What type of ammunition should I buy? You should buy American made ammunition. Our ammo is the best in the world, bar none. There is a great deal of quality difference among non-US manufactures, so be careful. There is a confusing plethora of ammo on the market. The +P ammunition tends to be much better than standard loads. This is why I recommend you buy a pistol manufactured after 1985 by a first class pistol manufacturer, they will be able to handle the +P loads. If you do not like the extra bang when you fire a hot load, then I recommend you stick with standard loads. Note: You can buy cheaper ammo for practice and you’ll be fine. Just make sure you are carrying quality ammo on the street. Winchester “white box” usually bought at Wal-Mart is the go-to ammo for practice amongst the gun enthusiast crowd. Also, make sure your ammo says JHP, or Jacketed Hollow Point, if you want to carry it for protection. FMJ, or Full Metal Jacket, is fine for practice and will be cheaper. Don’t buy any ammunition that doesn’t have a metal jacket, or you’ll spend a lot of time cleaning the lead out of your gun. Oh, if you want, you can use reloaded ammo, which is recycled ammo, for practice but never, ever, ever carry it for personal protection.
What are the quality ammunition manufacturers? Federal, Remington, Winchester, Hornady, Cor-Bon, or CCI/Speer are all good manufacturers, although their product line varies and you many not find a particular brand in the caliber you want.
My ammo recommendations for Revolvers:
.22 Long Rifle - CCI “Stinger” 32 grain (grain refers to the weight of the bullet and is abbreviated gr. It can also refer to the amount of powder in the bullet, but that’s not relevant for this discussion. The boxes will be marked with the bullet weight, not the powder measure.) or the Remington “Yellow Jacket” 33gr ammo. Any ammo made by Federal, Remington, Winchester, or CCI of 37 grain or less.
.32 H&R Magnum – Federal 85gr Jacketed Hollow Point. I personally would prefer a .22 Long Rifle over this round. It’s not very common really, and not very good for self defense, but I thought it should be included.
.38 Special – For guns with a 2” barrel, I would use either Federal Personal Defense Nyclad 125 Grain Hollow Point ammo or Winchester Silvertip 110 grain JHP for standard loads. For ammo that is hotter, I would use Federal 129 grain +P Hydra-shok JHP or Remington 125 grain +P Golden Saber HPJ.
If you want to carry a gun with a 4” barrel, you can use Cor-Bon .38 Special +P 125 grain JHP, but, be warned, it’s a hot load.
.357 Magnum – If you have a 2.5” barrel, or you don’t like a lot of recoil, then I would recommend Remington Medium Velocity 125 grain Semi-Jacketed Hollow point and the Cor-Bon 110 grain JHP. If you want more punch in your 4” gun, then you should try Federal .357 Magnum 125 grain jacketed hollow point or Remington full-power 125 grain semi-jacketed hollow point.
.44 Special – The most recommended round for this gun is Cor-Bon 180 grain JHP followed by the Winchester Silvertip 200 grain JHP.
.44 Magnum - Cor-Bon's 180 grain or Federal's 180 grain medium-velocity JHP are acceptable, but this is a powerful handgun and not really suited for concealed carry, despite what Dirty Harry says about them.
So, what kind of person chooses to carry a revolver in this age of high capacity semi-automatics?
Revolvers are for people who carry a gun for the same reason they carry car insurance, they don’t plan on using it, but it’s there if they need it. Automatic pistols require more training to use because they are a more complicated piece of machinery so knowing how to clear a jam or fix a malfunction under stress is a part of the combat training. With a revolver, if it doesn’t go bang the first time, you just pull the trigger again and it will be ready to go. If you don’t think you need 18 rounds of ammo loaded in your Glock 17 9mm, then a revolver can be your new friend and be very happy together.
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