Ammunition for 9mm

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Reddragon1260

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Ok i did not know where to put this question so i am going to post it here and the mods can move it as they see fit.

My question is, is it bad practice to feed 9mm NATO rounds through my new CZ 75 P-07 Duty? I am planning on running either Hornady TAP 147gr., Hornady Critical Defense 115gr., or Federal Tactical HST 124gr. for CC and would like to get used to running hotter rounds than normal 115gr. plus i get the NATO rounds cheap.
 
I think the general consensus is that hotter rounds will cause quicker wear on pretty much any gun. But CZ builds some pretty tough guns and I wouldn't worry too much about wear. Both my 75B and Phantom soak up recoil from +p ammo nicely.
 
I know that the SP-01 passed NATO testing, so that's good to go. Knowing CZ, I assume the rest of their 9mm handguns are just as tough.

It might wear it a little quicker, but I doubt you'd notice. Maybe switch out the recoil spring, if you worry.
 
Ok thats good. I have been hearing alot about it being "Bad Practice" to feed a pistol a steady diet of NATO rounds but i mean most CZ, Beretta, Glock, and Sig all run NATO rounds for military use. Does not mean i will not try WWB 115gr. 100 box, i just get NATO rounds at the same price so i would not mind using that.
 
My question is, is it bad practice to feed 9mm NATO rounds through my new CZ 75 P-07 Duty?
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Nope. It makes perfect sense. I carry +P ammo in my 9mm. To practice with ammo that has very similar recoil, but is still cheap, I shoot the nato spec ammo once and a while. Of course hotter ammo does wear faster, but not by much at all if the ammo is loaded within reasonable pressure levels (of which nato ammo is).
 
If you find that the NATO rounds throw the cases out farther than the more normal stuff you can consider getting the next weight up recoil spring. The key is to match the recoil spring to the power of the rounds you're using so the slide has little or no energy left at the end of its travel. If you use TOO stiff a spring then the slide may not come back far enough to catch the slide lock at the last shot. If the NATO stuff is higher power than most factory ammo then the stiffer spring will make it a non-issue. But without it the slide will hammer the frame over time which may or may not become an issue later.

Switching to a stiffer recoil spring will also make the gun seem smoother in recoil. If the slide is hitting the rear travel stop with more energy than it needs the shock will transfer to your hand as more of a smack. Using a stiffer spring will avoid this and make the gun feel smoother in recoil and likely kick up less in your hands. This means your rapid fire shots can be made more rapidly with better accuracy.

And finally since it sounds like you want to CC with hotter ammo, at least I'm assuming the options are hotter, then matching the recoil spring to the cartridge power level only makes total sense both for the durability of the gun as well as how it performs for you.
 
I forgot to add that 9mm CZ pistols, and practically all 9mm pistols (especially European ones), are made to shoot nato spec ammunition. The designs are also tested to withstand overpressure loads. Shoot it without worry.
 
Modern pistols can pretty easily digest NATO 9mm rounds. The only pistols I would be even remotely concerned are pistols that are stated to not be rated for +P or +P+ ammunition variants, like keltec's PF9 I think it is. Even those you can practice with occasional +P. As others have stated observe what your pistol is doing. You know baseline ammunition, fire away with other NATO loads. (Keep in mind though ammunition from different countries may have variances form each other, small ones but possibly noticeable) I can tell differences in 9mm loads from brand to brand and a huge difference in the +P. Same as the .40 and the .45. (though the .45 has less noticeable difference with anything)

And as others have stated, there may be slight wear increases but modern metals are pretty good. The M9's I worked on typically started having failures at the several thousand round counts for actual wear issues and not shoddy manufacturing or design issues. And they digested nothing else but NATO Ammunition.

:)
 
What i would be getting is Winchester 9mm NATO 124gr. so i guess it is ok to stock a good amount of this since my store really does not sell any of it. I narrowed my CC ammo choices down to Federal Tactical HST 124gr. or Winchester Ranger Talon 124gr. +P. Since i am off tomorrow i might just make a call to CZ USA and see if they make a stiffer spring for the P-07 since i am having a hard time finding anything other than stock replacements.
 
The P-07 is designed to be a police officer's duty gun. I would not hesitate to put a box of +P NATO spec ammo through it every month. Most PDs carry +p or +p+ ammo if they carry 9mm.

Plus, CZ says it is safe to use ammo loaded to SAAMI specs. NATO spec is the same as SAAMI's +p specification. It is standard pressure plus ten percent.
 
Since i am off tomorrow i might just make a call to CZ USA and see if they make a stiffer spring for the P-07 since i am having a hard time finding anything other than stock replacements.
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I really doubt that is even remotely necessary, but whatever floats your boat. Just make sure it doesn't interfere with reliability.
 
It will cause more wear on the gun than standard preasure stuff. However, it is unlikely that you will ever wear out the gun, even if you shoot nothing mut +P+ through it for your whole life, it is unlikely that you will ever "shoot out" your pistol. It takes 10s to 100s of 1000s of rounds to wear out even a decently make pistol. CZs are IMHO are EXCEPTIONALLY well made (and often under appreciated) firearms.
 
My local store always has that Winchester NATO ammo in stock, and it goes on sale a lot. I shoot it all the time and haven't had any issues at all. I get much better groups with that ammo than I do with regular old Remington UMC or other lightly loaded ammo.
 
Ben86 said:
I really doubt that is even remotely necessary, but whatever floats your boat. Just make sure it doesn't interfere with reliability.
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Talked to CZ and they said what most people said on here. The gun was designed with Police and Military in mind so the gun should run even +P+ ammo all the time with no problems. I am just going to buy a good amount of NATO rounds and use it for practice. Also placed an order for 2 boxes of Federal HST 147gr and 2 boxes of W.R. talon 147gr. just to try them out.
 
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I recently switched from golden sabre 124g +p to Winchester lugar 147g for my pm9 as lately I have been shooting it a lot (I need the practice).
The win 147 are $22/50 at wallies, the Golden Sabre are $19/20 at lgs (wally doesn't carry it here).
I'm sure there are a lot of people that think that is not a good choice but that's OK.
I have put 300 or so 147g Wins down range in the last 2 weeks with no issues.
I generally shoot WWB 115g for regular range shooting with my other 9mm guns.

Edit;
Oh yea, I just bought a CZ Compact in nickel finish and it's great.
 
hmm sounds good. what i like is i go to an outdoor gun club/range so there is really no worry as long as i sweep up my spent brass. My store (I work for Academy if i did not mention before) also has Monarch brass and steel at a low price but i did not like the way it shot out of my friends Beretta 92FS. I just really need to start reading up more on reloading and invest in some equipment but not until i finish saving up for a new safe.
 
I shoot nothing but winchester ranger nato through my cz phantom and ruger sr9c. Both 124 and 147gr. The CZ absorbs recoil very well. +p+ rounds don't recoil very hard either.

I am thinking about getting a heavier recoil spring though. I'd also like to try out one of those recoil reducing guide rod and springs. Forgot who makes them off the top of my head. Seems like a niffty little gizmo.
 
I think you are talking about this recoil spring. It looks cool but i think it is a little too much adjustment, its kind of like using a double adjustable coil over suspension kit on your daily driver that will never see a road course. Just a little over kill.
 
Talked to CZ and they said what most people said on here. The gun was designed with Police and Military in mind so the gun should run even +P+ ammo all the time with no problems. I am just going to buy a good amount of NATO rounds and use it for practice. Also placed an order for 2 boxes of Federal HST 147gr and 2 boxes of W.R. talon 147gr. just to try them out.
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Sounds like a plan. HST is good stuff and the nato ammo will give you recoil that is more similar to your carry ammo than regular 115 grain target ammo.
 
I think you are talking about this recoil spring. It looks cool but i think it is a little too much adjustment, its kind of like using a double adjustable coil over suspension kit on your daily driver that will never see a road course. Just a little over kill.
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Yes thats the springs I was talking about. It is overkill, especially for 9mm, but thats why I called it a niffty gizmo. And Overkill is underrated. :cool:

I do think it would help with +p+ loads and not banging the gun to death.
 
My 75B has around 50K rds of mostly light loads through it. Unless you shoot a lot, you won't notice any wear problems associated with shooting heavier loads if the recoil spring prevents slide battering.

JMO: I'm not trying to start an argument of ANY kind, but I'm not a fan of steel anywhere in a cartridge (especially heavy loads) for semi-auto tilt bbl. pistols. I extend that to pistol cleaning rods and tips, punches and hammers. I will use NATO or SD rds (other than containing steel) in my pistols.
 
1SOW said:
My 75B has around 50K rds of mostly light loads through it. Unless you shoot a lot, you won't notice any wear problems associated with shooting heavier loads if the recoil spring prevents slide battering.

JMO: I'm not trying to start an argument of ANY kind, but I'm not a fan of steel anywhere in a cartridge (especially heavy loads) for semi-auto tilt bbl. pistols. I extend that to pistol cleaning rods and tips, punches and hammers. I will use NATO or SD rds (other than containing steel) in my pistols.
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I am with you on that one, the only gun in my house that uses steel ammo is my mosin-nagant but that thing was made for it.
 
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