Asking what the best ammo brand is a loaded question (pun intended). The ammo that works best in your particular firearm is the best brand for your gun.
And as diverse as gun preferences are, you’ll probably find a similar amount of diversity in ammo preferences.
As a new shooter, you may be wondering if there’s any easy way to tell which brand works best in your new gun without trying every variation of your caliber by every ammo brand.
While there is no 100% infallible way to know without trying them each in your gun, maybe the awesome USCCA Community people can help.
What brand of ammo works well in a gun you’ve shot? Please give ammo brand and caliber/brand of firearm in your responses.
M&P 45C-Underwood Ammo for carry. For range Ammo, Armscor or Winchester green and white box have served me well.
Ruger GP100 .357 mag-Underwood for hunting/home defense, PMC Bronze for target Ammo.
.22’s-
Marlin 60/795-CCI Mini-Mags
Ruger 10/22-RWS Target Rifle for accuracy, CCI Standard Velocity for plinking.
Savage Mark II-CCI Standard plinking, Wolf Match Extra to really wring it out.
Mossberg 535 12 gauge-Winchester Super X. Shot shells, and slugs.
For handguns, I have always found “Blazer Brass” to work best. I am yet to have a malfunction in any of my handguns while using that in any caliber.
I mostly shoot 9mm and .40 S&W. Most of my guns are also Smith And Wessons so maybe because I shoot the same firearms, that is why the Blazer Brass always works.
I am in the same boat with my JHP. I guess I should have included that with my response. So far, SIG V-Crown has worked for me and I have not had a malfunction, but I feel more comfortable with the Federal Premium HST or Hydra - Shock. Of course right now, I will settle for whatever I can get my hands on with how scarce some JHP’s have been.
Currently I reload 9mm Luger, .38 Special, .357 Magnum, .45 ACP and .223 Rem for practice and competition. Used to reload 30-06 (for M1), 7-08 (for custom M1).
My edc and home defense pistol is a Glock 19 stoked with Federal Premium Law Enforcement Tactical 124 grain HST HP (P9HST1).
I usually purchase Magtech 115g FMJ and Federal White Box 115g JHP for my Glock 9mm guns. I have never had a problem with them. In fact, I never had a problem with any ammo I’ve run through them. I just settled on those two for consistency’s sake.
I have been fond of Federal Law Enforcement HST .45 230 grain bullets. I reload Hornady 200 grain hollow points. I also reload 230 grain FMJ .45 rounds for targets.
Got to go with @Todd30 my reloads work better and more consistently than any factory ammo I ever tried but I do find Speer Gold Dot to be an exceptionally high performer but not exceedingly accurate but accurate enough to carry. Were I inclined to roll my own for SD I would be heavily in favor of Hornady’s 230gr JHP.
I have primarily used Federal Hyrda shok LE in 115 +P+ or 124 in 9mm and 165 in .40 in Glock 26/19 in 9 and 27/22/35 in 40.
Now I use Federal LE HST 147 in 9 with a G26/19.
However, I am making a visit to NJ and, because of their Hollow point ban, I will have Hornady Critical defense 115 +P loaded in the G26.
I gotta be honest, I don’t know how they decided the Hornady ammo was not a hollow point when it is a hollow point with a polymer tip put in the hollow point.
At the peace officer’s academy, the instructor told us to buy Winchester. This was some 30 years ago . The reason given was that Winchester had the fewest duds.
I am not very brand loyal when it comes to ammo or firearms. Whichever specific ammo does the best job works for me.
For handgun SD ammo I really like the Federal HST line. Not only do they perform near or at the top of most serious tests they also can often be found for cheaper than other high quality options. At least before all the Covid and Riot craziness. Speer Gold Dot is usually my second choice, though not their newer G2 version which had mixed reviews especially out of shorter barrels.
For practice ammo, whatever reputable manufacturer I can find at the cheapest price. Though I generally avoid cheap Remington stuff after having several issues in the past.
For my target ammo I use the 9mm Winchester white box when in stock and for self defense I load all my 9mm guns with Hornady Critical Defense and Critical Duty.
