Expansion results were impressive, to say the least.
Remington has a (relatively) new line of self-defense ammo on the shelves called Ultimate Defense. You might recognize the projectile design as similar to the famous performer, Golden Saber. I’ve tested those before in a number of different calibers and results are almost always outstanding. I’ve been carrying the .45 ACP 185 grain +P Golden Saber load in my 1911 for a couple of years now. This projectile is a jacketed lead hollow point, complete with the distinctive gold-tone coloring.
The 9mm Ultimate Defense ammo comes in two varieties: Full-size handgun and Compact handgun. It’s important to get the right one for your specific firearm. The Compact handgun is optimized for the lower velocities generated by guns with barrels less than three inches. The Full-size handgun variety is for, you guessed it, guns with four and five-inch barrels. For guns with a 3.5-inch barrel, I would pick the Compact handgun version, opting for better expansion performance.
This time, we’re looking at the Ultimate Defense 9mm 124 grain load for Full-size handguns. It’s a standard pressure load, not a +P, so especially in a larger handgun, it’s tame to fire. With lower recoil and less muzzle flip, you can get back on target more quickly for follow up shots.
So how does it perform? Let’s take a look.
Accuracy and Velocity
For accuracy and velocity testing, I used my standby accuracy pistol – a Sig Sauer P226 Elite SAO. It shares a number of features with Sig’s match series Mastershop X-5 models. As such, it’s proven itself to be incredibly accurate with all ammo I’ve shot. For velocity reference, this gun has a 4.4-inch barrel.
First, I checked for velocity from the Sig P226 Elite SAO.
When you do the math, the average velocity works out to 1,130 feet per second. The extreme spread of a ten shot string is 60.7 feet per second. Standard deviation, or a measure of how close all the shot velocities are to the mean, worked out to 17.77, which is excellent.
I tested accuracy using the Bushnell Elite 3500 Handgun Scope with a UM Tactical mount.
To check accuracy, I mounted a Bushnell Elite 3500 Handgun Scope to the Sig Sauer P226 Elite SAO using a UM Tactical rail mount. Five-shot groups came in at less than two inches. Looking at a best three shots to factor out some of the shooter error, my best group measured 1.28-inches. That’s pretty darn accurate in my book.
Looks like those brass jackets have serious potential for separation.