Ammo Standardization - Ammo is More Than a Checkbox You Mark Off. Your Choices Matter.

 Ammo can be tricky to get in general during these COVID and unrestful times. Simply buying what's on the shelf may help you stock up but unless you're willing to rezero every time you change ammo, you're not really doing yourself much in the way of favors. Plus it's a waste of a few rounds everytime. 

I learned the hard way that ammo is not just ammo; that not all ammo is equal. Most people will recognize this when you get "practice" ammo and "defensive" ammo. It goes deeper than that. Velocities, bullet weight, powder charge, etc. all contribute to changes in point of impact from the same gun at the same distances in the same hands. By testing different loads for same point of impact you can ensure that you can train regularly with ammo that emulates your point of impact compared to your defensive ammo. If done correctly, this is a cost effective way for you way to train while preserving your expensive and hard to get good ammo. 

In short, the answer to ammo selection is to investigate what defensive ammo meets your requirements then figure out if you can afford to buy a good enough supply of that one loading, if you can buy it regularly and does it come from Russia? More on that later. 

I use Speer Gold Dots in the 124 gr +P version of their 9mm defensive loadings and based on the weight and velocities of this cartridge, I had assumed that Winchester's Q4318 9x19 NATO 124 grain load would have been a good choice. It was available and when it was on sale with whatever retailer, I could get 500 rounds for around $110 shipped and the recoil should have been about the same as the Gold Dots. I was carrying a PPQ or an M&P Shield gen1 at the time with open sights. As a result, I had stocked up and amassed a goodly sized supply but under 1000 rounds. Then a few things occurred. First I switched to a pistol with a red dot and finally, 2020 happened. I have only seen a few boxes of Q4318 available for sale since 2020 and the red dot, a Holosun 507K X2, when zeroed at 25 yards, does NOT have the same point of impact between the two cartridges. I would have to rezero every time I wanted to practice and that's simply not practical. It would be a waste of ammo and I can't afford to keep shooting Gold Dots every time I go out. 

In 2020, I took a full inventory of what I had out of a need to organize my gun stuff as part of house projects. I found that while a have an ample supply, it's an ABSOLUTE hodge-podge of ammo. Starting in 2022, I have been finishing up my projects, many of these guns use a red dot or scope. Since you zero your sights and optics for the rounds being used, its best to have an ample supply of the ammo you're zeroed for. Since rezeroing is a pain and wasteful, I'd rather have 1000 rounds of the same stuff than 1700 rounds of different rounds in the 300 and less count since much of which would have a different POI.

In March of 2022, I took my carry pistol to the range along with several boxes of the ammunition had in my inventory. What I had on hand was Monarch 115 grain brass 9mm, Winchester 115 grain 9mm, Winchester Q4318 and Igman 124 grain 9mm. None of the 124 grain stuff has a similar point of impact to the Speer Gold Dots but both the Winchester and Monarch (which is Academy's in-house brand) have a minimal enough POI shift relative to the Gold Dot from my pistol at 25 yards. This is specific to my gun, red dot and ammo choices. Your situation may be different. 

Currently, I'm training for the Georgia semi-auto pistol course qualification which has accuracy requirements. Having a supply of training ammo with the same POI at distances I will be testing at is a huge benefit as I won't have to adjust my point of aim to compensate. 

As a result of those tests, I know that as I use up what ammo I have for practice, I should be replacing it specifically with one loading. I haven't chosen between the Winchester and Monarch yet but since both are close enough, I can just go with which ever is cheapest. 

In the end, I should have only two loadings for my carry gun, the expensive defensive rounds and a matched POI training round. 

I am applying this to my other guns as well. 

The biggest parts of this project have been 9mm, 22LR and 5.56. My primary AR-15 has been zeroed with the no-longer available Wolf Gold 223 Remington. It appears that the manufacturer is no longer importing that loading but does import an M193 based round which is still different than my current 223. As a result, I've had to resort to testing different cartridges to see which have a similar POI at 50 yards. Thankfully, Wolf Polyformance and Tula both have a 55 gr steel case 223 with a POI close enough that at 50 yards, I can hit a 6 inch gong reliably enough. This means that I have a supply that I can get often enough thats inexpensive that I won't have to use up my nicer brass cased Wolf Gold. 

Except then Russia decided to do Russian things and invade Ukraine. Russian made ammo was already under sanctions but existing import authorizations would still be honored until they expire. Those would have lasted a few years. You'd still be able to get Tula and others for cheap. Those sanctions likely would have ran out before the import licenses expired but since Russia invaded Ukraine (for like the third or fourth time in human history), getting cheap ammo isn't going to be a thing for a long while. Wolf's Performance, Polyformance and others along with Tula, Brown Bear, Silver Bear, Barnaul and even some Monarch brand ammo, is made in Russia. While some of these brands also have plants in other places (like Ukraine - Red Army Standard) these brands represented what is generally, the cheapest options on the market. Tula's bottom of the barrel 9mm load was a steel cased, zinc jacketed bullet factory offering that you could get for 16 cents per round in a 1000 round case.

Since I won't be able to ethically acquire cheap Russian made ammo with similar POI to the Taiwanese made Wolf Gold I have left, I need to start looking at what I can use. The next largest supply of ammo I have is M855 from Federal but that was from back when they were running the Lake City plant and the Army was still using M855 and not the new M855A1. Now that Winchester is running the plant, I would have to test to see if their M855 is the same as the Federal in terms of POI. But since the Army left M855 behind for the A1 version, I might as well not bother. M855 does appear to be all that great anyway.

At this point, I've got a few options already in very small quantities that I'll take to the range. I'll run them through a chronograph to see if they have similar velocities to the Wolf Gold I have. If the POI is similar enough and accuracy is good, then I know that I'll be able to start stocking up on whatever loading I select while practicing with the rest of my inventory. 

This process is tedious but I think is worth any gun owner's time and helps keep expenses down.

Choose one cartridge that meets your needs. If you can afford to do it buy those rounds in bulk. If you can't afford that, then test small quantities of different rounds for point of impact shift and stock up on the rounds that have the closest point of impact to your good ammo, that is cheaper and actually available and NOT from some country that's going to screw over everyone.