# Recommended Cheap Ammunition for 9mm



## cclaxton

For new Brass-Cased ammunition, I don't think anyone can beat the deal at USAammo.com at $9.45/box50 plus shipping (Min 5 boxes to justify shipping). I have had great luck with their ammo.

However, because I am shooting a lot these days, I need to save some money on ammunition. gun-deals.com - User-Submitted Gun & Ammunition Deals has a great listing of low-cost, non-brass cased 9mm ammunition.

If you have experience with this ammunition would you comment here and rate the ammunition in the poll as well. If you would buy it again, please select the ammo...you can select multiples as well.

I went through two boxes of Tula 9mm FMJ, and had two duds and one FTF where the bullet could not be chambered. Other than that, I don't have any other experience with these cheap alternatives to brass. I would not purchase TulAmmo again.

Thanks!


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## berettatoter

You might want to add the Hornady Steel Match too. Although, I can't seem to locate any anywhere.


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## Packard

My local Walmart carries Winchester white box ammo at good prices. It is convenient and there is no shipping to deal with.

But not all locations carry ammo or shotguns. And their selection is scant, but if they have what you need it is a decent deal.


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## Cat

:smt023If your looking to save money on ammo. The best way is to do your own reloading.And selling some to your local ranges to.And make some cash or cover your coast on what you use. If your on the range a lot,It's the best way to save. The coast of the reloader,It will pay for it self very fast.:smt033


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## cclaxton

Cat said:


> :smt023If your looking to save money on ammo. The best way is to do your own reloading.And selling some to your local ranges to.And make some cash or cover your coast on what you use. If your on the range a lot,It's the best way to save. The coast of the reloader,It will pay for it self very fast.:smt033


Thing is: My time is more valuable than the cost savings: Girlfriend+Adult Children+RangeTime+Work+RocknRollTime+TrapShootingTime=NoTime for Reloading.

But I was thinking I might hire cheap labor to do the reloads...but then will it really be cheaper after that?
If I could reload for $.05 a round, it might be worth it if a laborer could output 150 an hour at $10 an hour labor rate. That is $.067 per round, and if I could keep materials pricing to about $.05 per round. Then, it might be worth the my time and trouble and the machinery.

But 150 an hour is a bullet every 24 seconds...is that possible with a reasonable investment?

Thanks,


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## recoilguy

No one I know who reloads would reload for 10 bucks an hour. Buy the cheapstuff and take your chances. That way you will have time for all the things on your list and googling new stuff to talk about too.

Buy good brass ammo and sell the spent brass to a reloader. 

To me 2 duds in 100 shells is not acceptable even if the crap was free. Ammo is like everything....you get what you pay for and cheap is cheap for a reason. 

Reloading is the way to go if you want to shoot more for the same amount of money. If you want to just spend less buy a box of wolf or bear and take your chances. Sometimes everyone of them work.
Or get a .22 thats cheap shooting right there!
RCG


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## Packard

When I retire I will re-load. Not before. (And probably not even then.) It is pretty boring stuff and if you watch TV while you reload you will probably not do a first rate job of it. And that is a bigger issue than saving money.


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## cclaxton

First, I am trying out the cheapest "new" ammuntiion I can find: Cheaper Than Dirt Ruag Ammotec for $8.48 a box plus shipping: 76867 - Ammo, RUAG Ammotec USA Precision 9mm 115 Grain FMJ, 1214 fps, 50 Round Box, Zinc Plated Steel Case. I bought 500 rounds and will find out soon. They are Zinc-coated Steel cases. Total price with shipping to Virginia is $99.67 or about 19.9 cents per round. If they work out, I wil buy more at this price.

Second, I purchased 500 rounds of Wolf from The-Armory out of Virginia Beach. Those are polymer-coated steel cases (Military Classic). I paid $107.88 including shipping and tax(Virginia resident), or 21.5 cents per round.

On Brass Ammo: I now stand corrected on the cheapest. I have been saying that USAammo is the best deal out there for brass. The new winner is Palmetto State Armory, which sells CCI Blazer Brass for $9.99 per box, and because of their cheaper shipping ($12 to Virginia), the total comes to $111.90 or 22.4 cents per round. (USAammo is a close second at $113.50 or 22.7 cents per round, but it takes longer for the ammo to get from Idaho to Virginia).

And, Natchez has CCI Blazer Aluminum for $110.64 or 22.1 cents per round, which was tempting, but with Ruag being the cheapest, had to choose that, and with The-Armory being much closer, I will get the ammo much quicker even with the tax that has value.

After I go through two boxes of each, I will let this forum know how they performed.

FYI, I did not consider Tula (Tulammo) because of previous bad experiences.

Also, USAammo is still one of my favorite suppliers and I do buy their inexpensive 380 auto ammo for my Bersa and Bodyguard. And, they have great customer service.

I noticed we got more votes....keep the votes coming and share stories of cheap ammo.

I am avoiding reloads these days due some split casings (Cz) and blown out extractors (Kahr PM9), and the price diff just isn't enough to justify the reloads at this point.

If they were half the price...might be diff.

Thanks,...keep the votes coming!!!
CC


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## berettatoter

Packard said:


> My local Walmart carries Winchester white box ammo at good prices. It is convenient and there is no shipping to deal with.
> 
> But not all locations carry ammo or shotguns. And their selection is scant, but if they have what you need it is a decent deal.


I like Winchester ammo, even the white box stuff, but man does it dirty up my guns. I find the Federal, at Wally-World, is priced right and does not seem to leave as much residue on and in my guns. JMHO.


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## cclaxton

How a bullet burns seems to vary even within a model and brand. I have seen some Remington UMC boxes that are nice an clean and others that produce more residue. Also, have seen the same thing with Federal Eagle. I have definitely seen a difference with old ammunition...more than two years....it burns dirtier. 

I am sure there are differences between brands, but I just wanted to point out that clean/dirty burn can vary within a brand and by batch. 

Ruag showed up today...will try it out in the next couple of days. The Ruag is made in Russia, but with Zinc coated steel. I am not too crazy about the polymer or coated steel casings...as they can cause buildup inside the chamber. But, have 500 rounds of Wolf coming...so I will find out.

Thanks,


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## cclaxton

Mostly bad news for this ammo and for my pocketbook:
Both the Ruag Ammotec and Wolf Military Classic have steel jacketed bullets, which makes them unuseable at most indoor ranges. Also, I had one Wolf dud out of 40 bullets. In addition, the Ruag Ammotec is definitely a hotter round, and feels and looks like a +P. It states more than 1200fps so it clearly is more powerful. Also, there is definitely a fire coming from the breach because of the steel casings not expanding the way brass expands. This will deposit more carbon and residue inside the chamber at the end near the barrel and will need to be cleaned more often and cleaned well. 

I had no misfires with the Ruag. I had no other issues with the ammo thus far.


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## recoilguy

Buy good ammo or reload......you own good weapons, treat them like they are what they are. You are treating them like you own a KelTec and a Jimenez. The USAammo is good ammo and it is pretty cheap. Why go through all the trouble and headaches to save less then, or a penny a round. Treat your CZ and your Kahr to some good, quality ammo, give them a chance to perform. All the money you have spent on inferior ammo or ammo that is not fit for most ranges you could have owned a great press and been making great ammo right now. Stop trying to make cheap work, get something good and stick with it. 

If you reload you will be able to shoot 124g instead of the 115g which are softer shooting and you can reuse the brass time and time again. Clean your gun often and always clean it well. Reloading will open you up to an entire new and fun relm of shooting. Stop with it only cost 22.62357875745632 cents per round rather then 23.1252524 cents and start with my gun works every time, It cycles cleanly and the ability to reaquire my target is amazing.

RCG

RCG


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## cclaxton

Thanks for the suggestions. Yeah, I am getting ready to buy CCI Blazer from Palmetto State or USAammo new. 
I have been going through a lot of ammo, and have been buying all brass ammo up to this point. But can't blame me for trying to save some money.:smt068

BTW, I do keep my guns very clean. I always run a boresnake through them after every range visit, and clean and lube them at least every two weeks, usually weekly. I shoot about 3-4 times a week.

Do you know if the Aluminum casings will obturate the chamber the same as Brass? The CCI Aluminum looks like an option...any thoughts?

Thanks for your advice, as always.

cc


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## cclaxton

Okay, I have fired enough of the Wolf and the Ruag and the CCI Blazer Brass to make some judgements:

- Wolf has given me quite a few FTF's in my Cz 75 and my Kahr PM9. I would not trust the Wolf in IDPA competition. It may be fine for general practice.
- The Ruag has not shown any FTF's but it still pretty hot round and I see more sparks coming out and I could use this for IDPA competition, but would prefer a softer recoil. I like the Ruag rounds generallly but the cost diff just won't justify buying more. 
- The CCI Blazer brass from Palmentto is sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet! No FTF's, No FTE's, no sparks flying, and normal recoil. I totally trust this ammo for IDPA competition. 

In prior tests, I found problems with TulAmmo, and will not be buying that again. 

Thanks,


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## Jonathan926

Hello everyone. I just purchased my first pistol. Baretta px4 9 mm. I'm very new to shooting and I'm trying to learn as much as I can. My question is how do you know the difference between range ammo and ammo you would use for defense? Thanks in advance


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## cclaxton

Hope this doesn't sound obvious, but HollowPoints are your self defense ammo. Most people I know use FMJ (copper jacketed lead) for shooting at the range. You should do some practice with the Hollowpoints you are using for self defense, but I think they are too expensive to shoot at the range all the time. I recommend either CCI Blazer Brass from Palmetto State or USAammo from USAammo (new or reloaded). For steel, I recommend the Ruag Ammotec. 

For Hollowpoints, I recommend the Federal Premium HST or Winchester Ranger (Non +P), or Hornady XTP. You can get boxes of 50 HST's at SGammo.com. I don't recommend the +P loads because accuracy is important and you also want the round to stay in the body in case you have to shoot an attacker. 

Get plenty of practice and develop your accuracy...that is the most important part of shooting.


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## 8Eric6

ammoengine.com is a nice site to visit when buying in bulk it's like a google search just for ammo. It shows you how much you are spending per round too. I've found some pretty awesome deals through them for 7.62x 39 and 54R


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## HotLead

*Good, Cheap Ammo*

Hello All, I purchase all my ammo from LuckyGunner.com they use a live inventory system and have super-fast shipping.
I hope you enjoy using them as much as I do. Thanks

Cheap Ammo For Sale | In Stock Ammunition For Sale


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## cclaxton

I checked out ammoengine.com and luckygunner for pricing. 
I personally like gun-deals.com for ammo listings. If you signup and login, you can sort by casing type, which is not available on ammoengine. Also, ammoengine doesn't seem to have as many vendors listed. 

For Luckygunner, I keep hoping to find better prices, but I still find that after shipping they are $15-30 higher than PalmettoState or USAammo or CheaperThanDirt (only for Ruag) or The-armory. I am buying mostly from Palmettostate these days because all shipping up to 1000 rounds is just $12. USAammo can beat or match that price, but I have to wait longer for my location in virginia. They would be better for west coast and midwest locations, I think. The Armory is okay, but I have to pay Virginia sales tax which ups the price. 

I don't pay much attention to the Steel-cased ammo anymore since most of the bullets are bi-metal which means steel and I can't shoot steel bullets at most of the ranges where I shoot. (Also they don't expand in the chamber as well and I have to clean the barrel more often.)

Sometimes Wal-Mart beats our depending on the type of ammo.


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## berettatoter

cclaxton said:


> How a bullet burns seems to vary even within a model and brand. I have seen some Remington UMC boxes that are nice an clean and others that produce more residue. Also, have seen the same thing with Federal Eagle. I have definitely seen a difference with old ammunition...more than two years....it burns dirtier.
> 
> I am sure there are differences between brands, but I just wanted to point out that clean/dirty burn can vary within a brand and by batch.
> 
> Ruag showed up today...will try it out in the next couple of days. The Ruag is made in Russia, but with Zinc coated steel. I am not too crazy about the polymer or coated steel casings...as they can cause buildup inside the chamber. But, have 500 rounds of Wolf coming...so I will find out.
> 
> Thanks,


I don't think the Wolf ammo is laquer coated.


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## cclaxton

RUAG Ammotec Centerfire Ammunition, 9mm, Full Metal Jacket, 115 GR, 1214 fps, 50 Rd/bx - Able AmmoRuag Ammotec on sale today only, Cyber Monday at ableammo for $8.52 a box, with FREE SHIPPING over $99. 
These are zinc-coated steel casings and they are bimetal bullets...some steel in them.
They are great rounds...no problem with them, although they are not +P, they are snappy rounds to shoot.


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## recoilguy

You don't want snappy rounds when shooting IPDA do you?

What makes the fact that the round is snappy a good thing?

They certianly are inexpensive, I don't think I'd shoot them. with any regularity though.

RCG


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## 8Eric6

cclaxton said:


> I checked out ammoengine.com and luckygunner for pricing.
> I personally like gun-deals.com for ammo listings. If you signup and login, you can sort by casing type, which is not available on ammoengine. Also, ammoengine doesn't seem to have as many vendors listed.
> 
> For Luckygunner, I keep hoping to find better prices, but I still find that after shipping they are $15-30 higher than PalmettoState or USAammo or CheaperThanDirt (only for Ruag) or The-armory. I am buying mostly from Palmettostate these days because all shipping up to 1000 rounds is just $12. USAammo
> can beat or match that price, but I have to wait longer for my location in virginia. They would be better for west coast and midwest locations, I think. The Armory is okay, but I have to pay Virginia sales tax which ups the price.
> 
> I don't pay much attention to the Steel-cased ammo anymore since most of the bullets are bi-metal which means steel and I can't shoot steel bullets at most of the ranges where I shoot. (Also they don't expand in the chamber as well and I have to clean the barrel more often.)
> 
> Sometimes Wal-Mart beats our depending on the type of ammo.


ya ammo engine has been lacking lately for vendors don't know whats up. Thanks for the heads up on gun-deals.com nice site.:smt1099


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## sgms

Whatever I can get the best case price on when I need to restock. As long as it isn't steel cased, steel jacketed, or have any kind of magnetic materials in the bullet.


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