40 S&W - 180 gr MC - Remington UMC Nickel Plated - 500 Rounds

Transcript

The Remington UMC line is named after the old Union Metallic Cartridge Company. They were one of the biggest names in the ammo business back in the 19th century. And they merged with Remington in the 1930s.

Now the UMC name is used for Remington's line of value priced range ammo. For years, UMC pistol ammo has been one of the most popular brands around. And just recently, they added the new UMC Target ammo to the line up.

UMC Target is identical to the traditional UMC except that the brass cases on the target ammo have a nickel plating like you'd normally only see on expensive self-defense ammo. The nickel plating can aid in smooth feeding and also makes the cases a lot more resistant to corrosion.

The load that we used in this review was the UMC Target in 40 Smith and Wesson. In addition to the nickel-plated case, it features a 180 grain lead core bullet with a copper full metal jacket. Remington calls this kind of bullet a metal case. But it's the same as the FMJ that you're used to.

We tried out this load in six different guns to test its performance. We had no reliability issues and none of the guns had any feeding or ignition problems.

Living up to its role as a range load, the UMC Target has a moderate recoil for a 40 caliber. It's not the softest 40 that we've used. But it's also not as sharp as some of the hotter loads.

We used a SIG P226 to test accuracy from a bench rest at about 15 yards. We got a nice pattern just an inch or two high and left of the point of aim. This kind of consistency is nice to see in a training load. And it's not always the norm. But it's what we've come to expect from the UMC line.

For most range applications, the original UMC ammo should probably get the job done. It's just as accurate as the Target version and almost as reliable. But if you want that extra edge in reliability, or if you plan to store your ammo for a long time, the corrosion resistant nickel plating of the UMC Target line is a great value.