9mm Ammo Question

C

cetanner

New member
Bought a SR9C a couple of weeks ago. Have been going to the range frequently and find paying $20 for 50 rounds of 9mm ammo a bit much. Went to local Walmart today to buy my own 9mm ammo. I asked the clerk what the price was for their cheapest 9mm ammo. They had TULAMMO 50 rounds 9mm Luger 115 gram FMJ for $10 and Federal Ammo 9mm Luger FMJ for $12 for 50 rounds each. The TULAMMO is made in Russia. Has anyone used it? Is it ok to use at the range? How about the Federal ammo which is made in the US.? Your help is appreciated. Thanks

I apologize I should have put this post in the General Handgun Forum rather than Semiauto Forum.
 
Last edited:
The Tulammo thing has been beaten to death. Do a search and get more info.

It's cheap ammo that I wouldn't use on my guns because I value them and don't want to damage them. Because tulammo is not up to the SAAMI standards you are not going to have very consistent results. If you do your research in ammo you do get what you pay for.

The kinds of problems associated with cheap ammo, made in Communist bloc countries, is their accuracy or lack of it. They have old machines that our manufacturers sell off when they are deemed too expensive to maintain. Because the machines are worn out, it is hard to calibrate them properly and for the calibration to stick. So you get more inaccurate products. Whether it is a brass case, a bullet jacket, gun powder accuracy matters and lack of it has an immediate effect and a long term effect on your pistol/rifle.

Accuracy and consistency of materials are expensive because it requires quality controls at all levels, from the primers, brass, gun powder and bullet. You also have to factor in higher labor costs.

For practice I use Wwb or Federal from Walmart for about $21/100. For personal defense I load the mags with Remington Golden Sabre HP every other round along with the Walmart stuff.
 
Last edited:
I have no experience on that ammo, but just wanted to let you know, walmart also has RWS ammo (orange and black box) that sells for around $11-$12 and is fantastic. super accurate and it shoots very clean.
 
I buy the Federal 100 round "value pack". It runs about $21. I've thought about picking up the WWB for $23/100. Federal is great stuff
 
9mm ammo

The indoor ranges in Charlotte NC will not allow us to shoot any iron core ammo (Tula + Wolf). They have told me that it can arch and create a fire. So all of our ammo is checked before we can shoot it. If the ammo sticks to a magnet, it has an iron core.
I buy in bulk online. I bought a case of Aguila ammo and with shipping included, it came out to be around $11 a box.
Great ammo. No problems ever with it.
 
"Iron Core"?????????
If it sticks to a magnet-some part of the round is steel based. I know that the ammo you mentioned has mild steel cases but an "iron core" bullet??? I don't think so. The jacket may be copper washed steel alloy. The bullet can "arch"(you mean arc?=no, that requires electric current)-I don't think so. Maybe create sparks when hitting the backstop.
Sounds like the range operator may be jerking your chain. Makes me appreciate the range in my backyard more every day.
 
9mm ammo

I just googled Wolf ammo causing fires.
Its all over the internet.
Quote-Every range I have been to has a sign saying NO WOLF AMMO.
Thats because the core is steel, and it can cause a "spark" which may lead to a fire. Very unlikley, and im betting there has never been a fire due to shooting wolf ammo.

So my city is not the only one that has banned Tula and Wolf ammo from the indoor ranges.
This is not my opinion, it is a fact.
 
I'm not sure that being "all over the net" is an indication of truth. The ad's for Tula 9mm state that the core is lead in a bimetal jacket. I doubt there is any evidence that this ammo has ever caused a fire in a shooting range, despite individual range's policies.
 
Look up Freedom Munitions on Google. Their Blaster 9mm practice ammo is about $175 per 1000 shipped to your door. That's 17.5 cents per round. I just went thru 300 rds with no issues. Shoots clean and the accuracy is very good. Jack Ross Ammo is another good source. I put 500 rds downrange with nary a problem.
 
Tula isn't allowed at most ranges for various reasons. The Federal is allowed every where I have ever been. That is reason enough to go with the Federal in my book. Plus the Federal shoots just as clean as the WWB and appears to have better quality control from a purely visual inspection.
 
Again, no experience with it, but I've seen this posted a lot. It seems the wolf (and I think even the RWS) has iron in the jacket, NOT the core. That is why causes all the issues.


I also read that if it was iron core it would be classified as armor piercing and could not be sold? I dunno about that part, just passing along what Iv'e read on these and some other forums.
 
I have used tulammo and walmart federal in my beretta 92 and my wifes sr9c with no problems. I also can guarantee that the tulammo is not going to spark anymore than regular ammo. I bet the reason it is banned is the reputation steel case ammo has for ripping extractors off, stuck cases etc. People who dont like this stuff spread gossip fast.
On another note - the federal ammo you buy at walmart is not the same as federal from the sporting goods store or local range, infact nobody but walmart can get it for that price . Look at the serial # on the federal red box its # will read WMxxxx and it is the same as the cci blaser brass that walmart used to sell for the same price infact it is made by cci!
I dont have a proble with cci so It's fine by me, I do know people who hate cci and wouldnt buy WM federal if they knew.
 
Biggest reason ranges ban Wolf/Tula ammo is that they can't sell the cases off to reloading companies....and range owners don't want to lose the brass revenue....
 
Biggest reason ranges ban Wolf/Tula ammo is that they can't sell the cases off to reloading companies...
Click to expand...
No, the biggest reason is the persistent use of bullets with steel cores or copper-plated steel jackets. Indoor ranges don't like them because they ricochet worse than traditional lead-core copper-jacketed bullets and they chew up steel backstops and target hangers much faster. Outdoor ranges in arid areas don't like them because they make sparks when they strike rocks or older bullets embedded in the backstop, creating a risk of fire. (The latter problem is a serious but possibly under-appreciated concern for folks with private ranges.)
why can't they [reload this ammo]?
Click to expand...
Most steel-case ammo, including AFAIK all current production from Russia, is made with Berdan primers that use a pair of small offset flash holes in the case. Most Western reloading equipment is set up for Boxer primers, which use a single large central flash hole. To reload Berdan-primed cases, special equipment must be purchased, or the reloader must invest significant time and effort into reworking the cases to accept Boxer primers. The vast majority of reloaders can't be bothered to do either.
And if so, then do they also ban blazer ammo?
Click to expand...
I assume you're talking about the aluminum-cased stuff. It generally cannot be reloaded because the aluminum cases are too soft to withstand resizing without damage. OTOH I've noticed that fewer ranges seem to ban aluminum cases than a few years ago, probably because the raw metal fetches good prices from recyclers.
 
From what I learned - it's kinda of misleading to say that they are steel cored.

They are scrap-metal cored, and since ferrous metal is the easiest to manipulate / move around with an electro-magnet, there is very little scrap aluminum or other stuff in it.

But basically it is ground up scrap metal - everything from tin and pig iron to several gradations of steel.

Lead and antimony are used as a binder, or another way of saying it I guess is that the cheap scrap metal is used as a filler.

But it is true that when they hit strike plates at indoor ranges they fragment and kick up sparks.

They're banned at all the ranges that I've gone to in Northern Illinois because of the sparks. It's the range owners perogative, and it may be an over-reaction, but I've heard that they are concerned about the sparks and the amount of paper dust from targets and they don't want the risk of fire.

When I've shot Wolf (before the range master told me I couldn't) I noticed the bullet really fragmented on the strike plate, kicking up 3 to 5 spark trails.
 
You could consider handloading your own ammo. The initial cost of getting set up might run you a few hundred dollars but if you plan to shoot a lot it will payoff in a couple of years in savings. You don't have to buy expensive gear, you could start with the lee turret press for under $200 or a lee classic loader for under $30.00. It's all up to you.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top