I chronographed a Few Handgun rounds today, a few of the results were surprising...
The Remington (Green & White Box)Promotinal 230 JHP (non +P) was much faster than expected as were the Tarus Hex bullets.
The Results'
45 ACP 5" 1911 test gun
Load.........................Velocity
230 JHP REM....................975 FPS..... Surprisingly fast
185 Tarus Hex.................1117......... Faster than expecteed
230 Gold Dot B.B. +P...........969.........Slower than the last lot tested

41 Mag 4" S&W M-57
Load.........................Velocity
170 gr. JHC B.B..............1536 FPS
230 LSWC B.B.................1338
265 WLFN.....................1266
210 Rem. JSP.................1303
These velocities were pretty close to the advertised speeds with no surprises
357 4" S&W M-19
Load.........................Velocity
145 gr. Silver Tip...........1283 FPS
158 Gold Dot B.B.............1358
158 Gold Dot Speer Load......1146 Slower than expected
357 6" S&W M-19
145 Silver Tip..............1242 FPS Slower than the 4"
158 Gold Dot B.B............1417 59 FPS faster than 4"
158 Gold Dot Speer..........1152 only 6 FPS faster than 4"
The difference in velocity between the 4" M-19 and the 6" M-19 was also surprising
The abbrieviation B.B. stands for Buffalo Bore

Thanks for the data. I love the real world information! It so often flies in the face of what is "published" or what the dogmatic believe to be true.

I'm pretty impressed with the 41 Mag numbers - that's one of the interesting handgun calibers that I've never had a chance to work with.

BTW, have you ever tried any Double Tap ammo? They list some really hot velocities, and I've been thinking about trying some of their stuff.

I have tried some of their 338 ammo loaded with the 250 grain Partition Gold and the velocity in my rifle was rather slow about 200 FPS slower than advertised.. My rifle just didn't get very good velocities with it. I may run it over the chrono again just to double check my results.. I am going to order some of their handgun ammo and give it a test in the near future...

.....when compileing bullet speed data,every chamber is different and every bbl is different. Internally and length.

This,although I do believe that the ammo manufacturers/marketers do try to get the highest figures possible within reason. I do not feel that they out and out lie about their figures. But I do think that they obtain their figures by some "high tech" methods. I also feel that the velocities shown by the manufacturers are not "real world".

Also the figures/vels in some of the reloading manuals are higher than real world. This is why it is always best to fire your handloads over a chrono before using the trajectory tables.

When I first got my chrono(about 25 years ago)I did some expieramenting with factory loads and came up with the conclusion that they were "high" to say the least. -----pruhdlr

My introduction to chronographs was in 1990.I had been shootin my 30/40 Krag for 30 years,or more,so I knew what it could do
My favorite load was 40 grains of IMR 3031 with a 150 grain bullet at 2650 FPS
My new chrono measured the velocity at only 2490 FPS,even when rechecked.
I called the chrono office in Texas,and complained that it worked fine,but had to be recalibrated,because it was consistantly 150 FPS lower then two Ammunition maker Manuals.
His answer was:"that's why you bought the Ohler;the books are wrong"
I will say that newer manuals are much closer to reality.
Frank