As a follow up for this discussion, for those who were following it, I didn't find an article that met my needs. As a result, I did some of my own testing for personal use only.
I did find some three ammos which performed consistently enough to set themselves apart from all of the other ammos I've tried in my non-scientific, subjective testing. It helped me to answer my question - "
What ammo should I reach in the safe to shoot" - if I wanted an ammo that I could trust would put up the best groups for shooting on paper at 10 - 12 yards assuming I had a clean barrel for any given pistol. The size of the groups were very firearm dependant, but what I was looking for were patterns that told me that ammo X consistently will perform better than average in any 9mm pistol I tested compared to the other brands I tested. Put in other terms, if I had a freind over and he pulled a few pistols out of the safe and asked how do these pistols compare to each other, these would be the ammos I used so I could get consistent results that mirroed what I'd say / predict before shooting.
I use Iosso bore paste and a nylon brush with Boretech Eliminator and verify with a Teslong bore scope to ensure I'm starting off clean when testing ammo, and I always clean my firearms before putting them back in the safe.
The pistols I tested were:
- Canik TP9 Elite SC with Sprinco striker spring upgrade and
- Sig Sauer P365 with Romeo Zero
- Sig Sauer P320 "FrankenSig" (heavily customized)
- Sig Sauer M17 with DPP 2.5 MOA
- Sig Sauer M18 (heavily customized) with DPP 2.5 MOA
- Sig Sauer XFIVE Legion
- Springfield Armory Ronin
- Beretta 92x Performance
- Beretta M9A4 with hammer spring upgrade and steel rod
- Walther Q5 Match SF with Sprinco spring upgrade & Holosun 507 gr
- Glock 34 MOS Gen 5 - stock, no mods
- CZ Shadow 2 Optics Ready with Cajun Gunworks trigger, hammer and recoil spring upgrades
- CZ Tactical Sports Orange with Trijicon SRO
Total rounds tested was just under 6000 rounds with ammo from American Eagle, Winchester, Herters, Remington, CCI, Eley, Hornady, Norma, Geco, Fiocchi, PMC, Sig Sauer, Browning, Federal & Tula - mostly 115gr, but a scattering a of 124gr and some +P (Hornady and Sig Sauer M17 ammo - not to be confused with the pistol).
The most reliable and predictable for me were:
- Norma Range & Training (shoots hot with a above average MV, almost like a +P)
- Hornady Critical Defense - +P
- Eley Minor 9 - softer recoil, but very consistent
With the exception of the Sig Sauer M17 124gr +P, the rest of the ammo I tested performed rougly the same with a lack of consistency that made it difficult to reliably get results from day to day even with the same firearm.
For me, I learned that I can consistently get most shots of a mag from the Walther Q5 Match SF precisely in the center of the target and within a 1 inch group at 10 - 12 yards, but as a shooter I may sometimes get a flyer here and there that open that group up to 1 or 2 inches.
I'd define "good", for me, as 2 inches counting flyers with a majority of the rounds in a 1.25" or less group.
I could get the most double taps in the same hole with the CZ TSO.
With my skills and strength I was more accurate with the Walther (and the X5 Legion when I used a dot with it). I also had some amazing groups with the Sig Sauer Frankensig using iron sites, but it was tested the least.
I could shoot the fastest and most accurately in fast paced tactical training with the Sig Sauer X5 Legion using iron sights. No other pistol in the testing came close - for me with my skill set.
On a rest, the CZ TSO, Beretta 92x Performance, Springfield Ronin, Glock 34, and Walther Q5 produced the most consistent 1" groups from 10 yards. The CZ Shadow 2 was close, but I think its still going through some break-in challenges which are mostly shooter related.
On a steel challenges, the Walther & Glock had the fewest percentages of misses (almost none)
My worst performer was the Sig Sauer M17.
More scientific and controlled testing might get more results - especially with a different shooter with different skills, but these are the results I got that were meaningful for me. I can tell you my favorite go-to ammos now, so if you have done your own testing and have your own "go to" ammos then let me know. To avoid beating a dead horse, let's agree that if you or a trusted friend reload then your reloads are better than all of those. This isn't about reloads though, its about stuff anyone can get online and buy - assuming this stuff is in stock (which fortunately is more common again these days).