For the past several months, Tim Sundles, who runs Buffalo Bore Ammunition has buried me in some of his newest ammunition offerings. Somehow, I think he doesn’t like me. He just keeps coming up with more and more new loads for hunters and for self-defense use, for me to test. Seriously, I don’t know of any ammunition company, that is as innovative as Buffalo Bore is. Some of the big name ammo companies might come up with a couple new loads each year – if that. Most are content to sit back on their past accomplishments – not Tim Sundles!
If any ammo company is coming out with more newly developed loads than Buffalo Bore is, I’d sure like to know who it is. I like that a small, American-owned ammo company is taking the initiative, and taking the time and effort to come out with so many new caliber loadings. And Buffalo Bore doesn’t produce “plinking” ammo – all that they produce is top-of-the-line premium hunting and self-defense loads. On top of that, Sundles adds a flash suppressant to his self-defense loads to help maintain your night vision, if you are forced to shoot at an attacker in low-light. (Which of course is when many self-defense shootings take place.) Are there many other ammo companies doing this yet?
One of the newest loadings I tested from Buffalo Bore is their .380 ACP +P 80 grain Barnes TAC-XP load – for those not familiar with the Barnes bullets, they are an all-copper hollow point design. These Barnes bullets retain 100% of their weight, as well as penetrating deeper than other conventional JHP bullets do. This is my carry load in my Ruger LCP .380 ACP back-up pistol. Tim Sundles tests all his loads in actual firearms – he doesn’t use test barrels to hype the velocities. I’m getting about 1,050 FPS from my little LCP with this load. It’s a bit stout in this little Ruger, but it can handle it. I believe the .380 ACP caliber is best reserved for use in a back-up gun capacity. However, with this load, I think it really boost your power factor quite a bit. So, with that said, it might be acceptable to use this round by Buffalo Bore if this is going to be your main concealed carry gun.
Next up are the new 9mm loadings, and these are both +P+ rounds, one is a 95 grain Barnes TAC-XP load at around 1,550 FPS and the other is a 115 grain Barnes TAX-XP load, at 1,400 FPS. Screaming? You bet! Once again, the Barnes all-copper bullets will get the job done, in either caliber. As a rule, I don’t like going below a 115 grain bullet in a 9mm round. However , the 95 grain Barnes bullet will get the job done because it will penetrate a bit deeper than a conventional bullet of this weight will do, and stay together. What I really like about this load is that even though it’s a +P+ load, it doesn’t feel much different than a conventional standard velocity load does. For me, this is a no-brainer, this is the load to put in your “house gun” that you have in your nightstand – it’s easy to control and will take care of the bad guys – and the recoil isn’t what you’d expect from a +P+ 9mm loading – it’s very controllable. The 115 grain Barnes loading is great for your carry gun – it will penetrate, hold together and get the job done. There is a bit more recoil with this +P+ loading, but nothing you can’t control in the least. My new Ruger P95 loves this load for some reason. Make sure you test any +P or +P+ loads in your guns to make sure they will function 100% of the time with ’em – in this case, I tested both of these loads in numerous 9mm handguns, and had no problems at all. Great loads!
Back when I lived in Chicago, and worked as a private investigator, I usually carried either a S&W .38 Special snubby or a Colt .38 Special snubby of some sort, as a back-up gun – one of these guns was usually carried in an ankle holster. There were times, when I (only) carried a .38 Special snubby of some sort. One time, when working for an alarm company – I installed alarms on the day-shift, and answered alarms at night – I carried a .38 Special snubby. While this wasn’t a big problem working the day shift – it wasn’t the smartest thing to do when answering alarms at night – all alone. This became a reality to me one night, when I answered an alarm and was confronted with searching a huge warehouse by myself. I realized if someone was too far away and started shooting at me, that little .38 Special snubby wasn’t gonna be of much use – I went out the next day and purchased a 4″ barrel .357 Magnum Colt Trooper Mk III revolver. Okay, back to the snubbies in .38 Special:
Most people don’t understand how much velocity (thus “power”) you lose when loading a 2″ .38 Special snubby revolver compared to the power you get from a 4″ barrel or 6″ barrel .38 Special revolver. It is very significant – so much so, that more often than not, a JHP round won’t expand when it hits an attacker – which then makes that bullet nothing more than a solid – passing through the body and not doing as much damage as you’d expect. Enter the Buffalo Bore “Standard Pressure” short-barrel, low-flash 110 grain Barnes TAC-XP round – and this baby will give you about 1,000 FPS velocity from your snubby .38 Special revolver – enough velocity to make that bullet expand. Best of all, this round is very controllable. This is “the” round you want if you carry a .38 Special snubby revolver for self defense. And, I believe, the .38 Special needs all the help it can get.
Also, in the .38 Special line-up from Buffalo Bore is their .38 Outdoorsman +P round. If you carry any kind of .38 Special out in the boonies for self-defense against critters – this is the round you want. The 158 grain Hard Cast Keith bullet, at 1,250 FPS from a 6″ barrel or 1,150 FPS from a 4″ barrel revolver will give you plenty of penetration – which is what you want and need when facing critters in the wild. If you look at those velocities, you’ll note that they are right on the heels of many other makers .357 Mag rounds – what’s not to like here? While I would personally look at carrying a .357 Mag revolver if I were in dangerous country, if all I had was a .38 Special of some sort, this is the round to carry.
Not to be left out, if you carry a snubby .357 Mag revolver, and you’re out in the boonies, take a close look at the Buffalo Bore .357 Mag Barnes 140 grain XPB round – this is a different bullet than the TAC-XP – the XPB bullet is designed for control expansion, and it will penetrate deeper than the TAC-XP round will against wild animals. This is the round you want in your .357 Mag snubby if you are carrying it for self-defense against critters out in the wild. Once again, a very controllable round, at around 1,150 FPS. I really liked this one.
Are you a big bore fan? Yes, me too! I really love shooting the .44 Magnum revolvers – and I can sometimes be “caught” using a .44 Mag when I’m out deer or black bear hunting. The .44 Mag is really quite a caliber – you can load it up, to super-charge it, or load it down to .44 Special velocities for plinking fun or self-defense. If forced to own one revolver, this would be the caliber I’d choose over all others. Tim Sundles does a lot of handgun hunting – he does this for several reasons, one is because he loves to hunt, and secondly, he gets to test his new round that he comes up with against real critters in the wild. How many big name ammo companies get out there and actually tests their ammo? Not many.
A new .44 Mag loading that Buffalo just came out with – and I’ve only limited testing with – is their 200 grain Barnes XPB load, which should be an excellent load to use against deer and most black bear. I usually prefer a heavier load to use against black bear, but this load will get the job done with the XPB bullet because it penetrates a bit deeper and stays together. Coming out a 4″ barrel revolver, you can expect over 1,500 FPS from this round. And, best of all, even though this is a .44 Mag round, it is more controllable than you think – this is because of the 200 grain bullet. Most folks stick with 240 grain bullets for much of their .44 Mag shooting – and they “kick” a lot more than this 200 grain Barnes bullet does. From an 18″ barrel rifle, you can expect over 1,800 FPS – that’s screaming! If you look down at this Barnes XPB bullet, you’ll get lost in it because it looks sooooo deep. If you are hunting bigger game, check out some of the heavy .44 Mag from Buffalo Bore – they have something there you’re gonna love!
These next two calibers that Sundles sent me – I didn’t have firearms for – so I had to borrow a couple of guns. The new buffalo Bore .357 SIG, 125 grain Barnes TAC-XP low-flash round will be, in my humble opinion, “the” round to carry if you depend on a .357 SIG for self-defense. If you want a .357 SIG load, that uses an expanding bullet, that penetrates very deeply, this is the round for you. I admit, I’ve only had limited experience with the .357 SIG round, and I’ve never actually personally owned a gun in this caliber. There’s several good reasons for this, first of all, for some reason, this round just hasn’t caught on – at least, not in my neck of the woods. Secondly, .357 SIG ammo is hard to find – once again, in my neck of the woods. Lastly, .357 SIG ammo is more expensive than other calibers – like the .40S&W is. This is slowly changing, as I’ve noted that prices are coming down a bit – especially for FMJ practice ammo.
What we are looking at, with the .357 SIG round is a .40 caliber case, that is necked-down to take a 9mm bullet. One thing I like about these types of rounds is that, they are very reliable when it comes to feeding from the magazine to the chamber. Tim Sundles tells me that, his .357 SIG round, will roughly penetrate 20+ inches of flesh and bone, and expand to about .55 caliber! Yes! During testing, this round is coming out of a SIG Sauer P229 at about 1,300 FPS – screaming! What I’ve found, is that, the .357 SIG is just about the same as a +P+ 9mm round in power and velocity, but without the excessive recoil that you expect from a +P+ loading – and it’s easier on the gun – it doesn’t get battered as much, as a 9mm +P+ round would do to a pistol.
What I’d like to see Buffalo Bore come up with, is a super-deep penetrator round (FMJ) in .357 SIG – this would be an outstanding round to carry out in the boonies – it would give you all the deep(er) penetration you’d need against critters. And, knowing Sundles, I’m sure he’ll be coming out with this type of round – he’s done it with the 9mm, with his “Penetrator” round, and he’ll do it with the .357 SIG round – watch and see. I’m really impressed with the .357 SIG – from my limited shooting of this caliber over the past year or two, and one of these days, I’m gonna lay-down some hard-earned cash and actually purchase a handgun in this caliber.
I almost “hate” Tim Sundles, for coming up with this next round for me to test. I’ve been a fan of the .41 Magnum round for about 25 years. My late friend, Tim Caruso, from Colorado Springs, Colorado actually turned me onto this caliber. While not quite the power of a .44 Mag, the 41 Mag round will take care of many of the same tasks that a .44 Mag will, and with less punishing recoil. On top of that, I’ve always thought the .41 Mag would make an excellent self-defense round with the 175 grain bullets instead of the 210 grain bullets. Well, Tim Sundles just came out with a 180 grain .41 Mag Barnes all-copper hollow point load, and this bullet is coming out of a revolver at around 1,500 FPS – depending on barrel length.
I had to borrow a .41 Mag revolver from a friend to test this load, and it makes me “hate” Tim Sundles all that much more – I haven’t owned a .41 Mag revolver in several years. Why? I have no idea! I love the S&W Model 57 .41 Mag revolver – and I guess I’m now gonna have to get another one – one of these days. Of course, Tim Sundles is on my wife’s “I’m gonna kill him list…” since he is “forcing” me to go out and find a new .41 Mag S&W Model 57 or 657 revolver one of these days. I keep telling my wife “I only need one more gun…” and she keeps reminding me: “You said that last time….” to which I reply “it’s still true…I only need one more gun.”
This Buffalo Bore 180 grain Barnes bullet is the XPB style – great for hunting medium to medium-large game – it will penetrate deeply and has controlled expansion as well. It would prove a great deer round, if you ask me. If you’ve never fired a .41 Mag handgun, you owe it to yourself to at least try it – you’ll find just as I did, that the round is a lot more controllable than the .44 Mag is, and it can do “most” of what a .44 Mag round can do. The .41 Mag has always been a bit of a red-headed step-child if you ask me – never getting the credit it deserves. If you have a .41 Mag of some type, you really need to lay claim to a box or two of this new Buffalo Bore .41 Mag ammo.
As I mentioned at the start of this article, Tim Sundles, has been burying me in new ammo to test. Yes, shooting new rounds is always fun and challenging, and quite often, I’m one of the first to get these new loadings – I appreciate this. And, SurvivalBlog readers are often the first to get real-life, first-hand test results on new Buffalo Bore Ammunition. I’ve heard from several SurvivalBlog readers, asking me if any of the ammo or gun companies pay me to promote their products. Never happened – never will! If anything, I should be billing Tim Sundles for my time and effort in shooting all the ammo he sends me! LOL!!
Seriously, if you are into handgun hunting and take your self-defense needs to heart, you want the best-of-the-best, when it comes to ammo. You’re not gonna find any cheap plinking ammo from Buffalo Bore – they only make hi-quality, self-defense and hunting loads. Sure, Buffalo Bore ammo is a bit more expensive than ammo from the big name ammo companies. However, what Tim Sundles is offering – you can’t find from any of the big name ammo companies, period. Sundles puts in a lot of time and effort to come up with these new loadings, and he also tests all these new loadings himself, too.
Like I said, Buffalo Bore is an American-owned company (in Montana), and it’s a small company, that is rapidly carving itself a real niche in the self-defense and hunting calibers scheme of things. You won’t find another ammo company, of this size that is producing and developing a more vast line-up than Tim Sundles is doing. There are lots of “good guys” in the firearms and ammo fields – I’ve been doing business with them for more than 20 years as a writer. However, Tim Sundles is, without a doubt, one of the really good guys and he’s working hard to give us something no one else is giving us. He deserves your business, checkout his web site – and I’ll be reporting on even more new rounds he’s working on for us all.
Now, I’m waiting for the spring monsoon rains to stop in my area, so I can get out there and test the new Buffalo Bore, .40 S&W, 140 grain Barnes TAC-XP “standard pressure” rounds in my Glock 27 That .should make a great combo – with this round coming out at approximately 1,300 FPS in a slightly longer barreled gun. But I’m thinking, this will be a controllable round in this pocket rocket pistol from Glock.
Pat’s Product Review: New Ammo Offerings From Buffalo Bore
