[Golfginger]

Just went to the range today for the first time and shot some boxes of Winchester 9mm NATO 124. I know you don’t want to use +P often but it’s what I had due to the shortage of ammo during this time. I felt like it was really dirty and took some time to get it clean. With all that being said, what would you say is the cleanest, budget, target ammo? I have my EDC ammo but when I want to put a couple hundred down range. I’m open to any suggestions for quality, clean ammo, no loyalty yet.

 

[Hoosierboy]

I used to buy HERTER’s from Cabela’s with the aluminum casing and blue tipped bullets. Cheap,lightweight and fairly clean. I would usually shoot 200 rounds when training with it. They quit selling that ammo but I am sure it was made by CCI, so the Federal red tipped ammo looks to be close to the Herter’s. It’s not the cheapest but it’s lightweight aluminum casings are a plus and the nylon tipped bullets seem to minimize the buildup.

 

[sandog]

I've fired quite a few boxes of the Winchester NATO 124 out of my full-size 9mm and my PC .40 with the 9mm barrel installed, and haven't found them to be any dirtier than anything else. I've also been using Fiocchi and CCI Blazer brass lately, all seem about the same.
The pistol will need cleaning before too long no matter what you fire in it.

 

[agksimon]

The cleanest burning ammo I've found is American Eagle. I use it exclusively for competition, very accurate and clean.

 

[Super Trucker]

The M&P is a tool, keep lube where the manual says to lubricate and just shoot it.
Myself and the guys I shoot with get probably 5k rounds between cleanings.
If you are NOT shooting the lacquered garbage from Russia, just enjoy the gun. There isn't a need for all the drama people create about clean guns.

 

[ToolMaker]

Winchester White Box is the highest quality range ammo I have found. I have had very few FTF’s with it, and not had any gun that didn’t operate with it properly.

Federal Hydra-shok or HST is my choice for defense ammo and has been for many years.

But no matter what you shoot, it will get dirty, and you need to thoroughly clean and lube it after every range trip if it’s a carry gun. If it’s not, its just a range toy, and you don’t want to clean all the time; shoot it to failure.

 

[Lil Butch]

Just went to the range today for the first time and shot some boxes of Winchester 9mm NATO 124. I know you don’t want to use +P often but it’s what I had due to the shortage of ammo during this time. I felt like it was really dirty and took some time to get it clean. With all that being said, what would you say is the cleanest, budget, target ammo? I have my EDC ammo but when I want to put a couple hundred down range. I’m open to any suggestions for quality, clean ammo, no loyalty yet.

I use Herters that I buy from Basspro. I usually get it on sale for $8.99 and it has never been "dirty". Its the cheapest new ammo I can get and at .18, I can shoot as much as I want. My carry ammo is Speer Gold Dot or Underwood Extreme Defender (not +P), and both are over $1 so I rarely use these at the range.

 

[M1A4ME]

I've only shot (so far) Federal and Winchester FMJ ammo in my pistols.

The Federal is more accurate and cleaner burning in all but one of them.

The M&P 2.0 5" FDE 9MM shoots the Winchester 124 grain FMJ NATO better than anything else I've tried. It's dirty, but the pistol seems to really do well with it.

My next reloading project is to try to duplicate the velocity/group size with 124 grain hollow points. I really like that pistol, just need to tailor some reloads for it that it likes.

 

[Fynn]

Winchester White Box is the highest quality range ammo I have found. I have had very few FTF’s with it, and not had any gun that didn’t operate with it properly.

It's so interesting to me how varied the experiences can be with guns and ammo. For example, I have yet to find any caliber Winchester white box that is reliable yet I have friends who swear by it.

Not hating on it, just recognizing the whole "YMMV" element to ammo and even guns.

 

[jkv45]

For practice ammo I like SIG and Fiocchi FMJs - both of which I feel are accurate and clean. Both are U.S.-made in .45, but that differs with caliber. The Fiocchi 9mm I've seen was made in Italy.

Aguila (from Mexico) ammo has a rep for being dirty, true or not.

 

[lhawkins]

For regular practice/fun ammo, I use CCI/Speer 115 brass case cheap stuff. I bought in 1K bulk when on sale.

Serious training, I use the same reloads I shoot competively with as they are the same weight and roughly same impulse as my Gold Dot carry ammo. I am not winning any local defensive pistol competitions with my skill set relative to others, so I am not gaming min PF. I compete with a close approximation to what I would need in a very bad social situation.

 

[M1A4ME]

The comment about different ammo/different pistols is so true.

My new M&P 2.0 .45 acp Compact shoots Blazer brass 230 grain FMJ like a laser. The ammo that shoots welll in my XD .45 acp 5" Tactical gave me forgettable groups in the M&P. So glad I grabbed a box of the Blazer ammo when I went to the range. The Blazer was actually bought when I first got the XD but just didn't group as well as my reloads in it.

Same with the 9s. The 124 grain FMJ NATO Winchester that does well in the 2.0 5" FDE 9MM isn't worth shooting in my P01. And the 115 grain hollow points that do so well in the P01 are a waste to shoot in the M&P 5".

Unfortunate, but still reality.