I've been buying cases of Norma 9mm lately for target shooting because it is the least expensive 9mm out there. Many folks either don't know about Norma ammo or think of it as hunting ammunition for large game rifles.

I found an article online recently published in Guns & Ammo magazine that detailed the history of the company. I thought it was a good read. Here's a link if you're interested:

Norma: The First Name in Precision Ammunition - Guns and Ammo

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FBINA, 204th Session

I have fired several boxes of Norma 9mm with no problems and is accurate

The Norma website is listing 9mm FMJ at $15/box of 50 with free shipping on orders over $150. Sky high by 2019 standards but the best price I have seen recently on brass case FMJ.

I use Norma FMJs with very good results in full size and single stack nines. Zero problems. I also have been very happy with their MHP 9mm defense ammo. It functioned, without any problems, in my Hellcat, Glock 43X and 9EZ. It's priced right, for today's market I suppose, and they sell on-line if you can't find it locally.

Good or bad price aside has anyone looked at the specifications for their one current .38 spl offering?
Cut and paste from their website:

• Caliber: .38 Special
• Bullet Weight: 158 grain
• Bullet Style: FMJ-FN
• Muzzle Velocity: 968 FPS
• Muzzle Energy: 329 ft.-lbs.
• Case: Brass

968 fps muzzle velocity for a 158 gr flat-nose round is not what I was used to seeing in the past. It is FMJ/FN, but still... Magtech advertises 755 fps for 158 gr FMJ/FN.

Am I missing something here? That muzzle velocity is in the same range as advertised for some lighter +P rounds (Remington for example).

I would be surprised if that is a real world velocity. Probably a 7.7" non vented test barrel. I have some Perfecta 158gr FMJ that will give about 900fps in a 4". I consider them to be HOT! See below......

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dd884
JMHO-YMMV

Exactly my thought. It is close to what Buffalo Bore advertises for their 38 SPL+p, 158 gr SWC "Heavy" ammo... and charge 3x the Norma price.

I saw some Norma Whitetail at a great price and decided to pick up a 20 rd box of 30-06 to see what it would do. I shot a nice whitetail with it at 170 yards, and the results were excellent - good penetration and good expansion.
When I buy factory ammo, my go-to is Remington Core Loct, but the Norma Whitetail was every bit as good.

IIRC Norma had somewhat of a "reputation" for "hot" ammo. To go along with their reputation for "premium" ammo.

Norma is top notch ammo.

It’s every bit as good as the name brand stuff, usually better.

Once again we see commentary about some of today's "HOT" ammunition with no mention of common, everyday ammunition from yesteryear.

Here are some muzzle velocities from an ad by S&W published in the later 1930's making a virtue of the wide range of fodder available for use in the 357 Magnum. Worthy of note is the fact these velocities were achieved from an 8 3/4" 357 Magnum revolver.

.38 S&W Special Mid Range---------825 fps
.38 S&W Special---------------------950 fps
.38 S&W Special Super Speed-----1100 fps
.38/44 S&W Special----------------1226 fps
S&W .357 Magnum-----------------1512 fps

Ralph Tremaine

The hottest factory .38 Special ammo I'm aware of was produced by Norma quite a few years ago, but it was still being manufactured in the early '70s before the +P designation came about. It used a 110 grain JHP at an advertised 1500 + fps (unknown barrel length but probably more than 4" or 6") with a chamber pressure of a little over 27,000 (probably CUP pressure), quite a bit warmer than even Super Vel or Speer DWM, the other two hot loads of the day.

I think the only Norma ammo I've shot was 6.5 Japanese In a very old type 38 Arisaka (wish I still had it). Outstanding accuracy. A great combo, a tack driver.

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No baby we aint

I have seen recent Norma 9mm that is loaded in Hungary and in Germany.

I shot a box of Norma's .38spl FMJ/FN in my "new to me Md 14 4 screw" I recently acquired. I really liked it! So much so I bought 2 more boxes. It didn't seem "hot" to me, but I've been shooting a lot of 130 grn FMJ from WW.

Just my thoughts.

I bought some 158 grain .38 special during the flash sale a month or so ago. Haven't shot it yet. Made in Hungary. Will try it during next range visit.

I agree, but I'd say that Norma is name brand stuff. It's just not as well known by the average U.S. citizen. They've been in business for over 100 years. In the 70's I thought of Norma as premium ammo, but mostly for European calibers.

Have bought Norma 9mm FMJ 115 gr. ammo. Excellent. Will buy more. Sincerely. bruce.

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Loaded to CIP not SAAMI specs . Euro is tad " hotter " 357 mag SAAMI 35K psi , CIP 40K psi .

Normashooting.com does not offer a .357 Magnum round presently.

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FBINA, 204th Session

Not really. SAAMI and CIP often take the pressure measurement at a different point in the chamber. The end result is often a different pressure reading.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

Thanks. What were the prices in 2019 for 9mm ammo? .223/5.56? .22LR?

I was comparing pre-pandemic prices with some friends last week and we came up with the list below. The prices typically did not include shipping or taxes. The 9mm, 38, 44 and 223 was all brass case and reloadable.

9mm - Speer 147 grain Lawman - $189.80/1000 round case
9mm - Blazer brass 115 grain - $177.99/1050 round case
22LR - CCI MiniMag 40 grain - $279.50/5000 round case
223 - Fiocchi 55 grain FMJ - $263.80/1000 round case
38 Special - Fiocchi 148 grain wadcutter - $15.95/50 round box
44 Special - Magtech 240 grain FMJ - $25.95/50 round box

Adjusted for inflation these were the best prices I have ever seen for newly manufactured ammo. When I start shooting in the 80s you could find inexpensive surplus in some calibers. I still have some non-corrosive 308 I paid $160/1000 rounds for in the early 90s. But the first time I mail ordered ammo in the 80s I recall paying about $140 for a 1000 rounds of 9mm. Adjusted for 35 years of inflation that is quite a bit more than I was paying a couple of years ago.

I still think prices will come down from what they are now but not to the levels they were at in 2019. Material costs have gone up and demand is still high. My guess is 9mm will get back down to $220/1000 rounds, maybe lower if we get lucky. But prices are staying high longer than I thought they would.

Do you mean per 1,000 rounds in a case?

I'll be very surprised if we ever again get down as low as $250/1000 for brass case 9mm.

I recently bought several cases of Norma training 9mm at $15 a box of 50 delivered, and I thought that was a very good buy in our current situation.

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FBINA, 204th Session

For this ammo a case was 20, 50 round boxes in a bigger box. Its not 1000 loose rounds in one big box.

I hope it goes lower but you may be right. I just got through looking at ammo prices in a November 1, 1991 issue of the Shotgun News I found in a box in my garage. I got so used to the really cheap prices from a few years ago I forgot how much I used to pay for ammo thirty years ago. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics calculator inflation has almost exactly doubled prices since 1991. So multiply these prices by 2 to get the 2021 prices.

There were a couple of ads for Winchester white box:

• 223 was $173/1000 rounds in 1991, equivalent to $346 today.
• 9mm was $167/1000 rounds in 1991, equivalent to $334 today.

The least expensive newly manufactured ammo a good margin was the Chinese made and long since banned Norinco ammo:

• 223 was $126.50/1000 rounds in 1991, equivalent to $256 today.
• 9mm was $146.50/1000 rounds in 1991, equivalent to $293 today.

Given the historical cost of ammo and rising prices of materials my guess of $220/case 9mm again could very well be optimistic.

I don't know that material costs factor into the increase that much; I think it's way more on the demand and uncertainty. Biden's Russian ammo ban with the stroke of a pen has scared a whole lot of people... it's been a long time since our fed gov has actively affected the market. And this was without even "trying", as they claim it was directed at Russia, not our shooting populace.
Politics might be taboo here, but his stated position as a candidate was to curtail our access to firearms and ammo, and they haven't started officially yet.

We've seen a whole lot of "law-like" actions occur over the past year, without any act of Congress behind it. We almost certainly will see more.

After multiple victim shootings that get lots of media attention, like the other day's Ethan Crumbley's Oxford High School in Michigan shooting, do fears of further "gun control" cause ammo sales typically pick up and LGS stock decline soon thereafter?