Question About Ammunition - Does "Quality" make a difference?

[Highland Browncoat]

So I have a choice between a box of 50 .38 Specials for $10.99 or a "premium" box of 50 for $20.99 - Other than a fancy label, what do I get?

Here's an example: I bought a box of Magtech .38 Special Lead Round Nose (754 FPS) for $10 & a box of Magtech "Cowboy Action" .38 Special Flat Nose (800 FPS) for about $19 -- other than the nose style and the "Cowboy" round being 46 FPS faster, what is the difference? Are the premium rounds supposed to provide better accuracy?

I understand the cost differential between tradditional ball ammo and self defense ammo, but all things seeming equal does "brand" really make a difference? For instance, Black Hills Ammunition is always at least $20+ for a box of 50. The same number of rounds costs you $20 for Ten-X as well.

Help me understand why I should pay $.40 per shot vs. $.20

Thanks in advance for any insight or experience you might have!

[Bristow Kid]

Personally I don't beleive it makes any difference when shooting CAS.  The only place I get picky about ammo or powder or bullets is when I am reloading my .45-70 for mid & long range shooting.  I have used about 400 rds of Ultramax in my .45 Colt pistols and think it works just fime for CAS style shooting.  Thats just my $.02 worth.

Bristow Kid

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

About the only thing that should make a difference in the two examples you cite is that the 'cowboy' ammo has Round Nosed Flat Point bullets. You said Flat Nosed, I'm assuming you meant RNFP. The other stuff sounds like it came with a standard Round Nosed bullet.

If you're gonna shoot them in a rifle, you really shouldn't put anything in your rifle except flat nosed bullets of some type. But for a pistol it doesn't make any difference at all. As long as the advertised velocity is below 1000 fps, and the bullets are lead/not jacketed. The flat nose is the key, and the ammo makers often have us by the short hairs when it comes to supplying ammo with flat nosed bullets.

Winchester plays the same game. They package their Cowboy ammo in special old fashioned looking boxes and charge through the nose for it. But at the gunshops I frequent, that is the only factory ammo available with a lead flat nosed bullet. And when you get right down to it, the meplat (the flat part) on those bullets is so small it's almost a joke. But if you want flat nosed bullets, and you're stuck buying factory, the ammo makers can charge whatever they want. I can buy reasonably inexpensive factory 38s with round nosed bullets, but I wouldn't want to put them in a rifle with a tubular magazine.

Incidentally, Mrs Johnson shoots 38 Specials in her guns. I was lazy for a couple of years and didn't bother loading her ammo myself, but was buying cheap reloads. I was able to buy Semi-Wadcutters made locally, pretty reasonably. I think around $7 for a box of 50. Again, it all boils down to the rifle. Not all rifles will feed Semi-Wadcutters well. I got lucky, her Marlin gobbles up Semi-Wadcutters with no problem at all. And Semi-Wadcutters have a nice big meplat. The pistols don't care. So for a couple of years I got by just fine with SWC reloads for Mrs Johnson. Recently, the prices of lead and brass have gone so high that $7 for a box of reloads is a thing of the past, so now I'm loading Mrs Johnson's 38s myself.

If you decide to go the cheap reloads route, you need to be aware that no gun manufacturer will warranty his products against problems caused by reloaded ammo. If there is something wrong with the ammo, and the gun blows up, you own it. If it is factory ammo made by a reputable manufacturer, you may have some recourse, but there is still no guarantee.

[Gold Canyon Kid]

Another alternative if you don't want to reload yourself, is to have someone do it for you.  If you really trust a buddy that can work.  There are many cowboys in the business of making reloads.  Finally there are companies that make reloads such as Ten X, if you send them your brass or you can purchase brass from them.

[Highland Browncoat]

Another greenhorn question: why only RNFP in rifles? I'm sure the answer is probably staring me in the face so I'll probably cring when I see it but might as well get it over with so I don't look like an idiot when I get to the loading table 

[Delmonico]

A bullet with to much point can set others off in a tubular magazine rifle.   Boom no more mag tube and perhaps other important pats, not all part of the rifle.