I tried a case of it (150 Syntech) and it's a solid meh for me. I am going through a couple cases of Federal AE115 at the moment. I'm not sure I notice any difference (115 was cheaper of course.) Is it cool to have red bullets? I guess so. Not sure I care so much, though, as the AE115 also seems to work (as accurate as I'm able to shoot, of course, which is not very well. )Originally Posted by Spartan1980
I bought a half a case of it from Brownells. My Glocks and LTT Elites don't like it, so for me it is not great. Atlanta Arms and Hornady Steel Match are much better for my pistols.
AE9FP is cheaper. True, it's not a reduced load, but I don't find much difference in recoil or on the timer.
https://www.brownells.com/ammunition...ku=105-200-328
https://www.brownells.com/ammunition...rod104249.aspx
Also there's an interesting thread going on over on Enos about the 124gr Syntech load. A guy has a lot that is running 150PF out of his Stock2 which is much hotter than his last batch. He called them asking about it and Fed told him they only load to a specific pressure, they don't chrono at all and they can change powders twice in a week. The guy just posted that Thursday.
Neither the 115 grain nor 124 grain are marketed as Action Pistol loads - to your point, I see nothing about the 115 grain or 124 grain Syntech loadings that make them a more desirable choice over the equivalent American Eagle offering, especially when it is more expensive. I'm not surprised that those loads would exhibit a high PF.
I find I derive a slight benefit from the 150 grain loading, enough to make it my match ammunition. I've also ordered from Brownells during sales - between 10% off, free shipping, the AJ cash back, and the Federal rebate, I'm not breaking $200 for a case of the 150 grain Syntech. No, it's not as cheap as AE (and I've got a nice stockpile of AE 147 grain), and I wouldn't use it as general purpose practice ammunition, but I don't find it prohibitively expensive, and I think it compares favorably with the boutique competition reloads. YMMV.
"When the phone rang, Parker was in the garage, killing a man."
That has been my beef with this ammo from the get go. I don't see what it gives over their jacketed offerings and I have to pay more for something that I can't determine. I suppose they may be loading the 150gr to different specs and using different testing protocols since it bears the USPSA logo and it's likely running on it's own production line, so maybe they are treating it differently. But I have my doubts.
Maybe not as aggressively as the 150 grain, but if they're not intended as action pistol loads, then why did Federal give away a ton of the 115 as door prizes a couple of years ago at the MN USPSA Section match? I walked away from the section match with 200 rounds of it, and shot it all in a few matches that fall. It knocked down poppers just fine, seemed on par with my reloads for accuracy, and was not objectionable in terms of recoil/blast. Were it not for the fact that I can load my own considerably cheaper, I'd be happy to run it, but priced the way it is, I'll just keep buying from Blue Bullets and cranking away on the press handle.
Well, the 150 grain loads say 'Action Pistol' on the box, have the USPSA endorsement on the box, specifically state that they meet Power Factor requirements, and are marketed for competition use. The 115 grain and 124 grain loads don't. Syntech now encompasses specific loads for range, competition, and self defense use - they're not all supposed to be competition loads, and perhaps Federal's marketing campaign has confused that point. My only point here is that I would have no expectations that the 115/124 grain loads would be low power factor offerings, and at their price point they offer nothing that you can't get out of American Eagle or Blazer.
"When the phone rang, Parker was in the garage, killing a man."
That's entirely fair, and thinking back on it, I believe the door prizes at that match were part of the initial marketing campaign for the line in general, and happened before the 150-grain load even existed. Perhaps it was a case of "use what we have ready to get the word out now."
I don't think you're wrong that folks are confused about the Syntech line though - the thread on Enos that Spartan1980 mentioned is filled with people complaining about the 124 grain ammunition being 'Action Pistol' and USPSA endorsed when it isn't.
Federal isn't helping matters by introducing loads like this...
...as I understand 'Match' in this context isn't referring to a USPSA/IDPA match but instead indicates that the ballistics of the ammunition matches the equivalent weight HST load.
The specific 'Action Pistol' lineup seems to be the 150 grain 9mm, 205 grain .40, and 220 grain .45 ACP. They've also introduced a PCC specific load 130 grain load, but it does not appear to have the same USPSA endorsed branding.
Last edited by JSGlock34; 03-31-2019 at 01:31 PM.
"When the phone rang, Parker was in the garage, killing a man."
I haven't bothered to go looking, but I'd really be curious to see what that PCC load chronos. I know I've given up on getting down to 130'ish PF. To do that I think you have to use uber light bullets, at least in my gun. I said heck with it. I don't shoot PCC often enough to keep separate ammo for it anyway.The specific 'Action Pistol' lineup seems to be the 150 grain 9mm, 205 grain .40, and 220 grain .45 ACP. They've also introduced a PCC specific load 130 grain load, but it does not appear to have the same USPSA endorsed branding.
Last edited by Spartan1980; 03-31-2019 at 02:33 PM.
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