Ammo makes a difference?

[UFO]

Been target shooting with the Remmington 115gr 9mm. It's 10.99/50 @ FS.
It works, so does my 226, and all errors are mine. But today, I tried some
of that 125gr 9mm +P stuff (Federal white box?) on special at FS for 11.99/50.

Wow. I shot better. Well, I felt like I shot the same, but the target looked like I was shooting straigher and on center.

Can/Does the ammo make that big a difference?

 

[Bill Nance]

Not unless you're shooting bullseye. We all have days where we shoot like Dead-eye Dan. -And days where the barn is completely safe from our best efforts. I'd look to how much caffeine you'd been drinking, how well you slept the night before, distractions at the range etc. a long time before I looked at ammo.

 

[FPrice]

It may also be that your pistols "like" that brand and bullet weight better also.

 

[Len-2A Training]

Anecdotal evidence of ONE!

I shot some of my HST in my M&P 9c (4.5# trigger job) and had a very nice cluster on the target. I had one WWB 9mm FMJ round loose in an ammo can, so I fired that and it was a flier at 10 O'clock on the edge of the outer ring. Same event, no other variables. I'll bet on quality control making a SIGNIFICANT difference, all other factors being equal.

 

[sig2009]

124/125 gn 9mm round is historically more accurate than a 115gn round.

 

[xtry51]

I can tell you PMC 115gr shoots like crap outta my m&p9. Federal is OK, but not great. I use WWB 115gr only now.

 

[UFO]

Not unless you're shooting bullseye. We all have days where we shoot like Dead-eye Dan. -And days where the barn is completely safe from our best efforts. I'd look to how much caffeine you'd been drinking, how well you slept the night before, distractions at the range etc. a long time before I looked at ammo.

I should clarify. I shot both types of ammo in the same session (same day, same hour).

 

[Maninblue1861]

my 1911a1 seems more accurate with WWB than federal eagle .45acp *shrugs*

 

[whatluck]

My 226 seems to prefer 124grain +p ammo to the cheapo wwb 115gr I buy.

 

[drgrant]

In 9mm some guns seem to prefer bullet weight over another. At 30 feet and in you probably won't notice a whole hell of a lot of difference but at 50 feet and beyond the differences in ammo start to show themselves a lot more readily.

-Mike

 

[Bill Nance]

I should clarify. I shot both types of ammo in the same session (same day, same hour).

Mea culpa. The ammo then may have well made a difference. since I shoot almost exclusively with my own reloads I can offer no help other than to say that WWB and AE are dirty as Hell..

 

[Titan]

So, is the bullet trajectory of a 115gr vs a 147gr, completely insignificant over pistol distances?

I definitely get different results between 125gr 357s and the same round in 158gr.

 

[vellnueve]

Ammo can make a difference - but the truth is that many people can't outshoot Wolf.

 

[firecontrol123]

Been target shooting with the Remmington 115gr 9mm. It's 10.99/50 @ FS.
It works, so does my 226, and all errors are mine. But today, I tried some
of that 125gr 9mm +P stuff (Federal white box?) on special at FS for 11.99/50.

Wow. I shot better. Well, I felt like I shot the same, but the target looked like I was shooting straigher and on center.

Can/Does the ammo make that big a difference?

Ammo does make a difference. With the Remington 115 gr. I'm all over the place but with the Federal American Eagle 115 or 124 gr. most all of my shots are right where I want them to be.

 

[ChargingCharlie]

Not unless you're shooting bullseye. We all have days where we shoot like Dead-eye Dan. -And days where the barn is completely safe from our best efforts. I'd look to how much caffeine you'd been drinking, how well you slept the night before, distractions at the range etc. a long time before I looked at ammo.

I disagree, Bill. Bullet weight, as well as powder charge, does make a difference in accuracy. The difference may be small with some guns, but can be fairly noticeable in others. Couple that with poor QC that some of the cheap ammo has and now you have a much more noticeable difference. The OAL alone can cause inaccuracy and, if you have a cheaper ammo with inconsistent OAL, then you'll have wider groups.

 

[Bob P]

My sig 226 likes the 124g weight better than the 115