[Brad Johnson]

I'm interested in seeing some comparisons. I'll 'splain later.

Brad

[Daniel T]

.45ACP UMC wasn't worth a damn in my factory Colt 1911 mags. I only had feeding problems, but I had a LOT of them. PMC worked fine.

[Mike Irwin]

In my case, I've had ZERO problems with the couple thousand rounds of PMC that I've used over the years.

I do not, however, use REM-UMC ammo because it is so extraordinarily filthy.

[treeprof]

I'll second Mike - UMC is nasty dirty and I'll never touch it again. I had a few mis-fires in .44 mag w/the stuff as well. Friend had a bunch of filth and FTF's in his Kimber w/it. PMC, on the other hand, has always beeen fine.

[tcdrennen]

No problems in 2 Kimbers with either - 1000 rounds PMC, 2000 rounds UMC (230 gr FMJ .45 ACP)

[Mal H]

My experience is much the same as Mikes and the treeprof. I think I've bought around 4 boxes of UMC and no more. It was dirty and not uniform in manufacture. OTOH, I'll pick up PMC anytime I see it (usually at gun shows at good prices) for plinking and general practice. I also reload their brass with no problems.

[Mike Irwin]

I should also mention that back in the 1980s I tried any number of different .22 ammos in my Remington 521T to find the most accurate non-target type.

It was, far and away, PMC Zapper.

I ended up buying I think 8 or 10 bricks from the same lot. I was getting sub 1/2" groups at 50 yards with it.

[Pumpkinheaver]

Had a round of UMC that wasn't crimped correctly and the bullet pushed into the case and didn't chamber.

[MiniZ]

My otherwise 100% reliable Beretta wouldn't reliably feed UMC.

[P95Carry]

I'm beginning to have my doubts re UMC too ...... inconsistency seems the deal.

Only redeeming feature, the brass seems to take reloads OK!

[AUTIGER04]

None of the above. All my failures came from Federal and Winchester.:confused:

[sm]

I won't use UMC as cited by Mike,treeprof and Mal.
Never a problem with PMC, and ditto Mikes Zapper experience.

[denfoote]

You forgot to list one.
N/A!!!

[Mal H]

Right. When I saw the poll I was thinking there were a few options missing such as "No problems with PMC", "No problems with UMC", and "Haven't used PMC or UMC" (or N/A as you suggested).

As it stands, the poll is sort of like the old "Have you stopped beating your wife" dilemma. Any answer(s) given is damning to one or both of the ammo companies.

[Mike Irwin]

Nice to see that everyone is tracking in their thoughts with the poll.

Hey Mal, how about exercising the moderator's perogative and editing it for us?

[Mal H]

I would gladly do that if Brad would like to have the changes made. It's his poll and he may have designed it as it is for a reason.

[Mike Irwin]

True.

He may only be looking for an assessment of known problems with those two particular makes.

I think the real question is, though, has Mrs Mal stopped beating you yet? :p

[Mal H]

Funny you should ask because that one is not a dilemma, Mike. The answer is "No" and I have the bruises to prove it! :D (Funny story, but one for a different thread. Snakes were involved.)

[foghornl]

PMC = Good stuff for me in .38/.357/45ACP

UMC = Usually Made Crappy. Think propellant is 1 part pine sap, 1 part road tar, 1 part used Kitty Litter, 2 parts stink bomb.


Just my humble opinion, Your Mileage (and experiences) Will Vary

[hansolo]

UMC: .38 Special....no problems.
9mm FMJ.....one of the favorites in my CZ 75B and S&W 910s:
not one FTF/FTE/FTF in thousands of rounds

PMC: 9mm 115g...no problems, but I didn't find it any better than UMC.

My S&W 910s feeds,fires and ejects any 9mm I put into it...CZ has FTE issues with Win. White Box.

[JohnKSa]

I'm afraid that due to the way that this poll is designed all you are going to find out is which brand is used by more people.

[Ant Mod]

Okay, sorry to jump on the high horse, but this annoys me. I have had nothing but luck with PMC however I had to vote for one of them and skew the results just to view what everyone put. Can someone PLEASE put as one of the options next time I DONT CARE, I JUST WANT TO SEE THE RESLUTS or something to that effect. Just annoying.

[Zeke Menuar]

According to my LW Commander, hardball is hardball and it doesn't care what brand. Never had a problem with any brand of hardball for years.

Back when I had a 9mm, I never had a problem with either PMC or UMC and used thousands of rounds of both.

The UMC 125gr SP 357 mag ammo worked well in my M686

ZM

[James Bondrock]

There should have been a "none of the above", because that would have been my answer. I have fired PMC in 9mm, .45 ACP, .223 Rem. and .357 Magnum with no functioning problems. I have also fired UMC in the same calibers with no problems, with one exception: the .223 smelled like ammonia after firing. :confused:

[Mike Irwin]

"smelled like ammonia..."

Yep.

Some propellants smell strongly of ammonia. It's the way it's manufactured.

During World War II Soviet artillery and tank ammunition used propellants that were gave off very heavy ammonia odors. I've seen interviews with tankers who say that during a battle it could be almost suffocating.

Wolf and Fiocchi, in some calibers, smell of ammonia.

[tcdrennen]

Ant Mod-
Okay, sorry to jump on the high horse, but this annoys me. I have had nothing but luck with PMC however I had to vote for one of them and skew the results just to view what everyone put. Can someone PLEASE put as one of the options next time I DONT CARE, I JUST WANT TO SEE THE RESLUTS or something to that effect. Just annoying.

Uh... right next to the Vote button in my browser is a View Results link. You don't have to vote to see the tally. I didn't since I've had no problems over several thousand rounds of each in 230 gr FMJ .45 ACP - though the UMC is a bit dirtier, its nowhere near as nasty as Armscor and not much worse than S&B.

[Brad Johnson]

Now for the 'splanation....

After the most recent Wolf ammo love-/hate-fest I wanted to compare a couple of other bargain brands to see how they stacked up. No particular reason I chose PMC and UMC other than they were the first to come to mind.

See the Wolf ammo poll here... (http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=48872)

And for those who want the Readers' Digest version

Failure to Feed
Wolf - 10%
PMC - 9.76%
UMC - 29.27%

Failure to Extract
Wolf - 18.89%
PMC - 9.76%
UMC - 26.83%

Failure to Fire
Wolf - no data
PMC - 9.76%
UMC - 14.63%

Brad

[aquapong]

I bought a 5 shell box of PMC #4 Buckshot at Gander Mtn just to try out in my Win 1200. 3 or 4 of them did not extract and I really had to tug on the forearm to get the shell out. Yes, it was the correct size, I double checked after the first shell.:p I've used PMC ammo in my handguns with good results though.

[M58]

10mm
UMC OK
PMC problems

[NEtracker]

Haven't had any problems with PMC.
(38Spcl, .357 mag, 9mm, .45)

[Sean Smith]

PMC 10mm ammo I've tried is unreliable crap.

UMC 10mm ammo I've tried is excellent, but overpriced by about 50%.

[Richardson]

There should be a "no problems" category for each ammunition.

[HogRider]

I buy PMC 9mm in bulk and it works as well or better than the white box Winchester stuff. No problems whatsoever.