Low cost/round Factory 9mm?

[canuck]

Hi guys,
Looking for some tips/knowledge re purchasing bulk factory 9mm online/interstate?
(Note I'm not into reloading myself yet... though do intend on stocking up on some factory brass as I go for the future)

With some research on low cost factory 9mm I'm tossing up between:
- Winchester sxz 9mm 115gr fmj;
- Federal AE syntech 9mm 115gr poly coated;

Not sure how purchasing online works, any suggestions as to stores (or alternative 9mm rounds)?

[pomemax]

where in nsw are you at

[No1Mk3]

G'day canuck,
Don't forget to factor in the $95 per shipment Dangerous Goods Permit on top of your purchase and shipping costs. I personally prefer Winchester brass to reload as I get less problems re-priming, Cheers.

[David Brown]

And many ranges the FMJ cannot be used.

I also had a bad experience with the bulk Winchester 124gn lead round nose. Had a round that had just enough kick to send the projectile down the bar ell and the gasses able to feed the next round….yep squib load, and I was shooting fast…….

Barrel damage followed

We started pulling the bullets, found 0.9gn of powder variation on a 3.5 grain load.

NOT HAPPY.

[brett1868]

Canuck,
How many rounds you after and what sorta load you looking to shoot? Keep in mind that most competitions require lead projectiles. I generally use 122Gr TopScore LRN with 4.4Gr AP70 in the Glock which seems to perform quite well. I load 9mm and can work something out if you're interested.

[Title_II]

I don't know if it's common over there, but Fiocchi is the best bulk 9mm in my opinion. Very consistent and so clean I can go through 500 rounds and not clean my weapon.

[David Brown]

It is from some outlets T2. I have not tried it though.

[<<Genesis93>>]

Have a look at S&B, they should be cheaper than the Win......also PPU.

[<<Genesis93>>]

And many ranges the FMJ cannot be used.

I also had a bad experience with the bulk Winchester 124gn lead round nose. Had a round that had just enough kick to send the projectile down the bar ell and the gasses able to feed the next round….yep squib load, and I was shooting fast…….

Barrel damage followed

We started pulling the bullets, found 0.9gn of powder variation on a 3.5 grain load.

NOT HAPPY.

I'd be taking that ammo right back and asking for a refund plus a new barrel, fast shooting or not, you can reasonably be expected to time each shot long enough to listen/feel for a squib....

That would be highly unusual to have such a huge variation in factory loads....

[canuck]

where in nsw are you at

Sydney CBD/lower north shore.

Thanks all for the info!

Had no idea the dangerous goods surcharge was $95... that's really going to factor against buying online.

Has anyone had experience buying their factory loads instore at a reasonable bulk price? (any NSW LGS recommendations greatly appreciated!)
Brand suggestions so far: Winchester, Fiocchi, S&B; I'll keep an eye out on prices next time I'm at my LGS.

I should better define "bulk" - I'll head down to the range once a week on average and run through 100-150 rounds. So perhaps ~700 rounds/month.
Storage considerations considered (safes advertised "6-8 gun" are such lies) I could legally house about 2000 boxed factory rounds at a time.
I'm sure reloading rounds myself is in the very near future...

[pomemax]

Lns ok when your shooting pistol St Ivies or St marys
hpgs sell 9mm 19.80 per box of 50 i use it when i did not reload $198 PER 500 not sure but think they may do cheaper per case.

[brett1868]

Lns ok when your shooting pistol St Ivies or St marys
hpgs sell 9mm 19.80 per box of 50 i use it when i did not reload $198 PER 500 not sure but think they may do cheaper per case.

Was the stuff from HPGS the recycled Winchester with black painted projectiles? I bought a box of that to try out and it shot dirty as hell. My approach now is to buy cases in 5kg lots from Once Fired and run them through the Dillon which makes a massive saving in both cost and time per round.

[Title_II]

PPU makes great rifle ammo but their pistol ammo is the dirtiest I have ever seen. And people were getting baffle strikes with it in 9mm about 5 years ago. It's just awful.

[<<Genesis93>>]

PPU makes great rifle ammo but their pistol ammo is the dirtiest I have ever seen. And people were getting baffle strikes with it in 9mm about 5 years ago. It's just awful.

ye, but that was 5 yrs ago..... and the dirty bio - there aint no free lunch, the cheaper ammo skimp on propellant additives after all, varying amounts of flash suppressant etc.

Baffle strikes? wasnt by chance through an Uzi??

[Title_II]

It was anything with a can on it.

And Fiocchi doesn't cost a penny more here. PPU handgun ammo is at the absolute bottom of my list.

[canuck]

It was anything with a can on it.

And Fiocchi doesn't cost a penny more here. PPU handgun ammo is at the absolute bottom of my list.

It seems the consensus is stay away from PPU handgun ammo, thanks for the tip.

I just took a look at the HPGS webpage:
Geco 9mm 124gr lead round nose copper plated
$22/50; 10 packets 10% off (perhaps more if 20 'packets'?)

Has anyone had experience with Geco?

[GLS_1956]

My bulk 9mm has been both Winchester and Federal with 115gr FMJ. I want to try some of Federal's poly coated stuff.

[RDobber]

PPU makes great rifle ammo but their pistol ammo is the dirtiest I have ever seen. And people were getting baffle strikes with it in 9mm about 5 years ago. It's just awful.

I'd have said the same for their rifle ammo.

Not bad, but very dirty.

[PaladinAus]

I can use FMJ at my range, and I've been having a great run with S&B 115g FMJ. Getting it $90/250 locally.

Went through a full 250 in a session last week, not a single failure of any kind.

[<<Genesis93>>]

I've used stacks of Highland (branded PPU) on chamberings from 223Rem to 375H&H, without a problem....not particularly 'dirty'....just good, clean, noisy and relatively cheap fun

[pomemax]

Lns ok when your shooting pistol St Ivies or St marys
hpgs sell 9mm 19.80 per box of 50 i use it when i did not reload $198 PER 500 not sure but think they may do cheaper per case.

Was the stuff from HPGS the recycled Winchester with black painted projectiles? I bought a box of that to try out and it shot dirty as hell. My approach now is to buy cases in 5kg lots from Once Fired and run them through the Dillon which makes a massive saving in both cost and time per round.

yes i tryed that stuff too range office at St Marysasked if i had loaded ammo with black powder by mistake

[Ariat]

range office at St Marysasked if i had loaded ammo with black powder by mistake

Ha ha, quality

[whitepointer]

Australia here. I have shot 1000+ rounds of winchester 124 fmj 9mm NATO and never had any issues. Gun is clean afterwards, I buy it for $187/500

Edit sorry looked at the box its not marked "NATO" instead its marked "Luger" in the same location.

[Blr243]

I bought some bulk 9 mm ammo yrs ago but the primer pockets had big problems when I tried to reload them...most of the cases could be reloaded once but never again. Some failed during the first attempt to reload.

[Chinballs]

The ammo below has been used on an indoor shooting gallery, as always your milage may vary. Cost is a big factor as the gallery uses thousands of rounds per week.

Federal Syntech: Currently use this as its lead free but it is pretty weak. If you don't hold your gun properly (limp wristing) it will definitley not cycle. This ammo does tumble fairly often out of the Glocks. Would not recommend it for licensed shooters doing matches.
Winchester Winclean: Pretty clean, shoots fine.
Winchester USA Forged: Absolutely filthy. Would never use again.
Winchester LRN: This stuff used to come loose in a white box and made here but is no longer available. Weak as piss, would barely cycle a slide. Useless.
PPU: FMJ is quite clean and shoots fine. Their LRN stuff is atrociously dirty and smoky though.
Magtech: Similar experience as the PPU stuff ie FMJ good, LRN is dirtier but not too bad.

Have tried Fiochi, S&B and Geco at different times when couldn't get enough of the other stuff through regular suppliers. All have been fine with Fiochi tending to be a little hotter than the rest.

Really, all the big brands are fine. I would buy a box of all the cheap stuff to try in your gun before buying one or two thousand rounds.

I know nobody asked but as far as .22 goes nothing beats CCI C35 standard velocity.

[JSS]

Chinballs do you have a std barrel (polygonal rifling) in your glock? just wondering as you have problems with the syntech. It's all i use at the range & have probably shot about 10,000-15,000 rounds of it in both 115g and 124g through my shadow 2 and my glock (which has Zev barrel) and from memory i can only count 3 or 4 tumblers, 1 fail to fire, and both guns have never failed to cycle. Just curious....

[Chinballs]

Chinballs do you have a std barrel (polygonal rifling) in your glock?

We use all stock standard firearms and factory ammo for liability issues. We also have a club and several members with factory Glock barrels have had the same issue with tumbling.

All the G17As are Gen 3. The Gen 4s play up due to the anchoring system we use to comply with shooting gallery legislation. The image below shows how the guns are attached to prevent people shooting themselves. The torsion on the rail attachment causes a lot more problems with the Gen 4 Glocks. We haven't used Gen 5. The Gen 3s will be available for the forseeable future as they are produced for the California market where later gen Glocks are not approved for sale (google California handgun roster if you haven't heard of it before).



In my persoanl firearms (Glock 26 with Lone Wolf extended barrel and Para P18) I have been using cheap Browning FMJ stuff. Works out to be $15/50. The only thing is they come in boxes of 100 as opposed to 50.

[JSS]

Interesting setup in your photo, is that just for unlicensed shooters?

[Chinballs]

Interesting setup in your photo, is that just for unlicensed shooters?

Yep. In QLD a shooting gallery allows unlicensed shooters to shoot firearms after completing a Form 33A as long as they are not an "excluded person." The tether allows them to move the firearm up and down and enough side to side movement to aim at the target without having the ability to turn the firearm towards themselves or anyone else. If the tether system wasn't in place I would have nothing to do with the place lol.

On the gallery we switch out the guns every twelve months. We use Ruger Mark IV .22, Glock 17A 9mm, Ruger GP100 .38/.357Mag, Glock 21 .45ACP (will switch to target legal Glock 41 once we turn over the G21s) and Ruger Super Redhawk .44Mag. The Rugers don't last twelve months before cracking the forcing cones. We tried a S&W and it lasted like two months before the forcing cone cracked. The guns do a lot of rounds but the models we use are the ones that last the longest. There is a minimum age of 11 as well.

What's an excluded person?

If you have been convicted of murder, manslaughter, armed robbery, unlawful wounding or grievous bodily harm; OR an offence involving drugs, weapons or
violence punishable by at least 7 years imprisonment; OR in the last 5 years:
- convicted of, or discharged from custody on sentence after being convicted of, an offence relating to the misuse of drugs, the use or threatened use of violence, or
the use, carriage, discharge or possession of a weapon;
- subject to a domestic violence order, other than a temporary protection order;
- subject to an involuntary assessment order under the Mental Health Act 1974 or 2000 or similar order in another State;
- refused a licence or had a licence revoked because you were not or were no longer a fit and proper person; OR if you are subject to a temporary protection
order; OR prevented by an order of any court from holding a licence or possessing a weapon unless the order permits such under supervision; OR the holder of
a suspended licence – then you are an “excluded person” under Section 53, subsection (7) of the Weapons Act 1990.

Reality is we have no way of checking if the customer is lying or not but QPS and AFP do come and check the book and CCTV semi regularly. They can also notify us of people who can not shoot and others we have to report straight away. We are also obliged to report anyone suspicious which we do.

[JSS]

Yep i'm aware of the rules, i shoot regularly at half a dozen pistol ranges in the Brissy area, and i've seen heaps of people shoot cat h on form 33 and have never seen the gun bolted down like that. Not even at ranges where form 33ers have actually gone and killed themselves in the past have they gone to a setup like that.
What range is it??