Welcome back to another edition of the TFB Round Table sponsored by Ammunition To Go! For those who are first joining us, this is a multi-part series where TFB will discuss the characteristics of great ammunition for specific applications. This could vary from big game hunting, plinking, precision rifle matches, small game hunting, or even pistol competitions. Chances are there is someone here at TFB who can offer you advice on buying the right round for your task at hand.

For this special edition of the TFB Round Table, we are taking a look at every article we wrote this year on varying cartridges, applications, and everything in between! Hopefully, you can gain some valuable information from one of our articles to take home with you and apply it in your shooting practices. Thank you for reading TFB! Thank you to Ammunition To Go for sponsoring our TFB Round Table segment! Let’s dive in!

[June 24th, 2019] TFB Round Table: Picking the Best Suppressor Ammunition

Our authoritative figure on all things silencer related, Pete who is our Editor in Chief, walked us through the process and talking points on picking out the best ammunition possible for your silencer. There are a lot of things to factor into your ammunition selection when you play with suppressors, but these are some of the highlights to consider as suggested by Pete:

• Velocities (Sub-Sonic preferably)
• Matching Barrel Twist Rates & Bullet Weights
• Jacketed/Coated Bullets & Cleaner Burning Gunpowders
• Manufacturer Recommended Barrel Length

Understanding what some of our favorite cartridges are to suppress, Pete continued to go on and suggest several great flavors of ammunition in 9mm, .45 ACP, and 300 Blackout for your suppressed fun. The original, complete article can be read in its entirety HERE.

[July 8th, 2019] TFB Round table: Picking the best .308 win hunting ammunition

Many of us writers at TFB have unique backgrounds and skillsets to speak from and mine would be hunting and wandering around in the great outdoors. So, for our 2nd TFB Round Table ever, I had us take a look at some of the things we should all be searching for in good hunting ammunition for the .308 Win cartridge. Some of the highlights and talking points from that article can be read in the list below:

• Velocity – How Far You Gonna Send It?
• Barrel – Why Twist Rates, Barrel Length & Bullet Weight Matter
• Bullet Type – Knowing When to Fall Apart or Keep It All Together

When it comes to hunting with the .308 Win cartridge, you can do a lot of damage (no pun intended) on a lot of varying sized game if you are selective in choosing your ammunition. Those are simply some questions you will need to answer before you head into the field and start blazing away at game animals. The original, complete article can be read in its entirety HERE.

[july 22nd, 2019] TFB Round table: Picking the best .223 Rem hunting ammunition

When discussing the merits of good .223 Rem hunting ammunition we look at the exact same topics as before, but possibly with different intentions. Whereas the .308 Win is primarily used for medium- and large-sized game, the .223 Rem cartridge could be used for everything from vaporizing small varmints to hunting medium-sized game like whitetail deer and antelope. So while the topics remain the same our answers to them may vary depending on what we are intending to chase down.

• Velocity – How Far You Gonna Send It?
• Barrel – Why Twist Rates, Barrel Length & Bullet Weight Matter
• Bullet Type – Knowing When to Fall Apart or Keep It All Together

While it may be very ideal for a bullet to essentially “explode” or disintegrate upon impact for varmint hunting that conversely would make for a horrible hunting round on a whitetail deer. So there is no perfect round that can do everything in any given cartridge, but that does not mean the .223 Rem, or any other cartridge, cannot be very utilitarian to all of your needs. The original, complete article can be read in its entirety HERE.

[august 5th, 2019] TFB Round Table: picking the best 9mm practice ammunition

When it comes to buying good 9mm practice ammunition there is one resounding element we all look for, and that is CHEAP AMMO. While I do not believe anyone will generally disagree with you on that point, there are other things to think about if you are looking at doing competitive shooting. We want to think about keeping our guns cleaner for longer periods of time, and we do not want to buy ammo so cheap that it can be a long-term detriment to our weapons.

• Casings – What Are We Rubbing Up Against?
• Bullets – What Freedom Seeds Are We Launching?
• Velocity – Do You Want to Nudge your Target, or Roll It Into Next Week?

Brass or nickel casings are the most popular choice typically along with an FMJ (Full Metal Jacket) bullet. Something that is newer and even more improved than an FMJ would be something like Federal Premium’s TSJ (Total Synthetic Jacket) bullet. The original, complete article can be read in its entirety HERE.

[august 19th, 2019] TFB round table: 5 best 9mm self-defense rounds (you can buy)

For any of you who know our beloved James Reeves who heads TFBTV, he is an absolute concealed carry junkie and is most definitely a fountain of knowledge when it comes to carry ammo. So, it only makes sense that he chimed in to help us select some of the best self-defense rounds if you carry a 9mm.

• The single most important factor in effectively wounding a human target is to have penetration to a scientifically valid depth (FBI uses 12” – 18”)

With that lone determining factor in mind, James used data that Ammunition To Go had compiled from their own ballistics gel testing, and even more data that our renowned ballistics expert, Andrew of TFBTV and The Chopping Block was able to personally assemble. The original, complete article can be read in its entirety HERE.

[september 9th, 2019] tfb round table: best 10mm ammo for stopping pow-ahhh!

When we remark the click-bait phrase of “stopping pow-ahhh!” what we are really driving at is the Foot-Lbs of energy a cartridge like 10mm could deliver as well as an effective wound cavity. Maybe you are carrying 10mm as a grizzly bear defense while camping… maybe you are hunting grizzly bear! Regardless, of your reasoning, you will want all of the stopping pow-ahhhh or other mythological magic you can conjure up to protect yourself!

• Velocity – Warp Speed Ahead
• Bullets – What Are You Gonna Send?

While the phrase “knockdown power” or “stopping pow-ahhhh” are fun phrases to throw around when we are yucking it up with our range buddies, bear in mind that what we are actually looking for is Foot-Lbs of energy, and an effective wound cavity. The original, complete article can be read in its entirety HERE.

[september 24th, 2019] tfb round table: selecting the best 300 blackout hunting ammo

When it comes to shooting 300 Blackout as a hunting round there is no shortage on options for hunters to choose from. The cartridge alone has a functional grain weight range from roughly 110 grains – 220 grains that ammunition is safely made within. That does not mean all of it would be good for humanely downing game though. These are some things to keep in mind when selecting ammunition for hunting if you are using the 300BLK round.

• Velocity – speed is the driving force in connecting with your intended target and creating energy upon impact so velocity is very valuable
• Bullets – an all copper bullet is always your best choice for weight retention and delivery of energy, but a close 2nd would be any reputable bonded bullet as well
• Grain Weight – typically the name of the game is the heavier the better, and that holds true with .300 AAC Blackout as long as the bullet remains supersonic in flight

While there are a lot of great subsonic hunting rounds available for 300 BLK, nearly all of them lack precious Foot-Lbs of energy which aids in harvesting game. If you make a less than ideal shot on an animal, Foot-Lbs of energy coupled with an effective wound cavity could still help you in filling your tag when you potentially fudged the shot. The original, complete article can be read in its entirety HERE.

[October 7th, 2019] What round for… t-rex? Ammunition for packing a fall woods gun

A lot of us joke around that some gigantic cartridges are big enough to take down a tyrannosaurus rex! But leave it up to one of our ballistic nerds and Editor in Chief, Pete, to take that statement seriously and figure it out for us! He took a look at what might be necessary to defend yourself against some of the current apex mammals of the outdoors including a grizzly bear and a moose.

• You’re more likely to get injured in a car accident on the way to the woods than you are by an attacking animal. Buckle up, slow down and don’t drink and drive and you’ll be way ahead in the safety game.
• Similarly, you are more likely to have issues with two-legged attackers than anything with fur, claws or hooves. Plan accordingly.
• Encountering an animal in the woods is not a blanket excuse to pull a trigger. Most game, including the most fearsome beasts, are more scared of you than you are of them. Keep your distance and stay alert.
• Know your territory. If you are packing enough gun for a Kodiak bear in the Everglades, you either took a wrong turn on I-84 or you got some bad advice.

While many of us might romanticize the idea of being an alpha gun guy and defending ourselves against an apex predator, Pete draws out some very strong points that the likelihood of anyone being attacked is next to nothing, and you should not get all trigger happy simply because you see wildlife. Nonetheless, to simply stir the pot and have some fun, Pete throws out a lot of good ammo choices and a very interesting article to boot! The original, complete article can be read in its entirety HERE.

[october 21st, 2019] 5 best 22 magnum rounds for self-defense and/or hunting

While many of us might be infatuated with the idea of using .22 Magnum for hunting squirrels or other varmints, it can also be effectively used for self-defense as well. Albeit, there are a lot of potentially better cartridges to go with for self-defense than .22 Magnum, but if that is your round of choice, we will help you make the best ammunition selection possible.

• Stopping Pow-Ahhhh in .22 Magnum is your Ally (Foot-Lbs of Energy)
• Once You Send It, How Far Does It Go In? (Effective Wound Cavity)

Like we mentioned earlier, .22 Magnum is a great round for recreation, varmint hunting, and in a pinch, it could be used for self-defense. Just keep in mind you want to get the most Foot-Lbs of Energy possible from your ammunition as well as that honey hole depth of 12″ – 18″ in penetration. The original, complete article can be read in its entirety HERE.

[November 4th, 2019] TFB round table: Hey Shorty! Good Things in small 12 ga Packages

With the birth of the Mossberg 590 Shockwave, an entirely new category of firearms has rolled onto the scene like never before. They are this wonderful loophole enigma of a gun, and now even ammunition manufacturers are getting in on the fun by making special ammunition tailored to them. Some of these funky fun guns include:

• Remington Model 870 TAC-14
• Mossberg 590 Shockwave
• Black Aces Tactical “Custom Mossberg 590 Shockwave”
• Charles Daly/CD Defense Honcho

This small gamut of shotguns are a hoot to shoot, and they are even more fun when you use some of Federal Premium’s “Shorty Shotshells” or Aguila’s “Minishells.” They increase the capacity of the firearm and still can deliver a potent load for self-defense or simple recreational fun! The original, complete article can be read in its entirety HERE.

[November 18th, 2019] tfb round table: 5 best .380 ACP rounds for personal defense

Our in-house concealed carry connoisseur, James Reeves, returned to give us some more valuable information regarding carrying the .380 ACP cartridge and selecting the best ammunition possible for self-defense if that is your caliber of choice. Similar to when he spoke about 9mm, you are looking for 3 hallmark traits in your ammo:

• Penetration, expansion, and energy are all important components. According to the FBI and from the July 14, 1989 paper “Handgun Wounding Factors and Effectiveness” by Special Agent Urey Patrick of The Firearms Training Unit at Quantico: “The critical wounding components for handgun ammunition, in order of importance, are penetration and permanent cavity.”

Once again, Ammunition To Go supplied all of us with some valuable information in regards to ballistics gel testing of various common hollow-point/self-defense rounds. James compiled his Top 5 List that achieves adequate penetration, expansion upon impact, and has enough Foot-Lbs of Energy to get the job done. The original, complete article can be read in its entirety HERE.

[december 3rd, 2019] tfb round table: best 9mm PCC rounds for competition

The burgeoning world of PCC (pistol caliber carbine) firearms has taken off like a wildfire in the last 5 years. The metaphorical light-bulb has gone off in everyone’s head that we can use cheap, reliable rounds (like 9mm) and still have a boatload of fun in a rifle platform (with Glock mags, of course). For that reason, more and more ammunition manufacturers are crafting ammo dedicated to PCC competitive shooting. These are some of the simple characteristics that we are looking for in PCC ammunition:

• Low Recoil Impulse
• Flat Trajectory (Sufficient Velocity)
• Accuracy

These ideas might seem like no-brainers, but your typical el’ cheapo 9mm ammunition might not check all of those required boxes. You want as little recoil as possible to be a faster shooter. You need to delicately balance that metric against achieving enough velocity so you are not compensating elevation into your shots like Robin Hood. You also need consistency; moreover, accuracy. The original, complete article can be read in its entirety HERE.

[december 16th, 2019] tfb round table: How dead is 40 short & weak? 5 best .40 S&W rounds for defense

This article potentially triggered the most butt hurt all year long because while most of us consider the .40 S&W cartridge to be functionally dead-in-the-water, there are still legions of dedicated, faithful advocates who always come crawling out of the closet anytime someone says something disparaging about the round. Ammunition to Go does a wonderful job giving a short and sweet overview of the cartridge and why it came to be:

In the world of firearms, the .40 S&W is actually a fairly new cartridge. It was created in 1990 after an infamous shootout between two bank robbers and eight FBI agents. Two agents lost their lives in a gun battle that saw the law enforcement personnel heavily outgunned. Despite being hit by the agents, the bank robbers were able to continue fighting, although they were eventually killed by law enforcement. In the aftermath, the FBI commissioned the production of a powerful cartridge with manageable recoil, giving law enforcement stopping power while allowing for accurate secondary shots. With this goal in mind, the .40 S&W was born.

While Ammunition To Go gave us the history lesson, we attempted to provide for you a solid Top 5 List of Self-Defense rounds you could use for your EDC (everyday carry) if you are of the declining group of people still carrying a .40 S&W firearm. The original, complete article can be read in its entirety HERE.

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As always, thank you for reading TFB! Be safe out there, have fun while shooting, and we will see you next time for the TFB Round Table brought to you by Ammunition to Go! Also, let us know what you think in the Comments below! We always appreciate your feedback.

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