u/Timely-Yak-5155

My personal favorite method for removing wasp nests: starting fluid + lighter. Hear me out, this has a number of advantages compared to regular wasp spray or the stupid gasoline trend. Firstly it’s very economical. A can of starting fluid is under $4 from Walmart and it lasts a lot longer than wasp spray, and you can use it for other stuff unlike wasp spray. Second: effectiveness- wasps are sensitive to sudden temperature change and die instantly, unlike sprays which can take a bit to suffocate them, and it’s a large area meaning it takes out the whole nest and any wasps flying next to it, unlike a thin stream of wasp spray. Third: safety & cleanliness- starting fluid actually burns at a fairly lower temperature compared to many other combustible fluids, only around 350 degrees if I remember right, and it evaporates quickly and leaves no residue or scorch marks unlike other fluids like carburetor cleaner, meaning it’s safe and clean to use on most surfaces including bricks, concrete, glass, wood fences, wood paneling, painted surfaces, plastic decorations, etc. I only avoid using it if there’s a bunch of dry grass or leaves nearby, or if it’s really high up, then I use spray or soapy water in a little pressure sprayer. Has anyone else tried this before? I also have a story of taking out some wasp nests at a zoo in Texas when I used to work overnight security there if anyone is interested.

Just got done loading up 4 boxes of 185 grain flat nose plated 45 ACP for a co-worker. He liked the box of 185 grain Hornady hollow points I made for him and requested 200 practice rounds. I loaded these lighter as per his request (~1000 FPS vs 1100).

Today I tested 3 different 9mm products made by Federal and Winchester for government contracts with the military or state police. All 3 of these products advertise velocities 100+ FPS higher than standard pressure 9mm which if accurate would definitely push them into +p+ power territory. I’ve tested hot 9mm before, but from special companies like underwood, double tap and buffalo bore, not mainstream companies like Federal and Winchester.

First up is Federal 9mm Military Grade NATO, product number C9N882, advertised as a 124 grain FMJ bullet @ 1260 FPS from a 4” test barrel. I was unable to find any YouTube video or forum post about it so this might be the first documented independent test of this product. Pulling the 123.5 grain flat nose bullet revealed 6.1 grains of a flattened ball powder with a sandy light brown appearance.

Next is Winchester Service Grade 9mm, advertised as a 115 grain FMJ @ 1315 FPS from a 5” test barrel. I will be testing from a 4” barrel as per the SAAMI standard so I expected to see less than advertised on this one. Pulling the hollow base round nose 115.5 grain bullet revealed 6.6 grains of a dark grey flattened ball powder.

Lastly is Federal +p+ 9BPLE 115 grain JHP advertised at 1300 FPS from a 4” barrel. From what I could find this was made at the request of the Illinois state police and is the only round that actually says it’s over standard pressure. Pulling the 115 grain JHP bullet revealed 7.16 grains of a dark grey flattened ball powder.

Lastly I loaded up some +p+ test rounds of my own, the first with 6.4 grains of CFE and the second with 7.1 grains of Longshot, using mixed headstamp once fired brass, federal primers, and loaded to 1.09 OAL. As always, duplicate loads found on Reddit at your own risk, especially these once since they’re loaded to +p+ pressures.

Testing was done indoors through an optical chronograph at 10 feet with 5 rounds each through a Glock 19.

Results: The federal 124 grain was disappointing. Velocity was 1126 FPS, definitely standard pressure. The 115 grain 9BPLE did better with an average of 1252 but the standard deviation was 38 FPS so velocities were all over the place. The clear winner was Winchester with an average of 1253 and a standard deviation of 8. However I expected a bit more from +p+, maybe closer to 1300. My results were 1262 FPS with a std dev of 16 with 6.4 grains of CFE which I was very happy with. The big surprise was when I got 1419 FPS from the first round with 7.1 grains of Longshot. Recoil was stout but I thought at first it was a bad reading because there’s no way a 124 grain bullet from 9mm could go that fast from a 4” barrel, until I saw the brass which looked like a balloon with a primer as flat as a pancake. I stopped testing immediately and I’m still shocked the velocity was that high and that the gun didn’t blow up since 5.7 grains reliably gets me 1215 FPS. I disassembled my other test rounds and all has 7.1 grains of Longshot so I don’t think there was an overcharge or powder mix up. Only thing I can think of is with 7.1 grains it’s compressed pretty good, so maybe the behavior of the powder with this load when compressed stops becoming linear. Either way I definitely won’t be doing that again.

As for the purpose of ammo like this, think the most practical purpose is having practice ammo of similar power to your +p/+p+ carry/duty ammo. After the infamous 1986 FBI shootout in Miami Dade, the FBI recommended using more potent +p and +p+ duty ammo for 9mm to get the most out of their guns. Even today the FBI has the Hornady 135+p round as their duty ammo, and many other departments, agencies and consumers use +p or +p+ ammo for duty/carry. Using the same ammo for carry and practice is best in an ideal world, but using your premium hollow points for frequent practice is impractical, so having real +p/+p+ practice ammo would allow those that don’t or can’t load their own +p practice ammo to train with ammo of similar power to what they carry.

All ammo was purchased from Recoil Gunworks. The Winchester was $15/box, 115 Fed was $22/box and the 124 Fed was $25/box, all sold in boxes of 50.

Sorry if this post was long and winded but I wanted to be thorough, especially since this appears to be a lesser explored subject.