Ammunition & Hand Loading > Cartridge and Shotshell reloading
Montana Gold vs. X-Treme
OnTheFly:
I have decided to up my shooting game. More dry-fire and more live rounds on the range. Because of this, I decided to start looking for a less expensive bullet. I had previously been buying Montana Gold 124gr CMJ RN. A case (3,750 bullets) is $370. I've been reading all I could find on the internet and talking to fellow shooters to see what they use. Somehow I started looking at X-Treme bullets. I decided to give them a try and ordered 500 of their plated 124gr RN. Supposedly the plating on a standard X-Treme bullet is thicker than other brands. This is supposed to allow you to push the bullet faster without issues. They also have an extra thick plated bullet for the same purpose. However, I'm not pushing the upper end. I want lower power round delivering softer recoil and faster follow up shots. Something in the low 130's power factor.
Before I loaded any, I randomly grabbed five of each brand of bullet and did some non-scientific comparison. Here is what I found.
Montana Gold 124gr CMJ RN
Average Standard Deviation
Diameter: 0.3546 0.00055
OAL: 0.5908 0.00396
Weight: 123.78 0.25884
X-Treme Plated 124gr RN
Diameter: 0.354 0
OAL: 0.5884 0.00089
Weight: 124.14 0.11402
From that VERY small sampling (yes...I know it should be bigger for a more accurate/meaningful analysis), it appears that the X-Treme are more consistent. Now, I'm not saying these measurements are all that is necessary to judge the bullets, but if my findings hold true, then the X-Treme seem to be more consistent in their manufacturing. Hopefully that will at least contribute to more consistent ballistics.
I loaded up 20 rounds with the same powder, charge, and OAL I've been using for the Montana Gold. Went to the range and shot 10 through the Chrono to get a power factor of 132 and a Standard Deviation of 13. This is very close to what the Montana Gold came in at.
Next was accuracy. Shooting from a rest at 25 yards, the bullets were hitting at point of aim. Albeit, strung out side-to-side which I'm sure was due to my (mis)alignment of the sights. All results were comparable to my tests with the Montana Gold.
Price comparison.
Montana Gold 3,750 bullets for $370 (free shipping)
X-Treme 1,000 bullets for $77.54 (includes $5 flat rate shipping)
Per Round 100 1,000 10,000
Montana Gold $0.09867 $9.867 $98.67 $986.70
X-Treme $0.07754 $7.754 $77.54 $775.40
Difference $0.02112 $2.112 $21.12 $211.20
Explanation for the quantities I used.
To get the best pricing, you have to buy the Montana Gold case. In addition, Montana Gold has free shipping. Well, not truly "free", but it is included in the price. However, X-Treme sells the bullets in boxes of 500 ($36.27 for the bullets in this example) with no discount for larger quantities. Their shipping is a flat $5. I asked if the shipping would still be $5 if I ordered 3K, and they said it would be. So I'm not sure where the quantity cut-off would be (if there is one) for the flat $5 shipping. To have a little more fair comparison, I decided to use two boxes (1K) of the X-Treme.
I'm sure to many the work of adjusting reloading equipment and testing a new round is not worth the small savings. In my case, I'm hoping to be shooting 20,000 rounds in the next year, so the savings is nothing to sneeze at.
The other area I will be looking at closely is barrel fowling. From the reviews I have read, the X-Treme, especially when shot less than 1,100 fps, maintain their copper plating out the barrel.
Once again, there are many factors that go into the equation of finding a good bullet. I'm not saying my findings are the be-all end-all specs, but it is just my preliminary observation.
Fly
abbafandr:
I've been using X-Treme since I started reloading (9mm). I haven't done any scientific measurements or such, but have had no problem with them in any of my 9mm guns.
bullit:
Or you could go this route and spend your time (and savings especially on the NEW 9mm) watching The Walking Dead.....
http://www.freedommunitions.com/Weekly-Sale-s/56002.htm
OnTheFly:
--- Quote from: bullit on August 23, 2014, 01:25:44 PM ---Or you could go this route and spend your time (and savings especially on the NEW 9mm) watching The Walking Dead.....
http://www.freedommunitions.com/Weekly-Sale-s/56002.htm
--- End quote ---
If I do HALF as much shooting as I hope to in the next year, Freedom Munitions remanufactured 124gr RN would cost me $800 more than reloading. :o That's worth the time and work to reload...for me at least.
Fly
JTH:
I'll note that I'm also planning on trying out some Xtreme bullets after A4 and the Iowa Sectional match. I've heard good things, and the price difference is----significant.
So, I'll let you know how it works for me, too.
(And yeah, for volume shooting, reloading saves you a ton of money over buying new.)
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