Pistol ammo, what's your latest thoughts?

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I keep an eye out for a few manufacturers that I would buy without hesitation. I mainly concentrate on a few european manufacturers, a few calibers and one grain weight for each. I did notice at the beginning of the year that a few of my select brands was getting a bit more rare. And as usual I'm a bit slow on the uptake, I was watching Sellier & Bellot, and GECO (RWS GECO) mainly for 73gr .32 ACP and last Friday I noticed RWS GECO selling for around $17 a box, for me an acceptable deal. Unfortunately due to a kitty issue, I put off the purchase till today and they were all gone. :wavecry: I still made a purchase from another seller for some boxes of GECO; but the price was $5 higher. Since I didn't want to spend months with only 8 rounds, I paid the higher price rather than wait for another opportunity. I was hoping to also find my favorite brands of 9mm Luger, but they also seem to be scarce. There seems to be a ready supply of US manufacturers in both; but the euro brands seem to be getting harder to get. For instance GECO 124gr 9mm is currently found only in large quantities, a 500 and 1000 round orders; not really sums I'm willimg to part with at this time. The 115gr variety seems readily available. So how's y'alls experiences at this time, something going on?
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"Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated!" Loquacious of many. Texas Chapter Chief Cat Herder.

Re: Pistol ammo, what's your latest thoughts?

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When I was buying commercial ammo, I mostly bought PMC as I'd had good luck with it being less dirty than some of the other American ammo out there. I have a box of S&B somewhere that I picked up from a fellow LGC'er, but haven't spent any time looking for anything but 22 or reloading components since last winter.
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”
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Re: Pistol ammo, what's your latest thoughts?

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I mostly shoot 9mm. At the range I seem to prefer Winchester white box. For defense, I'm really liking the Hornady Critical Duty.

I'm still trying to get a feel for what I like in my CCW gun, an LCR. I'm running Speer Gold Dots in 357 magnum. However, I am thinking I would be a lot better off with a good 38 special load. I have much better shot placement in that caliber. Anyone have a good recommendation?
All human wisdom is contained in these two words: Wait and hope.

Re: Pistol ammo, what's your latest thoughts?

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shinzen wrote:When I was buying commercial ammo, I mostly bought PMC as I'd had good luck with it being less dirty than some of the other American ammo out there. I have a box of S&B somewhere that I picked up from a fellow LGC'er, but haven't spent any time looking for anything but 22 or reloading components since last winter.
The .22 is a curious issue, I see it only often online; but it seems to sell out fast. My closest brick and mortar location is consistently out. What's funny is that they have ammo for the Nagant pistol, maybe I should try to find one of the old Russian versions! I recently tried a box of Winchester .32 ACP, which fired okay; but, the flatter shape of the bullet seemed to not be to the liking of my Vz. 70, but I was lucky to get some though an LGC 'er! :beer2: I researched the issue sometime back and it's not recommended to use flat or hollow points in these old Vz. 70 pistols. Although I could probably find a US manufacturer with the right shape; but I'd rather go with something I'm more inclined to think will work without trying out more. I'm not putting on a tin foil hat yet; but, I'm wondering if the after holiday season is more inclined to have some products sold out?
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"Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated!" Loquacious of many. Texas Chapter Chief Cat Herder.

Re: Pistol ammo, what's your latest thoughts?

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Simmer down wrote:Reload. Its easier than you might think.

I carry store bought though. :shh:
Actually, I try to save my brass so when I can get a loading system I'll be ready! :beer2: At the Lockhart trip, I only found 4 out of 50! :cry: Usually I miss only 4 out of 50!
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"Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated!" Loquacious of many. Texas Chapter Chief Cat Herder.

Re: Pistol ammo, what's your latest thoughts?

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sikacz wrote:
Simmer down wrote:Reload. Its easier than you might think.

I carry store bought though. :shh:
Actually, I try to save my brass so when I can get a loading system I'll be ready! :beer2: At the Lockhart trip, I only found 4 out of 50! :cry: Usually I miss only 4 out of 50!
The muck of mud and trodden spent casings was not exactly a prime environment for picking up your brass. It's a real downside to Lonestar Range.
LGC Texas - Vice President

Re: Pistol ammo, what's your latest thoughts?

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I was shooting "whatever is on the shelves" because of the run on ammunition.

At the range, Winchester White Box is preferred by my 92f (or I had just settled in with that one) and the P228 has eaten everything I put through it.

I carry/have at home Hornady CD.

I have a bunch of spent brass that I am keeping around for one day in the future? or for trading? or because I'm weird? Not sure maybe all 3.

I will say that I will continue to carry store bought when not at the range. Even if / after I start reloading because in a court it will look better / be more defensible (?) or because I'm superstitious.
Texan Liberal interested in guns

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Re: Pistol ammo, what's your latest thoughts?

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atxgunguy wrote:
sikacz wrote:
Simmer down wrote:Reload. Its easier than you might think.

I carry store bought though. :shh:
Actually, I try to save my brass so when I can get a loading system I'll be ready! :beer2: At the Lockhart trip, I only found 4 out of 50! :cry: Usually I miss only 4 out of 50!
The muck of mud and trodden spent casings was not exactly a prime environment for picking up your brass. It's a real downside to Lonestar Range.
A bit that, of course I wanted to talk to y'all more than peck like a chicken looking for GECO 9mm! :roflmao: :beer2:
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"Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated!" Loquacious of many. Texas Chapter Chief Cat Herder.

Re: Pistol ammo, what's your latest thoughts?

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Pre-crisis, I was shooting a lot of federal. Cleaner than WWB (black powder would be cleaner than WWB) and I think I had one malfunction in a few thousand rounds - a light strike that wasn't probably the ammo's fault. I also liked the Remington "green box".

If shooting self defense pistol, I would recommend trying to find an inexpensive JHP that gets decent results with reliable expansion and only shoot and carry that. With pistols, reliable cycling becomes an issue and if your $2 a round zombie max doesn't cycle your weapon, you just turned your 1911 into a flintlock.

Carry what you shoot and shoot what you carry.

With revolvers, you can mix and match a bit without worry.
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Re: Pistol ammo, what's your latest thoughts?

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Honestly, if you can get past the lacquer-coating, Tula Ammo is good stuff. Every round went bang and if it's good enough for the Russian military, it's fine for me putting holes through paper. My Sig and Ruger autos just love the old Russkie surplus.

It's also no dirtier than WWB and is much cleaner than Blazer, which is just a hair above shooting straight black powder...especially in wheel guns. Gunbot dot net usually has at least one or two reputable vendors who sell it on a regular basis, often under what you'd pay at a big-box store...even with shipping included.
Last edited by atxgunguy on Tue Feb 04, 2014 3:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Pistol ammo, what's your latest thoughts?

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Coming from the perspective of a reloader....

Certain Wolf or Tulammo, I would buy, specifically, if the box says, "Boxer primed". Yes, you can reload Boxer-primed steel cases, and I have done so in both the .357M and the .45. I wouldn't buy the 9mm, not because it's no good (it's actually just fine), but because it's Berdan primed. If you're not a reloader, though, then this point doesn't matter.

PMC's good stuff, too. We sell that at the shop, and not only does the ammo perform well, the brass cases are very reloadable and seem to hold up well.
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Re: Pistol ammo, what's your latest thoughts?

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Ordering online is the best thing ever, I ordered on the 4th and it's promised by the end of the business day on the 6th! :bananadance:

I should be set for anywhere from 3-5 range trips now; which is better than my last years prepping. I hestitated and was without for a long long time. So for those with long term experience, does the availability of european brands usually fluctuate during the year?

I'm going to see if my wife likes the .32 ACP, so far her favorite has been a small .17 HMR pistol that one of our friends own. Trying to remember if it was a Ruger, Taurus or a S&W; it was like a snub nose size. Anyway I haven't seen any available and it's probably out of her price range at the moment. And, I need to build her interest level; she's promised to go with me and try out the Vz. 70 in a month or so! :bow: She was a bit under the weather and a bit shy at the Lockhart trip; but, maybe by next time I'll have her being more comfortable! :beer2:
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"Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated!" Loquacious of many. Texas Chapter Chief Cat Herder.

Re: Pistol ammo, what's your latest thoughts?

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I reload but in 9mm carry I've stuck to high end ammo - Winchester Talon or Federal Hi-Shok.

In my .25 ACP, whatever is the cheapest FMJ that reliably functions the pistol.

I don't worry too much about it if I'm carrying my .45 revolver as 250 gr LSWC is good medicine against both 2 & 4 legged problems and it's not the kind of ammo a prosecutor can spin very effectively (cowboy style ammo, if a bit warm for CAS...).
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Re: Pistol ammo, what's your latest thoughts?

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For my SIGs I use Federal Champion 115 gr FMJ (been well over a year since I've found any, though) - I tried WWB once and it took me twice as long to clean my guns afterward.
PD (all 124 gr) is Hornady Critical Defense or Speer Gold Dots for the P228; the P6 likes PMC Starfires.

I really miss the days of seeing Federal Champion on the shelves at Walmart for $19.97 per 100. :( I can't even find it in stock online now. Once I run low on what I've got now, I'll probably buy reman from Freedom Munitions. Including shipping, I can get a box of 500 RN 115 gr. for $130. Or spend a few bucks more for the 124 gr. to match my PD ammo.

After 18 months of searching for ammo, I'm seriously adhering to the "buy once; cry once" philosophy. Unfortunately, my budget only allows for 500 per purchase. But seriously - I am so tired of looking for ammo . . . . .
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Re: Pistol ammo, what's your latest thoughts?

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Aztex999 wrote:For my SIGs I use Federal Champion 115 gr FMJ (been well over a year since I've found any, though) - I tried WWB once and it took me twice as long to clean my guns afterward.
PD (all 124 gr) is Hornady Critical Defense or Speer Gold Dots for the P228; the P6 likes PMC Starfires.

I really miss the days of seeing Federal Champion on the shelves at Walmart for $19.97 per 100. :( I can't even find it in stock online now. Once I run low on what I've got now, I'll probably buy reman from Freedom Munitions. Including shipping, I can get a box of 500 RN 115 gr. for $130. Or spend a few bucks more for the 124 gr. to match my PD ammo.

After 18 months of searching for ammo, I'm seriously adhering to the "buy once; cry once" philosophy. Unfortunately, my budget only allows for 500 per purchase. But seriously - I am so tired of looking for ammo . . . . .
1.) Reloading can save money when properly managed. This is especially true for (non-magnum) pistol calibers where brass can be reused almost indefinitely, and doubly so if you can source cheap/free lead and cast your own boolits. In any case stocking up on lots of primers and powder when either is found cheap pays off. In most cases, though, I think reloading at moderate quantities ends up costing roughly the same absolute amount as reloading equipment + supplies but that you can end up with more rounds of a higher (and more consistent) quality. The math gets better as time passes and/or quantity increases.

2.) If you're going to buy ammo, you really need to buying in case quantities. It sucks laying the cash out, but the difference can end up at 5-10%, which really adds up over time. The old saying goes that the strategy is to buy it cheap and stack it deep. The other thing about this approach is that beggars can't be choosers. Sometimes awesome ammo shows up on the market briefly for a good price but is never seen again, other times middling ammo that goes bang is common for a while but isn't much like what you'd actually shoot for SD (i.e. 115 gr 9mm being really common commercially, 124gr less so).

Re: Pistol ammo, what's your latest thoughts?

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Totally agreed Swissdog. 1lb of Titegroup is $30 if you don't buy it in larger quantities. That's enough powder for more than 1500 rounds. 1k primers is (these days) $40 locally, and bullets (plated) are $50/500 from xtreme. If you've been saving brass, that's puts you in at $80 per 500 if you aren't buying in bulk. It gets far better if you buy in larger quantities. As mentioned, lead is even cheaper if you cast your own, or even buying just lead bullets can cut your price down to $25/500. EDIT: For the bullets alone.
Last edited by shinzen on Mon Mar 17, 2014 9:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”
- Maya Angelou

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Re: Pistol ammo, what's your latest thoughts?

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I practice with Speer Lawman .45 TMJ, carry Federal HST in .45 +P 230 gr. JHP.

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***OOPS this is a pistol thread, deleting the rifle one.***

In the .38, practice Magtech or Speer, carry Cor-Bon DPX in .38 +P 110gr.

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The .22 Ruger 22/45 loves CCI, likes CCI Blazer, and has to make do with whatever falls out the truck these days. The 36 gr. Federal Champion hasn't been too bad.
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Re: Pistol ammo, what's your latest thoughts?

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CowboyT wrote:Coming from the perspective of a reloader....

PMC's good stuff, too. We sell that at the shop, and not only does the ammo perform well, the brass cases are very reloadable and seem to hold up well.
Normally, I'd agree, but I just finished some 45 ACP and had three split cases coming off the powder station and they were all PMC.
They'd been reloaded 3 times for the Blackhawk, not excessively hot (5.2 of Red Dot under a 200 gr RN).
I used to separate the brass by manufacturer but had stopped after reading some of the posts. Maybe I'm belling the case mouth too much?
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