New Ammo for MMJ 5.7 mm Spitfire Carbines

[Ed Johnson 0]

To all 5.7 Club Members, 02/14/13 at 11:00 PM EST

I am very pleased to report the availability, once again, of commercially manufactured 5.7mm (.224) ammunition for the Johnson "Spitfire" Carbines, as previously manufactured by Johnson Guns, Johnson Arms, Iver Johnson (no relation), Plainfield Machine and more recently by IAI or IMI.

Briefly, I was informed of a possible source a few months ago and later followed with a purchase of ammunition which I sent over to our 5.7 senior member and ballistics consultant, Alasdair MacDonald. After some weather delays, he was finally able to get to the range with his chronograph.

Briefly, his very detailed report indicates muzzle velocities averaging 2576 FPS with machine bench rest grouping average of .535 " at 50 feet (which would average 3.21" at 100 yards) using new brass, 13.8 grains of an unknown ball powder, firing a 40.1 grain lead tip copper jacketed bullet. All rounds fired and ejected flawlessly from his carbine at both slow and rapid fire. Extraction caused minor casing dents but not severe enough to prohibit reloading.

Based on this report, with no indication of excess pressure being noted around the primer, and with muzzle velocities on the conservative side, it appears that the manufacturer was not trying to unduly increase performance by creating hotter loads at higher pressures. My father would have approved of this approach.

Alasdair made the comment that "it is my opinion and conclusion that we have no problem recommending this product to our members."

Having presented this to you all, I will add what has become my standard warning, because I no longer manufacture these weapons and cannot guarantee any results or be responsible for any damages or injuries, especially when other products and a variety of ammunition has been on the market for 50 years.

My warning is: make sure that the barrel of the gun has a bore that is large enough for the bullet that you are firing through it. We had problems with this in the past and over the years. If you are uncertain, go to a reputable local gunsmith to have measurements taken. Please....!

That being said, this new ammo is manufactured by Precision Cartridge of Hobart, Indiana. Their phone is 219 942 2400.

We purchased the ammo from Graf & Sons, 4050 S.Clark , Mexico, MO 65265 phone 800 531 2666

The product is listed as "5.7mm Johnson 40gr Sierra SP" with product code "PC57J" and the price we paid for a box of 50 rounds was $39.99 before January 1, 2013.

I want to also take this opportunity to thank Alasdair MacDonald for his very professional approach. For any of you who would like a copy of his complete report, send me an E-mail with your US Postal address or your fax phone number and I will mail or fax it to you. It is a good read. (Sorry I don't have an operating scanner.)

Hope some of you can have the opportunity to deal with this material, as Spring is coming soon.

Best to all,

Ed Johnson