Newbie wants to talk ammo for Shield 9

[rwsmith]

I reload, I want brass....

There is nothing wrong with steel, but IF I were to buy practice ammo, I'd stick to aluminum. So far I've bought nothing but brass brass.

 

[kannonvaggon]

For targets any CLEAN FMJ should work fine. If you have a choice I'd suggest sticking with brass or aluminum. Some ranges ban steel ammo, and I've seen lots of lower priced steel ammo that burned real dirty and often would have feed or eject issues sometimes. Seldom see that with quality brass ammo.

The weight doesn't matter much for targets, but if you want your POI to be similar to SD ammo you might want to try a couple different loads to see what comes close to the ammo you would use for carry.

I myself see no good reason to use +P ammo in a Shield. I happen to like Federal WB 115 gr range ammo cuz it hits about where 147 gr SD ammo will hit at close range from my 9mm Shield. Recoil will be sharper with the SD rounds and heavier bullet weight, but of course it's all fairly soft in 9mm with a Shield. The MAIN reason I don't fire all SD ammo at the range is that it's just too expensive by a wide margin.

I've had good luck with factory " reman" range FMJ in brass and it's a fair deal in bulk quantity. I never fire reloads in my pistol unless I reloaded it myself so I KNOW what is in there. I also don't carry with anything other than very good quality factory SD ammo. I prefer Federal HST 147gr in 9mm and so far I like the Speer Gold Dot 230gr JHP in my 45 Shield . Runs sweet in my pistol and that bullet is pretty close to the performance of the HST. For some reason my 9mm wasn't as happy with the Gold Dot as far as consistent POI, but it ran through the gun nicely.

The new version of Winchester JHP Ranger-T seems like a nice round also if they are on sale.

 

[Jaysq]

Here is S&W's position on +P

• "Plus-P" (+P) ammunition generates pressures in excess of the
pressures associated with standard ammunition. Such pressures
may affect the wear characteristics or exceed the margin of
safety. Use of "Plus-P" ammunition may result in the need for
more frequent service.
• "Plus-P-Plus" (+P+) ammunition must not be used in Smith &
Wesson firearms. This marking on the ammunition designates
that it exceeds established industry standards, but the designation
does not represent defined pressure limits and therefore
such ammunition may vary significantly as to the pressures generated
and could be DANGEROUS.

 

[wormraper]

That's assuming your Wallyworld sells ammo.

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there are wally worlds that don't sell ammo? heck, here in AZ I'm so used to even the walmart Neighborhood market's selling it lol

 

[Arik]

there are wally worlds that don't sell ammo? heck, here in AZ I'm so used to even the walmart Neighborhood market's selling it lol

None here. Gotta drive a good distance to even find one that sells something firearms related. Been this way since 1998.

Not that it makes a difference to me since the ones I've seen have no selection to speak of

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