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Ammo for Comped Echelon ?

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DatBoyChamp

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I am a new gun owner and new to shooting and my son recently gifted me with the Springfield Echelon w/ comp through a family transfer ( I’m a California resident ). I’ve read and heard that some comped guns should use different ammo than non comped guns ? Is there any truth to that ? Or possibly if somebody here owns a Springfield Echelon w/ Comp what ammo do you currently use for range shooting and self defense ? and its reliability ? Also while I’m at it i also own the Hellcat Pro ( No Comp ) what ammo is best to use for range shooting and self defense ? All responses are welcome and thanks in advance for your help
 
Funny, I have both of those handguns... I use my comp'ed Echelon for competition shooting and use Remington Range 9mm Luger 124 gr. FMJ MV 1090 FPS. exclusively for that gun for that reason.

For my Hellcat pro I keep it clean, just the gun, no comp no red dot nothing... made for one purpose to carry concealed and defense myself so for that I us Federal LEA HST 9mm 147 grain JHP or the hyper shocks from Sig Sauer.

Simple really. FMJ for range usually 124 to 147 grains. For self-defense 147 grain JHP or JHP+

ONLY IMO.

Since I just reread that you were new to guns. I'll do a basic explanation also.

From my understand, training and experience. The FMJ (full metal jacket) also known as ball ammo is a solid piece of metal, it's rounded usually made more for knock down due to the round ball, for target shooting.

The JHP (Jacket Hollow points) are usually made for defense because they have a hollow center and the tips are creashed. When they hit the body they do more intense damage. Where a ball round might go through a small area the hollow points will expand and destroy different parks of the body organs to stop the threat. just FYI.

Now there's more, and exceptions but that's the basics.
 
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Welcome to the forum.
I do not have either gun but my guess would be that standard range ammo (115 grain, FMJ) will run just fine in both comped and standard barrels. You may want to try 124 and 147 grain as well.
Self defense ammo is based on preference, what your gun will reliably cycle and what your local laws allow. Being a new gun owner you need to become very familiar with your local laws. For my home defense guns i use 9mm Federal Law Enforcement HST 147 grain hollow points and for carry I use Hornady Critical Defense 9mm 115 grain FTX polymer tip. In NJ we can't use hollow points for carry.
I am sure there will be a lot of others chiming in here. They know their stuff. Welcome aboard.
 
Oh yeah. When we are talking about "115, 124, 147 grain" that is referring to bullet weight. Some guns like heavier projectiles, some don't. They feel a little different when you shoot them too. Try all 3 and find the one you and your gun like best. No offense intended if you already know this, but you said you were new to shooting.
ps- shooting is real fun.
 
mikep said:
Oh yeah. When we are talking about "115, 124, 147 grain" that is referring to bullet weight. Some guns like heavier projectiles, some don't. They feel a little different when you shoot them too. Try all 3 and find the one you and your gun like best. No offense intended if you already know this, but you said you were new to shooting.
ps- shooting is real fun.
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That’s necessary for any gun too. Not just comped guns.
 
Hi,

DatBoyChamp said:
I am a new gun owner and new to shooting and my son recently gifted me with the Springfield Echelon w/ comp through a family transfer ( I’m a California resident ). I’ve read and heard that some comped guns should use different ammo than non comped guns ? Is there any truth to that ? Or possibly if somebody here owns a Springfield Echelon w/ Comp what ammo do you currently use for range shooting and self defense ? and its reliability ? Also while I’m at it i also own the Hellcat Pro ( No Comp ) what ammo is best to use for range shooting and self defense ? All responses are welcome and thanks in advance for your help
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I'm glad you were able to legally acquire the Echelon. Sometimes it's very inconvenient there on the Left Coast. I escaped California three years ago.

I picked up a new Echelon 4.5F Comp in February. I've taken it to the range four or five times now. I've had no issues with S&B or Blazer Brass for practice ammo, both 124 grain ball FMJ. I use mostly 124 grain to practice with because I've decided on 124 grain Speer Gold Dot as my defense ammo.

All of my Springfield and XD pistols have performed flawlessly with everything except 115 grain Winchester White Box. I'll never buy that again. The 124 grain NATO Winchester seems to be fine.

I periodically try other brands/weights to see what works, just for reference. But I've decided on my favorites because I know they always work. Eventually you'll do the same.

I used to shoot and train a lot outside at Lytle Creek Firing Line and Burro Canyon Shooting Park, indoors was at Rancho Magnum Range, in SoCal. Where's your range (general area)?

Thanks for joining us. These folks have been very nice to this old noob. I'm sure you'll enjoy it here.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
I don’t have those two guns but I do have several comped guns. For the first couple of hundred rounds I would run 124 NATO. If it runs fine with those I would step it down to regular 124 gr ammo of your choice. You could find that some ammo works better than others of the same grain. Does SA recommend a particular ammo or advise ammo to stay away from?
 
BassCliff said:
Hi,



I'm glad you were able to legally acquire the Echelon. Sometimes it's very inconvenient there on the Left Coast. I escaped California three years ago.

I picked up a new Echelon 4.5F Comp in February. I've taken it to the range four or five times now. I've had no issues with S&B or Blazer Brass for practice ammo, both 124 grain ball FMJ. I use mostly 124 grain to practice with because I've decided on 124 grain Speer Gold Dot as my defense ammo.

All of my Springfield and XD pistols have performed flawlessly with everything except 115 grain Winchester White Box. I'll never buy that again. The 124 grain NATO Winchester seems to be fine.

I periodically try other brands/weights to see what works, just for reference. But I've decided on my favorites because I know they always work. Eventually you'll do the same.

I used to shoot and train a lot outside at Lytle Creek Firing Line and Burro Canyon Shooting Park, indoors was at Rancho Magnum Range, in SoCal. Where's your range (general area)?

Thanks for joining us. These folks have been very nice to this old noob. I'm sure you'll enjoy it here.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
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Very inconvenient to say the least lol . I wonder how my CCW permit journey will be soon . I’m looking into that as well and have heard some horror stories here in the Left Coast about the lengthiness of the process . I’m located in the Bay Area and the indoor range close to me is located in the city of Sunnyvale called Reeds Indoor Range. Once i get more comfortable with the atmosphere and shooting i will venture out to more locations. Thank you for your insight and guided information
 
DatBoyChamp said:
I am a new gun owner and new to shooting and my son recently gifted me with the Springfield Echelon w/ comp through a family transfer ( I’m a California resident ). I’ve read and heard that some comped guns should use different ammo than non comped guns ? Is there any truth to that ? Or possibly if somebody here owns a Springfield Echelon w/ Comp what ammo do you currently use for range shooting and self defense ? and its reliability ? Also while I’m at it i also own the Hellcat Pro ( No Comp ) what ammo is best to use for range shooting and self defense ? All responses are welcome and thanks in advance for your help
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Welcome to the forum from South Texas.
 
DatBoyChamp said:
I am a new gun owner and new to shooting and my son recently gifted me with the Springfield Echelon w/ comp through a family transfer ( I’m a California resident ). I’ve read and heard that some comped guns should use different ammo than non comped guns ? Is there any truth to that ? Or possibly if somebody here owns a Springfield Echelon w/ Comp what ammo do you currently use for range shooting and self defense ? and its reliability ? Also while I’m at it i also own the Hellcat Pro ( No Comp ) what ammo is best to use for range shooting and self defense ? All responses are welcome and thanks in advance for your help
Click to expand...
None of my pistols are comped, I have a Hellcat and an Echelon. Both of them run anything I feed them, which was all 115 grain until I ran into an issue with an FN that was fussy (the only brand I have found this with). I upped to 124 grain FMJ for range practice and all my guns run it well.
Welcome to the forum from Minnesota. There's lots of knowledge here, and we do go off the rails once in a while, but it's mostly all friendly fun. Happy to have you here!
 
Hi,

DatBoyChamp said:
Very inconvenient to say the least lol . I wonder how my CCW permit journey will be soon . I’m looking into that as well and have heard some horror stories here in the Left Coast about the lengthiness of the process . I’m located in the Bay Area and the indoor range close to me is located in the city of Sunnyvale called Reeds Indoor Range. Once i get more comfortable with the atmosphere and shooting i will venture out to more locations. Thank you for your insight and guided information
Click to expand...

After recent court rulings, the CCW process is incrementally easier statewide but I have a feeling that it is still very dependant on how 2A friendly your county sheriff may be. Some counties are "shall issue" while others are more "may issue". I lived in San Bernardino County where the sheriff was pro-2A and wanted to arm every law abiding responsible citizen who wanted a CCW permit.

I actually documented my California CCW journey on another forum.

www.xdtalk.com

BassCliff's (CA + AZ + WI) CCW Adventures, Carry or...

Greetings and Salutations, With the encouragement of my training instructor, who has his CCW, I have begun the process of applying for a CCW permit here in the Inland Empire of Southern California. In this thread I hope to chronicle the process and my experiences through it. I hope to not only...
www.xdtalk.com www.xdtalk.com

Also documented are the CCW procedures for my AZ (non-resident) permit and the very easy process once I moved to Wisconsin. The CA process was straightforward but expensive and time consuming. It didn't help that I got started during the Covid mess. I had to return my CA permit once I moved.

OK, I'll stop blabbering. Let me know if I can help.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
With the Springfield Echelon Comp and Hellcat Pro ( non comp’d ) is there any specific brand / grain type of ammo i should stay away from because there is known malfunctions with it ? Or do both usually eat anything put through it ? Thank you
 
Hi,

DatBoyChamp said:
With the Springfield Echelon Comp and Hellcat Pro ( non comp’d ) is there any specific brand / grain type of ammo i should stay away from because there is known malfunctions with it ?...
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Not that I'm aware of. I generally stay with the well-known brands, CCI products (Blazer Brass, Speer Lawman), S&B, PMC, Fiocchi, Remington, Federal, etc. I stay away from WWB simply because I had a bad spell with it a while back, squibs, stovepipes, bad primers/non-fire, etc. I haven't tried it lately. Perhaps Winchester just had a bad QC run a few years back. I dunno. I've also had lots of problems with Armscor .22LR in all of my .22 semi-autos so I also stay away from their other calibers, just for that reason.

I have not looked into whether either of the pistols you mention are rated for +P or +P+ (high pressure) ammo. Take care with high pressure ammo.

There are many brands that I have not tried, YTR, MaxxTech, AAC, etc. I tend to stay away from steel-cased ammo for my pistols. I have used aluminum case with no problems. I've also used Norma and Aguila on occasion.

Be advised that I have not been shooting all that long so my ammo knowledge and experience is not as wide and vast as others on this forum. Maybe read some ammo threads here in the forum, check out reviews on Youtube or gun-related websites. I do research like that before I buy something new. You can always ask here about a particular product.

I shoot mostly 124 grain because that's the SD ammo I use, 124 grain Speer Gold Dot. Many train with 115 grain. The heavier bullets (150 grain, etc) are generally sub-sonic for use with silencers. They shoot a little softer/slower.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
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