I've had good luck with Federal, S&B, PMC, Norma, Fiocchi, Aguila, Hornady, CCI, and Sig Sauer. I'm not good enough and don't shoot enough to quantify which is more (or less) accurate, but they all go bang for me. I don't use any of the cheap Russian stuff or remanufactured ammo.
What ammo do you trust?
- Thread starter BabaBlueJay
- Start date
Pretty much all the single-stage presses are alike for the beginning-to-intermediate reloader. Many of us go on to progressive presses. Other brands make perfectly fine machines and usually for less money, but Dillon Precision makes the progressive presses that seem to be generally recognized as the gold standard.
Like others, I find properly stored ammunition from a reliable maker is amazingly reliable, apart from .22. I'd advise firing some number for function in your particular firearm before relying on it for anything serious.
The only junk ammo I bought new was some Remington 500 packs of .22 I bought a decade or so ago which have about a 5% failure rate.
Surplus ammo depends a lot more on storage than who made it but the Egyptian 9mm was a disaster, the Pakastani .303 wasn't much better.
My Governor likes Remington .410 and .45 Colt. My EDC models 3953 or 4053 like Federal, and my other Gen3 range guns eat Fiocchi and Magtech without complaint.
Federal, Hornady and Speer work great. I've never had an issue with thousands of rounds.
For me, Winchester is too dirty. Remington is unreliable insofar as firing when the primer is hit.
For me, Winchester is too dirty. Remington is unreliable insofar as firing when the primer is hit.
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MsRuth
Member
Three of my former Governors can't buy ammo...what with being convicted felons and all that.
CCI/Blazer Brass, PP, Fiocci, Norma, no problems.
Remington UMC goes bang, but a little dirty.
Federal/AE no problems.
Cant really say the last time I had a problem with factory ammo.
Remington UMC goes bang, but a little dirty.
Federal/AE no problems.
Cant really say the last time I had a problem with factory ammo.
I wouldn't need all 10 fingers to count the number of factory duds I've encountered in the last 50 years.
Tubbsy
Member
I shoot more federal ammunition than any other brand by a huge margin.... I'm a fan of s&b too... and the occasional box of winchester AA's for clays...
Hornady Critical Defense in my carry gun. For general shooting, plinking, just fun stuff, I shoot any ammo that is available at the time, with no particular favorites, as they all go bang.
I've had the best performance out of Federal ammo. Not so with Hornady. Carried some Hornady Critical Duty for a year and then when I went to the Range while it would fire it wouldn't cycle the action on my 1911 (even though I put a box of the same lot # through the pistol before carrying it. I didn't contaminate the primers with solvent either, I know better).
For self defense I still have Hornady Critical Duty. This was the ammunition we were issued and never had any problems with it. I trust it and bet my life that it will work.
I have shot numerous brands and rarely have had any problems.
I do recall an issue with some Winchester .357 Sig rounds that were underpowered and would not cycle my Glock. I don't recall the name but I think it was some kind of indoor or clean burning product. I do know regular Winchester .357 Sig works very well.
I believe the vast majority of ammunition produced in the U. S. is a quality product and ammunition imported is also acceptable, but possibly not as a high quality product. With the millions of rounds produced there will always be the possibility of a defective round or even entire lots, but overall I think you can trust the name brands listed earlier.
I have shot numerous brands and rarely have had any problems.
I do recall an issue with some Winchester .357 Sig rounds that were underpowered and would not cycle my Glock. I don't recall the name but I think it was some kind of indoor or clean burning product. I do know regular Winchester .357 Sig works very well.
I believe the vast majority of ammunition produced in the U. S. is a quality product and ammunition imported is also acceptable, but possibly not as a high quality product. With the millions of rounds produced there will always be the possibility of a defective round or even entire lots, but overall I think you can trust the name brands listed earlier.
scoobysnacker
Member
That's a great question, since there are so many "new"brands out there that we just never saw before.
Coming from a 9mm POV, I have Speer Gold Dot 124gr JHP (not +P) for carry. That would be my primary choice. I picked up some Federal Classic 9BP JHP for decent (still below what cheap FMJ is today), would be my second choice out of what I have.
I consider Hornady a good brand and would trust that too.
If forced to use FMJ in emergency (and for range use), my pre-covid preferences were always:
- S&B
- MEN white box NATO
- Fiocchi
124gr fmj in that order, followed by 115gr fmj in that order. - I liked Geco and would put it equal to those. I picked up a case of 124gr fmj loose, recently.
In just my own impression, those are loaded warm and consistent, and close to each other. They run clean, and I suspect they all are at Euro NATO spec.
- Yavex (Turkish) 124gr fmj. This stuff is hot, I will only shoot out of sturdy platforms I trust, fullsized CZ, Sig, Beretta, 5906.
- Blazer Brass, I consider to be soft range ammo, and consistent.
I put these 2 brands on the high/low ends of the scale; BB is safe in anything. Yavex will beat most guns up.
In between those, I lump - PMC
- PPU
- Aguila (it stinks but shoots nice)
- Magtech
- American Eagle
- IMI
I put these in a group, will take whatever is cheapest of the bunch.
I don't trust the JHP in those brands to expand, so I would stick with FMJ.
I find Tula/Red Army/Bear/Wolf etc steel to shoot ok, but wouldn't trust outside of a range unless I absolutely had to (in 9x19; in 9x18 Makarov I do).
Based on past experiences, I don't trust Winchester White Box or Remington UMC. Dirty, very inconsistent, had a squib with UMC. I'd trust Russian steel over them.
Re other cals, WWB doesn't feed well in my .32s, whereas everything else does.
Fairly comprehensive, but there's a lot more out there. I have no idea where Norma 9mm, Belom, Igman, etc fit on that list.
When it comes to SD stuff- I've always been a fan of Rem Golden Saber (9mm 124-gr+P). Target stuff- lots of stuff, WWB, Rem green/white, PPU, Fed White box, Amer Eagle, PMC Bronze, Fiocchi, etc. Pretty much anything not Tula or Wolf (not that it doesn't work, just find it to burn dirty).
scoobysnacker
Member
Tula is dirty, but been my personal experience that it's reliable.
Winchester has awful QC, and Remington was worse (it's a different Remington now). I see a recent Winchester recall on another site, so Winchester remains the kings of doing it half-***ed.
I truly hate to say it, but I'd TRUST Tula over WWB.
THE PILGRIM
Member
Lately Have shot some Tula in my Glock 43x.
It does give you a cloud of black smoke and a Hearty Hi-yo Silver.
It does give you a cloud of black smoke and a Hearty Hi-yo Silver.
Rpg
Member
I inherently trust all commercially loaded ammo to function in that it will go bang when shot.
When it comes to Handgun ammo that's supposed to expand, I don't trust any of it. If you want a big hole, start with a large diameter bullet!
When it comes to Handgun ammo that's supposed to expand, I don't trust any of it. If you want a big hole, start with a large diameter bullet!
OP
Best answer so far IMO. I agree with your entire list, I like gold dot but I can hardly ever find it in 357 so my options are what my local gun store has (which in terms of hollow points is not good) or S&B/Armscor for FMJ and S&B is just better IMO, not that Armscor is trash but S&B is clearly better IMO.
Is it horrible if sometimes I think carrying FMJ I shoot well and just knowing what is beyond my target is better than using hollow points I suck with?
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