9mm - What kind of ammo do you carry?

[AEA]

For defense - Federal HST JHP.
For range - Federal American Eagle FMJ.

[Dan20703]

Federal HST 124 gr
Speer Gold Dot 124 gr +P

[ELB]

My top picks: Corbon DPX, Gold Dot 124 gr HPs, either +P or not, Winchester Ranger 127gr +P+. While I think Corbon is better ammo, it is not "better enough" in my estimation to justify the price -- very expensive stuff, cannot justify burning several hundred dollars running it thru all my 9mms for function testing. Because I found a good price on them in bulk, I use Winchester Rangers, but would be just as happy with Gold Dots.

I use Blazer 115 grain FMJ with the aluminum case for practice ammo. It is generally the most inexpensive I can find. Some people complain about the aluminum, but I've gone through thousands of rounds in my Hi Power with no reliability problems. The only problem I ever had was spinning a rotating iron target -- the Blazer just didn't have enough zip to hit hard enough. I switched to my carry ammo for that.

[Beiruty]

For me,

To carry, it is Gold Dot 124Gr +P LE marked boxes of 50 rds.
For the range, it is whatever is cheapest with brass casing. Best deals today are for Federal 115 Gr for $9.50 for 50 rds. With tax is barely 20.5 cents/rd.

[NcongruNt]

For me,

To carry, it is Gold Dot 124Gr +P LE marked boxes of 50 rds.
For the range, it is whatever is cheapest with brass casing. Best deals today are for Federal 115 Gr for $9.50 for 50 rds. With tax is barely 20.5 cents/rd.

Same here. My carry is a Browning Hi-Power.

I've also started reloading, so range stuff is whatever I load. I'm trying to practice the same weight bullets I carry, so I'm loading 124 grain FMJ (Montana Gold) and 124 grain JHP (Hornady XTP or Remington standard JHP) bullets.

[Beiruty]

For me,

To carry, it is Gold Dot 124Gr +P LE marked boxes of 50 rds.
For the range, it is whatever is cheapest with brass casing. Best deals today are for Federal 115 Gr for $9.50 for 50 rds. With tax is barely 20.5 cents/rd.

Same here. My carry is a Browning Hi-Power.

I've also started reloading, so range stuff is whatever I load. I'm trying to practice the same weight bullets I carry, so I'm loading 124 grain FMJ (Montana Gold) and 124 grain JHP (Hornady XTP or Remington standard JHP) bullets.

How much is your cost per rd for 9mm reloads?

[boomerang]

Carrying the Federal P9HS1 but I think any decent JHP is fine if it's reliable in your gun.

[TexasGal]

Here is a link to ammo info that is very enlightening:

http://www.2012supplies.com/phpBB/viewt ... ea3b473c76


I also came across this list of the ammo recommended by the USCCA after review of the literature and testing:

The Current Ammo List Recommended for Personal Protection and Concealed Carry
by the USCCA


.38 Special:
Speer 135 grain Gold Dot
CorBon 110 grain DPX
Winchester 158 grain +P lead hollow point
MagTech Guardian Gold

9 mm:
Federal Tactical 124 gr JHP (LE9T1)
Federal Tactical 135 gr +P JHP (LE9T5)
Federal HST 147 gr JHP (P9HST2)
Federal "Homeland Defender" 124 grain HST
Speer Gold Dot 124 gr +P JHP (53617)
Speer Gold Dot 147 gr JHP (53619)
Winchester Ranger-T 124 gr +P JHP (RA9124TP)
Winchester Ranger-T 127 gr +P+ JHP (RA9TA)
Winchester Ranger-T 147 gr JHP (RA9T)
Winchester Partition Gold 124 gr JHP (RA91P)
Remington 124 grain +P Golden Saber
Remington Golden Saber 147 gr JHP (GS9MMC)
CorBon 115 grain DPX

.40 S&W:
Speer Gold Dot 155 gr JHP (53961)
Speer 165 grain or 180 grain Gold Dot
Federal Tactical 165 gr JHP (LE40T3)
Federal HST 180 gr JHP (P40HST1)
Federal Tactical 180 gr JHP (LE40T1)
Federal "Homeland Defender" 180 grain HST
Federal Tactical Bonded 165 grain
Remington Golden Saber 180 gr JHP (GS40SWB)
Winchester Ranger-T 165 gr JHP (RA40TA)
Winchester Ranger-T 180 gr JHP (RA40T)
Winchester Partition Gold 165 gr JHP (RA401P)

.45 ACP:
Barnes XPB 185 gr JHP (copper bullet)
Federal HST 230 gr +P JHP (P45HST1)
Federal Tactical 230 gr JHP (LE45T1)
Speer Gold Dot 230 gr JHP (23966)
Winchester Ranger-T 230 gr JHP (RA45T)
Winchester Ranger-T 230 gr +P JHP (RA45TP)
Federal "Homeland Defender" 230 grain HST
Remington 230 grain Golden Saber
[/i]

[timdsmith72]

I usually shoot Academy's Monarch brand FMJs for target shooting. Never had any problems with them...A little dirty, but I thoroughly clean the weapon after each range session anyhow.

For carry, it's currently loaded with 9mm Federal Classic Hi-Shok 115 Grain +P+, JHP.

[NcongruNt]

For me,

To carry, it is Gold Dot 124Gr +P LE marked boxes of 50 rds.
For the range, it is whatever is cheapest with brass casing. Best deals today are for Federal 115 Gr for $9.50 for 50 rds. With tax is barely 20.5 cents/rd.

Same here. My carry is a Browning Hi-Power.

I've also started reloading, so range stuff is whatever I load. I'm trying to practice the same weight bullets I carry, so I'm loading 124 grain FMJ (Montana Gold) and 124 grain JHP (Hornady XTP or Remington standard JHP) bullets.

How much is your cost per rd for 9mm reloads?

Well, that all depends how you calculate it. Equipment is paid for (and a lot of it was a Christmas gift), so we'll exclude that. For just components using the Montana Golden Bullet 124 grain FMJ...

1 bullet = $0.10
7.5 grains Blue Dot = $0.027
Federal #100 Primer = $0.035

I have a lot of recovered brass, so that takes that cost out of the equation...

So 16.2 cents/round, or $8.10 per box of 50.

Not a lot of savings from the cheapest plinking ammo, but my aims aren't strictly financial savings. I'm much more concerned with quality and availability while shooting the same weight of bullet that I carry. When's the last time you saw 124 grain plinking ammo sitting on the shelf? Were I to start using plated lead bullets (such as Berry's, which I'll be trying soon), I can take another couple cents off per round and get down to $7/box.

Substituting Hornady XTP 124 grain bought in small quantities (boxes of 100) from Cabela's brings cost up 8 cents per bullet. XTP provides outstanding accuracy, and loading it myself brings cost down on that round considerably.

Loaded Hornady 124 grain XTP bought in boxes of 20 (the only way I know of that it's available) for $17 comes out to 85 cents/round. Rolling my own puts me at 24 cents per round, saving me a whopping 61 cents per round! Suddenly, I can afford to shoot carry ammo in practice!

Taking carry ammo a step further, I buy the 50-round boxes of LE Speer Gold Dot 124 grain +P for $23/box for carry. That's 46 cents/round. Speer Gold Dot 124 grain look to run around $22/100, coming out to 28.2 cents/round, or $14.10 per box. With some work on getting the ballistics to match up with my carry ammo, practicing with carry ammo becomes a lot more affordable and availability much higher.


Now, all that said.... 9mm has been my entry into the reloading world. I realize that other calibers can be much more cost-effective to load. I've got both .380 ACP and 9x18 dies on their way to me. With .380 availability and pricing such as it is, I'm quite excited to start cranking some out. Here's what I figure for costs with Berry's Plated 100 grain RNFP bullets:

1 bullet = $0.075
2.6 grains Titegroup = $0.007
Federal #100 Primer = $0.035

That comes out to 11.7 cents round or $5.84 per box! From the prices I've found, that's 1/4 the price of commercial ammo!

Granted, my .380 stock is only a couple hundred pieces at current, so I may have to buy some brass at some point, but I'm good for now and have a few hundred rounds of commercial ammo left to supplement with, picking up after firing at the range.

One of my goals is to shoot what I carry, so let's see what I can do with .380...

I carry Hornady 90 grain XTP standard pressure loads in my LCP. Again, only available in quantities of 20, with .380 costing $18/box. That's 90 cents per round. 90 grain XTP bullets in quantities of 100 will run $15 locally at Cabela's. That doubles my bullet price, but puts me at 19.2 cents per round or $9.60 per box. That's almost HALF the price of the cheapest steel-cased berdan-primed stuff I can find, bought in quantities of 500. Suddenly, not only is ammo available but I can shoot the same carry rounds (with a little work to match the ballistics) I keep in my gun, at HALF the cost of the cheapest plinking ammo and I can find, with no worrying about backorder times.

Now THAT is economical!

[rdcrags]

I am not particular. Any FMJ I can find for practice, any JHP for defense carry.

TX CHL 1997
CO CHP 2005