Night shoot flash observations

[LSP552]

We spent Thanksgiving out in the country with my family. This provided the perfect opportunity to do a bit of night shooting to check the muzzle flash on three 9mm loads. I haven't really done any dim light shooting since I retired. The loads were the Remington 147 Golden Saber, Speer 124+P Gold Dot (what I usually carry) and the 147 Gold Dot. What I saw didn't match my expectations. In order of most flash, I expected Golden Saber, +P Gold Dot and lowest from 147 Gold Dot.

Surprisingly the 147 Golden Saber had significantly less flash than the Gold Dots. The 124+P and 147 Gold Dots were undistinguishable.

In the past, the 147 Golden Saber seemed pretty bright. Last night it was both smaller and dimmer and than either of the Gold Dots.

Having said that, neither of the Gold Dots were bright enough to be overly distracting or cause loss of the HD sights on the 226.

[dudley0]

One of the reasons I chose GD was the flash. It seemed better than the other big brands. Different color and all that.

Interesting that there is another that competes with them for flash and possibly color.

Is the 147 GS bonded? Currently I carry the GD 124 +p. When I can find them I planned to snag up some more...

[SecondsCount]

Interesting. We shot a bunch of different ammo in Ken Hackathorn's night class last year including my carry load, 124 +P Gold Dot and 124 HP reloads with 5.0 Winchester Super Field. Neither of them flashed a lot.

Ken was surprised at how low they flashed. We were shooting at 4300 feet elevation which makes me wonder if that made a difference.

[LHS]

We shot some 230gr golden saber at one of Ken's classes a few years ago, and it had a massive fireball, even worse than the old 200gr +p CorBon stuff.

[Chuck Haggard]

I've found Remington to be rather inconsistent. In the past I've not noted the 124gr +P Golden Saber to be bad, shot some up last year in an indoor range IDPA match, it had an obnoxious level of flash, far worst than past experience would have indicated, and the flash had this weird blue tint to it that I have never seen in a muzzle flash before. It was bright enough to seriously mess with my vision under those lighting conditions.

Last weekend as part of the class I was teaching we did a night shoot, and I always give folks an opportunity to run their duty/carry ammo through their guns in a no light course of fire so they can see their muzzle flash. Johncorey was on the line with his G34, running 147gr Ranger Bonded. The flash was damn near invisible from my position towards the side and about halfway down the line.

[LSP552]

We shot some 230gr golden saber at one of Ken's classes a few years ago, and it had a massive fireball, even worse than the old 200gr +p CorBon stuff.

I remember being issued 230 Golden Saber for our P220s and they were pretty bright.

I've found Remington to be rather inconsistent. In the past I've not noted the 124gr +P Golden Saber to be bad, shot some up last year in an indoor range IDPA match, it had an obnoxious level of flash, far worst than past experience would have indicated, and the flash had this weird blue tint to it that I have never seen in a muzzle flash before. It was bright enough to seriously mess with my vision under those lighting conditions.

Last weekend as part of the class I was teaching we did a night shoot, and I always give folks an opportunity to run their duty/carry ammo through their guns in a no light course of fire so they can see their muzzle flash. Johncorey was on the line with his G34, running 147gr Ranger Bonded. The flash was damn near invisible from my position towards the side and about halfway down the line.

Agree about Remington being a bit inconsistent in this, which was why I surprised at the low level of flash from the 147 Golden Saber. That load has been flashy in the past. The 124 +P bonded GS was the issue 9mm load for a long time and I do remember it being flashy also. I have some of the older (pre-2008 retirement) bonded 124+P GS in my stash. I might see if I can pick up a box of the newer stuff to see if these are across the board improvements.

I haven't shot the 147 Win Ranger Bonded, but the regular 147 Ranger T had the lowest flash of any duty ammo I've seen. Not only was the size very small, the color was very low key orange, but not in-your-face bright.

I have always liked the 147 Golden Saber when cars aren't part if the equation. Sometimes the ammo supply gets iffy and it's a good thing to know about your options.

I generally hate a behind the dot sight picture at 25 yards so I tend to find one of Doc's loads that shoots tip of the blade with any pistol I carry. With HD sights on the my 239, the 124 +P Gold Dot is perfect, and that's what it gets, along with my G17/19. The 226s really like the 147s, so I'm fine with those in that pistol. This seems easier than changing sights across the board for multiple pistols.

I wonder how many folks have never shot their carry ammo at night or in dim light?

[LSP552]

One of the reasons I chose GD was the flash. It seemed better than the other big brands. Different color and all that.

Interesting that there is another that competes with them for flash and possibly color.

Is the 147 GS bonded? Currently I carry the GD 124 +p. When I can find them I planned to snag up some more...

No, the 147 GS was the regular, non-bonded version. I think I remember reading Doc's comments about the 147 bonded GS not working as well as the 124+P bonded GS.

[OmahaOutdoors]

Thanks for sharing your observations LSP. Nice to keep that in mind.

Interesting. We shot a bunch of different ammo in Ken Hackathorn's night class last year including my carry load, 124 +P Gold Dot and 124 HP reloads with 5.0 Winchester Super Field. Neither of them flashed a lot.

Ken was surprised at how low they flashed. We were shooting at 4300 feet elevation which makes me wonder if that made a difference.

That is an interesting thing to consider. I'm not sure I've heard anyone suggest that elevation could make a difference, but I would be interested to hear if someone actually tested that.

[LSP552]

I haven't shot the 147 Win Ranger Bonded, but the regular 147 Ranger T had the lowest flash of any duty ammo I've seen. Not only was the size very small, the color was very low key orange, "NOT" in-your-face bright.

I HATE auto correct. ^ This is how it should have read.

[Beat Trash]

The Winchester Ranger T 147 gr load is our issued loading. We also have done some night shooting/training. My experiences with it mirrors Chuck's. I even shot a magazine out of my Shield. Not much difference, if any form a 4" barreled M&P9.