ranges where you generally need self-defense ammo it's great.  Head shot on a terrorist in body armor at 25 yards will be iffy.

[Sponsor]

[Big Frank]

The Civil Defense ammo seems to be one that people either love or hate. Not much in between from what I've read. The heavier Overwatch bullets are supposed to penetrate a few more inches before they blow up. I'm excited to see what those and the .380 CD will do in water jugs. If I have enough magazines, I can tape them together and let them soak in water for a day or two. That would give me a good idea what they're capable of on flesh. I'll never read most of the magazine I got with free subscriptions and could use stacks of those.

I'm interested to see what the Steinel spire point pistol ammo will do to light steel.

I don't know if I should try the .223 frangible ammo on my >.44 Magnum spinner target. It would probably get bent out of shape and need to be fixed with a sledgehammer again, but I think it would otherwise be okay. Anyone have an opinion on that?