When you walk into any gun store, or even looking while buying ammo for sale online, it can be overwhelming the number of choices. Our goal is to walk you through the different types of ammo choices, the best options for your shooting goals, and even provide some technical breakdowns so you know what you want before you even get to the store.

How Ammunition Works

Before we break down the different types of ammunition, and compare their effectiveness, we should explain what ammunition is, and how it works. There are several pieces that work together for effective ammunition. The main components of the ammo are:

• Primer
• Flash Hole
• Cartridge Case (Brass)
• Powder or Propellant
• Projectile or Bullet

In modern ammunition a cartridge or “round” holds all the pieces together. The firing pin of the gun strikes the primer which ignites a small spark. This spark burns the gunpowder which in return creates an expanding gas which is what launches the bullet from the casing and down the barrel, this is what actually fires from the gun while the casing is typically ejected to the side of the firearm.

Types of Ammo

When it comes to breaking down ammo, there are three main types, and it goes by classification of firearm: pistol, rifle, and shotgun. Each type of these firearms are unique in a few different ways, but specifically the type of ammo they use. Pistol ammo is generally smaller, for closer range shooting, while rifle ammo is used for much longer distances, and taking down larger targets when hunting, all completely different from shotgun ammo like bird shot or buck shot designed to spray a grouping of bbs to more effectively hit a target like birds flying through the air. Each designed for their specific purpose, bringing advantages and disadvantages to shooting situations.

Pistol Ammo

Nowadays modern pistol ammo is cartridge ammunition. A common misconception is that the ammo all together is the bullet, while the bullet is actually just the projectile that is launched down the barrel, and the rest of the components listed above make up the rest of the ammunition. Pistol ammo most commonly comes in 9mm, 45 ACP, .380 and 10mm options. Growing in popularity are AR style pistols chambered in 5.56 ammo, but that is still more commonly used as rifle ammo, and .22 LR pistols.

There are several types of pistol ammo, most commonly used are:

• Full Metal Jacket FMJ
• Jacketed Hollow Point JHP
• Soft Point
• Wadcutters
• +P & +P+
• Subsonic & Supersonic

Full metal jacket or FMJ rounds have a lead core surrounded by a copper or copper-alloy jacket, and are typically used for target practice, range days, training, and recreational shooting. FMJ is commonly referred to as “ball” ammo in the military, and is not actually fully metal, it has a lead core or “ball” that is encased in copper to feed reliably in semi auto pistols. Hollow points, or JHP, is very similar to FMJ, but it has a hollow cavity in the front of the bullet that expands upon impact to reduce penetration. Hollow point pistol ammo is used as defensive ammunition, by law-enforcement, and shooting situations whenever you want to reduce unintended penetration. While on the other hand Soft Point ammo or (SP) is a projectile or bullet that leaves some of the lead exposed at the tip of the bullet. This is mostly used for hunting. Wadcutters have a flat tip on them and are designed for target shooting because they produce clean and easily visible holes in paper targets. There is also +P and +P+ ammo that means that for +P the cartridge is loaded to a pressure level above the standard specification for that cartridge, and that +P+ is an informational designation and doesn’t have the same standard meaning across the industry. These labels typically result in more recoil, muzzle blast, firearms wear, and muzzle velocity. Finally, subsonic and supersonic ammo are pretty easy to explain. Subsonic pistol ammo is designed to remain below the speed of sound, often combined with suppressors for extra quiet shooting. While supersonic ammo travels faster than the speed of sound, which most pistol ammo falls into this category.

Choosing The Right Pistol Ammo For You

Rifle Ammo

Modern rifle ammo is actually, pretty similar to pistol ammo in its parts and how it is assembled with the casing and projectile. Rifle ammunition has played a huge role in hunting, military history, sport and competitive shooting for many decades. The modern rifle ammunition or “cartridge” was invented in London around 1845.

From the military application of 5.56 NATO to the incredibly common and affordable .22 LR plinking ammo all the way up to the big and bad iconic 50 caliber rifle rounds, there are tons of different kinds of rifle ammo calibers for all sorts of shooting applications. The most common uses for rifles are:

• Hunting
• Target Shooting
• Military / Law Enforcement Use
• Ranch or Farm Shooting
• Recreational Shooting

In the hunting community, rifles are very commonly used to take down big game like elk, and moose, medium game like white tail deer, and even small game such as rabbit, squirrel, or even pest prevention such as coyotes. When hunting big game, the most common calibers are .308 Winchester, or .30-60 Springfield ammo because these have high energy, and the strong penetration needed to take down big game. For smaller game mentioned above, the lighter, smaller rounds of .22 LF and .17 HMR are perfect since the bullet itself isn’t big enough to completely ruin the animal. Additionally, these rounds have low recoil and are very easy to control for ultra accurate shooting.

When you go target shooting you can use essentially any caliber you please as long as your facility allows it, which makes target shooting fun and badass. For long range shooting you will probably use something like a 6.5 Creedmoor since its 6.5mm bullet can maintain velocity reducing the effects of gravity and wind making them awesome for long distances. There is also, and probably most commonly, 5.56 NATO, .223, and .22 LR. These are probably the three most common calibers of rifle ammo. These have almost endless options of rifle platforms to choose from, almost all ranges will allow you to shoot them, and they are widely available for sale most ammo stores, especially if you look at our rifle ammo for sale section we are sure to have something you need. All these factors make those calibers the best and most reliable when it comes to target shooting with rifles. Not to mention they are usually pretty affordable, especially .22 LR.

Finally, there is military and law enforcement applications. It is obvious why military or law enforcement would need rifle ammo, but mostly the calibers they are going to use are 5.56x45mm NATO or 5.56, and 7.62x51mm NATO. The 5.56x45mm ammo is lightweight, manageable recoil, and allows soldiers to carry more ammo for it’s given weight, and is overall a an incredibly effective rifle ammo in any shooting situation soldiers may find themselves in. While on the other hand, 7.62x51mm is a larger and heavier projectile, has greater energy when fired, and is more effective at longer ranges. On the law enforcement side of things, they will also use .300 blackout which is a very popular rifle ammo caliber as it was designed to be used in the 5.56 rifle platform, but be able to fire heavier bullets.

Best Rifle Ammo

Shotgun Ammo

Shotgun ammo, or “shells”, are built completely different than pistol or rifle ammo. While people may think shotgun ammo is very basic, and it is in its construction, there is actually quite a bit of variation in the types of shotgun ammo. Modern shotgun shells that are fully contained pinfire and brass shotshells began being used commercially in the 1840s. Shotgun shells have a hull, or casing, which is the external body that holds all the parts together, and usually it is made of plastic. They have a primer, then gunpower, a wad (a plastic or resin cup placed between the powder and projectiles) and then the projectiles which are either shot or slugs. Shotguns are most commonly used for hunting, but they can also be used for home defense, and clay shooting.

When it comes to hunting, there are tons of options for shotguns, the most common is 12 gauge shotguns which can be used to hunt ducks, geese, upland birds like pheasants, rabbits, even deer! The type of shotgun ammo you use for each may be different, for example you are going to use 12 gauge buck shot or slugs when hunting deer, but for ducks you’re going to want a birdshot shell that is a # 2 shot and could be 3-1/2 inch depending on your shotgun. The most common gauges of shotgun ammo are 12 gauge and 20 gauge, with other less common sizes like 10 gauge, 16 gauge, and .410 bore. Despite a misleading name … 12 gauge shotgun ammo is actually bigger than 20 gauge with 12 gauge having a bore diameter of 0.729 inches, is more powerful, and delivers more recoil than 20 gauge with a 0.615 inch bore diameter, which is why many beginners, children, and hunters of smaller game or birds opt for the easier to control 20 gauge shotgun shells.

Ammo calibers

Despite seeming confusing at first, ammo calibers are actually very simple. People often think the caliber refers to the entire ammunition cartridge when it actually is just the diameter of the projectile, yep that’s it! The caliber of a bullet is the diameter of the projectile in the ammunition. So for example:

• .22 caliber = bullet diameter is roughly 0.22 inches
• .30 caliber = bullet diameter is roughly 0.30 inches
• .45 caliber = bullet diameter is roughly 0.45 inches
• 9mm = bullet diameter is roughly 9 millimeters.

It is important to remember that the bullet diameter does NOT tell you which ammunition belongs in the firearm. This is because a cartridge consists of much more than the just the bullet. I like to think of it like this, the bullet caliber = bullet diameter while the cartridge = the complete piece of ammunition. As explained in the beginning, the cartridge houses the bullet, case, propellant, and primer.

Different Uses For Types of Ammo

We hit it a bit previously as far as what types of ammo are used for, we spoke specifically different firearm formats used for different applications, but I want to go deeper into the types of ammo for each actual application. In that mind, I really want to focus on self defense / home defense, target shooting, and hunting as the main applications of ammunition, because to be fair, while the military obviously needs a ton of ammo, me talking about the military’s ammunition stock isn’t going to help you find what you need.

Self Defense Ammo

In the United States, a home burglary occurs approximately once every 26 – 30 seconds, which totals to almost one million per year. This makes owning a self defense or home defense firearm incredibly important, but that is another article for another day. What we should talk about here is the types of ammo you should be using for your defense situations. You have to consider the environment you are in, if you are in your home you don’t want an ammunition that is going to go through walls, or risk hitting any unintended targets. Hollow points are probably one of the best defensive ammunitions on the market, as they are designed to expand on impact preventing them from over penetrating. If you are opting for a defensive firearm, you can actually get hollow points in pistol, rifle, and shotgun formats, with the hollow points being slugs for shotguns.

Ammo For Target Shooting

When it comes to target shooting, this is the cool part, as long as your range or facility allows it you can use any type of ammo you want! This is what people love about range days, especially at an outdoor range or rifle range where you can get away from your .22 LR for a minute and fire off some big rounds of 50 BMG if you’re lucky. A lot of public ranges are “pistol ranges” that allow you to shoot things like .22 LR, 9mm, .45 ACP, .10mm, and even 5.56 and .223 ammo because technically you can get pistols that fire that ammo. If you are at a rifle range or outdoor shooting at steel shooting targets you may opt for sighting in your .308 Winchester rifle or take some long distance shots with your 6.5 Creedmoor. There are also places you can shoot shotguns in the range, but let’s be honest if you’re shooting a shotgun you want that target moving, and to do that you can shoot clay targets either in a skeet or trap format which are both incredibly fun, and great practice before hunting season.

Hunting

Hunting is the backbone of America’s outdoorsman from big game like elk to beautiful Mallard Drakes flying through the air our country was built on hunting, and now we work to preserve our great outdoors, while still enjoying the sport and bounty of hunting. When hunting with a firearm what type of ammo you need is based on what you are hunting for and what kind of firearm you are hunting with. Believe it or not, people can hunt with rifles, shotguns, and pistols! While hunting with pistols or revolvers isn’t as common, and you need to check your local laws before hunting, people still do it usually with 10mm ammo, .44 Magnum, or .357 Magnum ammunition.

Hunting rifles are usually used for larger game like deer, moose, elk, but smaller calibers like .22 LR can be used for small game such as squirrels or rabbits. When it comes to the big game though, after checking your local laws and regulations you will want to opt for something like a 6.5 Creedmoor rifle ammo which has light recoil and is highly accurate over distances making it great for deer and more exotic game like antelope and sheep. .308 Winchester is a great choice since it is a versatile round, widely available, and has incredible terminal performance on most medium and large game. .30-06 Springfield ammo is also an excellent choice. It’s a legendary ammunition in the United States for containing enough energy to take down trophy elk and moose.

Shotguns are mostly used for hunting, making them really fun to talk about. I personally use a few 12 gauge shotguns for hunting duck, goose, pheasant, and rabbits. 12 gauge ammo is going to be heavier, have more power, and offer some advantages to reaching out further distances to pluck birds out of the sky, but it also comes with way more recoil, and can be harder to control than other options. My hunting partner used his 20 gauge shotgun when we are pheasant and rabbit hunting and gets just as good, if not better results than me so a lot of it has to do with the hunter, what you are targeting, and how familiar / comfortable you are with your shotgun.

Ammo Pricing

Like anything in life, the saying “You get what you pay for” typically runs true, especially when it comes to firearms and ammo. Now, this is not to say that affordable ammo is bad, in fact there are plenty of great options at competitive and affordable price points, however if something is dirt cheap compared to everything else, you may want to do some extra research and personal judgement on if you make that purchase. When purchasing ammo you want your rounds to fire smoothly, consistently, have the same amount of force or energy each shot, reliability, and strict quality control overall from the company. A lot of these factors come down to brand reputation which we will talk about shortly. If you opt for the lowest price option or poorly made ammunition, you run the risk of misfires, poor construction, inaccurate shots, damaged or improperly sealed primers, bullet setback, bulged or split casings, corrosion, contamination, and all sorts of other problems that can make shooting the ammunition dangerous to shoot. Always make sure to give your ammunition a quick inspection before loading and firing. If you want to get rough pricing estimates and comparisons on what you need see the ammo comparison charts below.

Popular Brands Of Ammo

In the United States there are roughly over 600 different ammunition manufacturers today. Texas is leading the race with 82 manufacturers while Arizona has 41, and Florida has 39. There are a few however that have lasted the test of time and proven themselves to be the leaders in reliability, accuracy, affordability, and people have trusted for years.

Federal

Federal Ammo originated in 1922 giving them over 100 years of ammunition manufacturing experience which is why they are a leader in consistency, innovation, and variety of ammo products. At Sportsman Fulfillment we, and I personally run Federal Ammo on my range training days for my semi auto pistol line up. I love how consistent Federal fires. I have personally shot thousands of rounds of Federal ammo and will continue to do so because of their proven performance and high standards of excellence.

Remington

The history of Remington as an ammunition manufacturer is unmatched, as their roots reach all the way back to 1816, but their ammunition manufacturing being in 1871. Remington goes hand in hand with the hunting community, with iconic green boxes, Remington ammo is beloved by deer hunters and other larger game hunters because of their accuracy, reliability, and consistency knowing the their shots will go exactly where they need to.

Winchester

I love Winchester. Odds are, if you shoot firearms it’s likely that you have used Winchester Ammunition. Winchester is another iconic brand with bright red branding with iconic sublines like Super X, AA, and Power Point. I love the reliability and consistency of Winchester. I personally use AA shotgun shells all the time when skeet shooting and hunting alike, overall if you choose Winchester you are shooting high-quality ammo.

Ammo Comparisons

With so many ammunition options on the market it can get very confusing on what you are looking for, what you need, and what you should buy. Below are several ammo comparison charts to distinguish different types of ammunition based on use, price, purpose, ballistics, etc.

Choosing Ammo For Home Defense

Best Ammo For Target Shooting

Best Waterfowl Hunting Ammo

Best Deer Hunting Ammo

Top 10 Most Popular Ammo in the U.S.