Budget FMJ Ammo

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heeler

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I was wondering what the opinions you folks hold of various "budget grade" ammo that prior to the last year or so was pretty much available at prices, depending on caliber, of any where from less than $10 a box to as much as $15 a box.
I own a PM9 and two LCP's that have never once faltered on this so called budget ammo although I readily admit some brands are cleaner than others but I would truly like to hear the experiences of these brands of ammo you have had and how it functioned in your particular firearms.
I say all of this because one only has to go to a firearm specific forum to read that this so and so ammo chokes my LCP or S&W M&P etc.
In todays crazy world of ammo prices,which hopefully will settle down soon, I thought I would ask this to possibly help the ammo starved to help maybe guide them in choosing some brands of practice ammo with of course the caveat of what works in my PM9 or LCP'S may not work in yours.
 
The best I have used was RWS-Ruag or Geco brand. Which appears to be same product in different looking boxes.
 
I never had any issues in my Kel-Tec PF9 with the (then) readily-available WWB 115-grain 9mm FMJ stuff. I also ran a lot of Remington-UMC .380 stuff in my Bersa Thunder, though in FNEB and JHP configurations; never saw it in FMJ. Never had an issue with them, and carried the latter in the gun (also carry the 9mm version in the PF9 and in my Ruger P95.)
 
I generally target practice with WWB ammo. The 230gr for my .45's and the 124gr NATO for my 9mm's as those are the weights I use with my SD ammo.
 
Freedom munitions ammo is usually priced right around there. They have a 'blaster' line which are rounds that are cosmetically flawed but they shoot great and are cheaper than the others.
 
I have seen a lot of online sales for that Freedom ammo but I am leery of commercial reloads as I been badly burned in past.
In other words I will pass.
 
I have seen a lot of online sales for that Freedom ammo but I am leery of commercial reloads as I been badly burned in past.
In other words I will pass.

They also sell factory new if you would prefer that.

But I have never had any problems with their reman ammo, nor have I heard of any.
 
I've always found the Federal American Eagle stuff (not the Federal "Champion" line) to be clean and reliable, with Winchester White Box running a close second.

OTOH, I've had nothing but bad luck with Remington UMC- it seems to be abnormally 'sooty' and pretty anemic. Gives me nothing but trouble every time.
 
I have good results with Aguila 124 gr FMJ ammo. Before the shortage I was getting Aguila ammo for $8 a box of 50 if I bought 1000 rounds. GECO is good ammo. It is comparable to Winchester Ranger NATO loads without the excess pressure. I use GECO 124 gr FMJ ammo for self defense. It will bust up a car and delivers adequate penetration. When preparing cars for IDPA matches I have seen berry's hollow points bounce right off the windshield without penetrating it. A FMJ jacket busted the entire windshield out with a single shot. All the windows are removed from cars before they are actually used in a match. I have never been in a gun fight in my life but I have had two idiots try to run me down in a car.
 
Georgia Arms will never get another penny from me.

A few years back I purchased my first handgun which was chambered in 38spl. I picked up 500 rounds from them in a 30cal ammo can at my local gun show. Well 50 failures to fire later out of 500 and you can imagine what I think of them.
 
Georgia Arms will never get another penny from me.

A few years back I purchased my first handgun which was chambered in 38spl. I picked up 500 rounds from them in a 30cal ammo can at my local gun show. Well 50 failures to fire later out of 500 and you can imagine what I think of them.
GA arms states that their ammo is for practice only. But 50 failures are still unacceptable.
 
The only cheap ammo I had trouble with in my LCP was blazer aluminum(FTE). My new favorite cheap ammo is Herter's select, it's clean and accurate with a bit more pop than UMC, the best part is I got 8 boxes for $13.00 a box shipped ;)
 
Aguila has always worked well for me, and RWS/GECO was good enough in limited previous experience that I've been buying more as it becomes available. I've sworn off WWB, as my last range trip - using exclusively WWB 9mm FMJ - was one stovepipe after another, in three different guns. Sure, it might have just been a bad batch, but the price is no longer so low that I'll choose it over another brand.

I've actually done just fine with Wolf Military Classic 9mm and .223, with several hundred problem-free rounds, if not thousands.
 
Steel cased Wolf 115 gr 9mm, 230 gr .45ACP, 55gr .223, and 123gr 7.62x39 works well for me and I don't feel bad about not picking it up. It rusts away to nothing in a few years as my friends pasture and our club can attest.
 
If you've got the time, reloading is really the best way to go for reliable practice ammo.
 
I haven't had any issues at all with any FMJ ammo, but I do limit myself to brass-cased stuff because I reload.

Even WWB and Blazer Brass work just great for me. The extra dollar or two for the brass cases is well worth it when you can reload after for half price.
 
The best I have used was RWS-Ruag or Geco brand. Which appears to be same product in different looking boxes.
MFS2000 is also from this company. They recently announced major investments in their plants, including the one in Tampa FL
 
I was getting various brands of Russian steel cased 9mm for $8-9 box.

Used them in my Kel-Tec S2000 and they went bang every time. They're pretty dirty and spit hot powder out the ejection port, which sucks because I'm left handed. But never a problem with misfires.

I'd buy more at that price if I could get them. The last batch I got was a shrink wrapped pack of 9 boxes, but the prices had already started to rise, $11/box. The logo is in the cyrillic alphabet, so I don't even know what brand it is. Haven't shot any yet, but it does say 9mm Luger and I'm sure they'll be fine.
 
My dept. tried to use Blazer aluminum cased ammo for quals. this year. We had 20-25% failure rate with this ammo. We were useing Glock 17's, Glock 19's and S&W M&P9.

This ammo was also weak and very dirty.
 
I have been very happy with Fiocchi in various calibers. I've never seen it on shelves locally but there isn't much budget ammo on shelves near me anyway.
 
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