Practice Ammo Comparison (9mm)

[GuidoTorpedo]

So I'm looking to buy 1k of 9mm for practice. I've looked around and have found some decent deals.

I'm curious which you think would be better ammo? Right now I'm between S&B 115 grain and Georgia Arms "Canned Heat" 115 grain.

I can get the S&B shipped to my door for $7 less than the Georgia Arms. I've used S&B before (in a different firearm) and was pretty pleased with it. Had a funny smell but was very reliable. I've never shot or used Georgia Arms before and don't know much about it. Are they factory new or factory reloads? What is nice about the GA ammo is that for $10 more I can get a heavier weighted round.

Thanks for the advice. Other suggestions would be helpful and if it helps, I'll be shooting this ammo from my (stock) Browning MK.III HP.

 

[NG VI]

Canned Heat is reloaded brass, it's not bad stuff. You get an ammo can with it as well. S&B is good ammo too. I don't know enough about them to tell you anything else, but someone will.

 

[rklessdriver]

As stated the GA arms is reloaded but pretty good stuff. I mainly shoot their 158gr +P LSWCHP for practice out of some of my 38's. Pretty much identical to the Remington FBI load but with harder lead and 1/2 the cost. I bought some Canned heat 9mm a while back for plinking in my 9mm CAR 15 and MAC 11. Ran flawless in both.

S&B is also good ammo. I have used a bunch of different calibers over the years but have burned through countless thosands of rounds of S&B 9mm with out a problem. It is NEW prouduction.

I experiment alot with different plinking 9mm ammo, since I own more 9mm weapons than anything else. Given the choice between the (2) I'd buy what ever was cheaper. You really can't go wrong with either one considering the price.

As for the heavier bullet weight. I see no reason for practice unless your defensive ammo is 147gr then you probally should try to buy what ever duplicates it (and is reasonablly priced) if possible. If not, then like I said, buy what ever is reputable and cheap. The impact difference on paper at defensive ranges is, at most, only a couple of inches.
Will

 

[mr.72]

is it really that cheap? Winchester White Box from Wal Mart is cheaper than anything else I am seeing online, and it's very reliable.

 

[Darthbauer]

My friends and I have used thousands of rounds of S&B and had no problems at all.

 

[CWL]

When given the choice, I always buy new ammo over reloads if the price is the same.

 

[bikerdoc]

S&B jhp is what I carry. In my area the fmj is more expensive than wwb

 

[Dilbert]

I use to use Georgia Arms 115 FMJ, but I now use WWB from Wal-Mart. $16 a hundred around this part of Georgia.

 

[jaydubya]

I recommend reloads from www.mastercast.net. Check the site out. I have fired around 5,000 of their reloads, mostly .38sp but also their 9mm hardcast truncated cone. No problems. Mastercast is prompt and reliable, unlike some reloading services I have used in the past. You can save a bundle by sending them your brass in exchange. If you do that, send it USPS Priority Mail. I send a thousand cases for eight bucks and change. Any other method I know of costs more than twenty bucks.
Cordially, Jack

 

[bluto]

I like S&B 9mm 115 gr. Especially for range use. It seems to shoot soft. It's accurate, pretty clean, and I haven't had any failures with it. Just picked up 1K rounds.

Plus, I prefer new over reloaded at similar prices.

 

[jaydubya]

Bluto said: "I prefer new over reloaded at similar prices."

So do I, but I have no idea where to get it. I do know where to get cheap reloads.

Cordially, Jack

 

[bluto]

Hey Jaydubya! I see you are a fellow San Diegan. Where do you shoot? I'm a member at American Shooting Center and South Bay Rod and Gun club out in Dulzura.

I picked up my S&B at the last Crossroads of the West gun show. I actually drove up to Orange County on a Saturday. I've found the selection to be a bit better there sometimes. I know they run out of some brands of ammo by Sunday so I go early on Saturday and load up.

I don't reload and I don't save my brass so your suggestion is probably much more cost effective right now but up until the recent ammo price increases gun show prices were very reasonable.

 

[mr.72]

no idea where to get new ammo? WWB in 9mm is within a dollar per 100rd of the prices for these reloads on the internet, if you buy it at Wal Mart.

dunno about gun show pricing.

 

[chupacabrah]

My local gunstore carries 9mm S&B for $1 and some change less than WWB from walmart. ($2/100). It shoots pretty well, no problems. It is dirtier than WWB though.

 

[Owen Meany]

This kind of thing really gets me exasperated. Dilbert said:

I use to use Georgia Arms 115 FMJ, but I now use WWB from Wal-Mart. $16 a hundred around this part of Georgia.

$16.00 per 100 rounds, or $8.00 for a box of 50? That just doesn't make any sense, Dilbert. How can you be paying this price down in Georgia while, up in MA, at the very cheapest retailers here, we pay at least $13.00 for 50, or $26.00 for 100. This just doesn't make sense to me. The factors responsible for the outrageous ammo prices are not, so far as I understand, regional; rather, it is a national phenomenon having to do with raw material costs and maybe some other things, who knows.

But, hell, it certainly ain't as though brass and lead are dirt cheap in Georgia and priceless up in the northeast. The ammo manufacturing operations are not local to either of us, and if they were, it wouldn't affect price in any way I can see. So, can somebody clue me in as to what's going on? Dilbert, does your dealer actually have so much 9mm ammo in stock (and so much integrity as well) that he's still, in May of 2008, selling off his old inventory at the old prices - prices that would have been a scorching deal 1 year ago, never mind now?

Damn, this irritates me. I guess some people just happen to live in places where ammunition is nearly half the cost of what it is in some other parts of the country.

 

[The_Shootist]

Monarch?

As long as I can get Monarch at approx $ 7-$8 / 50 at Academy out the door, no shipping, thats my source. Once you factor in shipping, even buying in bulk GA canned heat is likley $ 11 / 50 plus, making the Monarch much more economical to practice with.

Its a different story with their revolver stuff. As one of the posters above mentioned their practice version of the FBI load in .38 spl (note: practice - lead in this GA round is too hard for self defense) duplicates the FBI round / Buffalo Bore ballistics for half the cost. You get similiar savings in thier 158 gr .357 loads.

Haven't used their 9mm rounds but I'm sure they are fine for practice, its just I have more economical alternatives right now.

 

[BlindJustice]

What I've used so far...

CZ 75B 9MM Break In
1rst session 5/10/'08
WWB 115 FMJ - 100 $ 18
Blazer Brass 115 FMJ - 50 $ 11
Speer +P 124 gr. GDHP - 10
Saturday was the 2nd session
PMC 115 gr. FMJ - 50 rds - $ 9
Blazer 115 gr. FMJ - 30 rds
Win Supreme 147 gr. SXT JHP - 20 rds $18
Starfire(PMC?) 124 gr. JHP - 10 rds - $ 11/20 rd box

It all shoots good in the CZ 75B, the 147 gr.s were
985 fps - definitely softer, and quieter.

I'll get another box of the WWB 100 rd pak for the
next session with some more JHPs 124 gr. Feed it
every brand and type I can find - No FTF/FTE so far.

 

[N.M. Edmands]

The 9mm S+B showing up around here lately[J+G Sales] is brass colored STEEL case.

 

[wrench]

Cheap practice ammo?
I've shot thousands of wolf, S&B, WWB, blazer, even reloads from cabela's.
All fine, some more accurate in some guns than others, but really, I buy whatever is cheaper.

 

[Dstoerm]

If you lare looking for 9mm plinking/practice ammo, check these out:

http://www.natchezss.com/product.cfm?contentID=productDetail&prodID=cc3509&src=ba390

or

http://www.natchezss.com/ammo.cfm?contentID=productDetail&ammoGroup=2&brand=WN&prodID=WNUSA9MMVP

Wal*Mart has the 9mm WWB 100 box for $16.99 in my area (KC), but you actually have to go into the dreadful place to buy them, and pay sales tax.

The Blazers are cleaner for me, and they are CHEAP from Natchezss. They have sales all the time, too. And call them for quantity discounts. (no, I don't work for them, they just take all my money)

-Dave