Most reliable ammo in SMG

[CQB762]

Ok guys getting ready to try out a new to me SMG waiting on paper work, and looking to order some ammo. I have had outstanding experience with S&B in 9 and 45 for years in pistols but have not shot any in a Uzi. I can get S&B 115,124, or Blazer Brass 115, or Win white box 115 for about the same price $11.75 box shipped or Win nato 124 for $12.50 shipped. I’m not worried about the extra $1 per box just looking for my first impression to be positive. any Other recommendations would be appreciated also. BTW the gun has a factory semi feed ramp that is cut for bolt clearance.

thanks guys

 

[nklf]

Congratulations on the Uzi. I have never had any problems with S&B or Blazer Brass in my Uzis. If the price is the same I buy 124gr, if it is cheaper I buy the 115gr. Both run fine for me. I know a dollar a box does not sound like much, but at 650RPM it adds up. Winchester white box historically was underpowered and has a bad rep in sub guns so I don't buy it and have never run any in my Uzi. Because of the bad rep on white box, I don't buy Winchester pistol ammo regardless of product line.

 

[brenbuilds]

Most European ammo is loaded to hotter specifications, and overall quality is often superior to American made ammo. S&B, GECO, Fiocchi are all great choices. 124 gr. was designed for use in submachine guns, but 115gr. will often work fine too. Avoid Aluminum case Blazer ammo in subguns as cases can rupture as they enter battery in API guns.

 

[navgunner]

Sellier & Bellot is my preferred ammo for subguns. For my UZI, I use the 115g (Richard Hoffman’s recommendation). It runs about 9% hotter than their 124g (only applies to S&B, for other manufacturers I usually go w/ 124g).

S&B 9mm Para
115 grain is 418 ft. lbs
124 grain is 384 ft. lbs

 

[mike]

I been using S&B and Fiocchi for years. Federal works ok but the guns runs a little slower. In my opinion ammo to stay away from is all Remington ammo Winchester and NEVER use aluminum cased ammo in a full auto.

 

[Samuel_Hoggson]

Not much doesn't work. I've put multiple steel-cased 115s and a couple different 124s through mine with no complaints: Ulyanovsk, Novobirsk, Tula, Barnaul, Wolf (importer), Magtech, eieio. All ran, tho the Uly and Novo showed large SDs, so ROF was irregular. My favorite steel-cased is/was Wolf 124 gr. Frankly, had fewer FTFires with steel cased.

In general, ROF will vary with recoil/power level. With brass the list of things that I'd avoid is small - Remington 115s and WWB. Some people have good luck with WWB 115s, but they're hit and miss IME.

Given same or close pricing always take the 124s. Still have a fair amount of corrosive IMI that runs great. Just have to do the hot water/Windex deal afterwards.

 

[CQB762]

Thanks guys I’m going with a case of each 115,124 S&B. It’s a brand that I trust. I bought a Willson Combat 1911 about 20 years ago and they recommended the S&B 230. i thought that was a big 👍 from a top line manufacturer. I was thinking everyone was going to say 124 NATO.

Thanks again

 

[PDXsparky]

Thanks guys I’m going with a case of each 115,124 S&B. It’s a brand that I trust. I bought a Willson Combat 1911 about 20 years ago and they recommended the S&B 230. i thought that was a big 👍 from a top line manufacturer. I was thinking everyone was going to say 124 NATO.

Thanks again

That's a good choice. S&B has always run reliably for me in both full size Uzi and Mac M11-9

 

[AKarms]

I run blazer brass almost all the time (test firing, target, and msg dumping. ) I run imi surplus on special occasions. I find blazer the most reliable over all others I’ve tried

 

[StenAtopia]

I run blazer brass almost all the time (test firing, target, and msg dumping. ) I run imi surplus on special occasions. I find blazer the most reliable over all others I’ve tried

I agree!!!! BB been the best for me.

 

[CQB762]

I run blazer brass almost all the time (test firing, target, and msg dumping. ) I run imi surplus on special occasions. I find blazer the most reliable over all others I’ve tried

Are you running the 115 or 124?

I will definitely give BB a try. CCI is a local Idaho company that I would like to support, I use their 22 ammo almost exclusively.

 

[pmf]

The good news is -- almost any 9mm ammo runs just fine in an uzi. Get whatever is cheapest. Just make sure its not aluminum cased and it has a ball bullet. Not hollow point or flat faced. Congrats on the gun -- I love mine even after 25 years.

 

[AKarms]

Are you running the 115 or 124?

I will definitely give BB a try. CCI is a local Idaho company that I would like to support, I use their 22 ammo almost exclusively.ei

Are you running the 115 or 124?

I will definitely give BB a try. CCI is a local Idaho company that I would like to support, I use their 22 ammo almost exclusively.

Either. I’ve used both

 

[pmf]

When i bought my vector uzi i was paying $80 a case for wolf steel cased ammo

 

[Dirk Hawthorne]

The good news is -- almost any 9mm ammo runs just fine in an uzi. Get whatever is cheapest. Just make sure its not aluminum cased and it has a ball bullet. Not hollow point or flat faced. Congrats on the gun -- I love mine even after 25 years.

what this guy said. any name brand bulk ammo should run like a top. My UZI hates aluminum case.

I never tried steel case.

I personally would not shoot reloaded ammo unless I was the one doing the reloading.

go on ammoseek dot com and buy whatever is cheapest.

My understanding is that the military users of the UZI used really hot +P or +P+ ammo, to get more range out of it. There is no need to do that.

The UZI will run with pretty weak ammo (within reason). Weak ammo can be dangerous due to runaways and squib rounds, so just use normal velocity ammo. Remington UMC used to be dangerously weak ammo, but some people say the problem has been fixed.

Anything with a round nose feeds great, including lead heads.

IF YOU get the chamber mouth of your barrel opened up a little, like a funnel, it run anything you feed it, flat points, whatever. The barrelxchange guy who posts here does a very good job on that. I STRONGLY recommend this mod, as the UZI was designed for 124 gr round nose ammo, a very slick bullet profile.

I would say my UZI is the least finicky MG that I have owned, with the exception of my Thompsons. My Thompsons just refuse to jam.

 

[regalgseguy]

I use the MKE 124g. Loaded to NATO spec. It's pretty hot stuff and runs like a champ in my FA IMI UZI. Look for some on Ammoseek where they usually have some good deals.

 

[Bret]

I like to run 124gr FMJ's in my submachineguns. I recently purchased some BPS 124gr FMJ ammunition for $200/1000rd case, so I decided to break out my Xero C1 Pro Compact chronograph today to see how it compared to some other 124gr FMJ loads. I fired ten cartridges of each through my Sig M11-A1TB. It has a threaded barrel that's about a half inch longer than a typical M11-A1 (P229) barrel. Reliability was 100%. Here are the results:
CCI Blazer Brass: 1087fps, 14.3fps std dev, 48fps extreme spread, 325ft-lb
Geco R: 1044fps, 12.7fps std dev, 42fps extreme spread, 300ft-lb
BPS: 1160fps, 20.0fps std dev, 66fps extreme spread, 371ft-lb
Winchester NATO: 1136fps, 25.8fps std dev, 76fps extreme spread, 356ft-lb
Scorpio: 1073fps, 10.5fps std dev, 33fps extreme spread, 317ft-lb

I was surprised regarding how hot the BPS is. It was hotter than the Winchester NATO spec, so it's definitely in the +P range. That isn't noted anywhere on the box. Recoil was noticeably stronger than the other cartridges and the spent cases went the furthest. Primers were flattened and the lettering on the case heads were not as sharp after firing. It was also 4th out of five as far as the consistency of the velocity. This is definitely ammunition that you want to keep away from pistols that were not designed to handle +P 9mm. I'll probably just relegate it to my semiauto 9mm pistol caliber carbines. Some have reported having squibs with the ammunition, so I'd keep it away from submachineguns. FYI, BPS is made in Turkey like the MKE that regalgsguy mentioned.

The inconsistency of the Winchester NATO velocity was disappointing. I've shot a ton of this cartridge over the years, so I know that it's decently accurate.

The CCI Blazer Brass and Geco R are good regular power 9mm cartridges with decent consistency.

In my opinion, the Scorpio was the overall winner from a consistency standpoint. Unfortunately, I only have two cases left and it's now more expensive than it once was at about $250 per case.

 

[Nome Nomad]

I agree!!!! BB been the best for me.

I’ve had trouble with blazer brass in a MP40

 

[Dirk Hawthorne]

I like to run 124gr FMJ's in my submachineguns. I recently purchased some BPS 124gr FMJ ammunition for $200/1000rd case, so I decided to break out my Xero C1 Pro Compact chronograph today to see how it compared to some other 124gr FMJ loads. I fired ten cartridges of each through my Sig M11-A1TB. It has a threaded barrel that's about a half inch longer than a typical M11-A1 (P229) barrel. Reliability was 100%. Here are the results:
CCI Blazer Brass: 1087fps, 14.3fps std dev, 48fps extreme spread, 325ft-lb
Geco R: 1044fps, 12.7fps std dev, 42fps extreme spread, 300ft-lb
BPS: 1160fps, 20.0fps std dev, 66fps extreme spread, 371ft-lb
Winchester NATO: 1136fps, 25.8fps std dev, 76fps extreme spread, 356ft-lb
Scorpio: 1073fps, 10.5fps std dev, 33fps extreme spread, 317ft-lb

I was surprised regarding how hot the BPS is. It was hotter than the Winchester NATO spec, so it's definitely in the +P range. That isn't noted anywhere on the box. Recoil was noticeably stronger than the other cartridges and the spent cases went the furthest. Primers were flattened and the lettering on the case heads were not as sharp after firing. It was also 4th out of five as far as the consistency of the velocity. This is definitely ammunition that you want to keep away from pistols that were not designed to handle +P 9mm. I'll probably just relegate it to my semiauto 9mm pistol caliber carbines. Some have reported having squibs with the ammunition, so I'd keep it away from submachineguns. FYI, BPS is made in Turkey like the MKE that regalgsguy mentioned.

The inconsistency of the Winchester NATO velocity was disappointing. I've shot a ton of this cartridge over the years, so I know that it's decently accurate.

The CCI Blazer Brass and Geco R are good regular power 9mm cartridges with decent consistency.

In my opinion, the Scorpio was the overall winner from a consistency standpoint. Unfortunately, I only have two cases left and it's now more expensive than it once was at about $250 per case.

That standard deviation on the winchester does seem pretty huge. Maybe try testing it again. I almost never see anything over 35.

 

[Dirk Hawthorne]

One thing to keep in mind is that you are going to pick up a good 100 feet per second when you go from a 5" barrel to a 10" barrel.
The exact jump in velocity depends on how slow the powder burns, but it's usually 70 to maybe 120 fps.
This comes into play when shooting suppressed.
I have a 8.5 inch threaded barrel that I use to shoot suppressed, and that is enough to make 147 grain Speer Lawman go just below supersonic, you can start hearing crackle.
It's like 927 fps out of a pistol, but right around 1100 from an UZI.
I shoot at more or less sea level, but last MG shoot I was at, it was only 20 degrees out and the Speer was LOUD.
Note also that the speed of the bullet doesn't keep increasing with barrel length, as the barrel gets longer, the velocity increase drops to zero. So you might get the exact same velocity from an 8.5 inch barrel as a 10 inch.
This table matches what I get from the various tests that I have done: http://www.ballisticsbytheinch.com/9luger.html

BBTI - Ballistics by the Inch :: 9mm Luger Results

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www.ballisticsbytheinch.com