Zol 9mm HP: A review

[Enigmatic Desires]

So this Sunday we went to the range to check out that new brand that has been doing the rounds in the market Zol or ZOLOLOLOLOLO as it called.
We had a few boxes of their 9mm HPs Since the hollow point does not have the long lines that denote the ability of the hollow point to expend reliably. We were curious to how it will perform. Deathrow shot the round in a telephone directory. It did not flower open so much as deformed completely.

Which may be due to the fact that unlike other local projectiles, ZOL really does not have iron in its projectile at all. Now iron or steel cased projectiles can seriously erode the grooves of the barrel of your precious weapon easily enough. However, scrap iron is cheap and smelting the same into projectiles can get the job done easily enough.

This is why we always conduct the ‘magnet’ test first and foremost to see if the project sticks to it or not. Zol does not. Like zilch.. Zero. Even the range master at the Arabian Sea country club was astounded when he ran his own magnet on it and was quite astounded. Chinese Red box by contrast does stick a bit. As do most Russian ammo brands.
POF does not though.

We shot almost 200 rounds and there were two FTFires. I did not check the rounds in any other weapon to see if they would go bang or not.
The recoil was pretty much the same as your average POF. I could not detect the noxious cloud f thick black some that is the hallmark of local black power ammo reloads. Nor could I smell that malodorous odor characteristic of the usual local ammos.

I took apart the weapon and checked to see the fouling. Actually, Fellow member Kalimi took apart my weapon so he would be in a better position to explain what he saw.

After I did a detailed field strip at home, the white cotton I used did become black when I ran it inside the slide. But Since I had not cleaned the weapon for ages. I am not sure which ammo was responsible

I also did not check to see if it was corrosive, since I had no inclination of keeping it uncleaned. I kinda like my NP 42 a bit too much for such abuse.

Summery

If No POF is available or at 65 to 70+ rates then this is a good below 50 a pop option. But should POF be available in the market at the same rate. I would prefer that as range fodder.

P.S fellow member deathrow did take it apart to check the powder load visually. he would better explain his experience with it

[Nazim Sahib]

So this Sunday we went to the range to check out that new brand that has been doing the rounds in the market Zol or ZOLOLOLOLOLO as it called.
We had a few boxes of their 9mm HPs Since the hollow point does not have the long lines that denote the ability of the hollow point to expend reliably. We were curious to how it will perform. Deathrow shot the round in a telephone directory. It did not flower open so much as deformed completely.

Which may be due to the fact that unlike other local projectiles, ZOL really does not have iron in its projectile at all. Now iron or steel cased projectiles can seriously erode the grooves of the barrel of your precious weapon easily enough. However, scrap iron is cheap and smelting the same into projectiles can get the job done easily enough.

This is why we always conduct the ‘magnet’ test first and foremost to see if the project sticks to it or not. Zol does not. Like zilch.. Zero. Even the range master at the Arabian Sea country club was astounded when he ran his own magnet on it and was quite astounded. Chinese Red box by contrast does stick a bit. As do most Russian ammo brands.
POF does not though.

We shot almost 200 rounds and there were two FTFires. I did not check the rounds in any other weapon to see if they would go bang or not.
The recoil was pretty much the same as your average POF. I could not detect the noxious cloud f thick black some that is the hallmark of local black power ammo reloads. Nor could I smell that malodorous odor characteristic of the usual local ammos.

I took apart the weapon and checked to see the fouling. Actually, Fellow member Kalimi took apart my weapon so he would be in a better position to explain what he saw.

After I did a detailed field strip at home, the white cotton I used did become black when I ran it inside the slide. But Since I had not cleaned the weapon for ages. I am not sure which ammo was responsible

I also did not check to see if it was corrosive, since I had no inclination of keeping it uncleaned. I kinda like my NP 42 a bit too much for such abuse.

Summery

If No POF is available or at 65 to 70+ rates then this is a good below 50 a pop option. But should POF be available in the market at the same rate. I would prefer that as range fodder.

P.S fellow member deathrow did take it apart to check the powder load visually. he would better explain his experience with it

I love it when people give our local industry a chance to prove itself.
I bought a 100 rounds of 9mm Zololoooo recently and was wondering what to do with it....not only will i now try it out but after reading your review i plan to also locate and try out there .30 ammo in my brand new Norinco TT
Please keep us updated with any further experiences with Zololoooo!
Thank you for your time.

[khan tanoli]

Thanks E.D brother for the review.
Well here I got some zololo FMJ for a month now but couldn't get a chance for range shooting, but I figured out something which is bothering me ... is it ok or not ... don't know yet, want to know some expert opinions.
attaching the image, hope u'll figure it out.
Red arrow points zololo ammo ... and the ring sits on the edge of round primer as you can clearly see POF and chinese ammo all others have it too but the picture quality has distorted.

[Enigmatic Desires]

Khan Tanoli, I will check the rounds I still have viz-a-viz China red box and POF.

I have never seen a Zololololololo (God alone knows why they chose this name) FMJ before.

However, the new batch of rounds has projectiles that are different in size from the old ones. And they do not have the red ring around the projectile either.

Do your FMJs stick to a megnet?

[Enigmatic Desires]

Actually one of the key reasons I tested Zol mm was to see if i would be feasible to go around begging the dealers to import some .222 Zol rounds from Peshawar.

9mm rounds may be expensive but their prices are nowhere near the price of an average .222 round. And the locals are beyond execrebel. No way I can ever trust one of those in a rifle.

If I do get my hands on a .222, i will take it apart and we will test their powder, projectile, consistency etc. before shooting the same

[Enigmatic Desires]

I love it when people give our local industry a chance to prove itself.
I bought a 100 rounds of 9mm Zololoooo recently and was wondering what to do with it....not only will i now try it out but after reading your review i plan to also locate and try out there .30 ammo in my brand new Norinco TT
Please keep us updated with any further experiences with Zololoooo!
Thank you for your time.

Nazim sahib glad to be of service. By and large people degenerate our local industry a lot especially with reference to ammo.

Take the WCC brand of local ammo. It is pure garbage that shoudl not even share shelf space wiht a gun!

then there is "Lellior and belliot" the local version of Sellior and balliot. They make 7mm rifle rounds. I did not evne dare try to buy one just to check.

Then there is CZ 75 local ammo. the initial batch was so good we bought cartons of the stuff. And later..... alas their quality went down to such an extent that we feel lucky we have our limbs attached!

But whenever a new brand comes into the market. i feel compelled to give it a 'go'. At least a fighting chance so to speak.

P.S They make .30?? Like really??

[khan tanoli]

Khan Tanoli, I will check the rounds I still have viz-a-viz China red box and POF.

I have never seen a Zololololololo (God alone knows why they chose this name) FMJ before.

However, the new batch of rounds has projectiles that are different in size from the old ones. And they do not have the red ring around the projectile either.

Do your FMJs stick to a megnet?

Thanks brother and yes I will definitely try the magnet test.
One more thing : All round in a box of 50 are not equally the same size, some projectile are bigger than others.
Does it matter?

[khan tanoli]

So I did the magnet test and the result are +ive ... yes the ammo did attract to the magnet as shown in picture and other pictures show how the bullets from same batch differs in size by an inch pinch length and the nose which some of them are punched ...
Now the question is : Is it good to go ? or to stay away from zololololo??

[Enigmatic Desires]

Hmmm.. this is interesting. The hollow points do not stick at all. while FMJs do so. This means entirely different projectile materials are used in both. How much did the FMJ cost you?

[khan tanoli]

Hmmm.. this is interesting. The hollow points do not stick at all. while FMJs do so. This means entirely different projectile materials are used in both. How much did the FMJ cost you?

This happens to be steel jacketed,does it ? I got those for 25/pop, bought 150 rounds from peshawar, i think it was last week of june.

[Deathrow]

This happens to be steel jacketed,does it ? I got those for 25/pop, bought 150 rounds from peshawar, i think it was last week of june.

oh wow...interesting.. so the FMJ versions of Zulululululu ammo does stick to the magnet....Well then...One thing is for sure... there is steel in there, further....there are 2 possibilities... first one that this is a lead core, steel jacket and brass washed ammo...this ammo is okay to shoot occasionally or rarely but not as a regular range ammo... second that its a full steel projectile and brass washed...in this case you really wana stay away from this ammo.. You can gift it to your enemies if you got any...Steel core ammo you dont want to mess with at any level.

[khan tanoli]

oh wow...interesting.. so the FMJ versions of Zulululululu ammo does stick to the magnet....Well then...One thing is for sure... there is steel in there, further....there are 2 possibilities... first one that this is a lead core, steel jacket and brass washed ammo...this ammo is okay to shoot occasionally or rarely but not as a regular range ammo... second that its a full steel projectile and brass washed...in this case you really wana stay away from this ammo.. You can gift it to your enemies if you got any...Steel core ammo you dont want to mess with at any level.

Deathrow, brother now your second posibility is making me woried I've got 150 rounds of those zolololo and didn't fire any ... someone/expert have to test FMJ to check projectiles material.
i.e I'm not going to fire any of those zolololo till the test have been done.

[pakistanitoup]

Deathrow, brother now your second posibility is making me woried I've got 150 rounds of those zolololo and didn't fire any ... someone/expert have to test FMJ to check projectiles material.
i.e I'm not going to fire any of those zolololo till the test have been done.

my friend use Zaleelo ammo for range. he is very satisfied with it.

[Enigmatic Desires]

I am just amused by the many interesting variations of the name. I call em "Zololololololo, Deathrow calls em Zulululululu, pakistanitoup: Zaleelo. Where on earth did they come up with this name anyway?

As regards FMJ Khan Tanoli Sir, we cannot say since our experience here in Karachi is with HPs exclusively and these do no stick at all to the megnet. I will try and aquire a few pops and then we will dissect them in our best "mad doctor" traditions.

BTW pakistanitoup: Your freind that used them at the range right? Which ones were they FMJ or HP? Since both are completely different!

[Ahsan abbas]

Your Post is Interested and Nice..........

[JNJ]

Hi guys .... any updates on 9mm prices.......are they still high as 130 for Chinese and 180 for S&Bs??

(In karachi)

[Enigmatic Desires]

100 for Chinese and around 200 for S&Bs (depending on quantity and bargaining skills)

[pakistanitoup]

I am just amused by the many interesting variations of the name. I call em "Zololololololo, Deathrow calls em Zulululululu, pakistanitoup: Zaleelo. Where on earth did they come up with this name anyway?

As regards FMJ Khan Tanoli Sir, we cannot say since our experience here in Karachi is with HPs exclusively and these do no stick at all to the megnet. I will try and aquire a few pops and then we will dissect them in our best "mad doctor" traditions.

BTW pakistanitoup: Your freind that used them at the range right? Which ones were they FMJ or HP? Since both are completely different!

he use FMJ. and is very much satisfied with it. i personally havent even seen the round till now, firing it is far thing. but he said its same as or better than POF 9 mm ammo. now they call it ZOL ammo.

[Enigmatic Desires]

he use FMJ. and is very much satisfied with it. i personally havent even seen the round till now, firing it is far thing. but he said its same as or better than POF 9 mm ammo. now they call it ZOL ammo.

I will try and source a few rounds here if I can.

[Stealth]

Salam to all , zololo is the old ammo which had extreme variations in accuracy and inconsistencies in powder charge , bullet weight . I fired around 1000 rounds at 25 meters and accuracy was very poor . the new improved ammo is marketed as Zol and comes in a white box and is much more consistent in accuracy as compared to zololo. It's good ammo for shooting steel plates or just blowing brass down range . So far ive fired 2000 rnds and no issues. Very clean burning powder and non corrosive . Ammo has been tested on glock 34 gen 3 and beretta 92 stock .
Mr Abbas ( owner of zol ) just informed me that he is about to introduce zol match grade which is geared more towards target shooting but would be priced higher than zol regular and zololo.

Current price of zololo from factory is 12-15 Rs/rnd ( depending on quantity purchased and zol 25/rnd.