by John Markwell | Contributing Editor
The day after we finished our article on the Guncrafter Industries CCO 1911 carry gun, a box arrived from HSM Ammunition, Stevensville, MT, 59870. Inside was some sample 9mm ammo from their new Double-Duty Combo Pack line of handgun ammunition.
Packaged together, the HSM Double Duty practice and carry ammo makes buying ammo pretty convenient; 300 total rounds in one box.
The idea is simple and caters to those who shoot 9mm, .40S&W or .45ACP. Enclosed in one caliber-specific package are 250 rounds of practice ammo and 50 rounds of ammo for self- defense use. This innovative packaging concept provides enough ball ammunition for some serious practice and more than enough hollowpoint rounds for limited function testing and everyday defensive carry.
Regardless of caliber, the practice ammunition is loaded with copper-plated round-nosed lead bullets; 115-gr. for the 9mm, 180-gr. for the .40S&W and 230-gr. for the .45ACP. The 9mm and .40S&W are loaded in once-fired brass cases and the .45ACP in new brass.
The 50 rounds of defensive ammo in each package is loaded in new brass using Hornady XTP bullets, the weight of which matches the practice loads’ plated bullets.
The HSM Double Duty Ammo performed well when shot from the Guncrafter Industries CCO.
The cool part of this deal is that the practice and defense rounds are ballistically matched to shoot to the same point of impact. We went down to the range and shot some of the new HSM ammo at 15 yards. We alternately loaded ball and hollowpoints in several magazines and found both the ball and hollowpoint shot to essentially the same point of aim out of the Guncrafter Industries CCO pistol. Felt recoil seemed the same for either round and both fed and functioned fine in that pistol. We also ran a few rounds of each load through our old 9mm Colt Commander without a hitch. Due to a limited supply of this HSM 9mm ammo, we did not chronograph it.
At today’s prices these Double Duty Ammo Packs should be big sellers. If we owned and operated a commercial range these Combo Packs would be high on our inventory list. As it is, we plan on laying in a small supply of both the 9mm and .45ACP Double Duty Ammo Packs the next time we get out to the big city. Good shooting.
Specifications / MSRP
9mm, 115-grain, 250 range rounds, 50 self-defense rounds/ $89.14
.40 S&W, 180-grain, 250 range rounds, 50 self-defense rounds/ $106.13
.45 ACP, 230-grain, 250 range rounds, 50 self-defense rounds/ $155.74
