In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.
Options
Define "good" ammunition
alamo5000
Member Posts: 10 ✭✭
I have recently purchased my very first pistol, a Taurus PT 24/7 Pro DS .40 cal. Thus far I am extremely pleased with the weapon. I grew up with guns in the house but it was normally shotguns and the like.
So far I love my Taurus! It fits my hand like a glove.
That being said, many people comment about not shooting 'cheap' ammunition...so how would you define 'cheap' as in lower quality? What exactly makes ammo A lesser of a quality than say Ammo B?
I bought some Black Hills ammo for my 'just in case' loads...but those were extremely expensive. They are hollow point 180 grain...I am not using them for target practice.
I also bought a box of American Eagle (?) made by Federal and after I shot through that playing with my new gun I went and bought some other Federal 180 grain loads. Just between the two Federal boxes the price difference was $5, but visually they looked identical.
Aside from the shape of the projectile (aka some type of Hydroshock or other hollow point) what is the primary difference in the rounds?
Is it the amount of powder? The type of powder? The resulting muzzle velocity? What about the grain count?
Long story short what should I be looking for when I purchase rounds? I am sure each type of round has its uses but I am just wondering if someone can break it down more clearly for me...
So far I love my Taurus! It fits my hand like a glove.
That being said, many people comment about not shooting 'cheap' ammunition...so how would you define 'cheap' as in lower quality? What exactly makes ammo A lesser of a quality than say Ammo B?
I bought some Black Hills ammo for my 'just in case' loads...but those were extremely expensive. They are hollow point 180 grain...I am not using them for target practice.
I also bought a box of American Eagle (?) made by Federal and after I shot through that playing with my new gun I went and bought some other Federal 180 grain loads. Just between the two Federal boxes the price difference was $5, but visually they looked identical.
Aside from the shape of the projectile (aka some type of Hydroshock or other hollow point) what is the primary difference in the rounds?
Is it the amount of powder? The type of powder? The resulting muzzle velocity? What about the grain count?
Long story short what should I be looking for when I purchase rounds? I am sure each type of round has its uses but I am just wondering if someone can break it down more clearly for me...
Comments
There are some valid arguments about steel cased vs brass cased, but even that is open for discussion. "Good ammo" is ammo that does the job you want done, safely, accurately, and repeatably. Price may not reflect quality but plinking ammo is pretty much the same from brand to brand. Self defense ammo is a personal choice and should be chosen for its utter reliability in your gun. It requires expending at least two boxes of the chosen defense ammo without a failure.
Have you considered reloading? It will save you a ton of money over the long run and is a wonderful way to capture a hobby for life.
Your defense ammo for instance should have a very high quality of manufacture and inspection. As bpost says, you should shoot a few boxes of it to make sure the gun feeds that ammo reliably and shoots it well.
In my view, most accuracy increases are had from tighter bullet manufacturing tolerances regarding weight and proper centering of the lead core in the jacket.
While brand X and brand Y may use different powders, which may impact accuracy slightly, 1 type of powder isn't intrinsically better than another; it depends on the caliber and firearm it is fired from.
Before I do the reloading though, I want to learn the principles of ammunition and so on and so forth. I for one do not want to blow up my pistol, my hand, or both.
Other than that I want to learn from someone with experience (particularly with a .40 cal pistol) with the different options...IE and can tell me the differences between say 165 grain bullets vs 180 and how X amount of powder will perform vs Y amount and so on a so forth.
I figure asking an expert or two will save me a lot of hassles and leave me in a position to 'fine tune' to my personal preference once I do start loading. It sure beats starting off blindly putting together rounds.
If I can learn the principles behind the X's and the Y's that would be great. I will at least have a starting point.
Still though, my one box of self defense rounds was $35 bucks. Pretty steep. Wal Mart sells plinking shots for $15. There has to be something to it to warrant such a difference in price...
After reading up, you'll be able to come up with questions that are specific to what you want to do. That's where places like this come in handy for me.
Trying to learn it all by asking general questions on line will take forever. The more specific your questions are the better answers you'll get.
As far as ammo prices go, another reason that self defence ammo is higher priced is because the bullet used is more expensive to manufacture. Even when reloading you'll see the difference in component cost for the same reason.
You can consider any ammo by any of the major manufacturers to be 'good'. You just get what you pay for. I stay away from stuff that is significantly less expensive than the norm and is made somewhere and by someone I may have never heard of.
And as we can see you are not afraid to ask questions, and to me that is one of the best tools that a person has. There is alot of information out there and all someone has to do is ask.
Sorry, I just couldn't resist.[;)]
'GOOD' AMMO IS SOME THAT GOES "bang" EVERY TIME [:D]
Sorry, I just couldn't resist.[;)]
Or picking pieces of you gun out of your forehead[:D][:D]
I did that with my wife's AR, I cleaned it and thought i did a good job, but after a short while it kept jamming. Looked and found a build up. After about 10minutes with a brush wrapped in fine steel wool chucked in a drill it was finally clean.
As for the reloading, get a loadbook, read it, then get your equipment.
Lee Precision makes good low priced equipment to get into it without dropping a load of cash, since you can always upgraade if you like it, if not you aren't out much.
you can get a Lee hand press for about $25, Dies for about $20 and a scale from MidwayUSA for about $20 so you can get tooled up to load for $65, then you can get components for bout $40 to get you started all for $105.
Some folks bash Lee stuff but I have loaded about 5K rds of 9mm, bout 1k 45acp, and several hundred 30-30 and 30-06rds with my handpress and it is still holding up.
You can also google info for reloading for more info.
Most of all have fun and be safe
For all practical purposes good ammo is ammo that shoots and cycles well in your firearm. American Eagle 180 gr FMJ may shoot well, American Eagle 155 gr FMJ may not group or even cycle for you. What shoots great in the weapon with the serial number 1 before/after yours may not work so great in yours.
Good ammo and Black Hills are synonymous with each other.