The best 9mm ammo available in Canada

I'm not surprised to see many shooting best with 124gr ammo... that's the original bullet specification, after all. :)
 
ghostie said:
Really interesting post BillD. Thanks for that.

I don't think the Atlanta Arms stuff is available in Canada (never seen or heard of it, anyone know?) but the Nosler match stuff (both FMJ and JHP) is available now. I haven't tried it, but I am definitely going to get my hands on some having seen this post. The Gold-Dot stuff is certainly available and has been for years, and I have some on hand and have shot a fair bit over the years. It might not be a "walk into any gun store" item, but it isn't hard to find online.

My own subjective preferences on 9mm are, I tend to like 124gr. for some reason. Despite being a whopping 9grs. more, it seems to shoot better in some of my guns. Many of the American made 115gr. FMJ loads are at the very low end of the power scale. Remington/UMC green and white (or yellow) box stuff is the king of this. It can be a nice load, and can be useful for learning/teaching faster (aimed) shooting and that kind of thing, but it won't actually cycle some (older, out of production, European) designs... like my P08 Luger and my HK P9S, are two that I know for sure.

For the American produced basic stuff, I think American Eagle 124gr. is hard to beat.

Some of the European stuff is maybe marginally better quality, but it is hard to really say these days. Quality control seems to be pretty good all-around with American and Western European makers. RUAG (Germany, including Geco, which we see a lot of here in Canada), LAPUA (Finland), Sellier & Bellot (Czech), and Fiocchi (Italy, but is also made in Missouri, although we almost always see the Italian made stuff here in Canada) are all good ammo makers.

Something like a 124gr. Geco (in the red boxes), 124gr. S&B (in black and gold boxes, formerly in red and green boxes) or 124gr. Fiocchi (in blue boxes) are all "go to" for me.

I don't really shoot much in 147gr. for 9mm. Once in awhile maybe. I can see the point of it for duty ammo (and RCMP, CBSA and some other agencies that issue 9mm firearms use it, and - as I understand it - train with a 147gr. FMJ round that mimics the duty ammo). Those kinds of considerations aside, I think most people shoot 115 and 124 at the range.

I can't remember ever seeing any LAPUA 9mm in Canada, but I know they make it. Their .308 and .22LR is pretty much "industry leading", so it would be interesting to see what their centre-fire pistol stuff was like. I'm sure it would be like $50+ a box but...

Most of the "quality" stuff we see here in Canada is made for the U.S. concealed carry, home defence and law enforcement markets. While most of the extra cost is in the technology of reliably expanding JHP bullets, some of the stuff is built to very exacting tolerances, and hence tends to be very accurate (although many of them are very harsh little kickers... +P+ Hydra-Shoks and stuff like that). It is interesting to see how well Gold-Dot did in that test above. Worth a try but, this segment of the market starts at about $1/rd. and goes up from there, so you will be back to trying to find $0.30/rd. (or reloading) very quickly after your journey into the exotic.

I agree that Barnul is... singularly... the worst ammo on the Canadian market in every calibre they make. Nasty stuff. It even smells weird.
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Wild West in Edmonton sells Atlanta Arms.
 
Gregorio K. said:
What is the best 9mm(9x19mm) ammo available in Canada for target shooting and home defence? I mean producers and names.
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Target shooting and self defense have completely different requirements.
In target shooting you want the least amount of recoil for faster followup shots while having enough power to punch through a piece of paper or knock down a steel target.

In self defense ammo you want something that will penetrate whatever layers of clothing are being worn and make the biggest wound channel.

For target shooting such as IPSC or USPSA minimum power factor for minor division is 125. Bullet weight in grains x velocity in feet per second divided by 1000.
If you are using 147 gr bullets your minimum velocity should be 850 fps.
If you are using 124 gr bullets your minimum velocity should be 1008 fps.
If you are using 115 gr bullets your minimum velocity should be 1087 fps.

Most self defense ammo runs around 985 fps for 147 gr
In 124 gr you have Speer Gold Dot +P which runs at 1200 fps.
 
Great post BillD, it must have taken some dedication to track down some of that ammo. To pick up on something Ghostie said, much of the US made 9mm practise ammo is really "low E" while some of the Euro stuff really is quite a bit warmer. The Euro spec for 9mm does not recognize a "+P" it's either 9mm, or 9mm. CIP allows up to 38K psi for 9mm which is where SAAMI stops 9mm +P.
 
Thank you for the info BillD, some great stuff there.

I'm still somewhat new to 9mm, and handguns in general, and I've found the local ammo selection is pretty scarce. So far I have found American Eagle (like it), Blazer (didn't seem to shoot as well for me), S&B (haven't tried yet), and found some Speer Gold Dot (JHP, more expensive, haven't tried it yet). All in 115gr which seems the most readily available for the least money. I'm trying to avoid purchasing any bulk ammo, until I at least try a few different brands to see which I like the best.

Dang ammo prices have gone up across the board the last few years, the more info before purchasing, the better. :)
 
I love the search button on this site and now I have the answer to a question and I don't have to wait for anyone to respond.

I am new to the whole handgun world and even newer to the 9mm world and I received a couple of boxes of 9mm shells for Christmas and with what I already
have I now have 3 different kinds from Blazer 124 and 115 to Remington 115's and Browning 115's and I know with 22's it does make a difference with how well the ammo
and gun get along to how good it makes you look at the range. For some reason I thought that was just a 22 thing but I'm thinking it's an every caliber thing and
I will have to start with these and go from there.
 
Bart68 said:
I love the search button on this site and now I have the answer to a question and I don't have to wait for anyone to respond.

I am new to the whole handgun world and even newer to the 9mm world and I received a couple of boxes of 9mm shells for Christmas and with what I already
have I now have 3 different kinds from Blazer 124 and 115 to Remington 115's and Browning 115's and I know with 22's it does make a difference with how well the ammo
and gun get along to how good it makes you look at the range. For some reason I thought that was just a 22 thing but I'm thinking it's an every caliber thing and
I will have to start with these and go from there.
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Welcome to handgun shooting! You'll be fine with that ammo. New shooters at 25 yds may shoot a 4 foot wide group, so your ammo isn't a concern to start with. :) Find someone experienced to help you out, and you'll do very well, very quickly. Have fun!
 
Match grade ammo is useless without a match grade pistol to shoot it out of, and 9mm isn't exactly considered a target round.
 
see whats on sale at the time that's not sumbro. cci, remington, federal, you name it, for buying in bulk whatevers on sale and cheaper, bdx reloaded ammo is quite good too, never tried western metal but heard good things, will try their ammo someday. That's for practice.

For actual defensive use, Federal has an excellent defensive round, there's the winchester ranger t, hornadys tap generaly performs well, speer gold dot is excellent, as is remingtons golden saber. Spend 10 minutes on an american ccw forum or ask on m4 carbine, they probably used the stuff and have a better idea than anyone on here.
 
Do you have a gun yet?
Commerial reloads, but never buy reloads, or even free reloads that you don't know who reloaded, had a s-w 66 in couple of days ago
Gregorio K. said:
What is the best 9mm(9x19mm) ammo available in Canada for target shooting and home defence? I mean producers and names.
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, ist shot drive a couple primes back and bullets jammed up when they tried to fall out the front of the cylinder, no crimp; But that is not as bad as a double charge.
Home defence, you are Joking, or just silly?
I st choice 12 gauge pump with a 12 inch barrel, or up to 16 inch
The one case I know about, best weapon used was a long handled spade, that worked super, and no firearms charges against the home owner, and net even a unsafe shovel storage storage charge.
 
4n2t0 said:
That makes one of us.

I too would call 911 but only to tell them how many bags are required.
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This. The Castle Principle applies and the Criminal Code allows for self defense. As a Police Sargent advised me years ago. Make sure there is only one story to tell.

My next door neighbour lost his wife to a home invasion. He received long defensive knife wounds to his arms. He could have killed the intruder but opted to hold him for the police. The murderer got eight years and served six. He told me had he known, the guy would never left the house walking.

In this area a 911 call goes to a call centre in Pr. George who take the information than phone the local detachment, where in the evening there will be no more than 2 officers on call, who may or may not be occupied with another call. You better be prepared to make coffee for the intruder because it will be awhile before the Queens Red Coats arrive.

I would call 911 if you are asking.

Take Care

Bob
 
consider upgrading your entry door. The way doors are designed they fail quickly and easily to a kick or a shove. For my apartment buildings I install Jimmy proof locking deadbolts. They will fail but with my fire rated doors it takes quite a bit of effort. I also install an oversized strike plate from home hardware screwed in to the studs it is cheap and the frame is much less likely to fail. However for my home I use Nightlock Security Lock Door Barricade.

T
 
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