While Remington’s QC has had some issues in the past, right now, I think this is a pretty good option. But I’ve also heard some horror stories about guns being blown up a few years back. Personally, I’ve never had a real issue with Remington UMC. Made in Arkansas, this is at least a cost-effective American-made option. Remington has a rough history with everything they produce. PMC Bronze is one of the very few brands that I’ve literally never had an issue with. While the price is good, it’s generally a couple of cents per round more than S&B or Blazer. Because of the incredible volume they produce, the price is normally good. While it isn’t American milspec, it is milspec. PMC makes ammo for the SK military, from small bullets to huge howitzer rounds. Their 5.56 ammo is one I highly recommend, but their 9mm is great stuff as well. Made in South Korea, PMC ammo is simply outstanding for reliability and has impressive lot-to-lot performance. But it was also one of the first to come back in large numbers, so that was nice. In the past few years, world events have a few times made it so that finding my favorite flavor of S&B was hard or impossible. Having sent thousands of 115gr Blazer down range, I have a good sample to work from.īeing imported, supply can dry up. Low cost, easy to find, and I’ve never had an issue with it going bang. Blazer BrassĪvailable in a wide range of weights, Blazer Brass is a go-to pick for range ammo. That’s a pretty small investment in the long run. It’s expensive, but you won’t need more than a couple of boxes per year. Don’t settle for anything less than the great options. These top picks for range ammo are mostly based on availability, price, and my past good experiences with them.ĭefensive ammo is more complex for reasons I already covered.

Avoid the tempting prices of remanufactured or reloaded ammo and stick with new, brass-cased ammo. If you just want stuff that will run, you can take your pick from just about anything offered by any of the major brands. Picking your range ammo isn’t rocket science. BEST 9MM AMMO: RANGE SHOOTING AND SELF-DEFENSE Consider your situation and choose accordingly. Nothing wrong with 115gr or 147gr, but for my needs, I like 124gr normally. With a nice enough package and some fancy marketing, these overpriced pieces of crap take a shocking market share from people who just don’t know better. Claims that are made and are, frankly, total bullsh!t. One big problem is that there are a lot of lies in the defensive ammo world. Too many guns have blown up because of reman ammo for it to ever be worth it to me.ĭefensive ammo is a whole other beast. The price is normally lower than new ammo, but it’s impossible to make it reliable. I strongly recommend avoiding remanufactured or reloaded ammo. Steel case, brass case, cheap or expensive, range ammo just needs to run. Being consistent is nice, but it’s pretty hard to make inconsistent pistol ammo that doesn’t have a long list of other problems on top of it.

Larger calibers like 10mm are great for things like bears and other wildlife but don’t offer an advantage when it comes to simple humans. 380 Auto might have a place in CCW for some niche applications, but the general winner is 9mm. Left to right: 9mm Europellet, 357 Irrelevant, and 10mm Short.

9mm luger ammo in bulk