Recommendations - 9mm ammo

[adams77331]

Any recommendations for a manufacture of 9mm FMJ round for weapons qualification (accuracy)? Punching tight groups in paper.

[John_Wayne777]

To be perfectly honest I have yet to encounter a brand of FMJ ammo that actually hinders my accuracy.

In the chain of shooter-weapon-ammunition I am almost always the weak link rather than my equipment.

[rhino]

Any recommendations for a manufacture of 9mm FMJ round for weapons qualification (accuracy)? Punching tight groups in paper.

The most accurate factory FMJ 9mm I've found is Fiocchi 100gr truncated cone. I think it's from their "lead free" line.

I shoot a 9mm Springfield Armory 1911A1 that as of 15JULY07 has fired 15,241 rounds. Accuracy claim above is based on using my mark I eyeball to judge that groups I shot with the Fiocchi 100gr TC are noticeably smaller than those with any of the 115gr FMJ I've tried.

A buddy with an long slide STI Trojan in 9mm sold me most of a case. It was the most accurate in his gun too, but it wasn't reliable enough for match shooting (NRA Action Pistol). After I tested a few hundred rounds in a club match, I'm saving the rest for the next time I shoot a state or regional NRA AP match.

[FNFAN]

Hello to the Forum from a newbie poster!

After a few hundred "break in" rounds I usually shoot a variety of brands/bullet weights for group size. Seems like each gun, even in the same model, will have a preference for one type ammo or another.

Good Luck!

[ST911]

Any recommendations for a manufacture of 9mm FMJ round for weapons qualification (accuracy)? Punching tight groups in paper.

Are you a shooter that can produce the differences in inherent accuracy in the various 9mm offerings? Most will be more accurate than the shooter. There is little difference between the mass-produced loads at the premium and economy levels. "Qualification" usually requires only service-grade accuracy.

For a 9mm accuracy load, I've found the Black Hills Ammunition 124gr JHP-XTP to be the load to beat in virtually every platform, especially G34, Sig 210, and 9mm customs.

[HolyRoller]

Hiya Mr. 7731,

If you want accurate 9mm FMJ, get some from Atlanta Arms & Ammo. Their rifle reloads are, ummmm, controversial ... but their 9mm match rounds are what the Army Marksmanship Unit pistol team uses. At the last pistol leg match I shot (and messed up at, but there's another one soon), I shot right next to an AMU member who took pity on me and gave me the rest of the box he had been shooting.

But if it's just for qualification, I don't see how match ammo will do you any good. At my last department qual, I shot 96% with Wal-Mart Winchester White Box (say that three times fast) during the day with my stock M9, and 100% at night with Cor-Bon DPX. We use the B-27 target and alternate scoring system, so any reasonable combat pistol will easily shoot 100% with any reasonable ammo.

I also shoot White Box in my David Sams match M9, and score over 90% at 50 yard bullseye in practice. Any ammo will do at 25. David says, and AMU shooters confirm, that his M9s will group under 2" at 50 from a machine rest. And come to think of it, at last year's qual, I shot the Sams M9 and scored about the same as with the stock M9. Any improvement was due to the excellent trigger, not the inherent accuracy. Too bad the big ol' Bo-Mar rear sight square corner makes carrying IWB prohibitively painful.

Long story longer: Dryfire until you can keep the sights aligned as the hammer falls, and live fire with cheap ammo. Wally World still only wants about $16/100 for 9mm. If you absolutely must have match ammo, go find Atlanta Arms, but they may make you buy a whole case.

[Robb Jensen]

Any recommendations for a manufacture of 9mm FMJ round for weapons qualification (accuracy)? Punching tight groups in paper.

Get some 115gr FMJ American Eagle or 115gr FMJ MagTech, damn accurate and very consistant and reliable.

[adams77331]

Thanks for all of the replies.

I feel confident that I can qualify without much grief. But, there have been more than a few challenges made about qualifying as expert, and didn't want to bring 100 rounds of crap. The American Eagle sounds good and I'll experiment with the Black Hills and Atlanta Arms & Ammo rounds when we start our competition team.

BTW, several years ago I owned a S&W M59 and found that I had my best scores when shooting Winchester 115-gr Silvertip HP. I am restricted to ball ammo for qual, but has anyone else found the Silvertip round to be good for them.

PS I'm buying a new Beretta M9A1 or 92 this weekend.

[HolyRoller]

Let us know how qual goes. SOOOOO many people just skate; it's great to see somebody who cares about excellence. Our dept used to do percentage qual, and posted results ranked from first to last on the board for all to see. Now, thanks to "liability," we just have pass/fail. But some of us still get mad at ourselves for not shooting 100%. We have rifle qual in a couple months so there's another chance to excel.

What's your qual course of fire? Ours is the old PPC.

[rubberneck]

Hiya Mr. 7731,

If you want accurate 9mm FMJ, get some from Atlanta Arms & Ammo. Their rifle reloads are, ummmm, controversial ... but their 9mm match rounds are what the Army Marksmanship Unit pistol team uses.

I think you are confusing two different companies here. Atlanta Arms and Ammo has only recently begun making 5.56 match ammo. In fact I am not sure that the ammo is available yet. As of a month or two ago they were still in production and hadn't released any to the public yet. Knowing Danny I am sure that their rifle ammo will be as good as their pistol ammo, which is really good. I wonder if you are confusing AAA and Georgia Arms, the manufacturer of the dubious canned heat.