Cleanest target ammo?

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Since this applies across all ammo categories I put it in here.

While I have been shooting for a while, and owned firearms for 7 months, I haven't sat back and considered my ammo choices much beyond cost per round. It wasn't until I had bad experiences with my AR that it really struck home how much the quality of ammo can improve your shooting experience. Some ammunition just does not burn cleanly or it leaves something in the air that burns the nose and can't be good for the lungs. I've switched away from winchester for this reason and have started questioning my "cost per round" evaluation.

This said, shooting expensive ammo all the time is no good for the wallet. While I could go out and buy the "best of the best," most of it is not really practical for typical target shooting and probably has more to do with bullets and tolerances I think than it does on general brass and powder quality.

In yall's (inner texan is peeking out) experience, which ammo brands generally shoot the cleanest and leave you with the best brass(for cartridges worth reloading) without breaking the bank? I'm pretty much down to CCI in pistols and 22lr but I might be missing something so getting some perspective might help.

Later on I might post in reloading about finding good powder for your chosen cartridges (most likely 308, 38 special, and 357 for me.)

thanks in advance :thanks:

Re: Cleanest target ammo?

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For centerfire pistol cartridges, I use Winchester White Box and Remington UMC as my "range ammo." Large boxes (200+) can often be had for quite cheap, especially at Academy. They've been having sales almost every other week on it.

Both Winchester and Remington are reliable and burn fairly clean in everything I run them through, the brass holding up quite well.

That said, I also recently discovered Armscor's 357 Mag. Very clean and very accurate out of my Smith 686. I scored a few boxes of it at Cabela's for about $18+tax/box.

As for 22lr, CCI is pretty much the gold standard, although I'm also partial to Federal Match in the 325ct boxes. As reliable as 22lr gets and doesn't soot up the place.

In terms of centerfire rifle rounds, I generally stick with Remington Core-Lokt for "range ammo".
LGC Texas - Vice President

Re: Cleanest target ammo?

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I seem to be a Fiocchi fan-boy at the moment, but it is not the cleanest. Sadly, the cheapest, dirtiest 204 Ruger 40 grain is the best-shooting out of my No.1 - and I'm still wondering if it's worth it.... :)

Must investigate S&B's offerings more, especially in the pistol calibres I use.

Life was SO much simpler when I was rimfire-only.....
"We have met the enemy and he is us." Pogo.
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Re: Cleanest target ammo?

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Maccabee wrote: Tue May 22, 2018 10:17 am I can’t speak to the quality of the brass, but Sellier & Bellot’s 9mm rounds have been some of the cleanest I’ve shot. Blazer Brass as well.
I've heard that about S&B as well. Fortunately, it also happens to be the cheapest brass-cased ammo at Able Ammo, so go me. I bought a few boxes of their FMJ and also one of their JHP.

Re: Cleanest target ammo?

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I tried Sellier & Bellot the first time I shot my Garand. It was the first Garand ammo I found, and the least expensive, though the place I bought it from is currently sold out. I'd shoot it again - it did seem pretty clean, though I only had 100 rounds.
106+ recreational uses of firearms
1 defensive use
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Re: Cleanest target ammo?

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I should probably have added that I'm not referring to chamber and barrel fouling as much as soot being ejected into the air.

While clean-ish brass might be nice, I imagine you have to clean it anyways if you want to reuse it and at that point, sturdiness beats out cleanliness.

Re: Cleanest target ammo?

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BillMcD wrote: Mon May 28, 2018 10:33 am I should probably have added that I'm not referring to chamber and barrel fouling as much as soot being ejected into the air.

While clean-ish brass might be nice, I imagine you have to clean it anyways if you want to reuse it and at that point, sturdiness beats out cleanliness.
Most brass-cased ammo is fairly soot-free. Blazer Aluminum case is pretty much the dirtiest, sootiest I've run across.
LGC Texas - Vice President

Re: Cleanest target ammo?

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I've shot with a member who reloads and he remarked that the Sellier & Bellot .45 ACP I was shooting left the cases as clean as he'd ever seen in factory ammo. I shoot the stuff in 9mm as well, and I've never had a failure of any kind with either. Clean, reliable, and accurate enough, and cheap, to boot. I think it's good stuff.
"I am not a number, I am a free man!" - Number Six

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Re: Cleanest target ammo?

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I have 9mm pistols. I shoot a lot of federal, of which American eagle is a subset. I like AE pretty well and have used it for a long long time.

I just ordered a case of Fiocchi fmj because it is allegedly closer in FPS to the federal Japan ammo I’ve switched to for self defense. I used to use Federal 9bp but as that has gotten scarcer and I’m relying more on shorter barrel weapons I’ve switched to xm9001. I’m happy to report back on the Fiocchi once I’ve tried it.
audite semper, semper discendum

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