Range Report: 10y Practice, NGD, Norma MHP Test, 4/3/24

[BassCliff]

Hi!

There's a lot to cover in this range report so it'll take two posts to do it. I hope you don't mind. After ordering a VP9 online Sunday evening it was delivered to my range/FFL about noon today. Since I was going there to shoot anyway everything worked out just fine. I turns out that I'll be shooting four pistols today, XD9, XDM Elite Precision, XD45 Mod.2 Tactical, and the new H&K VP9. Plus I'll be trying out some Norma Monolithic Hollow Point using my EDC. Shall we start?

The weather's been fickle around here lately. Even though it had been snowing for the last 12 hours the temps were too warm for it to stick very long. Now is a wintery mix of rain and snow as I head for the range.

I go to the range and reserved my favorite lane there, #1. (I like them all but #1 really is my favorite here.) Then I filled out the paperwork, entered data in the computer terminal, and paid my fees for this beauty.

I found out that it comes in the box with the medium grip panels installed. I'll just shoot it like that today after I wipe off some factory goo and put a few drops of oil on the slide, guide rod/recoil spring assembly, and barrel. Then I made my way out to #1.

I had the place all to myself for practically the whole session. Later on there was a father/son who shot a few lanes down from me.

Look at all this black polymer beauty!

I'd brought along a lot of ammo but didn't shoot it all, 50 rounds of .45 and 100 rounds of 9mm were consumed this session plus the box of Norma MHP.

I began with my EDC. And we're off to an inauspicious start. Today everything was 10-shot strings at 10 yards.

I had printed up some B-8 centers with yellow dots in the X ring. I can see those a little better.

Let's have a look at target #2 with the XD9.

OK, I guess the yellow dots help. Now let's shoot a couple of strings with my new baby, the VP9.

Hmm, that's not very good at all. I didn't realize that this pistol came with the blacked out rear sights. A couple of my other pistols have that and I'm not a fan. I'm going to seriously consider upgrading the sights. In the meantime, here's target #2 with the brand new VP9.

OK that's a little better. (Spoiler alert: Later in the session it got even better.) Now it's time for a couple of strings with the XDM Elite. Here's the first target.

OK, not too shabby. Either I'm getting warmed up or I'm getting used to this pistol. It also has the blacked out rear sights. Here's target #2.

And we're back to almost average. OK, moving right along, let's see a couple of strings using the XD45. Here's target #1.

That's not half bad. Perhaps I should've started this session with the XD45. Here's target #2.

Dang! But I like shooting this pistol. One of these days I'll rope in those flyers, you bet'cha. I'd better bring out my Garrison soon. I'll bet it's getting jealous.

Tell you what, I'm going to take a break here and continue this AAR in the next post. Next up we'll be back with the VP9 to finish up this box of ammo, a few more strings with the XD45, and then the Norma MHP performance. Isn't this exciting?


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[BassCliff]

Hi!

Aaaaaand we're back!

Since I want to finish this box of Blazer Brass 124 grain I'm gonna use it with the star of our shot today, my new VP9. Here's target #3.

OK, now you're talking! I'm going to finish this box of ammo using the VP9. Here's target #4.

Well, that's not so hot. Two steps forward and one step back, hunh? Let's settle down and shoot target #5 with the new guy.

We're starting to get our mojo working. We have one more string to fire but we're going to change up the target. Here's target #6 using the VP9.

Drat. I let two hits out of the A zone. Still, I think that's good enough for a glam shot.

Now we'll finish up this box of .45 using my "Grip Zone" pistol. Again, using the miniture USPSA silhouette.

Please be generous and give me the line break about the "C". That way there's only two hits outside the A zone. Here's another mini silhouette with the XD45, target #4 for this pistol.

Sorry gang, that one sort of fell apart. We have one more string to shoot with the XD45. For target #5 I'll use a reactive 8" circle. I can see those better.

That's a little better. At least that low flyer is still on the target. Next up, I shot a box of Norma MHP 108 grain using my EDC, the XD9.

I filled a magazine and put one in the chamber, 16+1, and put the other three in another mag. I performed a mag dump, emergency reload, then shot the last three.

It seems the ammo was as accurate as I am. I know it's a small sample but the magazine plus three ran just fine. When I got home I wanted to take a closer look at the cartridges themselves.

I grabbed the first five cartridges from each box and measured them with my calipers.

I figured the average of five cartridge lengths from the Norma and the Blazer.

As you can see, the Norma averages .338mm longer than the Blazer in this small sample. It wasn't enough to make any difference for me at the range today. The ammo fit in the magazines with no issue, fed and shot from the gun with no issue.

There are Youtube reviews of this ammo that include gel tests and chronograph readings. The expansion is not 100% consistent, especially with a heavier layered cloth barrier. But it did expand well through thinner cloth barriers and naked gel. For 40¢ a round, it's current sale price at PSA (free shipping for 10+ boxes), it might be good for a "summer time" carry. I have other SD ammo that I'd rather carry. I could see using this as a budget alternative to Gold Dot or Critical Defense. But that's just this bass player's opinion. I'm sure you all have your favorite SD ammo already and have been shooting it for years. Someone in another thread was asking about this stuff so I thought I'd shoot it and give my thoughts.

That's all the fun for today. I'm thinking I'll get to the range on Friday too. What shall I work on for that session? Any suggestions? Maybe some single hand shooting. We'll see. Thanks for hanging out with me. You guys are very patient.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

I just forgot to mention, the Norma MHP 108 grain had a bit less felt recoil compared to the Blazer Brass 124 grain. And I'm sure if someone else was shooting it would be more accurate.

Thanks for letting me pontificate.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[Bassbob]

I like blacked out rear sights on a carry gun, especially with a red dot. If your VP9 is not cut for an optic I highly recommend buying a set of TFX Pros and sending the slide and sights to @xdman for installation.

 

[Belt Fed]

Good shooting sir, i'm with you on the blacked out sights. my eyes can't see it. i'm old. lol but all dead bad guys as usual.

 

[mikep]

PSA had the MHP on clearance a few months ago and thought about picking some up. It was dirt cheap at the time. I may give it go.

 

[SimonRL]

I like the night sights for the VP9. They have a blacked out rear sight with tritium vials in them. They’re dark in the day but nice and bright in the dark.

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

PSA had the MHP on clearance a few months ago and thought about picking some up. It was dirt cheap at the time. I may give it go.

Yeah, I think this stuff is just OK, not the best. But it's cheap. If you like, here are a few YT reviews about the Norma MHP in 9mm.

I probably have a half dozen boxes left in my stash. I think one of the reviewers above said that the cartridge length caused some feed issues in certain guns. I have not tested this in all my 9mm pistols but it seemed to work great in my XD9. If you pick up some, please let me know how it works for you. Thanks!


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff