Black Hills and Pro Load...as Good as Federal - Opinions Sought

[Anthony]

Hello Everyone,

Thinking of trying to order some Pro Load and/or Black Hills ammunition in several calibers.

Do you think the ammunition from Pro Load and/or Black Hills is on the same quality level of Federal?

Thanks for the opinions.

- Anthony

 

[Sean Smith]

I'd say Pro Load is *at least* as good as Federal. Maybe better. I can't speak for Black Hills. I've shot alot of Pro Load, it is *very* accurate and consistent stuff.

 

[Chris Rhines]

I've had very good luck with Black Hills pistol ammo. It's reliable and consistent. I have never benched it for accuracy, but it's certainly accurate enough for a defensive gun. It also has surprisingly little muzzle flash.

I carry 124grn Black Hills JHPs in my sidearm.

- Chris

 

[dairycreek]

My experience is not unlike that of Sean Smith!

An added word. The guy who owns and operates my favorite gun shop is a retired LEO, was a Marine sniper, is a state champion shooter. I respect his opinion a great deal. His opinion of Pro Load is such that is all he shoots in his hand guns. Good shooting

 

[Sven]

Bought 10 boxes of ProLoad +P in 9mm and .45 and shot it for the first time this weekend.

VERY accurate stuff. I love it, though the spent shells were going about 20 feet out... I need to change the .45 to a 20lb recoil spring if this is going to be a steady diet.

I'm converted - it's ProLoad all the way for my SD needs!

 

[Jim March]

From what I hear, a better question is "does Federal come up to the standard of ProLoad" and every answer seems to be "hell no".

Black Hills also has a good rep for reliability, if not peak gonzo performance as ProLoad is developing.

 

[JohnKSa]

Shot a 3 shot 3/8" group @ 100 yards with Black Hills 52gr JHP Match in .223.

2 shots went in the same hole, I have trouble convincing people it's a 3 shot group. There was a little wind and it's very possible that the third shot which was the "flier" was the result of wind change since it was only displaced horizontally.

Never shot ProLoad, but I think I can vouch for the Black Hills rifle ammo.

By the way, that was their Blue Box stuff, it's made with once fired brass and cost me around $15 for 50 rounds.

 

[ACP230]

I've shot some Black Hills ammo. The handgun stuff was OK, but the .308 target loads were outstanding. Very nice groups at 100 yards. I should pick up some more of it.

 

[motorep]

I've used Black Hills ammo in my ARs for a number of years, it's always been consistent and accurate. I used to carry Federal HydraShok until I had two failures to fire in one box- duds, wouldn't fire in any of 3 1911s I had with me. Make your own conclusion.

 

[CZF]

Pro-Load..made in IDAHO with Speer components!!

 

[Slotback]

I've shot a lot of Black Hills pistol ammo, and it worked extremely well for me.

 

[Traveler]

I've been using Pro Load since before John moved to Idaho. Good stuff.

Federal lost me as a customer when they hired a director of marketing who's claim to fame was a Pampers account and who disliked guns.

 

[Study Butte]

I have used Pro Load quite a bit and like it very much.

 

[Preacherman]

I've used both Black Hills and Pro-Load ammo., and like and recommend both. BTW, Mas Ayoob recently told me that the Black Hills 155gr. JHP is the single most accurate load he's ever fired in .40 S&W.

 

[Zak Smith]

All my "carry" ammo is Proload.

The only thing I don't like about it: their 9mm 124gr +P offering is slow (1240-50 fps) compared to other 124gr +P loads. Factory Speer Gold Dots chrono at over 1300fps from my full-size 9mms.

-z

 

[Carbon_15]

My only experiance with Pro-Load is in 10mm. I have shot a good bit of their 155 and 180gr 10mm offerings and found them to be very accurate and consistant...and they hit like a Mac Truck.
The 155gr Pro-Load 10mm turned in the largest expanded diameter I have ever encountered....And I've shot alot of bullets into gellatin.



1315fps (596 ft.lbs) impact velocity
17 in penetration
153.9gr recovered weight
recovered diameter...1.239 inches

 

[Blueduck]

Not much of a fan of magic bullets or jelly but.. Double Damn

 

[Anthony]

Wow!

And to think I have been happy with .81 caliber recovered diameter of the Silvertip!

:banghead:

I'm buying some Proload!

- Anthony

 

[Shmackey]

It's better than Federal.

Carbon_15, please stop shooting things with fan blades!

 

[FLM]

Just got my Cabela's shooting catalog in the mail and was happy to see that they are now selling regular Black Hills handgun ammo in addition to their cowboy line. 45 ACP 230 gr Gold Dots for $23.95.

www.cabelas.com

 

[OKC .45 ACP]

I researched this quite a bit...

when I went through my concealed carry training. One crucial element of carry ammunition which often gets overlooked is muzzle flash. Someone had tested federal, triton, proload, and others for functioning, accuracy, and muzzle flash. Proload won the muzzle flash category and overall. Remember, if you shoot at night, and you have a muzzle flash that's intense, you'll be instantly light-adapted and be relatively nightblind. You want the least muzzle flash possible. I have been very happy with Proload. I would have to agree that it outperforms Federal which is what I have directly compared it to.

Hope this helps