American Ammunition Brands
Hey all, we here at True Shot Academy are going to go over American made
ammunition brands. Obviously, this list does not feature every single American
ammo manufacturer. The brands selected for this blog post are notable for a variety of reasons and produce diverse product lines which cater to all types of shooters. Our goal with this blog post is to highlight a few American
ammunition brands and provide a brief overview of the companies. Without further ado, let’s talk American made
ammunition brands.
Does It Matter Where My Ammo is Made?
Quality
ammunition can come from a variety of sources. Many shooters don’t care where their
ammunition comes from as long as it functions and works reliably in their firearms. Others may prefer to buy American when they can to support domestic manufacturing and American workers. Generally speaking, one will get brass cased
ammunition when they buy American. Sometimes, major manufacturers in the United States use aluminum casings in their loadings, but never steel. Additionally, one will not encounter corrosive
ammunition produced by an American
ammo manufacturer. The likelihood of encountering one or both of these traits increases when you buy
ammunition produced beyond our borders. These two traits are also factors which may influence customers to purchase American made
ammunition and care more about sourcing.
Purchase Ammo
Black Hills Ammunition
Black Hills Ammunition is a prominent
ammunition manufacturer based in Rapid City, South Dakota. The company primarily supports pistol and rifle calibers and offers loadings tailored to multiple use cases.
Black Hills produces loadings for popular calibers such as
9mm Luger,
.40 Smith & Wesson,
10mm Auto,
5.56x45mm NATO, and
.308 Winchester. Some of these loadings utilize specialized projectiles such as
Sierra’s Tipped MatchKing and
Hornady’s ELD-X bullets.
Black Hills also offers their Authentic Cowboy Action line of
ammunition for calibers such as
.38 Special,
.44-40 Winchester, and
.45 Colt to name a few. Additionally, the company is well-known for their MK262
5.56x45mm NATO loading which was designed for use with rifles such as the Mk12 at the request of the U.S. Navy. The company also makes specialized defensive and subsonic loadings in the form of their HoneyBadger product line.
CCI/Blazer
Based in Lewiston, Idaho,
CCI is one of the most notable producers of
ammunition in the United States. Under their
CCI and
Blazer branding, the company is well-known for producing a wide range of handgun and rimfire calibers. Popular calibers such as
9mm Luger,
.38 Special,
.45 ACP,
.22 Long Rifle, and
.22 Magnum are among the calibers supported by
CCI and
Blazer. Additionally, the company produces wide variety of components such as primers for those who prefer to load their own
ammunition. Beyond traditional cartridges, the company also offers percussion caps for those who partake in cap and ball firearms.
Corbon
Originally founded in Detroit, Michigan,
Corbon ammunition is currently produced at their location in Ohio.
Corbon produces a wide range of
ammunition for pistol and rifle calibers. The loadings from
Corbon are available in a variety of forms, tailored to multiple use cases such as hunting and self-defense.
Corbon offers loadings for
.300 Blackout,
.223 Remington,
.44 Magnum,
10mm Auto, and
.454 Casull to name a few. In addition to defensive loadings, the company also specializes in big bore handgun cartridges. Similarly to their defensive loadings, these hunting loadings are designed to reliably expand upon impact and dispatch a wide variety of game. For loadings such as
.300 Blackout,
Corbon offers both supersonic and subsonic loadings.
Federal
Federal is a prolific
ammo manufacturer based in Anoka, Minnesota. The company produces handgun, rifle, shotgun, and rimfire
ammunition and offers multiple product lines tailored for specific use cases.
.22 Long Rifle,
.223 Remington,
.30-06 Springfield,
9mm Luger, and
12 gauge shotgun loadings are among the calibers supported by Federal. Notably, the company produces their HST and Hydra-Shok product lines, defensive handgun
ammunition offerings trusted by law enforcement and concealed carriers alike. The shotgun offerings from Federal can also be found in defensive, target, or hunting form, appealing to a wide range of shooters.
Hornady
Hornady is an American
ammunition manufacturer based in Grand Island, Nebraska. The company is well-known among shooters for their high-quality hunting, match, and defensive loadings.
Hornady’s ammo offerings encompass pistol, rifle, shotgun, and rimfire calibers. One will find
Hornady ammunition in the form of
9mm Luger,
6.5 Creedmoor,
.300 Winchester Magnum, and
12 gauge loadings to name a few. The company has also notably developed multiple cartridges of their own such as the .300 PRC and
6.5 PRC. Notably, the company also offers lead-free
ammunition for hunting use, allowing users in areas with lead restrictions to utilize optimized
Hornady loadings. A number of the projectiles produced by
Hornady, such as their ELD bullets, are utilized by other companies in their premium loadings.
Nosler
Nosler ammunition is produced in Bend, Oregon and is held in high regard by shooters of all types, particularly hunters. The company produces
ammo for pistol and rifle calibers such as
9mm Luger,
.45 ACP,
.30-06 Springfield,
.270 Winchester, and
.223 Remington to name a few.
Ammunition offered by
Nosler is produced for a variety of use cases such as match and target use, hunting use, and defensive use.
Nosler has also developed and introduced cartridges of their own to the market such as the
26 Nosler and
28 Nosler. In addition to the factory produced
ammunition they offer,
Nosler also offers components for those who prefer to load their own
ammunition. These components come in the form of brass casings and projectiles such as the AccuBond and Partition bullets. In addition to being used in their own loadings, the projectiles produced by
Nosler are also utilized by a variety of other companies in their premium offerings.
Remington
The
ammunition manufacturing branch of the historic Remington company is located in Lonoke, Arkansas. The
ammo offered by Remington supports a variety of pistol, rifle, shotgun, and rimfire calibers. From bulk
.22 Long Rifle offerings to defensive handgun loadings and hunting shotgun and rifle
ammo, Remington produces it all. Popular calibers such as
9mm Luger,
.22 Long Rifle,
12 gauge,
.223 Remington, and
.30-30 Winchester are supported by the company’s loadings. The shotgun offerings from the company will also encompass a variety of purposes such as hunting, target shooting, and personal defense.
Sierra
Originally located in Santa Fe Springs, California,
Sierra is now based in Sedalia, Missouri. The company is notable for producing factory new
ammo in addition to a variety of components for reloading. Notably, many of the company’s projectiles and other components are utilized by other
ammunition manufacturers.
Loadings from Sierra and other companies feature prominent projectiles such as the
Sierra MatchKing, a notable hunting bullet produced by
Sierra. The company produces loadings for both pistol and rifle calibers. Loadings from the company are available in calibers such as
.223 Remington,
6mm Creedmoor,
9mm Luger,
7mm Remington Magnum, and
.22-250 Remington to name a few.
Sig Sauer
Sig Sauer, the renowned firearms manufacturer, also has an
ammunition manufacturing branch. The
ammo made under the
Sig Sauer name is produced in the company’s facility in Jacksonville, Arkansas.
Sig Sauer ammo offerings cover a variety of pistol and rifle calibers which are used by many shooters. These loadings cover a variety of use cases such as training, plinking, hunting, and self-defense. Popular calibers such as
9mm Luger,
.380 ACP,
6.5 Creedmoor, and
.223 Remington are among the calibers offered by
Sig Sauer. The company also notably produces subsonic and supersonic loadings for calibers such as
.300 Blackout, appealing to suppressed shooters.
Speer
Speer is another notable
ammunition company based in Lewiston, Idaho. The company is most notable for producing their Lawman and Gold Dot loadings for popular pistol and rifle calibers. These product lines cover calibers such as
9mm Luger,
.45 ACP,
.223 Remington,
.300 Blackout, and
.308 Winchester to name a few. The Lawman line of ammo from
Speer is intended for training use while the Gold Dot offerings from the company are suited for defensive or duty use. The two product lines are intended to compliment each other and feature nearly identical loadings. This allows end users to practice with Lawman
ammunition similar to the Gold Dot
ammo they may carry. By practicing with a loading which is nearly identical to one’s chosen carry
ammo, they are getting the most out of their training.
Underwood
Underwood manufactures their loadings in Sparta, Illinois and is well-known for producing a variety of high-quality defensive loadings. The loadings offered by the company cover a diverse range of handgun and rifle calibers. Loadings for common calibers such as
10mm Auto,
.357 Magnum,
.30-30 Winchester,
.45-70 Government, and
.30-06 Springfield are among the company’s offerings.
Underwood also produces loadings for some more obscure and exotic cartridges such as
.30 Carbine,
.50 Action Express, and
.429 DE. The loadings offered by
Underwood are typically made for defensive use, competition, and hunting purposes. Most of the loadings offered by the company are designed to provide consistent and considerable expansion, facilitating high levels of kinetic energy transfer.
Winchester
Winchester produces their
ammunition in their two facilities in Oxford, Mississippi and East Alton, Illinois. Currently,
Winchester ammo encompasses pistol, rifle, shotgun, and rimfire offerings. Popular calibers such as
9mm Luger,
12 gauge,
5.56x45mm NATO, and
.22 Long Rifle are among the products offered by
Winchester. The product offerings from
Winchester span target loadings, hunting loadings, defensive loadings, and loadings for general purpose plinking. The shotgun offerings from Winchester in particular can be found loaded to spec for specific types of hunting or uses such as skeet and trap. As far as defensive handgun loadings,
Winchester is well-known for their Defender and Silvertip offerings.
Purchase Ammo
Is Foreign Made Ammunition Any Good?
While this blog post focused on domestically produced
ammunition, it is worth stating that quality
ammunition exists beyond the United States.
PMC is a salient example of a foreign
ammunition producer that produces high quality loadings.
PMC supports a diverse range of calibers and produces a number of loadings that meet or exceed military specifications and other standards. Notably, their X-TAC loadings for
5.56x45mm NATO and
7.62x51mm NATO are incredibly consistent and of high quality. Other high quality
ammo manufacturers include
Aguila,
Sellier & Bellot,
GGG,
Fiocchi,
PPU, and
Nobel Sport to name a few. Simply put, while domestic
ammunition offerings are high quality and worth supporting, one should not discount the high-quality loadings made outside of the United States.
Conclusion
All in all, the brands in this blog post represent a sampling of American
ammunition manufacturers. While quality
ammunition can come from overseas, it is important to know that there are many high-quality
ammunition manufacturers within our borders. Whether you are after domestically produced
ammo or foreign made
ammunition, we here at True Shot Ammo have you covered. As always, happy shooting.
Need bulk ammo? At True Shot Ammo, we have a wide variety of handgun ammo and rifle ammo available to purchase. Please visit our website trueshotammo.com, call us at (888) 736-6587, or you can email us at sales@trueshotammo.com for more ammo options.
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