40 S&W or Pistol Ammo in General Question??

[7998]

I am sure this has been discussed many times before. I did a search though and came up with nothing.

What brands of ammo are good and which ones are bad?
Meaning what are the potential reasons to not buy a cheaper brand of ammo?
For example, I can buy Wolf for almost $10 less a box than the Amer. Eagle stuff I use. Would the steel casings have any effect on my pistol? Is it dirtier? Are there certain brands to avoid?

I ran a box of Blazer once through my SW99 with no problems except the pistol was extremely dirty. I really want go to the range but at $70+ a visit it is getting to be a little much.

Any help is appreciated. And if your going to be the peckerhead who says "search" please see Johnny Cash in my avatar.

[jmanzini]

The problem I've had with Wolf and Ultramax is that they are remanufactured and tend to be very dirty. I usually shoot Blazer or Blazer Brass which are inexpensive (by todays standards), Remington or WWB. I have not had any misfires with any of the mentioned brands. I feel it's best to try different brands with each gun, because some are not good matches.

[Yoder]

Wolf steel is cheap, it's dirty and has a lot of misfires. It also groups pretty good and puts holes in targets. It has to put more wear and tear on your gun since steel is a lot harder than brass. You may get some failures to feed, I think it's caused by steel not crimping as well and it looks like the casings stick out a little more diameter wise. I just shot 1k rounds of it through my G17 I actually had a few FTF's and probably 20 misfires. The misfires you could see where the firing pin hit the primer but nothing happened. They always shot the second time though. For target shooting I think it gets the job done, it is accurate.

I never had any issues with WWB, Blazer Brass or American Eagle.

[riverpirate]

I shoot the Blazer Brass almost always. I dont think its really any more dirty than any other ammo. I do have some ultramax but its saved for indoor shooting only.

[emsjeep]

Range: Blazer Brass, Federal American Eagle, Blazer TMJ, WWB or anything cheap.

Trust my life to: Federal HST, Federal Hydra-Shock, Harnaday TAP, Gold Dot.

In that order...

I don't keep lots of dumpy range ammo on hand, I only stock stuff that I would trust if I ran out of HST, namely Federal American Eagle 180gr FMJ.

[Grumpa72]

For plinking, Wolf is good ammo. No issues what so ever with feeding, firing or ejecting. the steel hasn't been an issue for wear either. I wouldn't carry it for self-defense though.

[riverpirate]

well if ou want to put it that way i carry hydro-shocks

[Driver400]

I use Speer Lawman TMJ in my XD. It is a little more expensive then some but it has been my experiance to be "cleaner" then most I have tried. I have also not had a single FTF or any other problems with it in over 3000 rds. I buy it by the case and have found a new supplier. It costs me just over .25 a round.

[7998]

Thats what I wanted to know, I just looking for some cheap stuff to take to the range. And I wanted to make sure the Wolf wasn't going to wear the gun out any. Wolf for $15 for 50 vs American Eagle at $25 is a big difference.
but Blazer is even cheaper so I'll probably go with that. Thanks guys.
J

[pyld]

My opinion only. Your mileage may vary:

Blazer--the aluminum case can bother some guns. The polymer stuffs (notably glocks and XDs) don't care. Both Blazer and Blazer Brass, IMHO, are really clean. When possible, I shoot these as my factory ammo choices for range purposes. When the ammo situation is not insane, they tend to be readily available and cheap. I find it to be relatively snappy in 9mm, can't tell a difference in .45.

Winchester White Box--cheap. Usually readily available. Never met a semiauto in a >9mm caliber that won't eat it. I find it to be relatively dirty, but easy to clean.

AE--sometimes cheap, sometimes not. Not really clean, not really dirty. Never had anything that won't feed it.

Remington UMC--I don't usually find it cheap, except in oddball calibers. It's been my choice for .32 range ammo. Before the ammo spike, it was relatively cheap in .32. Not particularly dirty. My Kel-Tec p32 (which can be ammo sensitive) eats it without a problem.

PMC--I myself have never found it really cheaply. I also find it dirty. Everything I own has fed it in a >9mm caliber. Not particularly hot by range ammo standards.

Wolf--exceedingly cheap. Exceedingly dirty--I do mean exceedingly. I bought an ultrasonic cleaner when I was shooting a lot of it. Tough on extractors. Some guns won't feed it. As above, I've had misfires. It's snappy. I won't put it thru anything but my Glocks anymore, and only those that I don't carry. It is (or was) exceedingly cheap.

If you reload (or plan on it), keep in mind that blazer (not brass) or wolf won't leave you with any brass, obviously.