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Do any of you regular shooters have advice or sources of getting ammo a little cheaper? I do not have a house or area to store that much (more than a few boxes) and handloading is out of the question at this time. I went shooting for the first time in a few years to find a single stack 9mm I can do for conceal carry and was shocked by 50 ct of 9mm costing $20 bucks! 40cents a shot? I thought 9mm would be closer to 15-20 cents a shot.
I havent bought a gun yet, was hopping to hit up another range and try out the other guns in my top5 list. First range only had 2 of 5 that I was interested in.
Do you know any 'value' brands of 9mm that shoot ok for the range and improving accuracy and muscle memory? Where do you get it? I assume 115 grain would be ideal?
edit: checked out that cheaperthandirt website and they have some good prices, both on ammo and guns. Ammo is way cheaper than even Walmart
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20$ for 50 rounds of 9mm is expensive, you can get it for half that pretty much everywhere.. I sometimes buy steel cased cheap shit for the gun range, assuming your gun will run it. Some guns have feeding issues with it though so buy one box and run it through your gun before buying more. Also some ranges don't allow you to shoot steel cased ammo so be weary of that.
I usually buy my ammo from walmart. Unless you're buying in bulk (over 500 rounds) then the shipping usually makes buying online more than walmart.
Blazer brass, monarch, american eagle are all good range ammo though and only slightly more expensive than steel cased ammo. For my carry gun that has issues with steel cased ammo, I always buy one of those 3, whichever is cheapest. Sometimes I can find winchester white box for cheap as well and I'll buy that.
115 grain is standard for 9MM and what most people use.
I don't actually own a 9MM though, as I prefer .40SW for my carry gun.
What is your top 5 list? Just curious.
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Thanks for the tip about Steel cased, I had heard that before and had kinda ignored them when looking around on websites. Once a pick a gun I'll try a small box of steel in it to see if it works.
M&P Shield
Springfield XDS
Bersa BP9cc
Ruger LC9
Keltec PF9
Shot Shield & Glock43 first time at the indoor range. Shield was ok. Glock43 was ok but seemed too small in my hand (i'm 6'3") and I didnt like the small 6 Rounds capacity even in extended mag.
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My main carry gun is an M&P Shield(in 40S&W), so I'm kind of partial to that. Tin's is an XDS(in 45ACP), which he seems to like. The XDS has a grip safety, which some may or may not like.
Keltec's are generally considered to be pieces of shit and not trustworthy... I personally would never buy one as protection. I've never seen or shot a Bersa, but from what I've read and saw online, the Bersa seems to be a decent gun. I believe it's an Argentina gun and customer service may not be the greatest. Also getting parts and holsters for it is probably going to be harder than the others.
Ruger and S&W have great customer service and warranties and all that(and they are American if you're into that kind of thing), but from my experience, Ruger's are a little more of a pain in the ass to take apart and the LC9's just always felt cheap to me... but they are very popular and wouldn't be that popular if they were trash.
Instead of the Glock 43, why not try the glock 26? It's a double stack and holds 10 rounds and is slightly bigger than the 43. I'm not real big on glocks(not a fan or a hater), but if the limited rounds and small sizer were the only downfalls for you, you should give the 26 a try.
Glocks don't have an manual safety(I don't believe the XDS does either) if that matters to you.
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Well I've called several ranges and none of them even have a Bersa BP9cc to even shoot. A couple had the Thunder .380 but that seems a bit underwhelming.
I know Glock probably makes GOOD stuff, but is more expensive and like you said, I'm considering sticking with an American company like S&W, Springfield or Ruger. I saw the 26 is their small carry, but it almost looks too small as well.
From my research both the Shield & XDS come in safety versions so they can sell in states with gun laws like Cali. I'm not afraid of not having a safety but it seems like it could be useful at times.
When you carry, do you have round chambered?
Do you use a laser at all? I saw XDS had a version from factory with laser in the grip that looked pretty nice. I'm new to semi-autos and havent shot in about 3-5 years with my revolver. So watching a ton of videos for accuracy and stuff. A gun shop video pointed out that laser can be very helpful to see what you are doing wrong and easy for an observer to notice.
Did you replace your sights with your shield? I saw a couple videos where they had fiber optics so rear were green and front was red and that seems like it would help focus on front sight a ton. Would it be bad form to just use a red sharpe on my front sight dot? LOL
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Has anyone purchased from bulkammo.com website? About 75% of my co-workers are shooters and recommended it if I buy in quantities of 500 or more, or else walmart was cheaper.
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Strife Wrote:Instead of the Glock 43, why not try the glock 26?
As an owner of multiple Glock's I have a love/hate relationship with them.
Pro's
Very light, easy to fire, very dependable.
Con's
No safety, terrible angle of shell discharge (you will burn yourself if you fire it enough)
However my biggest complaint and the reason I would never suggest a Glock to anyone is the Glock magazine. They have a plastic lip that hangs over the top casing that protrudes much more than any other weapon I know of. This is bad since your fingers will be raw reloading a Glock magazine.
The other bad part of the magazine is the springs in them are made of some metal from the planet Krypton. I can't get more than 7 rounds in my 10 round magazines.
Basically I think a Glock is best hand gun I have ever fired but I can't stand using it since I then have to reload it! If you can afford to have someone follow you around reloading your magazines (the auto re-loaders break because of there damn springs) then buy a Glock, if you can't I would avoid a Glock.
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I actually already ordered a speed reloader, Maglula, after killing my fingers loading the Glock43 on the range hah.
I totally picture Vllad as the ole shooter guy in this video!
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Diggles Wrote:I actually already ordered a speed reloader, Maglula, after killing my fingers loading the Glock43 on the range hah.
I totally picture Vllad as the ole shooter guy in this video!
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Hah, I will have to check that out.
I have thrown a Glock magazine before!
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Diggles Wrote:Well I've called several ranges and none of them even have a Bersa BP9cc to even shoot. A couple had the Thunder .380 but that seems a bit underwhelming. Not surprising, they aren't really that common.
Quote:I know Glock probably makes GOOD stuff, but is more expensive and like you said, I'm considering sticking with an American company like S&W, Springfield or Ruger. I saw the 26 is their small carry, but it almost looks too small as well.
yea the 26 is just slightly bigger than the 43. Vllad has good points about the glock as well. I would probably never buy a glock(imo there are better options for less $), but they are popular for a reason.
Quote:From my research both the Shield & XDS come in safety versions so they can sell in states with gun laws like Cali. I'm not afraid of not having a safety but it seems like it could be useful at times.
When you carry, do you have round chambered?
Not sure if the XDS has a manual safety... I don't think I've ever seen one with an actual thumb safety. They have a grip safety but not sure about a manual thumb safety.
Yes I carry a round in the chamber. Personally speaking, I would never carry without a round in the chamber. If there ever is an instance that I'm going to need my gun, odds are it's going to be reaction to have to draw it and use it... having to chamber a round would greatly increase the chance that I'm too slow to use it. I do have a manual safety on mine though, which is something I have on all of my guns so that I will hopefully instinctively thumb off the safety if I ever need to use it. If I had some guns with and some without, then when I practice I wouldn't' always thumb off the safety, so I prefer all of mine do have it.
Quote:Do you use a laser at all? I saw XDS had a version from factory with laser in the grip that looked pretty nice. I'm new to semi-autos and havent shot in about 3-5 years with my revolver. So watching a ton of videos for accuracy and stuff. A gun shop video pointed out that laser can be very helpful to see what you are doing wrong and easy for an observer to notice.
I don't have a laser at all. I have nothing against them though, I just don't have them.
Quote:Did you replace your sights with your shield? I saw a couple videos where they had fiber optics so rear were green and front was red and that seems like it would help focus on front sight a ton. Would it be bad form to just use a red sharpe on my front sight dot? LOL
I did replace mine. I put XS Big dots on mine which (see the picture attached), definitely get you to focus on the front site.
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Vllad Wrote:Diggles Wrote:I actually already ordered a speed reloader, Maglula, after killing my fingers loading the Glock43 on the range hah.
I totally picture Vllad as the ole shooter guy in this video!
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Hah, I will have to check that out.
I have thrown a Glock magazine before! I have a Maglula loader and it's awesome. Much faster than doing it by hand and it saves your fingers from reloading. It also makes it much easier to get the last couple rounds in the magazine that are sometimes a bitch.
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Diggles Wrote:Has anyone purchased from bulkammo.com website? About 75% of my co-workers are shooters and recommended it if I buy in quantities of 500 or more, or else walmart was cheaper. I haven't. I've purchased from FreedomMunitions.com and a couple others. They are all about the same. FreedomMunitions sales remanufactured ammo and it's pretty much the cheapest I've found online.
Looking at BulkAmmo.com, the cheapest brass 9mm they have is right at $10 per 50. Academy has boxes of Monarch for 9.99 a box of 50. That's why i don't typically order online.. I can usually find it for about the same price locally at walmart or academy and I can get it now, and not have to buy 500 or 1000 rounds. Typically when I go shoot, I only shoot 100-150 rounds anyways.
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My local flyer for academy has Monarch 9mm FMJ for 8.99 a box of 50.
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I've never heard of Academy but seen it referenced several times in videos about ammo, did a search and looks like actually opened up less than 5 minutes from the Range I've started going to.
After reading your comments and watching a video like this, I think round chambered is definitely the way to go.
I always take internet shit with a grain of salt, but they make some good points in the video (GRAPHIC). Racking takes your 2nd hand and also takes twice as long to get off your first shot
NSFW
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Diggles Wrote:I've never heard of Academy Wow! heh, Academy is awesome. They are pretty much my go to for outdoors stuff. They are typically reasonably priced. If they have the gun you know you want, it will probably be a little cheaper there as well.
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cheaperthandirt.com is usually pretty decent on ammo prices. When I buy .308 that is where I go and they typically are the lowest I can find when I look.
Don't buy something crazy. Get a good solid gun.
And btw, Springfield isn't an American company... No matter what they want you to believe they are a Croatian company. I love my XDS as it's pretty small (I carry it in cargo shorts pocket during the summer) and I feel more comfortable with the grip safety than no safety, but I don't want a traditional safety.
If I was purchasing a carry gun right now (which I have considered buying a truck gun) I would buy a Chiappa Rhino .357 I mean you need to be able to kill the bear through the door of your car right?
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Very happy with the service from cheaperthandirt, ordered a rifle case, scope, bunch of mags and a reloader. I picked up a Ruger 10/22 from Walmart.
Heck even the reloader hurts your hand after about 90 so rounds...glad I got it though.
I went ahead and special ordered the S&W Shield 9mm Performance Center version, since it was only $75 more and had better sights, trigger and lower recoil.
Still trying to decide on a shotgun
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Cool.
Tin and I both use these on our carry guns, the rubberized version. They make holding such a small pistol more comfortable. Highly recommended.
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