Preferred Ammo Brand?

[BabaBlueJay]

I am a newbie, so I was curious what ammo brands the more experienced members trust most on here. From my VERY LIMITED experience trying as many different brands and types as I could, I have found Sellier & Bellot (S&B), especially their FMJ 158 grain flat nose in .357 to be very effective for me. I have also tried Hornady Critical Defense FTX, Federal Hydrashok, Buffalo Bore, Speer Gold Dot, Norma, and Fiocchi all of which I had less success with. I am sure I will get a variety of answers, but I was just curious what you guys use and why. Thanks in advance!

S&B for me is the golden bullet or magic bullet I have been stocking up on, but if there are others I should try let me know.

 

[Baltimoreed11754]

I use Hornady Critical Defence loads for my cc's but make my own for cas, zombie, BAMM and ipsc matches. Prefer Federal .22s.

 

[sousana]

98% of my inventory is imi.

 

[alwslate]

It depends on the caliber. Some companies produce great loads in some calibers and junk in others. Remington is a good example of that in my experience. And to complicate things some foreign brands are just a name. Every few years the brand may be manufactured in different countries by different makers.

 

[stansdds]

What caliber? I can say that I have had good experiences with Federal, Remington, Speer, and Winchester. These days I really like the HST, Golden Sabre, Gold Dot, and Ranger-T loads from these manufacturers. Of course, right now, it might be more of a case of whatever you can find.

 

[BabaBlueJay]

What caliber? I can say that I have had good experiences with Federal, Remington, Speer, and Winchester. These days I really like the HST, Golden Sabre, Gold Dot, and Ranger-T loads from these manufacturers. Of course, right now, it might be more of a case of whatever you can find.

The caliber you use most frequently

 

[Valmet]

For me, practically any of the mainstream stuff- Federal, Speer, Remington, PMC, Winchester, etc. when it comes to .45, ad a reloader I shy away from the newer Federal stuff as it has small primer-pockets and I don't want to sort it all.

As for defense stuff, I like the old Chicago load by Federal (115-gr+P+), HST, Remington Golden Saber or Speer Gold Dot. It all does what it's supposed to assuming you do your part as a shooter.

 

[Ruger 13]

My own hand loads!

 

[Fuch]

AMMO

for me it's Sellier&Bellot for hand guns and rifles good report between price and quality , for my sniper rifle i using Hornady components for reloading

 

[Kid Shileen]

I'm a fan of Hornady XTP for 38spl and 45 acp.

 

[Darkenfast]

My only centerfire caliber is 9mm Parabellum. I am also very poor!

For general shooting, I have a collection of whatever I can get. The biggest single load is Winchester 9mm NATO 124 gr.

Put aside for serious use: a small stash of Hornady Critical Duty +P 135 gr. Flextip. Over a period it was usually available in my area, so I'd get one box at a time. Since both my nines are long-ish barreled, I think it's a good load. From the tests I've seen posted, it appears to be very consistent and reliable. If it hadn't been there, I would've gotten some other major brand.

Most of the time, I try not to overthink it. Paul Harrel's videos are a welcome bit of fresh-air in the ammo hype debate.

 

[chief38]

IT ALL DEPENDS.......

For SD 9mm I like Federal HST
For SD 38 spl. I like Buffalo Bore or Speer GDHP
For .22 LR I like CCI or Federal blue box
For shotgun hunting I like Winchester
For formal Trap & Skeet I like Winchester AA
For informal shotgunning - any promo ammo from Winchester, Federal or Remington will do.

I GENBERAL TERMS:

Of the big commercial ammo Co's my opinion of quality in descending order is:

Federal, CCI

Winchester

Remington

Buffalo Bore is a "boutique" ammo Company that makes superb quality ammo - it's just super HOT and a bit pricy - best used for SD.

 

[BabaBlueJay]

for me it's Sellier&Bellot for hand guns and rifles good report between price and quality , for my sniper rifle i using Hornady components for reloading

Good to see a fellow S&B fan in here, guess it's not just me!

 

[HughD1]

I have different loads and brands for different guns. I have Speer Gold Dot 135 grain +p in my 642 and 60. Buffalo Bore 158 grain +p in my 4 inch Model 67. I use 357 Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel in my 2 1/2 inch Model 66. I use Remington 158 grain SJHP 357s in my 3 inch 686+. I use Federal Premium 165 grain in my Remington pump 30-06. Hornady Leverevolution in my Henry 45-70. I am more about matching the load to the gun than sticking with one particular brand.

Hugh


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[WR Moore]

I am a newbie, so I was curious what ammo brands the more experienced members trust most on here. From my VERY LIMITED experience trying as many different brands and types as I could, I have found Sellier & Bellot (S&B), especially their FMJ 158 grain flat nose in .357 to be very effective for me.

The big question is what are you asking the bullet to do? Generically, a FMJFN would provide exceptional penetration. That may not be the best choice depending upon what you want to do with the bullet/the bullet to do. It would not, for instance, be a reasonable choice for self defense in the home.

 

[bigwheelzip]

... I have found Sellier & Bellot (S&B), especially their FMJ 158 grain flat nose in .357 to be very effective for me.

That's my lower priced .357 plinking choice for revolvers because it shoots well and the tight crimp feeds smooth in my .357 Lever gun. It used to be sold at Cabela's under their own Herters brand.
For .357, the American Eagle 158 JSP is a good utility round also.
All self-defense rounds of every caliber are Federal "Personal Defense", and in .357 I've stocked up on the 125gr C357B.

 

[kmyers]

We probably have more Winchester here especially after adding in a lot of WWB for practice along with PDX1, Silvertip, but also like Federal HST and SWCHP in .38 Special and .45 LC, Speer Gold Dot along with Remington Golden Saber.

 

[derek45auto]

Laughs in DILLON XL650

 

[Bozz10mm]

For practice/training ammo, I like Fiocchi and American Eagle. For self defense ammo, it's Federal HST.

 

[BabaBlueJay]

The big question is what are you asking the bullet to do? Generically, a FMJFN would provide exceptional penetration. That may not be the best choice depending upon what you want to do with the bullet/the bullet to do. It would not, for instance, be a reasonable choice for self defense in the home.

For me, I want my bullet to shoot accurately, cause me no issues, and be readily avaliable. Lucky for me the S&B satisfies all of those requirements. Over-penetration isn't an issue for home defense for me, as I have no neighbors for quite a ways. Also have several twisting turns in house where being able to hit baddie through a wall would be nice. Maybe not best for when I head in to town, but I usually don't carry in town anyway, as the harbor town I live in is relatively safe. In Cleveland I carry and there I also want penetration to punch through car door if bad guy is a drive by scenario. For some reason I can't hit the broad side of a barn with most defense ammo, if I could find some that worked for me I'd be open to using it for defense purposes.
though.

Might try S&B semi jacketed hollow point since it is similar but would give the expansion/less penetration benefits you mentioned.