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Ammo conversation. What am I not getting?

3K views 23 replies 19 participants last post by  mauser1959 
#1 ·
So for the most part, I'm down to Gold Dot or Ranger as SD ammo. From time to time I get sucked into conversations on what one is the best, often involves what is the best for practice (lower cost FMJ).

I just don't care, and I just don't care to be a part of the conversation. I just listen, because you never know when you might hear something new. However, since I don't have anything new to add, I don't help to prolong the conversation.

I was called out on being anti-social. I figured I could have made a face or something, and stated, "I'm sorry if it came off that way, I think they are both fine, and for practice for me average quality and a good price are fine."

I was informed speer's practice ammo and Gold Dot are closely calibrated, and I was missing the point.

I shared that could be true, but for the most part I felt the ammo was more accurate then I was.

At this point I was given the silent treatment.

Am I missing something. Is there something about speer?
 
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#2 ·
I know where you're coming from. Those guys are probably just stuck on continually upgrading the hardware instead of the software(shooter). If it hits a pie plate at whatever range I'm shooting and I can afford to shoot it a lot, that's my practice load. If it's RELIABLE in MY gun, that's my carry load. Won't be shooting many groups on bad guys. But hey if pouring over ballistics and FBI test blows their skirt up, more power to em. We're all on the same side. :yup:
 
#3 ·
Speer can do no wrong, just like Glock - according to lots of folks.

I'm more than happy with my carry guns (not a one of them a Glock) and with my choice of carry ammo (none of it Speer), so what anyone else thinks is monumentally immaterial to me.
 
#9 ·
Yup!!! I kinda stay out of the pi$$ing contests. It's funny how the choices others make are usually correct and the choices you make are wrong unless they are the choices that the others in question make. So, using the above statement, I subscribe to the adage that, "if you can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, baffle 'em with BS.":image035::image035:
 
#4 ·
I would not worry, or give it a second thought. You have to realize that you may be on a different level than those who love discussing such things. I remember years ago I was into ballistics and bullet performance, before the 1 shot stop hoax began spreading. But after years of shooting and seeing firsthand results of actual shootings, I am beyond the hype and debate which intrigues people with less exposure or newer to it all. You are not missing a thing, just on a different level of interest.
 
#5 ·
Just as there are caliber snobs (AKA: I will ONLY shoot a 45, how dare you shoot a .380), and pistol snobs (AKA: I will only shoot chrome plated sissy pistols, how dare you shoot an old beat up plastic police trade in), there are ammo snobs (AKA: This ammo has been tested by the FBI for a billion years and it has never failed, how dare you shoot junk at the range).

Ignore and treat them as any other conventional snob, next time show up with a mess of reloads in a tupperware dish. Their heads may explode!
 
#6 ·
Whatever works for you and your pistola...let the 'ammo experts' work out their own problems.:yup:
If you would like, I could ask my wife...she knows everything!:lolp:
 
#7 ·
I was informed speer's practice ammo and Gold Dot are closely calibrated, and I was missing the point.

I shared that could be true, but for the most part I felt the ammo was more accurate then I was.

At this point I was given the silent treatment.

Am I missing something. Is there something about speer?
They were probably just trying to explain that Speer Lawman "feels" and shoots the same as Gold Dot's. Thus, your practice ammo will more closely approximate your carry ammo for a 1/4 of the price. That is all.

I carry GD's and practice with Lawman when I can find it with a good price, but I don't make a big deal out of it.

Ammunition is a subject like politics or religion, if you don't feel passionate about it, stay out of the discussion!

Don't let the ammo snobs get you down!
 
#8 ·
I'm ALWAYS right!
Once, long ago, I THOUGHT I was wrong.....
But....I was mistaken......:wink:

End of the day...If it WORKS for YOU.....GO with it!!!
I try to let the ammo and caliber war "professional advice" roll off....
You know what they say about "opinions"......:hand5:
 
#10 ·
I don't get into these So-and-so brand is better than whosits. Too much marketing promo behind it. "Brand A penetrates 11 inches on a jell test. Brand B penetrates 12, so it's better." Like only that last inch matters; the first 11 in ineffective?

As for practice, I feel shooting anything can only help. I finish up shooting a couple boxes of .45 Auto with 100 rounds through my G30 .22 conversion. The eyes and fingers don't know the difference between them. If it made that much difference, that ineffective, then why would training with light, dummy, or dry firing even exist.
 
#11 ·
It's good fun to watch folks chasing their tails over ammunition choices. Sit back and enjoy the show which began nearly 40 years ago. The latest and greatest will always be just around the next corner.
 
#13 ·
I could probably write a book on what I've heard while working in the gunshop. I think CCI emphasised that to get LEO ammo bids. Is there really a huge difference in ballistics between brands of range ammo? I'll bet that the variations from lot to lot are different enough that maybe one day the Federal (Winchester, Remington, Fiochi, Wolf, or Wherisitstan) ammo is closer to your SD ammo ballistics.

Good job on not getting into that argument. Experts tend to argue tactics and hardware. Amatures argue about the shape of JHP bullets and what difference 13FPS of velocity makes at 7 yards and how it affects the one shot stop percentage.

If your practice ammo goes bang most of the time, that's good. If it dirties up the gun who cares, you clean it after anyway. And if it jams, practice a FTF FTE drill....
 
#15 ·
You should have just used some smartass remark like "I carry what's cheap and I dare you to stand in front of my cheap ammo!"
 
#18 ·
I wouldn't worry about it. Practice with what you can find and aford to shoot, which also works in your guns.

Carry any of the numerous proven SD rounds out on the market. Speer (mostly what I carry, simply because they were available when I was buying), Ranger, HydraShok, CorBon, Golden Sabers, whatever. There isn't a whole lot of difference between the proven rounds.

Someone can probalby look it up, but there was a very good picture heavy thread recently with lots of different rounds posted with pictures of expansion and numbers for penetration and diameter/weight retention. I think many were surprised at the results.

Happy shooting, just keep shooting, practice for the shooter is probably more important than the ammo in the gun.
 
#19 ·
I'm real technical about the whole process. I walk into my gun store and ask my buddy behind the counter for some good practice ammo and some good self-defense ammo. He picks it out and I pay for it. Everything works when I try it out, I'm happy. End of story.:yup:
 
#21 ·
Thank you for the replies.

I just stepped on toes that I should not have with unintended indifference. Perhaps "I'm not at the same skill level so for me it is all about the same."

What I stated (and I'm guessing some face expression or exhale) came off as a judgement of the other person.
 
#24 ·
I do not know about most people , but I shoot almost every week (sometimes just to make brass to reload) and my guns will still out shoot me. Perhaps if I was a world champion shot , I would only shoot with the premium ammo, however until that time I will practice with what is the cheapest... the gun might shoot a tad different with good SD ammo, but not enough to overcome my short comings. Like I tell my daughter, keep practicing bullet placement, the rest will fall into place. The best dang SD ammo in the world does no good if you can not afford to shoot enough to get good with a hand gun... shooting hand guns is an art form that is hard to master, well at leas for me and I have been shooting them for 35 years. I would much rather shoot a BG with a SWC that I know how to shoot with than some fancy SD ammo that I can not afford to shoot enough to get good/better.
 
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