S&W Ammo Recommendation

[Mike L]

I recently received a S&W model 5906 9mm and was wondering what brand and grain ammo you would recommend for it. 
 

I’m leaning to a 124gr hollow point for home and travel and a 115gr for range shooting but can’t decide on what manufacturer. 
 

Thanks

 

Mike
 

[AmmoGuy]

12 minutes ago, Mike L said:

I recently received a S&W model 5906 9mm and was wondering what brand and grain ammo you would recommend for it. 
 

I’m leaning to a 124gr hollow point for home and travel and a 115gr for range shooting but can’t decide on what manufacturer. 
 

Thanks

 

Mike
 

 

For training/recreational shooting, bullet weight is based on personal preference of recoil characteristics, or what the particular barrel prefers accuracy wise. 

 

For self defense ammunition, Don't waste money on gimmicks. Stick to any of the modern, proven offerings and you'll be fine. Stick to 124 and 147gr projectiles (or 135 in the case of Hornady).  The following are safe choices. 

• Federal HST
• Speer G2
• Hornady Critical Duty
• Win PDX1
• Win Ranger (if you can get it)

The 5906 can be a little more picky than more modern striker fired guns, so I'd definitely confirm function with a few boxes of whatever defensive ammunition you choose. 

 

[gim]

28 minutes ago, Mike L said:

115gr for range shooting but can’t decide on what manufacturer.

 

This is what I use for shooting my 9mm S&W pistol at the range.  I prefer federal premium or winchester ammo.  I'm not shooting in any kind of competition.

[GTN-NY]

Right about now with the way things are not on shelves take whatever you can get for range ammo

[gim]

20 minutes ago, GTN-NY said:

Right about now with the way things are not on shelves take whatever you can get for range ammo

There’s no shortage of handgun ammo here anymore. The shelves have been plum full for months now. Prices have gone way up of course.

 

Certain types of hunting ammo still is hard to find though.

[Mike L]

Thanks fellas and thanks for the recommendations. 
I went to the range a few times and they gave me a box of 115mg Winchester to use. 
 

I’m not a competition shooter anymore but was many years ago.
With a combat hold, this thing keeps shooting low.

It does have dual sight adjustments that I haven’t played with yet but wanted to get a starting point with the ammo you’d recommend first and then start to dial it in. 
 

Thanks Again 

 

 

 

 

Mike

 

[Woody B]

It's a personal preference thing as long as your gun cycles your chosen ammo.   

 

My chosen defense ammo is Speer Gold Dots.  Several local law enforcement agencies use it.  I don't believe in "magic" ammo.  I do feel that if I were involved in a self defense situation where I used my firearm my ammo choice would not be held against me since local law enforcement uses it.   I wouldn't have to justify using "special killer bullets".   

 

A plus, at least for me it Speed Lawman, in the same weight shoot exactly the same as Gold Dots.   Some (or all), underpowered, or inconsistently loaded "bargain" ammo will have a POI that's quite different that quality defensive ammo.   

 

 

My EDC ammo is Speer Gold Dot 125 Grain in .357 sig.  

 

A co worker carries a S&W 5906 with Speer Gold Dot 124 grain +p ammo.   

 

 

[GTN-NY]

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

There’s no shortage of handgun ammo here anymore. The shelves have been plum full for months now. Prices have gone way up of course.

 

Certain types of hunting ammo still is hard to find though.

Wow! here in western Ny the local shops have hardly anything and what they do have is a 2 box limit and 50¢ a round. I’ve been getting mine at Targetsports for 28¢ a round

[clayton86]

19 minutes ago, GTN-NY said:

Wow! here in western Ny the local shops have hardly anything and what they do have is a 2 box limit and 50¢ a round. I’ve been getting mine at Targetsports for 28¢ a round

Where you looking in WNY dicks in Batavia has everything for being dicks but yeah them, Sportsmans in Henrietta has everything, runnings in brockport when I was there over the weekend has 15k rnds of 9 on the shelf plus every other caliber even a good amount of 5.7 that was extremely hard to come by when I worked there. 
 

I load my own for plinking it’s primers that are next to impossible to find. Carry ammo my 365 I do the Hornady stuff for my 2 duty guns I do gold dot in both my 9 and 45 

[Goldstar225]

For defensive ammo I chose Federal HST 124 grain.  With that said if I had to use Gold Dot, Golden Sabre, Ranger T or any of the other top brand JHP rounds I wouldn't lose a minute of sleep over it.

 

Practice ammo, if it functions well in your gun use it.  As far as the gun hitting low, how low and at what distance?  It may need an adjustment of the sights or technique.

[GTN-NY]

48 minutes ago, clayton86 said:

Where you looking in WNY dicks in Batavia has everything for being dicks but yeah them, Sportsmans in Henrietta has everything, runnings in brockport when I was there over the weekend has 15k rnds of 9 on the shelf plus every other caliber even a good amount of 5.7 that was extremely hard to come by when I worked there. 
 

I load my own for plinking it’s primers that are next to impossible to find. Carry ammo my 365 I do the Hornady stuff for my 2 duty guns I do gold dot in both my 9 and 45 

Hey neighbor. I’m in Avon. Dicks in Batavia still sells gun stuff? Henrietta got rid of theirs. I was in Sportsman Warehouse last week and no 9’s

[Mike L]

I read somewhere that the 5906 was more accurate using a heavier load, so this weekend I’ll get a box of 124gr along with a 115gr and compare the 2. 

I also read in a S&W forum that some guys use a +P, but I don’t know if I want to use that yet as I want to get to know it better as I’ve only fired 2 boxes of 115 so far. 
 

 

 

 

Mike

[clayton86]

3 hours ago, GTN-NY said:

Hey neighbor. I’m in Avon. Dicks in Batavia still sells gun stuff? Henrietta got rid of theirs. I was in Sportsman Warehouse last week and no 9’s

Yeah not much though, Henrietta stopped as part of the deal with Sportsmans buying out field and stream owned by dicks. Amchar today had a bunch of blazer 9 for 16.99 a box but can’t even walk into the store without a law enforcement or military ID. 

[Jrob78]

8 hours ago, AmmoGuy said:

 

• Federal HST
• Speer G2
• Hornady Critical Duty
• Win PDX1
• Win Ranger (if you can get it)

 

This is a great list for carry ammo. Federal HST and Speer Gold Dots are what I carry in all my carry guns but the others listed are great too. I like HST 124gr for 9MM's but they also make a 147gr if you want something heavier. 

 

I shoot whatever brass case I can get for the cheapest for range ammo.

[Mike L]

Thank You all

You guys helped me as I knew you would. 
 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[spartyon8]

Oh...the beloved S&W Model 59, how I love thee! It all started when I was a little kid and my dad would take me to the range to shoot. He was an officer in the 80s and 90s. His carry pistol was the model 39 and that was the first gun I learned to shoot. He eventually moved up to the bigger mag, model 59. During his time as an officer, he was also an FFL on the side. S&W would do promotions for their FFLs where points could be put to new guns. That brings us back to this post.

 

I have shot a 39, 59, 459 (my favorite of the bunch and own), 5904 as well as a 5906...thanks, dad! Needless to say, I love these guns. I shoot everything but +P ammo in mine and they are only used at the range and then stored. In comparison to today's EDC options, this one is not fun to lug around. As far as ammo, I do prefer the 124gr but 115gr is perfectly fine. I only shoot brass casings in mine btw.

[Mike L]

Good to know!

 

This is my first auto as I’ve always owned revolvers, from a early ‘70’s .38 special to my Model 19 and 686 .357’s. 

According to SW my 5906 was made in ‘89, it has the square trigger guard with the rear sight protective ears and the original grips. 
It is a HEAVY gun for sure being all stainless, but that helps with recoil which I was really surprised how little is has but I’ve only shot 115gr loads. 
 

I’m having the internals cleaned and oiled and everything else sonic cleaned now. 
Looking forward to getting it back and try some 124’s through it as I keep reading that they like a heavier bullet for greater accuracy
 

Thank You all for the replies. 
 

 

 

 

Mike