In a continuous effort to support my local small business, I visit Profire Arms & Supply as often as I can. Profire is the premium supplier dedicated to ammunition reloading supplies in central Indiana. As you likely know, Andrew & company have a reputation of being knowledgeable on all things reloading and quite approachable no matter what your level of expertise may be.
Recently Profire (re)introduced Red Star ammunition, their own cartridges built in-house by the Profire staff. Various calibers are available, including .38spl, 9mm, .40S&W, and .45ACP. Additional calibers will surely become available as demand rises. For those readers that haven’t been around too long, Profire has its roots in custom built ammo. The Red Star brand started some years ago at the company’s early days. During the growth period that has evolved into the Profire you know today, Red Star took a hiatus.
Now Red Star is back and there is a lot of enthusiasm behind its return. I am a capable reloader but I was intrigued with how this stuff would shoot. I picked up a box of .45ACP 230gn RN (essentially Ball Ammo). As I was making my way to checkout, I was asked more than once to report back my impressions.
So, I’m going to do one better – a write up here on INGO.
Right out of the gate I will qualify: This is by no means a scientific test with control groups and spreadsheets documenting all aspects of the test subject. I was asked for my impressions, so that is what you’re going to get.
The location was a super-secret range somewhere in eastern Indiana. It has covered, heated firing points with easy access to the target area. Outside temps were in the middle twenties Fahrenheit, no precipitation and negligible wind. Test distance was about 7 yards onto a 5.5” black target.
Firearms used in the test: Springfield Armory 1911 MIL-SPEC (lightly modified), Smith & Wesson Performance Center model SW1911 4.25” bbl (#1), Smith & Wesson Performance Center model SW1911 4.25” bbl (#2), and finally a Dan Wesson 1911 Stainless Target model modified race gun.
The tester would consider himself a novice pistol shooter (my thing has always been NRA Highpower Rifle).
7 rounds were fired from the two Smiths and the Dan Wesson; I inadvertently shot 8 from the Springer because that is how it is carried. Aim was three horizontal dots holding up the bullseye crosshair. Shot cadence was pull the trigger when the dots lined up as described above.
Group #1: Springer
Decent group. Glad I can shoot my own sidearm with some competence!
Group #2: Performance Center 1911 #1
Wow. That stunk. Shooter fail!
Group #3: Performance Center 1911 #2
Ok. Much better. That is closer to what that gun is capable of!
Group #4. Dan Wesson Race Gun
Dang that’s a light trigger! Transition to a Red Dot didn’t do this gun its due.
We finished off the rest of the box to exercise the two new Smiths as neither have more than a hundred rounds each fired through them. Of the 50 round box there were 2 fail to fire; 1 was due to a light strike and it fired on the second try, the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] we determined to be a faulty primer.
Impressions:
We shot these along with 50 rounds of Winchester white box 230 gn RN. The Red Star ammo tossed spent cases further with a louder report. That suggests a hotter load to me but we did not chrono any rounds so that is conjecture. Before the trip I checked a few rounds in my L.E. Wilson gage and they fit just right. O.A.L. was 1.174”. The Red Star ammo fed and fired fine in all the test firearms with no feed issues or indications of stress on the brass.
Final Analysis:
How can you go wrong? The price is less than the big name brands; the quality is on the same par. It is readily available, made in Indiana, and you support your local small business.
Well done Andrew, well done indeed!
Recently Profire (re)introduced Red Star ammunition, their own cartridges built in-house by the Profire staff. Various calibers are available, including .38spl, 9mm, .40S&W, and .45ACP. Additional calibers will surely become available as demand rises. For those readers that haven’t been around too long, Profire has its roots in custom built ammo. The Red Star brand started some years ago at the company’s early days. During the growth period that has evolved into the Profire you know today, Red Star took a hiatus.
Now Red Star is back and there is a lot of enthusiasm behind its return. I am a capable reloader but I was intrigued with how this stuff would shoot. I picked up a box of .45ACP 230gn RN (essentially Ball Ammo). As I was making my way to checkout, I was asked more than once to report back my impressions.
So, I’m going to do one better – a write up here on INGO.
Right out of the gate I will qualify: This is by no means a scientific test with control groups and spreadsheets documenting all aspects of the test subject. I was asked for my impressions, so that is what you’re going to get.
The location was a super-secret range somewhere in eastern Indiana. It has covered, heated firing points with easy access to the target area. Outside temps were in the middle twenties Fahrenheit, no precipitation and negligible wind. Test distance was about 7 yards onto a 5.5” black target.
Firearms used in the test: Springfield Armory 1911 MIL-SPEC (lightly modified), Smith & Wesson Performance Center model SW1911 4.25” bbl (#1), Smith & Wesson Performance Center model SW1911 4.25” bbl (#2), and finally a Dan Wesson 1911 Stainless Target model modified race gun.
The tester would consider himself a novice pistol shooter (my thing has always been NRA Highpower Rifle).
7 rounds were fired from the two Smiths and the Dan Wesson; I inadvertently shot 8 from the Springer because that is how it is carried. Aim was three horizontal dots holding up the bullseye crosshair. Shot cadence was pull the trigger when the dots lined up as described above.
Group #1: Springer
Decent group. Glad I can shoot my own sidearm with some competence!
Group #2: Performance Center 1911 #1
Wow. That stunk. Shooter fail!
Group #3: Performance Center 1911 #2
Ok. Much better. That is closer to what that gun is capable of!
Group #4. Dan Wesson Race Gun
Dang that’s a light trigger! Transition to a Red Dot didn’t do this gun its due.
We finished off the rest of the box to exercise the two new Smiths as neither have more than a hundred rounds each fired through them. Of the 50 round box there were 2 fail to fire; 1 was due to a light strike and it fired on the second try, the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] we determined to be a faulty primer.
Impressions:
We shot these along with 50 rounds of Winchester white box 230 gn RN. The Red Star ammo tossed spent cases further with a louder report. That suggests a hotter load to me but we did not chrono any rounds so that is conjecture. Before the trip I checked a few rounds in my L.E. Wilson gage and they fit just right. O.A.L. was 1.174”. The Red Star ammo fed and fired fine in all the test firearms with no feed issues or indications of stress on the brass.
Final Analysis:
How can you go wrong? The price is less than the big name brands; the quality is on the same par. It is readily available, made in Indiana, and you support your local small business.
Well done Andrew, well done indeed!
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Link To Original Thread: https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...put-test-red-star-ammunition.html#post4818102
Link To Original Thread: https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...put-test-red-star-ammunition.html#post4818102
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