Ammo Basics: Pistol

I hope you’re not expecting a long-winded expose on ballistic charts, drag coefficients and penetration data. There are simply too many calibers out there and too many variables. Posts like that simply attract internet ammo jerkoffs like flies. Instead, my goal is to point you in the right direction for buying ammo online and some general dos and don’ts based on experience and yes, common sense.

I was kind of an ammo whore. When I first started shooting, I would buy every different type of ammo out there for my 9mm, .40 (yup, I got sucked into that for a hot minute) and AR-15 to see which stuff would make me more accurate. Funny, right? Little did I know at the time that almost any ammo (within reason) is more accurate than you the shooter. Your mechanical mistakes behind the trigger will influence the travel of that round more than any ‘light powder load’ or bullet imperfection. So let’s get into it… starting with pistol pills.

Pistol ammo

Since most smart folks carry some form of hollowpoint in their carry or home defense handgun, you’re not likely to practice with this stuff. It’s just too expensive. You’re talking $.65-$1.25 per round. Instead, try to find a similar weight bullet in your practice round. Bullets weights are measured in grains and there are some pretty standard increments for most calibers – ie: for 9mm: 115, 124, 147, etc. So if you run Speer Gold Dot 9mm, 124gr at .75/round, you might try Speer Lawman 9mm, 124 gr at .25/round to practice with.

Which bullet weight is right for you? Frankly, it doesn’t really matter in a pistol. Stick to something common, like the 124gr in 9mm and be done with it. Unless you become a competition shooter, then you can start overthinking it 😉

Does brand matter? Not really. You get what you pay for so stay away from the really cheap, steel cased stuff like Tula or Brown Bear. The casings have a coating on them that will infect your gun, sometimes cause jams and many indoor ranges don’t allow the steel cased stuff anymore. Stick to brass cased ammo from a reputable brand. I would stay away from reloads too – you really have no idea of the quality control involved and you do have a mini-canon in your hand after all. It’s your hand. Blazer Brass and IMI are two low cost brands I use in my 9mm for training.

Final piece of advice for training ammo – when you find a brand you can afford that works flawlessly – buy as much of it as you can. Now. The one thing that you can predict about ammo pricing and availability is that it WILL go stupid every few years. One nutjob in a school is all it seems to take. Or a certain criminal being elected President.

When it comes to your “shit’s getting real” ammo selection (9mm) stick to the proven stuff: Speer Gold Dot, Federal Hydra-Shok, Winchester Supreme and Hornady Critical Duty among others. And be sure to put a few mags of the good stuff through your gun. Make sure they feed flawlessly and get used to the different recoil impulse if any.

Be sure to compare ammo prices between your local shops and the online guys. I’ve found the savings from lower prices and no sales tax (if out of state) usually outweigh the shipping costs. Here are some trusted sources I’ve frequently used. And if you really want to scour the online shops, check out AmmoSeek.

Widener’s

AIM Surplus

SGammo

How much ammo is enough? Trick question – there isn’t any! You should certainly have at least 1,000 rounds of training ammo and for pistol perhaps 100 rounds of your “duty” rounds per caliber. That will set you back around $300 for 9mm – and that’s just a starter kit. One final thing – if you have a semiauto handgun, be sure to have extra magazines on hand too. The supply/price gremlins have their way with mags too when things get hairy.