Putting First Breach Ammunition to the Test

Jordan and His father Jeffrey Low, who brought extensive private industry experience into the equation, acquired the Fairchild Engine & Aircraft Corporation manufacturing plant in Hagerstown, MD. This is a piece of history, as the A-10 Thunderbolt II was built at this very facility. The A-10 Thunderbolt “Warthog” was and is one of the best close air support tools in the world.

This is something new. Many of the major ammunition manufacturers are owned by larger corporations, some of which have absolutely no connection or interest in the end user. They don’t have manufacture or even have any control over, the components that make up the ammunition.

In the same facility, First Breach makes their own ammunition and components. They make their lead wire, which is used for the lead cores in bullets.   They make their own brass, and even manufacture brass cups for the manufacture of brass for other companies. They make match grade bullets for loading. They are now getting ready to roll out their own primers.

Although I tested the 9mm offerings, First Breach has a full line of 223 and 5.56 55 grain fmj cartridges and they produce the brass and bullets for loading as well.

For cartridge manufacture, this practice is not particularly common.  They are starting with raw materials commonly supplied to other manufacturing processes, which prevents them from being subject to their own competition. Thus, First Breach can control both the quality and be less subject to market fluctuations.

When First Breach began manufacturing, I had the privilege of trying out their reloading components. Most manufacturers use visual and laser inspections to insure consistency in their product. However, the critical area is the threshold tolerances in the process. I found First Breach’s component products have a consistency that is in the top 10% of major manufacturers.

I got to circle back and try their ammunition. I tested the 9mm 115 grain and 124 grain ammunition. These are the two most common weights for duty and training ammunition.

I consider First Breach to be an important service. I always need ammo and reloading supplies, and they make it in house.

To prepare for this review, I got to participate in a virtual tour of the facility. One of the most striking things about their manufacturing process is their strict adherence to an uncontaminated facility. Most serious manufacturers are particular about efficiency, but First Breach has capitalized on their surplus space with equipment and product lines that are arranged in the most efficient locations. To be honest, First Breach has taken efficiency to an extreme.

By the way, if you want a tour of the First Breach facility, I understand they are good about accommodating their industry friends.

Ammunition manufacture startup is not that simple. One can’t simply go to a retailer and purchase the tooling for this, especially if one is making cartridges from raw materials. Even after importing some of the components of the manufacturing process, First Breach had to make their process into a standard to which other countries do not adhere. For example, they do in-house lead smelting, which requires special types of air cleaners so no pollution is released into the environment. The processes require specialized water filtration. Fist Breach purchased their own evaporators for this purpose. Each of these processes also require a separate permit.

The two most common 9mm cartridges are 115 and 124 grain. I’ve been asked which weight I prefer. My first response is to find out what the person carries on duty. Since the current First Breach product line is training ammunition, match the duty and training ammo as closely as possible.

Some agencies prefer one over the other. For example, some PCC’s (pistol caliber carbines) function better with lighter bullets. Agencies who use suppressors in their guns will lean toward heavier, slower bullets-124-147 grain.

I generally carry 124 grain cartridges, and I generally train with 124 grain FMJ bullets. However, I often carry small, lightweight 9mms. For them, I use 115 grain cartridges. They are lighter and have softer recoil in smaller guns.

This is not a rule, but I often carried 124 grains on duty and 115 grains off duty. With the First Breach ammo, qualification and training can be done with 124 grain cartridges and backup/off duty qualification can be done with 115 grain.

If your agency contacts me and asks what to do if they don’t train with their backup/off duty guns, you know what I will tell them, don’t you? Backup/Off Duty must be trained also. I wouldn’t exactly specify what gun an Officer could carry off duty, but I would provide some kind of incentive for them to train with it.

I do a lot of reloading. I am able to test several aspects of loaded ammunition. Having the ability to look at the actual build of the brass and bullets gives me good information about the cartridges.

When I get on the range to test cartridges, I start with accuracy. Reliability and consistency is more important, but this testing happens throughout the testing session. That is, I keep a round count and track any anomalies.

Since every shooting session is a potential training session, I almost always do the same drill, repeatedly, when I test. It’s called a Failure Drill, but I am old school, so I still call it a Mozambique.

The Failure Drill uses a shooter and a coach. The shooter fires at center mass, until the coach declares a “failure”, where they fire a headshot. The purpose is to simulate an assailant wearing body armor.

One of the reasons I use a coach is to force a “shoot and assess” routine into my shooting. In this manner, the shooter has to judge whether what they are doing is (or is not) effective before resorting to another behavior.

When I shoot the Failure Drill alone, sometimes I use the primitive version, which is “two to the body, one to the head”. This is a great way to test ammo, especially at varied distances.

One of the things that should be noted about First Breach Ammo is the fact that they appear to be tooled for match quality in their product lines. By this I mean that their bullet, brass, and cartridge weights have a consistency that is generally found in ammunition produced for competition. When I weigh and measure their ammo, the most boring part about my job, by the way, there is little variance.

First Breach turned out to be an excellent ammo. No one should be surprised. It’s great for training, and agencies could save budget money by using it for practice ammo.

I look for clean burning, reduced residue on my guns, and feel for consistent operation. I was pleased with my targets in this test.

First Breach is an American owned, already established startup ammunition manufacturing business. In all the time I have been in the industry, this is the first time I have seen an independent company start manufacturing ammunition and components. At the time of this writing, they are taking primer reservations. If I was in this business, I could probably make my living by supplying primers alone.

What’s next? Since First Breach manufactures components, I anticipate that some cartridge companies will likely reach out to them for some custom headstamp components in the next year. 

For now, they can make my practice ammo any time.