# Internet Ammo ???



## dereckbc (Jan 2, 2016)

All my name is Dereck and you regulars may know by now I am purchasing my first 9mm Sub Compact Springfield XDS with 3.3 inch barrel. I know what rounds to use for Defense and they are expensive. 

So as you might have guessed by now; What supplier can I look at either local or internet around Dallas TX, and what brand of ammo should I get for practice and plinking. I notice there is a lot and rounds can go as low as 20-cent per round vs $1.20 for Defense ammo. I don't want something that may harm or foul the gun. 

Can any of you make suggestions. All comments welcome. FWIW I expect to buy around 1000 rounds, and use 500 to start with to train myself with the new gun and break it in. 

Thank You and God Bless

Dereck


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## BackyardCowboy (Aug 27, 2014)

To accustom yourself to your new handgun, I would suggest starting with FMJ ammo. 
Other members can advise you of good brands and not so good brands.
I would suggest being cautious of reloads on the internet, they may not be to factory standards.
As you get used to it and start thinking about defensive ammo, get some FMH in the same bullet weight for practice and then periodically use some of the actual defensive rounds to narrow your aim.
Use factory rounds for defense. If, perish forbid, you are in a defensive situation and have to use your weapon, you are essentially guilty until proven innocent. (Subject for a different thread). Easier to prove factory ammo is to standards than reloads, no matter how good the records are of the reloader.
One brand I would say to stay away from is Norinco. (Chinese manufacture) ) Used some 9mm years ago and it may have been within specs for size, but could not load the magazine with the usual 15 rounds and first round or two would always jam) believe they also use a lower quality brass. 
Hope this helps


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## denner (Jun 3, 2011)

Dereck, the topic has been previously addressed: Try doing a search here:  Home Defense & Target Ammunition

Hope this helps.

WWB, Federal, Remington, PMC, etc.....are all fine for range time and shoud be able to be found at Academy, Walmart, etc.... or, of course with internet ammo retailers.

I like Freedom Munitions for my remanufactured bulk purchases, or whoever has the best deals.


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## Spike12 (Dec 10, 2008)

Hi Dereck, I think 'denner' did you well...

I would add these points:
Never buy reloaded ammo at a gun show. The risk is just too high. In fact, buying reloads unless from a known commercial resource is generally considered a no-no. 
I never buy ammo from a Russian or eastern Europe company. The quality is usually inconsistent and they often don't follow US spec's. I know it's cheap, but do you want to risk you and your gun?
If your plan is to use your gun for defensive purposes, you should shoot it for 200-300 rounds as a sort of break-in. Your gun will accept different types of bullets easier after this break-in too. 

Then select your self-defense ammo. Use commercial stuff, it's more reliable and it looks better in court. I use Critical Defense. It's good stuff and should it ever come up in court, the word DEFENSE shows I wasn't looking for trouble. Don't automatically get the heaviest bullet weight either. Get the weight who's recoil you can easily manage. 

Pick your defense ammo on 1) what works 110% reliable in your gun, 2) what you are most accurate on first shots with (this will depend somewhat on your particular gun 3) how fast you can make EFFECTIVE followup shots. Forget all that hype about magic bullet technology. Reliability and bullet placement trumps EVERYTHING. A .65cal super JHP ain't worth shit if you miss. But a .22 will work if you hit where it counts. Once you pick your defense ammo, run 50+ rounds through it (BOTH MAGS) AFTER it starts to run 100%. Then you're ready.


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## pblanc (Mar 3, 2015)

As you found out, $0.20/rd is about as cheap as you can commonly find decent brass-cased, non-remanufactured FMJ 9mm Luger ammunition, and then it usually takes some looking, at least in my area. The less expensive 9mm Luger FMJ ammo is typically 115gr. Most 9mm Luger JHP self-defense ammo is going to have a heavier projectile (124gr or 147gr) and the different projectile weights will have a somewhat different trajectory. This is not usually a factor for training at typical self-defense shooting distances of 3-10 yds, however.

I have used a wide variety of brass-cased 9mm Luger and I really haven't had any bad experiences. As for avoiding eastern European ammo, I have shot several hundreds of rds of both Prvi Partizan (PPU) ammo (made in Serbia) and Sellier and Bellot ammo (made in the Czech Republic) and have not had problems with either. Perhaps I have just been lucky.

Other brands I have used include, but are not limited to CCI Blazer Brass, Aquila, Geco, Federal American Eagle, Fiocchi, PMC, Magtech, Winchester white box, Winchester Nato, Remington UMC, Speer Lawman, the "Monarch" branded ammunition sold by Academy Sports and Outdoors, and Federal Independence. There are others but these are those I can recall off the top of my head.

You can often find ammunition cheaper from online vendors but the savings will be offset somewhat by shipping costs. You might save on sales tax, however. Two vendors I have had good luck with are SG Ammo and Ammunition Depot. I see that Academy is now selling ammo online and there is no shipping charge for orders over $25 so you might check their offerings.

If you buy ammo in bulk from an on-line vendor you can reduce the shipping costs per round. For example, SG Ammo is selling 1050 rd cases of CCI Blazer Brass 115gr 9mm Luger FMJ for $217.50. When I add it to my cart the shipping charge to Indiana is $16:

1050 round case - 9mm Luger CCI Blazer Brass 115 grain FMJ ammo 52001 | SGAmmo.com

It is good, American made ammunition. This puts the total cost at just over 22 cents a round. You can also check out slickguns dot com for cheap ammo prices:

https://www.slickguns.com/category/ammo?caliber=1

What brand/type of JHP self-defense ammo do you think you will use? You probably already know this but it is a good idea to buy only 20-25 rds of JHP initially to make sure it cycles and feeds in your pistol. Some pistols just won't reliably feed certain types of JHP ammo. Even with two pistols of identical model and manufacture, one might feed a particular ammo and the other might not. If you are undecided, Speer Gold Dot has a 124gr 9mm Luger ammo optimized for short barrels that is well-regarded.

One type of FMJ 9mm Luger ammo that I like and is sometimes found on sale for $0.25/rd or so is Winchester Nato 124gr. This is a somewhat hotter load that will probably better approximate the muzzle velocity and muzzle energy of your SD rounds, so shooting it now and then will get you accommodated to the recoil characteristics of your SD ammo.


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## dereckbc (Jan 2, 2016)

pblanc thank you. Just received 1000 rounds of 9mm FMJ with a delivered cost of just under 21-cents per round from SG Ammo.


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## boatdoc173 (Mar 15, 2014)

Hi and welcome

Internet ammo is my way to get ammo. I do not have time to shop at all the walmarts and I can get 20 cent 9mm 115 grain fmj ammo from plenty of areas

slick guns is a good source, so is wikiarms. I place my drivers license and my pistol permit on a white piec e of paper and take apic. I do NOT keep that pic on my phone. I use a zip drive so no one can just steal it. I send it to the company I order from and the poor UPS and FEDEX guys wear themselves out bringing me my ammo supplies.(they get nice xmas tips and and I make it very easy for them to just dump the ammo and go. enjoy!:smt1099


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## Shodas12345 (Oct 26, 2018)

I'd suggest buying bulk as you can get more for your money, just dependent on how much you shoot and how much you plan to shoot of it. I buy from Federal Armament (FEDARM) because their prices are pretty low and the lowest ive seen when im looking around. The ammo runs great, havent had any malfunctions or problems with it. Id highly recommend it for you. It is great stuff, 5 stars for Federal Armament ammuntion. *****


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## Mr.Smith (Aug 1, 2018)

If you have to order ammo of the net, try Widener's out of Tenn. I personally would only order loading components off the net (bullets, brass, etc.) Find a good gun shop near you or Sportsman's Warehouse type place and buy bulk ammo. I use military spec 9mm in ball form for practice time and load others. Also, always carry factory ammo (of your choice) in your EDC. Practice as much as you can afford to shoot. Be safe.


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## Tangof (Jan 26, 2014)

Very good advice here. S&G is usually where I but ammunition, be it 9MM, .45 ACP, or 5.56MM. As was advised, do not buy reloaded ammunition from gun shows or private seller's. My Nephew wrecked a Bushmaster AR-15 using "Gun Show reloads". No way to hold the seller responsible.


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## Bisley (Aug 24, 2008)

I have found good deals at most of the above places. Also, Palmetto occasionally has some great deals on name brand ammo. 

I've bought quite a bit of Georgia Arms ammo and it has always been good ammo. They use new Starline brass (very good) and premium bullets - they are not reloads.


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