At the close of last year, small samples of ammo arrived from a few makers. A couple of these are light-for-caliber pistol rounds, one meant for service use and the other for range use. During a break in winter weather, I sought to get some rounds down range.

To review, my evaluations cover velocity, accuracy and whether the round hits to point of aim. These days there isn’t enough in the way of sample size to determine reliability. I also don’t test in gelatin. There are enough people doing that.

The first loads came from Liberty Ammunition. I’ve used their stuff before. It seemed to work quite well, but the “light bullet/high speed” thing has been something attempted since Lee Jurras opened Super Vel all those many decades ago. The current company personnel tell me their “ammo is designed for different performance than other hollow points.”

The bullets are lighter – quite light for caliber, the velocity is higher and the bullets have a cavity that’s larger at the bottom.

The previous product from Liberty shot quite well in terms of reliability and accuracy. We’ll check what we can with the new loads.

From Sinterfire, we have new range ammo, 1776 USA. The idea with this load is to provide “lead-free ammo at lead ball costs.” For shooting on an indoor range or for range use in a state that is terrified of lead, the costs of nonlead ammo eat up the shooting budget. Now the ammo, available for dealers from Sports South, is made to compete with conventional ball ammo in cost.

The loads feature a nylon-coated projectile made from a porous alloy. While the projectiles are light for caliber, the website shows that they give a similar recoil impulse and hit to the same point of aim as conventional ball ammo.

The day of the test in January 2023 found the temperature on the range to be 31°F. It was quite humid. The guns for each brand were new-ish to me. The 380 was the Ruger Security 380; the 9mm was the Shadow Systems Foundation Series DR920. The Ruger has a 3.42" barrel; the DR920 has a 4.5” barrel.

The loads from Liberty included Civil Defense 380 50 grain and Civil Defense 9mm +P 50 grain.

The average velocity for the Civil Defense 380 from the Ruger pistol was 1,665 fps. The load hit around six-inches low at 25 yards. (“Who shoots a pistol at 25 yards anymore?”) Five hits went into 2 ½” with the best three of the five crowding into 1”.

That’s impressive accuracy – for the pistol and the round. What about hitting so low?

Well, who shoots a pistol at 25 yards these days? – But I repeat myself.

The 9mm +P was indeed a +P load, some blast but easily handled in the service-size Shadow Systems pistol. The 50 grain HP averaged 2,401 feet-per-second – smokin’! The round hit four-inches low at 25 yards. Five bullets shot into 2 7/8” at 25 yards with the best three (deleting the elderly shooter’s errors) shooting into 1 3/8”.

Again, that’s good performance.

The Sinterfire/1776 USA range ammo was lighter, as we’d expect for value priced range ammo. The 380 round averaged 1,223 fps – still speedy for the caliber. The 9mm yielded an average of 1,430 fps out of the service-size Shadow Systems pistol.

Now for the accuracy: I couldn’t get a group with the 1776 380 round fired from the Security 380. The hits were scattered around the target. It could simply be that the Security 380 just doesn’t like this load – and it certainly shot the Civil Defense load well.

With some trepidation, I tried the 1776 9mm lead-free round in the DR920 Foundation Series pistol. Five bullets shot into 2 7/8” with the best three of the group fitting inside 7/8”.

While the Ruger didn’t like the 380, the 9mm was a clear proof of concept in the DR920. As a bonus, the 9mm from 1776 USA hit just under the top of the front sight at 25 yards – a bonus.

In a later, flying trip to the range, I tried the 1776 USA 70gr. 380 round in two other pistols. It was 31°, foggy and I was shooting the pint-sized guns from a seated rest, again at 25 yards.

With the Ruger LCP II, I aimed a bit high on the reduced-size silhouette. The rounds went just above the sights. Four rounds went into 2 7/8” – I may have pulled the first round off, over the target. The load essentially hit close to the sights in this gun.

With the GLOCK 42, I found the rounds hit just under the Wilson Combat/Vickers Tactical sights, putting all five into 2 7/8” with the best three into 1 5/8”. That’s good performance.

And don’t be tough on the Security 380: the Liberty ammo performed just fine in this gun, as did Hornady Critical Defense ammo on a previous outing.

The Liberty Civil Defense ammo and the 1776 USA ammo fed, fired, extracted and ejected without any issues.

These were interesting results.

-- Rich Grassi