Best 9mm Ammo for Newbie for Indoor Range Use
- Thread starter Waltech
- Start date
First, a grain is a measure of weight ... as lb or kg or oz or g ...
Second, to each his/her own ...
for lighter handguns, many prefer heavier bullets with less velocity, recoil is more pushy instead of snappy ..
for heavier handguns, lighter and faster bullets are not felt as snappy as in lighter handguns ...
if you really sensitive to recoil, look for 1) heavier handgun 2) handgun with a lower bore axis 3) choose ammo with less muzzle energy
I would start with a middle weight bullets - 124gr, e.g. CCI Brass (cheaper), Federal Syntech (cleaner) .. also would try 147/148gr and 150gr ... and look at velocity and energy
but now, with ammo shortage and high prices - for starting grab whatever is cheaper but avoid non-brass cases, especially if you will be shooting a lot ..
and start collecting spent brass even if you do not plan to start reloading, you may have a change of heart ... I had ...
Buy the cheap stuff to start (if such a thing even exists anymore) and shoot as much as you can. Until you can learn to hit a target consistently, there isn't a whole lot of point of buying any "premium" ammunition. Practice the fundamentals of grip, trigger pull, etc.
Grain, 115, 124, 148 is the weight of the bullet, the powder charge is mainly about the same in standard 9mm, most are FMJ , ie hard ball, not JHP , jacketed hollow points, which are more money, and to shoot paper, no need.
Just buy a box of 112 and 124,and 147 grain and try them in what ever gun you have, 115 are usually cheaper to buy, but not enough to make much difference
Just buy a box of 112 and 124,and 147 grain and try them in what ever gun you have, 115 are usually cheaper to buy, but not enough to make much difference
I'd be surprised if you were able to notice the difference between the 2 most common bullet weight commercial ammo. 115s and 124s always felt very similar to me. Everything else is much less common, and more expensive. I prefer the feel of 147s, but you don't have to pay the extra if you're reloading. If I were to be paying factory ammo prices, I don't think it would be worth the extra cost.
Given the availability and cost of 9mm right now, I'd say the best would be whatever is available and not $500/case. My go-to for factory was always Blazer Brass. It was fairly cheap, 100% reliable. Accuracy isn't really going to be much of a concern for a newbie (Most factory 9mm is going to be more accurate than you are), and most factory ammo is going to pretty comparable for reliability. Some ammo is cleaner than others, so if you don't want to be cleaning your gun all the time, avoid stuff like Winchester white box.
Given the availability and cost of 9mm right now, I'd say the best would be whatever is available and not $500/case. My go-to for factory was always Blazer Brass. It was fairly cheap, 100% reliable. Accuracy isn't really going to be much of a concern for a newbie (Most factory 9mm is going to be more accurate than you are), and most factory ammo is going to pretty comparable for reliability. Some ammo is cleaner than others, so if you don't want to be cleaning your gun all the time, avoid stuff like Winchester white box.
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Well, if I were to make a suggestion, I would suggest the Federal Syntech 124gr 9mm (red tip, synthetic jacket). These are designed for (indoor) range use, burn much cleaner with less foul up in your gun, and there is little to no splashback in hitting metal targets due to the polymer (or whatever it is) coating on it. The propellants I believe are also cleaner burning.
These also come in the heavier 147gr (purple tip). These seem (at least to me) to have less felt recoil but it is a very marginal difference compared to 124gr. Is the Syntech line the most accurate? No. But it shoots reliably.
I use Syntech now almost exclusively at the range with my 9mm PCCs and even with my .40.
These also come in the heavier 147gr (purple tip). These seem (at least to me) to have less felt recoil but it is a very marginal difference compared to 124gr. Is the Syntech line the most accurate? No. But it shoots reliably.
I use Syntech now almost exclusively at the range with my 9mm PCCs and even with my .40.
Amen to this. I used up the rest of my WWB and said good riddance. When I picked up the brass after, they looked like they went through a barbecue. And one single range trip with WWB fouled up my gun to about the same extent as 15 range trips using my Syntech rounds.
