If you’re anything like me then you like to shoot pistol a lot. Unfortunately, ammunition can cost quite a bit, unless we’re careful with our training ammo selection. In this article I’m going to review the 5 best budget 9mm ammo brands for range training. I’ll cover my favorite places to find good deals on bulk 9mm, so you can maximize your valuable range time. Keep reading for more.
There’s no way around it. Responsible gun owners, who aim to be good shooters, know that you need to shoot and you need to dry fire. While I’m a big fan of dry fire training to rehearse weapons manipulations, you can only do so much in your basement. You have to get out there and sling some lead down range if you want to maximize your skills.
At various times in my shooting history I’ve been known to shoot a few thousands rounds of 9mm ammunition a month. I don’t always shoot this much, as I’m not trying to get divorced. You can imagine this becomes expensive, even if the 9 mm cartridge is usually the cheap ammo, compared to other calibers.
As a result I’ve used many different ammunition brands, both remanufactured, and new. I can say that some companies certainly produce a superior product compared to others. In fact, my training partner kept calling my last batch of crappy (unreliable) budget 9 mm parabellum ammo, North Korean ammo. I preferred to think of it as specialty malfunction training rounds. To each their own. Here’s a quick overview of this article.
5 Best Budget 9mm Ammo Brands Overview
- Buying in 1000 round cases or more can save you a lot of money
- Remanufactured ammo can be good provided the company has a good reputation
- Brass casings only for all training ammo in this article
- Training ammunition should not be used for self defense
- Dry fire training programs are linked towards the end of the article
- Top 3 defensive 9 mm rounds are listed at the bottom of the article
For most shooters who want to be tactically proficient, a thousand rounds a month is a reasonable amount to shoot. If you’ve read my other articles on shooting, then you’ll know that shooting 250 rounds once a week, makes for a good training program.
Even if you’re a tactical shooter, or police officer, you don’t need to shoot defensive 9 mm ammunition for the vast majority of your training. If you read my article on the Best 9mm for Concealed Carry and Self Defense, then you’ll know I love Speer Gold dot, and Federal Premium HST rounds, but they can go for north of $1 a round. That’s more than many rifle rounds!
In the following section you’ll see that most of this bulk 9 mm luger ammunition goes for around 22-28 cents per round. This is because it’s much cheaper to produce 9mm rounds in ball, rather than jacketed hollow point. Just make sure you aren’t using target shooting ammo for home defense!
Without futher ado let’s get to the 5 Best Budget 9mm Ammo Brands for Range Training. Before you do that, don’t forget to join the email list below. If you don’t, I’ll tell everyone you’ve never seen the inside of a shooting range!
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Best Budget 9mm Ammo: AAC Bulk Ammo
AAC bulk 9mm ammo is one of my go to ammunition brands when I need reliable 9mm range rounds. It is full metal jacket, 124 grain 9mm ammunition. Over the years I’ve shot thousands of rounds through my carry optics Glock, CZ Shadow 2, and HK VP9. I’ve never had a malfunction with all of those rounds.
If you shoot USPSA matches, then you’ll be glad to know this ammo easily makes minor power factor. It comes in right around 142 for power factor. If you don’t shoot USPSA, then here’s a great guide to get started. As of this writing, you can pick up a thousand rounds for right around $260. Give AAC a shot if you want great value in new brass cased ammunition.
Best Budget 9mm Ammo: Blazer Brass CCI
Blazer CCI 9mm ammo is an excellent choice for practice ammo. Just like AAC, I’ve shot thousands of rounds, through a lot of different guns, and it’s always worked well. This ammo is manufactured from new, and it features a 124 grain bullet weight, with a full metal jacket.
This ammo is actually a little softer shooting, as its reported muzzle velocity is 1090 feet per second. This makes the power factor dead on 135. I doubt you could really tell the difference between this and the AAC with a power factor of 142, but mathematically it would be a little softer shooting.
As of this writing you can pick up a thousand rounds for right at $260. In the next section I will actually include the cheapest reliable ammo I’ve shot. It’s time to venture into the the land of remanufactured ammo.
Best Budget 9mm Ammo: Freedom Munitions 9mm
As the saying goes there’s no free lunch. This 9mm Freedom Munitions ammo is the cheapest because it’s remanufactured. That means that the brass has been used previously, and every other component is brand new. This was my go to brand when I was training hot and heavy for a particular unit I wanted to get into. Before you ask, yes I did make the Tier 1 Parking Enforcement Squad.
These are full metal jacket, 9mm rounds. They’re a little lighter, at 115 grains and are brass cased. The bullets are copper jacketed, with a lead core. These are just like the other selections on this list, except for the recycled brass.
I have to say that I’ve probably shot in excess of five thousand rounds from Freedom Munitions, and I would give them a 99% rating. I have had one or two rounds that were a little off when I shot them. They still worked, and they weren’t squibs, but I could tell they weren’t the same as normal. I’m guessing they were a little light on powder.
Did it bother me? Not really, as it didn’t stop me from shooting. I should mention that Freedom munitions does make new ammo, at an affordable price as well. That ammo has never been anything but flawless. As of this writing you can purchase a thousand rounds of this reman ammo for $214. That’s a solid discount.
Best Budget 9mm Ammo: Magtech 9mm
Magtech 9mm is always a good choice. I must confess I don’t regularly shoot Magtech. However, I never hesitate to pick up a case when I can find it on sale. This particular round is a 115 grain full-metal jacket 9mm Luger round. It has a brass case, and is reloadable if that’s your jam.
The link for this ammo will take you to Primary Arms, and they do offer some great military, first responder, and veteran discounts on a lot of their items. This might make it your best choice for bulk ammo, guns, and other shooting accessories.
As of this writing, you can pick up a thousand rounds of Magtech 9mm for around $233. This is a very good price for new 9mm practice ammo. Now let’s get to our last ammunition recommendation for range training.
Best Budget 9mm Ammo: Sellier & Bellot 9mm
While Sellier and Bellot may be hard to pronounce, their 9mm ammo is great for plinking. I’ve shot about a thousand rounds of this 115 grain 9mm ammo, and it’s been very reliable. In fact, I’ve used it for several of my USPSA matches, because I’ve found it to be so dependable. It’s also packaged in smaller boxes, which makes it easier to fit a lot of ammo in my range bag.
This practice ammo is slightly hotter than some of the other options on this list. It is 115 grain bullet, that averages 1280 feet per second. This comes out to 147 power factor. This might make this ammo a great choice for those who shoot a compensated 9 mm handgun . Generally speaking you want a little more kinetic energy to take advantage of the compensator.
As of this writing you can purchase a thousand rounds of Sellier and Bellot for right around $233 which is a very good deal for new ammunition. In the next section I’ll quickly review some of the best defensive ammo you can use for the occasional practice session.
The Best Self Defense Rounds
Many, if not most of you reading this article, are interested in shooting for defensive purposes. You might be a legally armed citizen or perhaps you carry a gun for a living. Either way, you need to include some training with your defensive ammunition. You don’t want to just shoot practice ammo and then find out that your duty ammo doesn’t work well in your firearm!
I’m not going to review all the data on the best 9mm self-defense ammo, as you can find that information here, but I will quickly cover my top three choices. After that, I’ll post some links where you can pick those rounds up for reasonable prices. Or at least as reasonable as top tier hollow point rounds can be purchased for.
The Top 3 Self Defense Hollow Point Rounds
If you recall from previous article, 9 mm pistols primarily wound via the permanent wound channel it creates, as it hits the target. It doesn’t have enough velocity to create a temporary wound cavity, like rifle ammunition does. Rifle rounds have a much higher velocity, generally 2.5 – 3 times faster than a normal 9mm handgun round.
This means we need the widest expanding 9mm round, that performs within the 12-18 inches of average penetration depth. This is the standard requirement on the FBI gel test. Ideally this round should have a lot of energy behind the bullet as well. The chart below captures my top three choices, given these three criteria.
You can see from the chart above that all three rounds are hollow point rounds. The Remington Golden Saber +P is a 124 grain round, as is the Federal HST +P. The Winchester Ranger T Series is a 147 grain round. All three have similar expansion diameters, and penetration ratings. Moreover these rounds are often used by law enforcement agencies, which is another vote of confidence in my book.
In the last column I’ve used a bit of napkin math to highlight how much pressure the target would experience given the energy in the round, and the expansion diameter. The Federal HST come out on top, with the Golden Saber close behind. The Winchester round is somewhat behind their performance figures. However any of these three rounds would work well for self defense.
As of this writing you can pick up the Remington Golden Saber +P for around $1.50 per round, or about $30 dollars per box of 20. The Federal 124 grain HST rounds sell for $1.40 per round, and the Winchester Ranger T Series rounds sell for around $1.30 per round, when you can find them in stock.
How Much Should You Practice With Self Defense Rounds?
Given the prices of these self defense rounds, we aren’t likely to be using these for regular practice. However, I do recommend that you occasionally practice with your duty ammunition. You’ll find that it feels somewhat different in you hand. Self defense rounds are higher pressure rounds.
The most important thing is to ensure that the duty round you plan on using works well in your firearm, and magazines. Most quality self defense pistols will cycle any ammunition that’s within spec. As any experienced shooter can tell you, some firearms just do better with certain rounds.
You might find that accuracy is better with a certain round, or you might find that the felt recoil is different with heavier bullets, compared to lighter bullets. I recommend trying a few different brands, and then putting a few magazines worth through your gun every month or two. There’s no need to shoot defensive ammo on regular basis, unless you hate money.
Training for Free: Dry Fire
It’s no secret that dry fire training is key for overall firearms skill development. You have to build good, consistent mechanics, with a well structured dry fire program, if you want to be a good shooter. There is no way around this. The other benefit of dry fire training is that it’s totally free.
I’ve noticed that a lot of folks really don’t know what drills to practice in dry fire, and as such I thought I would refer a few of my favorite shooting books, for both live fire and dry fire.
For pistol shooting, I highly recommend Ben Stoeger’s book, “DryFire Reloaded.” Its full of practical drills and goal par times to aim for. Another solid option is, “Refinement and Repetition” by Steve Anderson. Both of these books can be purchased on Amazon, and they are Amazon Affiliate Links.
If you want great drills, that keep you engaged throughout a dry fire training session, then I would lean towards DryFire Reloaded. I also believe these drills are a little more applicable to the defensive or tactical shooter.
Refinement and Repetition is the best option for USPSA and IPSC shooters who want to build their basic skills to a Grand Master level. Many of the drills in that book aren’t particularly useful for the tactical shooter.
Refinement and Repetition also includes a great log book so you can track your par times, and see your improvement across sessions. Now, let’s get to the end of this article, and wrap up with my final thoughts.
Final Thoughts
We’ve covered a lot of information on different types of practice ammo, and a little bit of info on self defense rounds. While many of us really like shooting, we need to be cognizant that most of your skill development will come from dry fire practice.
No top level action sports shooter trains with live fire exclusively. Some do shoot more than others, but you will always find that consistent dry fire work allows you to really focus on the mechanics of firearm manipulation.
Your live fire training should be reserved for learning the timing of your gun during recoil. You should also be able to track your pistol mounted red dot, or iron sights through recoil. This tracking key feed back that lets you know if how your last shot faired. This is why you need to shoot with both practice ammo and carry ammo. Your training ammo almost always has less recoil.
I firmly believe that if you plan on being proficient with your firearm, you should do a few dry fire practice sessions per week. You should also aim to get to the range every week or two. Any longer and you start to lose competency with those fine motor skills.
Lastly, you’ll find that ammunition quickly goes in and out of stock, so make sure you check back from time to time to see if your preferred brand is available. Now get out there and get shooting!
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