Best 9mm Ammo to Feed Your Pistol & PCC in 2025

The best 9mm ammo depends on your intended use, your firearm, and your personal preference.

I busted a few of my 9mm pistols out of the safe and tested as many top choices as possible to find the best 9mm ammo for just about every situation.

Fiocchi Range Dynamics is the best 9mm ammo because it works well for training, plinking, and competition. Better self-defense options are available, which we’ll get into later.

The Best 9mm Ammo on the Market in 2025

Best 9mm Ammo Overall

Fiocchi Range Dynamics 115 Grain FMJ

Best 9mm Self-Defense Ammo

Hornady Critical Duty 135 Grain JHP

Best 9mm Training Ammo

Federal American Eagle 147 Grain FMJ

Best Target 9mm Ammo

Winchester USA 115 Grain FMJ

Best Subsonic 9mm Ammo

Sellier and Bellot 150 Grain FMJ

Best Bulk 9mm Ammo

Magtech 115 Grain FMJ

Testing Procedure

I considered many critical factors during the ammo testing process, including (but not limited to):

• What was the round designed to do?
• Ballistic performance
• Price
• How well does it cycle in my 9mm pistols
• Accuracy

When discussing the best ammo for any given situation, we must consider what each round is intended for. Was it designed for target shooting, self-defense, or strictly for subsonic performance? Each of these applications requires a different bullet style, weight, and price point. There is therefore no single “best” 9mm cartridge; only the best 9mm cartridges for several different purposes.

Ballistic performance varies from gun to gun. With that in mind, one 9mm pistol might love ammo that another hates. Guns are temperamental creatures. I did my best to recommend my top rounds with that in mind.

Our budgets significantly contribute to the amount of ammo we ultimately purchase. I’m less concerned about price when buying personal defense rounds than I am over plinking ammo. Some rounds are more important and worth spending more money on – namely, the ones I would fire in defense of my life (which I’m sure you’ll agree is invaluable).

Unless I’m training to clear malfunctions while using dummy rounds, I want my ammo to cycle flawlessly. So, I fired at various speeds and through multiple firearms to determine how reliably each round cycles.

Lastly, if I can’t hit the broad side of a barn with the round, what good is it? Certainly no good for defense against barns. Even if I’m only shooting for pleasure, I find it intensely displeasing if I can’t hit my target. That’s why I always look for accurate ammo within every price range.

The Best 9mm Ammo Options in 2025 Best 9mm Ammo Overall – Fiocchi Range Dynamics

Specs

• Bullet Type: Full Metal Jacket
• Bullet Weight: 115 grain
• Muzzle Velocity: 1200 fps
• Muzzle Energy: 368 ft-lbs
• Casing Type: Brass

Why I Chose It

Full disclosure: Fiocchi Range Dynamics is my personal favorite 9mm ammo, so I may be a little biased here. For the types of shooting I do most, it has proven itself to be the best option around.

For a no-frills range ammo choice, Fiocchi Range Dynamics is hard to beat. It cycles well, and I’ve fed my Glock 19, CZ Shadow 2 (best gun on the planet), and SIG Sauer P320 thousands of rounds of this stuff without any issues. Even in my perpetually dirty Shadow 2 tears through it without fail.

It has very solid muzzle velocity, even compared to other 9mm 115 grain options out there. It also comes at a very attractive price point, which is great for those of us who shoot a lot.

High-volume shooters will love that they can get Fiocchi Range Dynamics in everything from 50-round boxes to 1000-round cases fairly easily.

Fiocchi does a great job with this middle-of-the-road, budget-friendly offering, and I was pleased to discover that the ammo I’ve trusted for years scored so highly in our customers’ reviews.

Best 9mm Self-Defense Ammunition – Hornady Critical Duty

Specs

• Bullet Type: FlexLock Jacketed Hollow Point
• Bullet Weight: 135 grain
• Muzzle Velocity: 1010 fps
• Muzzle Energy: 306 ft-lbs
• Casing Type: Nickel-Plated Brass

Why I Chose It

Hornady Critical Duty is one of the world’s most successful and prolific home and self-defense ammo lines, and with good reason. Many state and federal law enforcement agencies have turned to Critical Duty for their carry gun ammo.

In FBI ballistic gel tests, the Critical Duty line has consistently displayed the ability to penetrate to the ideal depth to stop a threat while simultaneously minimizing the risk of over-penetration. The Flex Tip polymer insert is designed to prevent the FlexLock bullet’s nose cavity from clogging with fabric and other debris. That preserves the bullet’s ability to initiate terminal expansion, making it more reliable in scenarios where the threat is shielded by one or more barriers.

The improved terminal performance of the 135 grain bullet is excellent. When passing through soft tissue, the 9mm projectile expands to over 0.63″ in diameter before coming to a rest, and it does so extremely reliably.

Recoil is a bit sharp out of a subcompact, but that comes with the territory. The 135 grain JHP needs that extra velocity to ensure it reaches its target with sufficient energy for deep penetration.

Overall, this round has proven itself repeatedly in law enforcement situations, and performed well in every test we (or the FBI and ATF) can think of. Personally, that’s good enough for me.

Best Training Ammo – Federal Premium American Eagle 147 Grain FMJ

Specs

• Bullet Type: Full Metal Jacket
• Bullet Weight: 147 grain
• Muzzle Velocity: 1000 fps
• Muzzle Energy: 326 ft-lbs
• Casing Type: Brass

Why I Chose It

I’ve always found Federal American Eagle 9mm ammo to be dependable and accurate. I selected the version with a heavier bullet because it has a fairly high recoil, making it a good stand-in for more expensive self-defense ammo (which typically has more recoil, in my experience).

It’s cheap enough to run it as your standard target ammo, though you might want one of the cheaper 115 grain options below for that. I picked it specifically because it has a recoil that comes close to matching some of the higher-velocity defensive options out there.

Continue reading Best 9mm Ammo to Feed Your Pistol & PCC in 2025 here…

Source: https://freedombunker.com/2025/06/10/best-9mm-ammo-to-feed-your-pistol-pcc-in-2025/