Ball Ammo

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I've been shooting for years and usually just grab ammo when I need it and get whatever brand I can find at the store I happen to go get it. Recently I have been lightly reading posts about unclean ammo, steel & aluminum casings, etc. and has gotten me thinking about what I am putting through my guns.

So I ask what brands of ball ammo should I stay away from? Or more pointedly, can anybody rank the following brands of ball ammo most commonly found in stores?

I buy 9mm, .40, and .45 on a regular basis.

I see regularly these brands (off the top of my head):

Remington UMC
Winchester White Box
American Eagle
Magtech
Independence
Fiocchi
FMJ
Federal (Wal-Mart stuff)
Wolf

I am not asked to rank price wise, but for what is best/worst for your gun. Most of my guns will eat anything, but that doesn't mean the ammo is good for the gun...
 
The only Wolf I would consider is .22. It's made in Germany and is excellent, unlike the steel-cased, lacquer-coated, or plastic-cased crap the comprises the rest of the Wolf product line.
 
WWB and CCI Blazer Brass have both worked great for me. I won't shoot anything other than brass cases, but YMMV. When you factor in that I've saved a bunch of brass and am now starting to reload, I think it's worth the price difference. The only non-brass ammo I'd shoot is 7.62x39, because the guns are designed for it.
 
For basic range use, I find WWB to be the most reliable, affordable and consistent. I also like Federal's American Eagle, though I was surprised how smoky a recent box I put through my Uzi was. I have had good luck with Magtech and have shot a lot of their .308, (I understand it's Brazilian MilSurp). I don't see enough Fiocchi to shoot a lot of it, but when I have it has seemed fine. No idea on the FMJ or Independence and the Federal at Wal Mart is essentially American Eagle in different packages. The 9mm is a great value, (by todays standards anyway) - $9.97 a box.

Remington has really dropped the ball with their UMC line. It's easily the most inconsistent commercial ammo I have fired in recent memory. Their .223 is a joke, though the brass is really nice. The 115gr 9mm is loaded to powder-puff standards and the box of .45ACP I fired over the weekend was just silly. I'll not buy anymore. If anything, UMC has convinced me that I need to reload. All of it cycled fine through my HK USP45, but it was like shooting bulk .22 - boom, bang, boom, boom, bang, pop, boom, pop....Brass was all over the place - some ejecting a few feet - others bouncing off my shoes. We can send man to the moon, but Remington can't seem to come up with consistent loading formulas. One case of .223 I bought in November functioned flawlessly out of my AR and brass ejected consistently - the other case I bought a few months later, had spent brass bouncing off the table next to me, with often not enough pressure to strip a fresh round....I'm all set with Remington and their junk.

As to Wolf, my opinions on it are well documented here and elsewhere. My limited shooting experience with it has been horrible, (older cheap .22LR nearly overwhelmed the exhaust fan at my indoor range - it was like shooting in fog), .223 nearly destroyed a full-auto HK, a box of .40 S&W was more inconsistent than UMC and .45ACP essentially stopped a gun that had never been stopped. Plus, I will not send one dime to a company from Russia who also markets ammunition to those who use it against us. Russia is no friend of ours - screw em. Not only that, but Wolf is slowly becoming not so much the value it once was.

The surprise for me was Blazer .45ACP. I bought some out of desperation during the shortage and it's really nice stuff. Clean, consistent and accurate.
 
I buy 9mm, .40, and .45 on a regular basis.

I see regularly these brands (off the top of my head):

Remington UMC
Winchester White Box
American Eagle
Magtech
Independence
Fiocchi
FMJ
Federal (Wal-Mart stuff)
Wolf

I regularly use Rem/UMC (mostly bought a few years ago at Dick's) and WWB. Over the years, I've used American Eagle, very little Fiocchi and Federal. None of this has given me any problems that I recall. Some is more smoky than others.

I've also used Blazer Brass and Blazer Aluminum cased ammo with no problems in any handguns.

I tried Wolf in 9mm and .45 and will NEVER use it again in any handgun, period! It CONSISTENTLY jammed, FTE, FTF, etc. Great for malfunction drills but useless for shooting. I tied the 9mm in 5 different handguns, all exhibited the same problems and NONE of these guns had any problems with the brands I mentioned above! I tried some of the .45 in my S&W 1911 that has seen many thousands of rounds of WWB and Rem/UMC (with absolutely no problems with these brands). I had a number of jams, FTF, FTE issues and got rid of the rest of that box of ammo. Never again for Wolf pistol ammo.

I know you didn't ask, but . . . on the other hand, Wolf .223 runs just fine (except very stinky) in my ARs, etc. I bought the ammo when it was a LOT cheaper than today. If there is no great $-savings Wolf vs. brass-cased ammo, I wouldn't touch Wolf . . . and that is what I see today.
 
Blazer Brass/AL
Federal AE
WWB

In that order, more or less.

I've fired thousands and thousands of rounds of all the above, with no problems. FedAE is the dirtiest of the three. Blazer AL is good in everything except open bolt subguns and revolvers (and even then, it's only bad if you're trying to reload your wheelgun quickly, the cases tend to have to be pulled out of the cylinder by hand, they won't just fall out because they stretch too much. I've probably run more Blazer AL than all the others combined.

I generally avoided rem UMC. It seems to vary by lot and caliber. Their 9mm and .223 ammo is basically crap, or has been recently. Weak and underpowered. Some of their other stuff like their .45 and 10mm seemed to be OK, though....

-Mike
 
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Federal
American Eagle
Winchester White Box
Fiocchi (hot)
Magtech
Remington UMC
Independence
Wolf

Here's my rought rankings... mostly on quality of brass. I've used them all without issues. I don't like Wolf.
 
Federal
American Eagle
Winchester White Box
Fiocchi (hot)
Magtech
Remington UMC
Independence
Wolf

Here's my rought rankings... mostly on quality of brass. I've used them all without issues. I don't like Wolf.

Because you don't get any usable brass from it...[smile]
 
dont like wolf, send it back they have a return policy on their ammo. Got a problem let them know.

WOLF is the only ammunition company that provides a 100% Performance Guarantee. If you are not fully satisfied, WOLF will refund your money on the unused portion of the ammunition, including and freight charges. where is the other guys on this. SUCKS that our commie foe willing to treat customers better than our own.

Buy what you can find what you gun likes. Thus far my AR has bitten,swallowed, and shit out every 5.56 type I could find.
 
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