Annals of Ammo: Not All 9mm is Created Equal

At the risk of sounding like a Gen X grandpa (I qualify for both) I will say that gun buyers under 40 years old have no idea the struggle that their fathers and grandfathers went through regarding guns and reliability. When I came of age and was able to purchase my own guns, it wasn’t just a given that a factory-new pistol would run every round made for whatever caliber it was chambered.

If you wanted an M1911A1 to run “hollow-points” you either purchased a custom build from one of the top gunsmiths or you shipped your new, factory gun to one of them and waited six months to a year, maybe longer, to get it back. Or, you just shot FMJ “ball” ammo and were satisfied.

Back then, it was the norm for manufacturers to put some type of “break-in” period instructions in the printed manual for their “auto” pistols. Just because you had stoppages during the first hundred rounds or so, did not mean there was something wrong with the gun.  If you called a gun maker to complain of stoppages during the first few magazines, they were wont to tell you that “all new guns require a break-in period”. They might also ask what brand and type of ammunition you were shooting in the gun. 

Given the advancements in modern manufacturing technology, the consumer rightfully assumes that their new gun will function 100 percent reliably, out of the box, with factory new ammo, and rightfully so.

New Guns from Old Designs

Today, there are factory new guns being imported, and some made in CONUS, that, while newly manufactured, are based upon older designs. A perfect example are the myriad MP5 clones coming in from Turkey. Whether from MAC, Century, Zenith, etc. all of these are built on HK machinery to the original specifications for semi-automatic guns. That is a great thing as magazines are interchangeable as are other parts and furniture. 

My experience with the MP5 roller-delayed design has been that it required pointed, conical shaped projectiles. I’ve been shooting these guns for years and have yet to find one that would reliably cycle expanding, hollow-point or even flat-nosed projectiles. For range fun, who cares, just run 115 g or 124 g FMJ in the gun and have a great time. 

Even with a silencer, suppressor, gun muffler, whatever, in place, the supersonic 9x19mm rounds all run and even with the supersonic crack, the guns are hearing safe. But what about shooting said guns with subsonic 9mm ammunition for real, serious quiet? Modern subsonic 9mm is either some type of expanding hollow-point, ala Hydra-Shok or the projectiles are “TMJ” (total metal jacket) and are flat on top. Despite not having a hole, I have found that the flat-nosed 147 grain subsonic ammunition does not run reliably in MP5 clone guns. Ditto, UZI and Colt-style SMGs.   

Super Vel Ammunition “Hush Puppy”

I just so happened to be working on a review of the new AP5-SD from Century Arms when I became reacquainted with a company that has a long history in our industry. I will admit that during the 2025 SHOT Show I walked past the Super Vel booth a dozen times, but I was always on a mission and did not stop. 

While researching for the AP5-SD review and reading about the use of silencers during the Vietnam conflict, I came across the Hush Puppy. In 1963, Super Vel Ammunition hung out their shingle and they were making subsonic 9mm ammunition for the SEALs. Super Vel is back and they have their own resurrected “Hush Puppy Project” to include pistols, cans, and ammo.

The two 9x19mm loads I was most interested in were the 147 grain and 158 grain subsonic loads, both using conical FMJ bullets. The 147 grain load has a listed factory velocity of 900 FPS and the 158 grain load thumps just a bit harder at 965 FPS. These come in 50 round boxes and I ordered some of both loads. 

The Quiet Results

The Brown Santa arrived with my Super Vel package just as I was getting ready to take another Navy SEAL favorite to the range with a can. After successfully running that ammo through a suppressed SIG P226, it turned toward testing it out in MP5 clones. 

For this testing I had three different MP5 clones, a standard size, the “K” size, and the aforementioned SD from MAC and Century Arms. BLUF: both Hush Puppy subsonic 9mm loads ran flawlessly through all three roller-delayed guns with a gun muffler in place. I met with a friend who has an older UZI, a gun famous for not running hollow-point ammo. We silenced it and ran the Super Vel ammo in it. The Israeli sub gun ran like a champ.  

Are there other companies making a conical shaped bullet, subsonic 9mm load? I’m sure that there are. This is just one review. When I was young I used to hear the old guys talking about “Super Vel” with reverence and read about it in gun magazines. Now it was finally my turn to test out some of their wares and I was not disappointed. Super Vel is definitely a high quality product. 

Insider Scoop

Fortunitously, as I was wrapping up this review, I got a phone call from a friend of mine who is not only a master gunsmith and operates a mid-sized gun manufacturing company, he is also what you might refer to as a serious “machine gun geek” and student of firearms history.

I mentioned this article and my issue getting flat-nosed subsonic to run in MP5 style guns. “You need the SD straight mags.” was his instant response and he continued, “They discovered that the solution to the hollow-point or flat-nosed ammo was to go away from the curved MP5 mags and use the old, straight mags.” In some circles the straight or “stick” MP5 magazines are called “SD mags”. You might know that  the original HK MP5 sub guns were made with straight mags, but HK switched to the curved magazines around 1977 and they were considered an improvement. Today, in our modern world, straight MP5 magazines are essentially “unobtanium”. You can find them online at the various auction sites, if you happen upon them they will set you back $100 to $150 each. Needless to say, none of the manufacturers of new MP5 clones ship them with straight mags. And so, we are back to not running hollow-point or flat-nosed 9mm ammo in our guns. 

 

 

Paul G. Markel is a combat decorated United States Marine veteran. He is also the founder of Student the Gun University and has been teaching Small Arms & Tactics to military personnel, police officers, and citizens for over three decades.