How much H/W do you do on your Ammo selection?

[ice monkey]

When you get a new handgun, do you bother working on the best ammo set-up for it?

 

[Jim Watson]

The same thing I use in my existing guns of the same caliber.
I am not a member of the Bullet of the Month club always looking for the next great ammo and I avoid adding new calibers.
I just today got some of the Federal 9BP plain JHP that I trust most for 9mm.
I will probably just buy hardball for .45 ACP, it is just too much trouble and expense to get confident with this or that hollowpoint. There are so many brands and types it can be hard to resupply with something you have found suitable, as the dealers flip-flop trying to capture the imaginations of their customers.

 

[bigkrackers]

ammo is still way too expensive

I just dropped $80 to try two different SD loads in my new .45 @ $2 a round. Sometimes I think that this whole ammo shortage is a scam. Now that everyone is accepting the prices why not just keep them there? Very much looking to hang up my .45's for 9mm so I can actually afford to shoot my cc gun on a regular basis. I just made my last .45 handgun purchase for a long time at any rate.

 

[hardworker]

I spent 30 bucks for a box of federal hi shok hollowpoints (ie got ripped off). Anyway, I shot one mag through my 92fs and was satisfied. The only reason I got them was because they were the cheapest hollowpoints the pawn shop had.

 

[SilentHitz]

Like Jim Watson above, I don't go for all the "latest & greatest", I've been reloading for decades and have my own time tested recipes. I buy mostly FMJ factory and reload the brass...and I buy bulk, much cheaper and the best way to have a good stockpile without having to hit every wallyworld in the region trying to find what I need. Just buy a couple of cases online and avoid the hassle of "ammo hunting".

 

[excelerater]

for personal protection i go to youtube,theres a few ammo testers on the
where you can see real life expenasions

 

[45Gunner]

I have several favorite brands of ammo that I have using for years. When I get a new gun, I run a few boxes of each brand just to make sure the gun will eat it.

My criteria for ammo is that it is first, clean burning, and second, accurate...in that order. I don't care how accurate it is if it isn't clean burning I won't use it.

Further, with the expense of ammo these days, I still buy my favorite brands but look for bulk deals, using buying in 500 or 1000 round lots.

 

[C0untZer0]

Once upon a time long long ago I read an article in a gun magazine that talked about bullets being different. This article said that some bullets were more "effective" in stopping malicious criminals with nefarious intent than others. The article talked about penetration and expansion, something called hydrostatic shock, temporary cavitation and permanent wound channel. The authors waxed poetic about “actual street results” and introduced a strange concept that they called “One Shot Stop Percentages”

In this wonderful magazine article the authors listed a few rounds from each caliber and assigned “One Shot Stop Percentages” to each. I immediately ran out and bought boxes and boxes of the ammo which had the highest One Shot Stop Percentage for the 9mm caliber pistol which I owned.

And that boys and girls is how I ended up with a huge stash of navy blue bullets.

The end…

.

 

[rclark]

I reload so 'other'. Haven't bought ammo other than .22LR for years. I do search for a load that is accurate for each revolver.

[edited] Hand loads for SD too. No point in buying what you can make...

 

[mavracer]

I practice with reloads. for SD ammo I am similar to 45gunner I have a couple loads for each caliber I try them and see what the gun prefers. and I'll buy in bulk accordingly.

 

[PawPaw]

I handload. Do factories make ammunition?

The only factory ammo I've used the past twenty years is shotgun ammo for dove and squirrel hunting and the ammo I'm given by my employer for duty purposes. Other than that I roll my own.

 

[Webleymkv]

I've already got an idea of what type of ammo I prefer in most common handgun calibers. When I buy a new gun, I test my loading of choice in that particular firearm and, if it's reliable (always has been thus far), that's what I use.

 

[TylerD45ACP]

I like Speer Gold Dots for hollow point and Lawman for FMJ. All my pistols like it. I also like Golden Sabers, Hornaday Critical Defense and FXT, Corbon, and a few more. I want to try Federal HST's but cant find them.

 

[Wildalaska]

I just grab what ever is lying around, lifes to short to worry about what ammo is in my gun

WildhelookwhatifoundAlaska ™©2002-2011

 

[Eghad]

Well if I go hog hunting again I still have 19 left over from the last hunt... fire a couple to verify the scope is still on. That would leave me with 16 after the next hunt.

 

[TylerD45ACP]

I hear you Alaska thats why I mainly stick with Speer. I use a 45 and feel comfortable with any ball ammo though.

 

[DiscoRacing]

I look for max load data for my reloads...then throw powder and go..

.. sometimes I even reduce loads to see if they will be more accurate.

 

[darkgael]

ammo

hen you get a new handgun, do you bother working on the best ammo set-up for it?

Only with .22s.
Everything else I handload. I have some loads that I know function. The bullets are big. That's all I need to know.
Pete

 

[Nnobby45]

The ammo manufacturers have already done most of the work for us. It isn't necessary to do our own R&D where most good firearms are concerned.

Yes, the ammo must be verified as reliable in our guns, but initial selection can be made from ammo with the best street performance.

Of course, I carry a SIG.

 

[Gehrhard]

Study the bullet and stats of ammo. Look for reviews (print) and commentary (internet and video). Make a decision. Buy much. Test some.