Store Bought Ammo

[Europe]

David and Cheyenne bring up a good point

We have used a ton of store bought ammo and have used it successfully on many hunts. My father did not reload so we used only store bought ammo to hunt with at that time and it was a few years after we were married before my husband stated reloading. Even after he started reloading we still bought some store bought ammo. After he passed I went back to store bought ammo with no less success in the field. My son now reloads but now for every rifle/shotgun/handgun

Was curious if others here use store bought ammo, or have, for their rifle, handguns and/or shotguns ?

 

[rjm158]

I normally only buy factory ammo to get brass for reloading if I buy a new gun in a new (to me) caliber. The only exception is if I buy 223/556 ammo for my AR'S to plink with but if I'm shooting for accuracy I load some.

Ron

 

[DrMike]

I have occasionally used ammunition purchased at a merchant. Usually, it would be for something like break-in of a new rifle. In a very few instances I used commercial ammunition in the field. I should imagine that I could count the number of times that has happened on one hand. A major exception is that I do purchase .223/5.56 and handgun ammunition in bulk.

 

[Elkman]

I have bought a fair amount of .223 and 9 mm in the last few years. My arthritis in my right thumb prohibits me from loading large amounts of small diameter bullets. And both are reasonably priced and easy to find. I do load my varmit ammo for the .223 but have never loaded a round of 9 mm. I have been gifted a few hundred round of commercial stuff for my 45's but have not bought any my self. The other calibers I probably bought a box or two here or there but never much. I have never fired a commercial round in any of my 7 mm caliber rifle rifles or the 35's. When I build my own I know what it will do and exactly where it will hit. And as most of you know I have been reloading since the early 60"s

 

[DrMike]

BlkRam (Gil) uses a lot of store-bought ammo. In many instances he prefers it. In part, that is because he is a hunter and not a shooter. Anyone who knows Gil would know that he manages to bring home a good number of animals in any given year. There must be something to using what is available.

 

[Guy Miner]

Oh sure, I use a fair bit of commercial ammo:

.22 and .17 HMR for obvious reasons, lots of .22 rimfire ammo.

9mm because I don't use a lot of it, and it's relatively inexpensive. I just don't want to bother setting up to load another pistol cartridge, if I only shoot a few hundred rounds a year from the gun, and the factory ammo is cheap and good. And my carry ammo is commercially made.

357 mag/38 Special - mostly handloads, but the carry or self-defense ammo is factory.

45 ACP - I load some, and when I find a good sale, I buy a case as well. Mostly I handload for it, but no problem practicing with factory ammo for the right price. All my "carry" or self-defense 45, 9mm & 357 mag ammo is factory/commercial ammo.

12 gauge - I never have handloaded shotgun ammo. I'll buy a case of cheap target ammo for target practice. Then we do have to use steel shot (or non-toxic anyway) for all our bird hunting in my area, so I just shop for decent prices on commercial ammo. It works great and I'm not a high-volume shotgunner anyway.

223/5.56, is so readily available and inexpensive that although I do handload for it, I don't handload much... Most of my shooting with it is 55 grain FMJ factory ammo and it does just fine for training.

308 Win - wow - as a SWAT sniper I went through a small mountain of Federal Gold Medal ammo... And of course handloaded a lot as well, but it was nice, shooting taxpayer-supplied match ammo for years...

With my hunting rifles - mostly I shoot handloads. However I have shot some factory ammo from time to time.

I bought a fair bit of Remington 30-30 ammo when it was inexpensive, and have of course used that brass for my own handloads.

I'm not sure when the last time I shot any 30-06 factory ammo was... Hmm... Long time ago. Decades I think.

I was given some 375 H&H factory ammo. Shot most of it for practice, still have a partial box of 300 gr factory FMJ round-nose "solids" in case a crazed circus elephant goes on a rampage in town... :grin:

So ya - I do shoot some factory ammo, but not typically for hunting. Factory ammo has a bad reputation among handloaders and I think that may well have been justified years ago. Anymore though, there is some EXCELLENT factory ammo avail for hunting rifles. I was truly impressed with the results of Federal Fusion brought by some people who shot in my Hunting Rifle Seminar last year.

That 308 Federal match ammo I used to shoot so much of would produce sub 3" groups at 600 yards when I did a good job of shooting.

I enjoy building good ammo and shooting it, hunting with it, but there is so much great factory ammo available now, it wouldn't handicap me at all to rely on factory ammo for my hunting, except the good stuff is very expensive.

As the firearms instructor, I used to buy 40,000 rounds of ammo annually for our department. Mostly CCI/Blazer handgun ammo, Federal 223 & 308 rifle ammo, and some shotgun ammo for training. Not nearly as much "duty" or carry ammo. The factory ammo almost always worked very well.

Guy

 

[Gun nut]

I handload for all my rifles. Will buy “store bought” ammo, on occasion - for the brass. Normally buy Lapua brass, if available. I enjoy searching for the flavor my rifles enjoy. Good excuse for more shooting at the range. It probably would have been cheaper if I had stayed with store bought ammunition. When I look at my equipment and supplies inventory I am certain my overhead takes care of any potential efficiencies. LOL

 

[Anonymous]

I'm a mixed bag on that- mainly to do with what else is going on in my life at the moment.

I've went for several years and never fired a factory round in any rife or pistol I owned and I've went a long period of time when I didn't load for anything and relied on factory cartridges. The number of bullseyes and dead critters didn't change.

I enjoy loading if I have free time and recently took it back up as a winter hobby. For a few years I was back in school and I actually gave a press to a friend to just get it out of the way. Any free time I had, I wanted to spend it hunting or fishing...not reloading.

I currently have cartridges that I won't load for- I don't shoot enough .223 and it's sufficiently cheap enough that I won't ever likely fool with it. Ditto with handgun ammo- I just don't shoot enough of it to make it worthwhile anymore. At one phase of my life I shot enough 45ACP to sink a battleship and that's what actually started me into reloading- saving money on metric butt tons of pistol shells, Now I wouldn't break even on the cost of dies. I've looked at loading for shotgun shells, but the economics of shipping in the Far North make it impractical to do so.

Reloading is an interesting hobby, but I view as an ends to a means rather than something essential all by itself. If I got busy with something else, I could just as readily shoot factory fodder without a second thought. As interesting as reloading and fidgeting about ammunition and bullets is...I could go back to an '06 and a few boxes of Corelokts or Power Points and never break a sweat about it. I've been there before and don't remember having significant issues putting protein on the ground that way.

 

[truck driver]

Though I have quite a few boxes of factory 30-06 ammo It was gave to me and is the only factory rifle ammo I have on hand. But on the other hand I have factory .45acp ammo that I have to shoot in NRA and CMP matches where it is required. I also have .45acp ammo that Winchester stopped making when the machinery wore out that they used to make the 185gr target bullet that I use as standard for checking the accuracy of my pistols.
All my hunting ammo is reloads and I buy components when they are on sale to get the lowest prices.
Just call me cheap. >)

 

[6mm Remington]

Of course I purchase .22 LR ammo and even though I own handguns I don't reload for them. I've always just purchased factory rounds. As an LEO we were issued factory ammunition in our pistols, shotguns, and carbines. I have a couple shotguns but have never loaded for them either. I don't shoot as much with a shotgun so haven't really considered reloading for them.

 

[ShadeTree]

I don't currently use it, but nothing wrong with factory ammo these days. The gap between accuracy and price between handloads and factory ammo has shrunk considerably. One thing I will say is factory ammo can be invaluable to quickly determine where you need to look if you have a rifle that you can't get shooting.

Factory ammo like good ole Remington core lokt might not shoot 3/8" groups out of a particular rifle, but they are real good at consistent case length, low runout numbers, and are good at known "good loads" in a particular cartridge and bullet weight. They might only shoot 1 1/4" groups but they will do it consistently any day. So if you have a rifle that you can't get to shoot and you grab a box of 100 gr 6mm for instance and are shooting 3" groups you can pretty much bet it's not an issue with your loads but rather there's an issue with your rifle that needs addressed.

 

[Polaris]

Nothing at all wrong with factory ammo these days. Even the plain box stuff from Win, Rem and Fed is pretty good. Imported ammo from PRVI and S&B is of very high quality if you shoot one of the metric calibers. Some of the specialty loads out there from Nosler, Hornady, Norma, etc. as well as the premium offerings from the big 3 are superb if you're looking for a premium bullet

That being said, I take a great deal of satisfaction in taking game with my own loads, both rifle and shotgun. For the target games I play, reloading is essential. I also go through a large amount of 9mm for plinking, and loading cast bullets with range brass is very cheap. It is time consuming, but it gives me something to do in the winter. If I were limited strictly to factory ammo however, I would not feel handicapped as far as hunting.

 

[Anonymous]

factory ammo can be invaluable to quickly determine where you need to look if you have a rifle that you can't get shooting..

+1....even set up for reloading, the first box of ammo though a new rifle is Federal "Blue box", Corelokts or Hornady.

In my experience, if a rifle won't shoot one of those decently...that rifle is almost certainly going to be a problem.

 

[Charlie-NY]

I load 100% of my ammo for rifle and pistol. Haven't bought factory ammo in over 30 years. Except, I bought 7-8 boxes of 30 Nosler ammo because the loaded ammo was much cheaper than the brass alone. The neck on my 30 Nosler rifle is just a bit tight so I have to pull the ammo apart and turn about .001" off the necks. I may just put the original powder and bullet back in to see how it shoots.

I loaded shotgun ammo for years but now hunt/shot shotgun so infrequently that it doesn't pay to reload the shells. Gave the equipment away.

 

[Guy Miner]

factory ammo can be invaluable to quickly determine where you need to look if you have a rifle that you can't get shooting..

+1....even set up for reloading, the first box of ammo though a new rifle is Federal "Blue box", Corelokts or Hornady.

In my experience, if a rifle won't shoot one of those decently...that rifle is almost certainly going to be a problem.

Years ago I had a 300 Win Mag, Ruger Number One. I tried several handloads for it with ho-hum results.

Then for the heck of it I got a box of 180 gr Remington soft points... Oh Good Grief! Danged rifle shot those into roughly 3/4" groups, time after time. Okay, some were more like an inch... So, I started loading 180 grain flat base, soft point bullets for it, not pushing beyond 3,000 fps... And my goodness, it shot my handloads well too. I gave up trying to get it to shoot 200 gr bullets and boat tail bullets. It liked the plain ol' 180 flat base bullets better.

Ya, sometimes factory ammo will provide some great insights re what works, or if there's a problem.

I remember starting to load the 45/70 about 18 years ago. The various gun forums were full of posts expressing profound confusion about how to load the 405 grain Remington soft point. That bullet was readily available then, and inexpensive, plus it had a good reputation on game. I had the bullets, thought I knew the answer.

Bought a box of 405 gr factory ammo... Hmmm. Used one as a gauge to set my seating/crimping die, and proceeded to load the 405's with no problem. Also found out how nice and mild-shooting the 45/70 could be, in factory form.

Turns out, oddly enough, that the factories do know something about building good ammo.

Guy

 

[hunternyny]

I use weatherby ammo and have not found it to be inferior to anyones handloads. It is expensive but to date, I neither have the time or inclination to buy all the equipment and products I need to start reloading.

Someone else above said "I am a hunter not a shooter" and that does fit me for sure.

As far as the point originally made by David and Cheyenne, I dare say that both of those people know more about hunting than I and like Hodgeman mentioned, it simply depends on where you want to spend your time. I simply have other interests and do not prefer to reload, so we buy factory loaded ammo.

 

[Blkram]

As DrMike stated, I do shoot a lot of factory ammo, vut I also shoot a fair bit of handloads too.

Whenever I get a new firearm, I purchase a variety of factory loads in the preferred bullet weight and/or bullet make and model that I hope to use in that particular firearm. I use it first to sight in, and then to test for accuracy, in order to try and get a feel as to what bullet weight, make and model that firearm is going to show a preference for. Once I find that load, I usually try to buy 5 more boxes of that ammo so that I always have a 100 rounds on hand for that firearm.

Then I will start with trying to find a handload for that firearm with that same bullet make, model and weight, whenever possible. I did not always have a chrony, so usually tried to find the most accurate load for each firearm. Once I found a load that I was happy with, I would then stock up on bullets, powder and primers for that firearm and try to keep a 100 rounds of that handload on hand for that firearm too.

The one firearm that I have not done a lot of handloading for over the years has been the 7 MM STW, as the 2 different Federal Premium factory loads (160 gr SGK and AB - both now discontinued) shot 3" groups @ 400 yards and 1" groups @ 300 yards respectively, and I have enough on hand to last awhile. May be hard to beat those performances with handloads!

I hope to handload for the 41 Rem Mags (revolvers and rifle) but am having troubles trying to find 240 gr cast bullets here in Canada so far, so to date am only using factory ammo.

The two 250 Savages are only being used with factory ammo so far, but plan to find handloads for them still. Of course still trying to find a handload for the AI with 110 gr AB or TTSX, and the Winchester factory load with 100 gr Power Point shoot sub-MOA.

The 338 Federal was built for Bear Watch duty, and therefore must use factory ammo only; will be using the now discontinued 210 NP load (have 18 boxes of ammo on hand for it).

I have no plans to handload for the shotguns.

 

[diverdown]

I can't remember the last time I bought commercial Ammunition. I get a lot of pleasure out of seeing how accurate I can make my own ammunition. The ability to load whatever bullet you want, plus powder tests and OAL testing makes it very interesting. When I found that Model 94 in .32 Special the first thing I did was buy Dies/cases. Nice to be able to load at a fraction of what Factory loads cost. My .338RUM is the perfect example. Ninety plus dollars for 20 factory rounds. I load 20 for roughly eleven dollars (and their accurate 1 1/4 inch groups at 200 yards).

 

[Cleveland48]

I buy a good bit of factory target loads in 6.5 CM. Mainly to get fire formed brass. It also doesn’t hurt when $19 a box ammo averages 1/2” groups either lol. All my hunting rounds are handloads though. Except for my 9.3x62 which are all handloads, simply because I can’t afford factory loads in it haha. I did buy two boxes of the prvi 9.3x62 which I first got the rifle back. It was actually very accurate ammo. The brass was exceptional, so I ordered a good supply of it from Grafs.


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[PJGunner]

Abou the only time I buy factory ammo is if I buy a new (to me) rifle. Generally buy two boxes. Last time I bought ammo, other than that last .270 I bought over five years ago was a batch of 170 gr. Winchester 30-30 Power Points. Found them at a liquidation sale for $4.00 a box. I bought all 27 they had on hand. Certain factory cartridges I look for are 7x57 Mauser and .35 Whelen. I've picked up enough that I feel my supply is lifetime.
Funny thing is I don't shoot jacketed bullets in my 30-30's. It's been a cast bullet gun for ever since forever. Much of my rifle and all of my handgun shooting is with my home cast bullets. Life is good.
Paul B.