Ontarget Posted December 19, 2021 Share Posted December 19, 2021 What are your considerations when you choose a company for pistol bullets. I have been mostly relying on lowest price to make my decision. Do you consider factors other than price when choosing a bullet company: consistency of their bullets, accuracy compared to other brands, ease if loading, etc.? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted December 19, 2021 Share Posted December 19, 2021 26 minutes ago, Ontarget said: What are your considerations when you choose a company for pistol bullets. I have been mostly relying on lowest price to make my decision. Do you consider factors other than price when choosing a bullet company: consistency of their bullets, accuracy compared to other brands, ease if loading, etc.? ...Also customer service, Availability when times get tough, and match/shooter sponsorships(supporting the sport. Then there is the specific application such as Open gun vs other divisions. I only run JHP's in Open and currently Precision Delta is my go to company because they have done a great job of keeping bullets in stock. For other loads I prefer Black Bullets International coated bullets for all the reasons I mentioned above. Cost is generally my last consideration Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe4d Posted December 19, 2021 Share Posted December 19, 2021 consistency, able to deliver, having what I want, decent hassle free websight, good reviews, decent track record, competive but not always cheapest price. That being said, all the current big players do well. Bayou, MO, Montanna gold, Precision, Precision Delta, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boomstick303 Posted December 19, 2021 Share Posted December 19, 2021 I use coated from Gallant for practice and locals. Level II and up Precision Delta and Montana gold. Using JHP or FMJ minimizes smoke for higher level matches. I most likely will be switching to Black Bullets international for coated in the near future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Banacek Posted December 19, 2021 Share Posted December 19, 2021 3 hours ago, Sarge said: ...Also customer service, Availability when times get tough, and match/shooter sponsorships(supporting the sport. Then there is the specific application such as Open gun vs other divisions. I only run JHP's in Open and currently Precision Delta is my go to company because they have done a great job of keeping bullets in stock. For other loads I prefer Black Bullets International coated bullets for all the reasons I mentioned above. Cost is generally my last consideration I consistently regard Sarge's info spot on and i ran JHPs for years. Back in the early 2000s my shooting buddy and i ran tests on JHPs and round nose for our 38 supers. We found the JHPs ran faster. These were MGBs, 124s. So we went that way. I switched to 9mm Major awhile back and just switched from an STI open gun to a Tanfoglio. The JHP profile does not run well. So long story long. It can depend 9n your gun. Sarge rules! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan67 Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 What your guns like and what's available. When the supplies were short blacks stayed available. Have also shot a lot of Blues and SNS. Precision Delta for comped guns too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom S. Posted December 26, 2021 Share Posted December 26, 2021 Number one is a tie between hardness and consistency. Then comes shape and weight, coated, and last, price. I've done business with Penn Bullet for decades, literally. What caught my attention initially was I was looking for a 9mm 115 gr semi wad cutter bullet and they were the only one who made them. On top of that, they would size them for you if needed. I'm not sure of their future at this time as Robert Palermo, the owner passed away a week or so ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe4d Posted December 26, 2021 Share Posted December 26, 2021 2 hours ago, Tom S. said: Number one is a tie between hardness and consistency. Then comes shape and weight, coated, and last, price. I've done business with Penn Bullet for decades, literally. What caught my attention initially was I was looking for a 9mm 115 gr semi wad cutter bullet and they were the only one who made them. On top of that, they would size them for you if needed. I'm not sure of their future at this time as Robert Palermo, the owner passed away a week or so ago. wow, sorry to hear that. Was a good guy . allways had time to answer my emails and helped me develop my bowling pin loads. Made me softer bullets than typical for both revolver and my 45. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obsessiveshooter Posted December 26, 2021 Share Posted December 26, 2021 precision, sns, blue, gallant, BBI, bayou all ought to be pretty much interchangeable as excellent options. The only brands I've ever had issue with were J Ames (horribly inaccurate, other members had same experience) and Brazos (they lead my barrels in 9mm but are fine in my .40). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kwontanamo Posted December 28, 2021 Share Posted December 28, 2021 I got in the habit of competing with the bullets I practice with. For the most part it was JHP from PD. I'm shooting blue bullers with CO and PCC now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synchronicity Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 Blue Bullets work for me. 45 GAP 230gn LRN 155pf 625 IDPA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enfield Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 On 12/26/2021 at 4:56 PM, obsessiveshooter said: precision, sns, blue, gallant, BBI, bayou all ought to be pretty much interchangeable as excellent options. The only brands I've ever had issue with were J Ames (horribly inaccurate, other members had same experience) and Brazos (they lead my barrels in 9mm but are fine in my .40). I've heard similar about Brazos from others. What's going on there, oversized? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obsessiveshooter Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 5 hours ago, Enfield said: I've heard similar about Brazos from others. What's going on there, oversized? their lead is too soft. I'm thinking the higher velocity of 9mm has an affect on the coating, I don't really know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enfield Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 I'll have to try the hammer test on some and see how they compare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ontarget Posted January 30, 2022 Author Share Posted January 30, 2022 What's the hammer test? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 1 hour ago, Ontarget said: What's the hammer test? I believe you whack the bullet with a hammer to see if the coating stays intact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enfield Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 It's also a really unscientific way to determine lead hardness. Hard cast will not deform much, soft will flatten out easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njl Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 (edited) On 12/26/2021 at 5:56 PM, obsessiveshooter said: precision, sns, blue, gallant, BBI, bayou all ought to be pretty much interchangeable as excellent options. The only brands I've ever had issue with were J Ames (horribly inaccurate, other members had same experience) and Brazos (they lead my barrels in 9mm but are fine in my .40). What weight were you using (with Brazos) and to what velocity did you load them? I've been using their 135gr 9mm (which I find to generally be 137gr) for a couple of years now. I pretty much only shoot Glocks. The only leading I've seen was with my Gen5 G34 when new. After cleaning the barrel and running a few hundred FMJ through it, it seems to have been cured of the issue. I load them to low 900s (like 930fps), and have using them with my Gen3 G34 for IDPA. BTW, to answer the OP's question, price is the main driver for which bullets I buy, but sometimes weight or a profile I really want are the deciders. Not everyone produces every weight and profile. Edited February 14, 2022 by njl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obsessiveshooter Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 3 hours ago, njl said: What weight were you using (with Brazos) and to what velocity did you load them? It was 125gr, 135gr, and I think 147? its been a while. I tried different diameters too. they all just wrecked the barrels with leading in several pistols. Lots of people here had the same experience. Sounds like you got lucky somehow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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