testtest

Getting more 9mm Range ammo. S&B or Norma

I really liked the US assembled Norma 9mm Luger Total Metal Jacket (TMJ) 124 gr loading but after almost two months of waiting for more to get stocked I am about to give up. Also, Norma does not respond to questions technical or otherwise about their ammo, either thru their website or via e-mail. I am giving it another week and is still unavailable I'll just look for the best deal or sale on S&B or possibly Federal American Eagle and get it instead. The S&B seems popular and well thought of
 
Scevaph said:
What are your practice ammo preferences?

I am going to get 10 boxes to a case of 9mm 124gr FMJ. I like the US assembled Norma 124gr TMJ at 1200 fps but it is out of stock everywhere. I can get the Hungarian Norma (1181fps from a 6" barrel) and for even less I can get Sellior & Bellot 124gr FMJ (1181fps from a 6" barrel) so I am leaning toward trhe SD&B if the Norma TMJ doesn't show up soon

What are your preferences? S&B, Norma, Other? I am not a magtech fan and I don't care for the weak stuff like Blazer Brass.
Click to expand...
Just a point to ponder, but ... we all know that every gun has it's favorite ammo, it's up to us to shoot enough to find it. Sounds like you're one who shoots a fair amount apparently working towards better accuracy and so you probably have already found it. But just a thought here is that most hand guns are more accurate at velocities something less than maximum. Not that 1200 is an absolute, but it is getting pretty close to it. You might find some increase in accuracy with a little 'slow down'.

Not even a suggestion, just an observation! Good shootin'. jj
 
Old_Me said:
1st choice would be Fiocchi, followed by S&B, then Remington, Browning, Winchester,

Norma would be at the bottom.
Click to expand...
All good, but I don't have a good feeling about the Remington. Just never found one I liked well enough to favor them over my reloads ... practice and/or hunting and/or competition. And coincidentally Norma is probably my favorite for factory hunting ammo in most of my long guns, not so much in my hand guns. Oh well, different strokes for different folks sometime, huh? (y)jj
 
Annihilator said:
I am not picky buying any range ammo, it all goes bang in the end unless its Winchester white box…….
Click to expand...
Realistically, now that I'm retired I simply don't buy a lot of 'range' ammo. I use far more reloads than anything I buy these days. But I typically use good components and I'm still totally anal when it comes to my reloading practices. Not quite as bad as I used to be back in the day of shooting lots of competition, but still anal to a point. Yeh, I even turn the inside of the necks on some brass before loading it.

In fact even though I'm not shooting nearly as much as in the past, I still get into looking for that perfect load for a particular gun every now and then. Over the years I still use many loads I developed for some of my favorite guns many years ago, but recognizing that today there are new opportunities with some newer projectiles, powders, and especially brass on the market. It's been a relaxing experience these days looking for that new/better load than one I may have used back in the 70's, 80's, 90's. And I still enjoy sitting down at my loading cart and fine tuning my dies in the press, etc and loading a couple hundred rounds. Funny thing is I haven't found too many loads today any better than most I used back then.
 
Old_Me said:
i find it "interesting" some of you had issues with Winchester white box....

i have had no issues, whether it had been for 9mm, or 45 ACP, other than of course the "smoke show" that ammo puts on.

each round went "bang" for me.

WWB, reminds me of Magtec.........in that they each compete for "smoke show of the year awards"....

oh well.
Click to expand...
Like Old_Me, I've not had any unusual number of FTF with any of the WWB I've shot, but then I've not used a whole lot of them.
 
Old_Me said:
funny you say that....

when i first "discovered" reloaded ammo at the mom/pop fishing-gun store, and tried it in my CZ's, they would not fire, well, they wouldn't even feed.

then when i started reloading and had a digital caliper, i found out why....the OAL was a wee bit too short.

when i started reloading myself, and "went by the book", my reloads were a wee bit short as well

i adjusted the seating die, to very close to factory ammo OAL, and whalla......my CZ's eat my reloads.

yet however, Blazer and Lawman still have issues with both my CZ's, and they both measure the nearly same OAL as the Fiocchi, S&B, and others....!

just like Wolf steel case ammo, will not feed (or when it did) just not fire......hard primers perhaps on the Wolf..???

i stopped buying steel case ammo, a long time ago.
Click to expand...
Good observations Old_Me, in years past if I was about to load something new, I usually made it a habit to measure a common box of factory ammo like I was preparing to load, then set my dies up to match the factory stuff. Reason is that factories have spent much $$$'s research in determining the best 'bang for the buck' so to speak, in making sure the vast majority of their ammo does go bang every time in whatever gun they're used in.

Now, some guns will like a particular load just a tad longer or shorter, or will like a particular ogive a little better than another, so it does pay to experiment at some point. But the best rule overall bar none, is to not go outside the parameters you find in most good loading manuals. Again they have done lots of research to determine what's best for the job repeatedly and without being hazardous.

Neither of these paragraphs are written in stone, nor are they absolute, just good common sense for all of us.
 
Bassbob said:
Both times I tried reloads through a small caliber semi auto there were problems. So I don’t shoot reloads through semi autos.
Click to expand...
I can appreciate your sentiment Bob, and the fact is that semi-autos are far more finicky to reloads than revolvers, etc. Same holds true when loading for auto-loading rifles and/or shotguns for a number of reasons. Once you find the right combination for the particular semi-auto you're loading for, they can and usually will be as dependable as any factory loads.
 
jumpinjoe said:
I can appreciate your sentiment Bob, and the fact is that semi-autos are far more finicky to reloads than revolvers, etc. Same holds true when loading for auto-loading rifles and/or shotguns for a number of reasons. Once you find the right combination for the particular semi-auto you're loading for, they can and usually will be as dependable as any factory loads.
Click to expand...
Probably better since you can control the quality. And more accurate once you work out the proper load.
 
Great input, all of you. I notice the Remington and WWB Comments. There was a time, a long time ago, that I liked Remington Ammo and Winchester firearms. I just never was a big Winchester (or Western) ammo guy. As for Remington, it just seemed to slowly go from being some of the best to ho hum at best. I gave the Blazer brass a try but it's like shooting squib loads it's so powder puffy. Federal has always been very good ammo in my opinion. specially for shotguns. After I started reloading a few decades ago I shot nothing but my own handloads, .45 ACP, .41 Mag, .38 Spl, .45 Colt,22-250 and .22 BR Remington, Life and a career move to Illinois curtailed my shooting for many years and not it is mostly .22 rimfire and, since I got my first 9mm, that. I gave my reloading equipment away a number of years ago, I have enough rimfire to last me and factory ammo in .38 Spl and 9mm meets my needs. I have enough Speer Gold Dot 9mm ammo for my needs, and enough Gold Dot Short barrel and Federal HST Micro for the .38 and this nest (last?) purchase of 9mm range ammo will likely last me just fine. I liked the USA made Norma but availability and a company's response to inquiries does have a bearing. You may be right about the 1200 FPS being upper end and the more common 1181 is probably a better long run bet. Norma will not say what barrel length and I suspect it is 6" and they may be rounding up; it appears that very little factory ammo hits their advertised mark. Looks like it will be the S&B 124 gr based on price and reputation; I have some in a shopping cart and I am just watching a few more days in case a better deal come along and that includes the Norma if it shows up but at a price that is not comparable,

PS; as far as what shoots best. It appears the days of shooting small groups without a rest are going south. Between my age, arthritis, Progressive lenses in my glasses, developing cataracts, and developing a mild benign tremor in my hands I am doing good to stay on minute of pieplate (6" or so) I hate to admit that but it is what it is.
 
Scevaph said:
Great input, all of you. I notice the Remington and WWB Comments. There was a time, a long time ago, that I liked Remington Ammo and Winchester firearms. I just never was a big Winchester (or Western) ammo guy. As for Remington, it just seemed to slowly go from being some of the best to ho hum at best. I gave the Blazer brass a try but it's like shooting squib loads it's so powder puffy. Federal has always been very good ammo in my opinion. specially for shotguns. After I started reloading a few decades ago I shot nothing but my own handloads, .45 ACP, .41 Mag, .38 Spl, .45 Colt,22-250 and .22 BR Remington, Life and a career move to Illinois curtailed my shooting for many years and not it is mostly .22 rimfire and, since I got my first 9mm, that. I gave my reloading equipment away a number of years ago, I have enough rimfire to last me and factory ammo in .38 Spl and 9mm meets my needs. I have enough Speer Gold Dot 9mm ammo for my needs, and enough Gold Dot Short barrel and Federal HST Micro for the .38 and this nest (last?) purchase of 9mm range ammo will likely last me just fine. I liked the USA made Norma but availability and a company's response to inquiries does have a bearing. You may be right about the 1200 FPS being upper end and the more common 1181 is probably a better long run bet. Norma will not say what barrel length and I suspect it is 6" and they may be rounding up; it appears that very little factory ammo hits their advertised mark. Looks like it will be the S&B 124 gr based on price and reputation; I have some in a shopping cart and I am just watching a few more days in case a better deal come along and that includes the Norma if it shows up but at a price that is not comparable,

PS; as far as what shoots best. It appears the days of shooting small groups without a rest are going south. Between my age, arthritis, Progressive lenses in my glasses, developing cataracts, and developing a mild benign tremor in my hands I am doing good to stay on minute of pieplate (6" or so) I hate to admit that but it is what it is.
Click to expand...
Federal is the best IMO. 99% of what I shoot out of shotguns ( not an insignificant amount of shotshells) is Federal.
 
Scevaph said:
Great input, all of you. I notice the Remington and WWB Comments. There was a time, a long time ago, that I liked Remington Ammo and Winchester firearms. I just never was a big Winchester (or Western) ammo guy. As for Remington, it just seemed to slowly go from being some of the best to ho hum at best. I gave the Blazer brass a try but it's like shooting squib loads it's so powder puffy. Federal has always been very good ammo in my opinion. specially for shotguns. After I started reloading a few decades ago I shot nothing but my own handloads, .45 ACP, .41 Mag, .38 Spl, .45 Colt,22-250 and .22 BR Remington, Life and a career move to Illinois curtailed my shooting for many years and not it is mostly .22 rimfire and, since I got my first 9mm, that. I gave my reloading equipment away a number of years ago, I have enough rimfire to last me and factory ammo in .38 Spl and 9mm meets my needs. I have enough Speer Gold Dot 9mm ammo for my needs, and enough Gold Dot Short barrel and Federal HST Micro for the .38 and this nest (last?) purchase of 9mm range ammo will likely last me just fine. I liked the USA made Norma but availability and a company's response to inquiries does have a bearing. You may be right about the 1200 FPS being upper end and the more common 1181 is probably a better long run bet. Norma will not say what barrel length and I suspect it is 6" and they may be rounding up; it appears that very little factory ammo hits their advertised mark. Looks like it will be the S&B 124 gr based on price and reputation; I have some in a shopping cart and I am just watching a few more days in case a better deal come along and that includes the Norma if it shows up but at a price that is not comparable,

PS; as far as what shoots best. It appears the days of shooting small groups without a rest are going south. Between my age, arthritis, Progressive lenses in my glasses, developing cataracts, and developing a mild benign tremor in my hands I am doing good to stay on minute of pieplate (6" or so) I hate to admit that but it is what it is.
Click to expand...
Many of us are beginning to see some of the issues you've mentioned. Eventually most all of us see some of them.
 
Scevaph said:
When I shot trap I loved Federal Paper shells. Nothing like the smell of a freshly fired paper shotshell.
Click to expand...
They're good generally, but way back when shooting a whole lot, WAA's were my 1st choice of hull. And right close in 2nd was the all plastic 'Activ' hulls for reloading. 'Course that was years ago. I once ran across a whole boat load of some imported stuff called Canuk IIRC. They all loaded reasonably well but were hard to find.
 
jumpinjoe said:
I too like Federal for scatter guns. But even those today I reload more than buy. I don't shoot too many anymore.
Click to expand...
I have loaders for 12 and 20 and was always set up to load birdshot. Mostly #9 for quail and target. The vast majority of what I shoot is buck and slugs for the last 20 years. I really don't train with target loads. Usually #4 or #1 and cheap 00B and slugs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top