“General Purpose” 9mm

[Jamie]

I've probably mentioned it before, but I tried the Targetsports membership starting several months ago. I'm impressed with the value and prompt shipping, even if I just order one box of ammo to try out.

As a matter of fact I tried some 124 gr Geco and some 115 gr Magtech steel. The Geco is good and accurate enough for 25 yard black. (Warning if you reload on the Geco...it has that damn small-ass flash hole like Norma does...PIA).
The Magtech not so much...and some rounds looked like a Roman Candle going off with all of the "sparkles" sent downrange. (Strange).

I've fired a couple of hundred rounds of the New Republic 9mm 124 gr. It's more accurate than I am and burns clean in my Glocks and Shield. I've chronoed it but can't find where I wrote it down.

Speaking of chrono, I chronoed some of the New Republic .357 mag (158gr) just yesterday. It averaged right at 1200 fps out of my old 686. Again, more accurate than I am, easily in the black at 25 yds.


What are your (or the hives) thoughts on Blazer aluminum?

My shooting Bud and I picked up a few cases of it back in April and it's even better than I remembered it from the early 2000's. (Used it in several classes back then). My bud is running it through 2 different PCC guns without issue. An old Ruger and his newer S&W Response.

Of course it runs great in my Glocks.

[WDR]

It seems to me that the challenge is the balance of softer-shooting in a Glock vs. reliable operation in a AR PCC with blowback operation.

Those things may generally be at odds with one and other, for sure. I'd probably pick something like AE or S&B 124gr ball and not worry about it unless I had trouble in the PCC. 500-1000 rounds should be plenty to make sure it functions in your guns before committing to 10k rounds. IME, 115gr stuff often seems pretty anemic from US manufacturers, but the 124gr versions seem a bit better.

I don't have a PCC to feed, but if the ammo fairy dropped 10,000 rounds of AE9FP in my lap, I'd be set for a while. I suppose I'll just have to load my own though.

[Joe in PNG]

I've run lots of Lawman 147 over the past many years, and it's been great. The few bobbles I've had tend to be gun related- mostly a last case extractor problem in an old Hipower, or mag issues in a 9mm 1911.
It's fed a Evo III without a single issue over those years.
I'm also partial to the flat nose profile, as it pokes nice, easily visible holes in targets- and hope it would work like a SWC should it get used for defense (hopefully some people with better knowledge can correct me on this).

[psalms144.1]

I bought 3K Norma 124gr FMJ when they were running an insane sale a while back. It works fine in everything I've shot it in, but it's snappy in my XL, and downright unfun in my standard P365. Also, if you're a brass scrounger, the flash holes are on the smallish side, and can be a bitch when you try to decap them. For those two reasons, when I'm done with this pile, I won't be ordering any more.

Lawman is great if you're willing to pay the extra money, but if you're looking for economical, you're probably not going to be happy.

Agreed completely on going with round nose, I have THOUSANDS of various JFP/TC bullets that feed in SOME of my 9mms, but not others (especially not 1911s/2011s).

WWB had a horrible reputation for a long while, not sure if it's gotten any better.

[spence]

I’ll drop what I feel a couple categories. The somewhat hotter loads are Lawman, AE, and S&B. Lawman and AE are generally a little more expensive, so I only buy them if I find it price similar to others.

The mid loads are Magtech, Fiocchi, PMC. I’ve gotten along with thousands of rounds of them. I’ve also never had any real issues with UMC or WWB, but there’s a lot that say they have. I also bought a heap of Geco in 2019. It shot fine, but it was probably the weakest stuff I’ve ever shot.

I used to buy whatever was the absolute cheapest, but any more I like to stick with Magtech, S&B, PMC, Lawman/AE, and I’ve got my first couple thousand rounds of Fiocchi in a couple years to shoot.

[MVS]

Ben Stoeger recently said Blazer brass 115 is his go to training load.

But likes the PMC better?

I had a lot of problems with blazer brass during the covid shortage and have never went back.

[rob_s]

But likes the PMC better?

I had a lot of problems with blazer brass during the covid shortage and have never went back.

That's great and kinda helps me with the other thread I was going to start on “general purpose .223” 😛

[GJM]

My wife bought 4,000 rounds of 124 Lawman today, for $280/1,000 including shipping and tax. We are working through all our other stuff, so our ball is 124 Lawman and PMC.

[revchuck38]

All the factory 124-grain FMJ ammo I've tried runs in my guns even though the velocities vary widely, with PMC barely over 1,000 fps and PPU NATO-spec at about 1185 fps. I usually shoot my handloads. My default factory ammo is S&B 124-grain FMJ, which usually runs ~1100 fps, but the last case I bought a couple of months ago only went 1060 fps.

[GJM]

All the factory 124-grain FMJ ammo I've tried runs in my guns even though the velocities vary widely, with PMC barely over 1,000 fps and PPU NATO-spec at about 1185 fps. I usually shoot my handloads. My default factory ammo is S&B 124-grain FMJ, which usually runs ~1100 fps, but the last case I bought a couple of months ago only went 1060 fps.

Interesting, PMC 115 is about 128-129 power factor and their 124 is about 132 power factor in our testing.