Multiple ammo brands for different guns?

[average gun guy]

Simple curiosity question: do members of the community use different brands of ammo on a regular basis (depending on the gun and/or caliber), or the same brand across the board?

I fall into the first category: here is the breakdown (range ammo only, for now):
.22 lr - Aguila Interceptor 40 grain solid point
.380 - PMC Bronze 90 grain
.22 WMR - CCI MaxiMag 40 grain
.38 special - Prvi Partisan 130 grain
.357 magnum - Prvi Partisan 158 grain
9mm - Century Arms red army elite 124 grain
.45 ACP - Speer Lawman 230 grain

Magtech and S&B have also worked well in the past.

Thoughts?

 

[DR505]

I am in the crowd that handholds my ammo; 9mm, .38 Spl, .357 mag, .40 S&W, 10mm, .41 mag, .44 mag, .45 ACP, .45 Colt, and various rifle cartridges. I haven't bought manufactured ammo in decades.

 

[alfsauve]

Because I've started competing more in the last 10 years, my ammo purchases are limited to what works in my gun and by the requirements of the various competitions.

Rimfire: it's mainly CCI Standard Velocity. I've both lead and plated but trending towards plated this days.
Centerfire competition: Federal and S&B. 9mm, .38spl and .45ACP Load depends on the competition requirements
Centerfire SD and Hunting: Hornady for SD. Hornady and reloads for hunting.

I also reload, but have been hording primers, for the duration, so I've been practicing with my reloads and competing with the factory stuff.

 

[FL-NC]

For training ammo, I get what I can that will function in the gun I will be firing it through. I have guns in every caliber that I use that will pretty much eat anything, regardless of "quality".

 

[Seedy Character]

95% is handloads

Factory loads
What is on the shelf? Range ammo
A gun really likes a particular load, in get a few boxes to hunt with, just case.
The manufacturers have done a great job in producing quality, accurate ammo. My main criteria is what bullet / weight is loaded.

 

[cfullgraf]

Centerfire, handloads for rhe most part. I do get some factory to chronograph a new gun with or start a stash of cases for reloading.

Rimfire, different firearms have their favorites. Some brands that have chronic issues in myfirearms, I avoid them.

 

[golden]

For range shooting or practice, I will go with what is least expensive, but still meets my need. I use many different makers products. In 9m.m., I have REMINGTON, BLAZER BRASS and ROMANIAN 9m.m. ammo for practice. For carry, I use FEDERAL 124 grain HST and will only consider HST +P (I prefer the quieter standard pressure ammo which also has less recoil).

In my .357 magnum revolvers, I usually load .38 Special ammo. Now that is BLAZER BRASS, as that is what I have, but once REMINGTON starts up production of the 130 grain Air Force load again in 100 round boxes, I will probably switch to that. For self defense, I usually do not use .357 ammo in my .357 revolvers.. I use FEDERAL HST 130 grain +P jhp ammo as I think it is as effective as a .357 round without all the drama. For outdoors. and possible animal defense, I would use .357 ammo.

In my .38 Special revolvers that can handle +P ammo, I use the same .38 Special loads. In my alloy frame guns, I use the same standard pressure ammo for practice and standard pressure ammo for defense loading, usually WINCHESTER Defender 130 grain jhp or HORNADY FTX 110 grain jhp, both are standard pressure rounds that "MAY" expand.

In my .40 caliber S&W pistols, I usually use whatever 180 fmj ammo I can get and FEDERAL HST 180 grain ammo for self defense.

Ammo seems to be easier to get now. I just picked up a 1000 round box of 9m.m. BLAZER BRASS fmj ammo at a semi-reasonable price and have actually seen some .38 Special ammo which lately has been as rare as an honest politician.

Jim .

 

[Pat Riot]

I reload nearly all my handgun ammo except SD / HD ammo. For that in 9mm it’s Hornady American Gunner 115grain. .357 Magnum is Hornady American Gunner 125 grain XTP and .38 Special is American Gunner 125 grain XTP and Federal HST 130 grain in the Snubbies. I do practice with this ammo when I can find it.

For .22 LR I shoot a variety from Aguila, CCI, Winchester and Remington.

 

[Bazoo]

I reload anything centerfire. For the occasional box of ammo for a new gun, or before I handloaded, I liked Winchester for rifle, federal for handgun, and avoided Remington. I would shoot Remington but it have to be cheap. I like all the small brands just as good, CBC being my favorite.

 

[aaaaa]

So far I have purchased what had good prices and mostly made in USA but for some Norma ammo, so I have several different brands of ammo laying around.

 

[Riomouse911]

I reload my revolver ammo and usually shoot WWB 115 and 124 gr 9mm and 230 gr .45 ACP.

For .22 LR and WMR rimfire, I must admit that I am a “Variety is the spice of life” type guy:



Stay safe.

 

[Hikingman]

One gun may prefer a certain cartridge. Certain rimfire choices do not function well in my semi-automatic Remington 22. Remington Golden ammo is flawless in that rifle. Whether rifle or pistol, sometimes "just any" is not good for a particular gun.

 

[N555]

I'm in the process of eliminating 22lr ammo variety. I want to narrow it down to 4 or 5 different 22lr that shoot straight in all guns and when I switch ammo the point of aim only gets higher or lower.
So far I have 4 that shoot really good in my 10/22, now need to see what shoots good out of my 22/45 with silencer.
I have eliminated 6 types of ammo so far, for being too expensive, not shooting good groups, being too hard to find, ect.
Then when I figure it out I'll sell everything that didn't preform and buy the heck out of the stuff that does.
Then when something new comes out I'll test it. But I have a real good idea of what will shoot good now. Everything that shoots good so far is 36 to 40gr subsonic to standard 1,280fps supersonic shoots the best.

 

[SharpDog]

for practice ammo I use whatever is cheapest and meets my criteria as far as brass cased, bullet weight, etc.

For hunting or SD ammo, I use the same brand and loading(s) for each firearm and purpose.

 

[mavracer]

I don't even use the same brand of SD ammo in 9mm I have 124+p Golddots and 147 Ranger-Ts I use 147s for short barrel and suppressed.
The FBI's testing protocol has been around for 30+ years now all the major players know what to shoot for (pun intended) performance wise. Initially I got the two different brands due to finding better deals on case lots, but have found a real advantage by accident when you end up with loose rounds in the bottom of your range bag they're easy to tell apart.

 

[Bazoo]

I can remember the last time I bought factory ammo, 2 years or maybe 3 now. 380, pmc from rural king. A present for the wife. I rarely buy ammo since I load it. But if it’s a deal and I’m flush with money and I’m in the notion I will buy a couple boxes. And I think that’s what we have, a couple boxes.

Others than 22s and scattergun shells, it’s just too economical to reload.

I’ve never shot factory ammo in my 44 special. I can’t afford even a box of it.

I can’t remember the last time I bought any 38/357 ammo. Been 5/6 years or more now.

It’s been 5 years or so since I bought any 30-30.

 

[herrwalther]

I use the best carry ammo that works in that particular firearm, regardless other factors. For example my main carry load for 9mm is Golden Saber 124gr +p right now. This round does not work well in my single stack 9mm of the same maker. When it comes to range/practice ammo, I prefer to practice in the same grain weight as the carry ammo. That results in similar point of impact when switching ammo ex 115gr practice ammo hits pretty close to where 115gr hollow point carry ammo does.

 

[Nuclear]

I have 4 different 22lr firearms, two are suppressed, so that’s 6 different rounds for accurate work and a variety of plinking ammo. For 9mm, I thought about standardizing on one weight, that didn’t work out, did get down to one brand for self defense rounds, and whatever is on sale for practice. Luckily for 45ACP, it is all 230 grain subsonic, one brand for SD, and again, whatever is on sale and/or my reloads for practice.

 

[Mosin77]

For range trips I’ll shoot anything on the shelf. Always game to try something else especially if it was on sale. I’ve never shot any modern ammo that was so bad I wouldn’t ever shoot it again (assuming the price was right.)?

For defense I’ll use what has proven reliable and what tests have shown is likely to be effective in my gun.

 

[Remington1911]

One gun may prefer a certain cartridge. Certain rimfire choices do not function well in my semi-automatic Remington 22. Remington Golden ammo is flawless in that rifle. Whether rifle or pistol, sometimes "just any" is not good for a particular gun.

Buy yourself a blank book great for rimfires and what they like. I have started a second book for the centerfire stuff, after the load is worked out and "done" in the center fire book it goes.

I am old I can't remember what likes what.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Simple curiosity question: do members of the community use different brands of ammo on a regular basis (depending on the gun and/or caliber), or the same brand across the board?

...

Thoughts?

I know of nobody that uses only a single specific brand of ammo across multiple calibers and platforms that they shoot. I have known a couple of sponsored guys that shot only one brand in their competition guns, but carried a different make and model for SD or hunting. Interestingly, the brand of ammo they used solely changed with sponsorship.

 

[Rockrivr1]

In my ammo locker I have just about every brand of ammo across every caliber I own. I try them all in my handguns as I keep note as to what works well and what doesn't. Honestly I don't find many brands that don't work in my guns. I can easily say though that the ammo I have the most fail to fire with is Armscor. Especially their 357 mag ammo. Many primer strikes with no bang. Just can't count on it so I've weeded that brand out of my inventory.

 

[doubleh]

Other than 22LR which I play around with a lot all of my ammo is put together by me in whatever brass I have. I haven't bought a box of factory ammo since Walmart got rid of pistol ammo and I bought all the local store's remaining supply of 380. I only bought that because I couldn't reload it as cheaply as it was priced.

 

[cdahl383]

I use lots of different brands. .22lr I prefer CCI generally. However one of our guns seems to prefer SK Standard so I have a lot of that. I’ve experienced some FTEs with Winchester white box stuff in both .22lr and 9mm, so I stay away from that. Most other stuff I used seems fine.

 

[Dibbs]

My preferences are for S&B, Fiocchi, and Prvi Partizan(PPU).

I avoid Blazer, and steel ammo when possible.