Your favorite trusted/avoided ammo?

[Atom Smasher]

Not everybody reloads (although I wish I did, presses are so expensive and I don't think I shoot enough to merit one), and so I pose the question: what brands do you trust? Does it differ between calibers?

For example:

I always shoot S&B 9mm 115gr, and I've never once had a problem. I've shot Federal, and have had several duds.

For .45LC I cannot stand Fiocchi. I was given 100 rounds as a gift, which I thought was amazing, until I had about 5 misfires/20 rounds and was disgusted.

For .22LR it's always CCI, although I've had pretty good luck with Winchester wildcat in the past.

I just recently acquired a beautiful 20-yo winchester 30-06, and was thinking about picking up some bulk ammo. Since ammo is so expensive, I figured I'd buy a small amount of nice ammo for hunting and a bunch more cheap ammo for shooting at the range. The reason I ask is that I found some bulk Wolf WPA Berdan-primed 30-06 for like $0.60/round, which is fantastic. Has anyone used this ammo? Is it worth it? And what are people's favorite hunting round? (This is a question more for the hunting forum, but I wanted to open a discussion about trusted ammo in general )

 

[eleutheros]

For target shooting, I will shoot pretty much anything. But I HATE Remington, especially in .22. It is dirty, has lots of duds, and even my Henry doesn't like to cycle them. Also, in a 250 box of 9mm UMC, I had 4 duds. Never bought it again. I've fired over 1000 rounds of Brown Bear with no failures.

For self-defense, I like Speer and Underwood the best... If/when I can actually find some.

ETA: I haven't tried Wolf ammo in 30-06, but in 9mm, 7.62x39, and 5.45x39 it performs great.

 

[gamestalker]

Reloading may still be the best option for you, considering the fact that your dealing with exactly what helped drive me to start reloading more than 30 yrs. ago, which is unreliable ammunition. Consider that you can build a quality box of 30-06 for around $8.50 - $9.50, and handgun cartridges like 45 LC can be done for considerably less than factory as well. And those numbers can come down considerably more with a little shopping around for bulk deals.

If you plan on shooting for at least 10 yrs. reloading will easily pay for it's self in that time. Not to mention the fact that accuracy and reliability, can be as good as it gets if you do your home work.

GS

 

[Arkansas Paul]

presses are so expensive and I don't think I shoot enough to merit one

Some of them are expensive. Some aren't.
Here is one for less than $30.00.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/807734/lee-reloader-single-stage-press
Now, I wouldn't recommend that being your only press because I don't know how it would stand up to full length sizing .30-06 brass, but it would get you started until you could afford something more heavy duty. It would certainly do the trick for handgun stuff.
I doesn't take many boxes of factory .45 Colt ammo to justify handloading.

To answer your question though, any of the major brands of centerfire ammo are fine. I can't tell a dime's worth of difference between them. But then again, I haven't bought any factory centerfire ammo in several years.

 

[Reefinmike]

If you shoot more than a half box a month, its certainly worth reloading... My lee turret press paid for its self within the first two hours of loading. Anyways, for bulk 22 ammo I prefer remington golden bullets. winchester super x and federal bulk junk is so anemic that it wont even eject out of my beretta bobcat most of the time. I dont shoot much 22 anymore since 230gr cast lead 45's are cheaper than the cheapest pre panic bulk 22

 

[Rob62]

Let me answer the question this way. If I could use any ammo and cost was not an issue here is what I would choose:

CCI Mini Mags in .22 LR both solid and Hollow Point

Speer Gold Dot in all center fire handgun chamberings

Nosler Partition or Ballistic Tip for most hunting rifle calibers

Federal Gold Medal for .308 Win for target / precision or serious paper punching

Winchester Power Point 64gr for .223/5.56 for AR15's

Some type of Federal load for all shotgun needs.

 

[huntsman]

.22lr CCI mini-mag is it for me, I do have 2k of Thunderbolts but that was a gift.

12 gauge it's Remington slugs and Buck, Brenneke slugs and I roll my own birdshot.

Pistol I stick with cheap USA made ammo for plinking and high grade for SD

 

[Mike J]

It is interesting how peoples experiences vary. Reefinmike likes Remington Golden Bullets. I have avoided buying any for the last 5 years because I had so many duds with them. In .22 bulk I usually prefer Winchester or Federal bulk.

I tend not to like Remington UMC handgun ammunition because I had an ammunition related malfunction using it in one of my semi-auto pistols.

As for hunting I know a lot of folks have different preferences but I have been using Remington Core-Lokt with my .30-06 for years. There are a ton of other options but plain old core lokt just works.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

I have a Marlin 60 and I haven't noticed Remington to have more duds than any other bulk rimfire ammo. The bulk stuff just isn't as good. Doesn't matter who makes it.

 

[bearman49709]

I use Winchester for everything, rimfire,centerfire and shotgun.

 

[Deer_Freak]

I have been shooting brown Bear ammo in my 30/06 Browning BAR. Brown Bear is not as accurate as premium brass cased ammo. But it shoots well enough to fend off any attacking cans. Under 100 yards it will fend off attacking golf balls.

I asked about shooting steel cased ammo in another thread. People said I needed to buy a tool to remove broken case necks. After over 500 rounds of brown bear I have had no broken cases in my BAR or 91/30.

 

[gamestalker]

I agree with everything RC said except for the shotgun shells, which my choice would be Remington, unless we're talking clay busting, in which case AA's (Win) would be my pick.

GS

 

[vamo]

As far as favorite, whatever is the least cost per round at wally world, as long as it cycles in my gun, goes bang, and puts a hole in the paper I'm happy.

That being said I have the worst luck with winchester jamming in semi autos, I'll still buy it if its a good deal, but I'm willing to pay an extra buck or 2 per box for remmington or federal or will even choose steel cased.

 

[Potatohead]

I'm a bit of a factory ammo junky. If I see a box I've never used before, I've got to pick it up! At risk of sounding unpatriotic here but I've had good luck with Magtech, Fiocchi, and PPU. I also love the cheap Russian crap and buy it whenever I see it at the right price. I will never in my life buy a box of WWB to shoot in my SR9 again also

 

[JoeMal]

Remington Golden are dirty and totally unreliable. But my Marlin 60 shoots incredibly accurate with them when they work. It's a love/hate thing

 

[MagnunJoe]

My CZs, all of them, dislike Georgia Arms ammo, weak ejections... I don't know why. All my other guns are fine with it, and my CZs love all other ammo, even Wolf.

 

[.455_Hunter]

I have had dud primers with a single WWB .38 special FMJ round and a single Hornady Custom .380 XTP round. I tend to favor Italian loaded Fiocchi for .25 acp, .32 acp, and 9x18 Mak. I now think that all Blazer Brass, Lawman, Independence, and Estate cartridges from ATK are exactly the same product for a given load- just different head stamps (sometimes) and a different box.

 

[herrwalther]

I have never had any issues with Winchester ammunition. Even with WWB specials from Wal-Mart. I avoid PMC ammo like the plague.

 

[taraquian]

I use blazer for my .22lr, it cycles all my autoloaders and is accurate in those guns. My bolt 22s like stingers and minimags. I also tries 2k rounds of winchesters m-22 back in november, it worked great but I haven't seen any since.

In centerfire pistol and rifle I reload but I like S&B and Estate/Independance for pistol and Fiocchi and S&B in rifle

But I prefer my own

 

[HexHead]

The AA .22LR upper for my Glock recommends CCI Mini-Mag or Remington Golden Bullet exclusively. The Remington's have worked reliably and fine for me.
My Marlin bolt .22 eats LR, longs, shorts, it doesn't care. The worst ammo I've tried is the .22LR Federal bulk a friend gave me because it wouldn't work in his pistol. It's junk.

I don't buy ammo for any of my other guns other than my AKs. And for my 74 I only shoot Commie surplus. It wouldn't cycle with Tula 5.45x39.

 

[bannockburn]

In .22LR, I would go with Wolf Match Target and anything made by CCI.

For factory centerfire practice ammo I like Winchester, Fiocchi, and S&B.

My most disliked and avoided brand would be anything in the way of Remington rimfire ammo.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Trusted: .22 CCI Mini-Mags and my hand loads.

Avoid: Other people's hand loads.

 

[Trung Si]

I shoot mainly .308/7.62X51, I avoid, won't shoot or buy Russian, Steel Cased Ammo, such as Tula, Herters, Wolf, Silver Bear, Brown Bear ETC, also Indian OFV made in the 90s, Israeli headstamped TZ 80, or Pakistani POF for various reasons in my three 14s no matter how cheap, I however will use Steel Cased Crap in my Combloc Weapons.
As far as .22 is concerned, the US made Brands are all the same to me, one is as good as the next, one will get some Duds out of all of them, having shot NRA Bullseye Pistol for over 30 years now, the best that I have noticed are RWS, Eley and Wolf made in Germany!

 

[Cee Zee]

So many calibers, so many brands, so many firearms. Every firearm has it's favorites. I'll keep this simple and just go with the stuff we all wish we could find, .22.

Bad, and I mean really, really bad - Remington Golden Bullets - worst ammo of any kind I've ever shot. Every bullet an adventure. One will shoot 4 miles at 2000 fps. The next will shoot 4 feet at 5 fps. And every firearm I've ever put it in had to be cleaned at least every 100 rounds. Semi-autos had to be cleaned much more often. I wouldn't sell that stuff to Al-Qaeda. Wait - yes I would.

Favorite, best there is bar none - Federal Gold Medal Ultra Match. Better than Eley Black Match. Better than Tenex. Way better than Wolf. It should be as much as it costs. I paid $20 a box sometimes "before" the panic. I found a good bit at "only" $17 a box. It shoots great in everything. Well I don't actually shoot it in my semi-auto rifles. That would be like putting jet fuel in a VW.

Best every day ammo - CCI SV. It's better than the Mini Mags because it's more accurate. But if I need to bring down a larger critter I'll use the Mini Mags. I also use Blazer for bulk ammo along with Winchester these days. I shot Federal for decades but it went downhill big time after the first shortage. So did Wolf. Neither comes close to what it was like in 2008 before the election.

I like Remington Core-Lokt in my 30.06. Old brass Yugo ammo for my SKS. Black Hills 69 gr. re-manufactured stuff in my .223 varmint gun. I used to like Speer Gold Dot in pretty much all my carry pistols but now I like Hornady Critical Duty or Critical Defense depending on whether they make the Critical Duty for a particular caliber or not. For practice I'll shoot Winchester White Box if I can find the good kind. I like Hornady LEVERevolutio for my revolver S&W. For heavy duty varmint control (black bears, hogs) I use Buffalo Bore. 12 ga. I like American bird shot in about any form with Federal probably the best. I use Federal buckshot for HD. I use Brenneke Black Magic slugs for black bears or at least I would if I ever actually had to shoot one. I haven't so far. I like to keep a 12 ga. handy in bear country loaded with Black Magic. Or my .44 mag S&W with the Buffalo Bore I mentioned depending on where I'm going in bear country. I'm sure there's other stuff I'm not thinking about.

 

[wally]

My wife and I shoot mostly steel plates so quantity has a quality of its very own! When the weather is good, I have a hard time keeping my reloading up with our shooting so I'll use what ever is cheapest -- at ten yards and the modest accuracy requirements (fastest that is accurate enough to hit wins) its really hard to see any issues among brands.