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Monarch Ammo?

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  • SPCHardin

    Active Member
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    Jul 19, 2010
    498
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    San Antonio
    Today I took my friend out to learn to shoot. We were shooting my Sig 226 in .40 S&W and when she was shooting she had an exceptional amount of stove pipes. I am thinking that this was due to a limp wristing issue, but I had 2-3 myself. We were shooting monarch .40 ammo, simply because its cheap.

    Has anyone shot monarch ammo and had problems with this issue?
    Texas SOT
     

    ROGER4314

    Been Called "Flash" Since I Was A Kid!
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    Jul 11, 2009
    10,444
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    East Houston
    We shot a bunch of Monarch (Academy) .380 and 9X19 and had no problems with it. In fact, I'd give it a B+ to A- for the price.

    Flash
     

    Sgt

    New Member
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    Feb 22, 2011
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    San Antonio
    I work at a public shooting range, we see alot of the monarch come in, mostly 5.56, but other than it being really dirty/ heavy on carbon build up, no real problems, it is not as consistant and i would not personly rely on it for scoring situations or God forbid THE situation. but for killin paper its ok stuff. As for the stove pipes, if it persist, i would give it a good cleaning, and check that mag.
     

    robin303

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    Feb 10, 2010
    1,705
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    Austin
    I have shot maybe 500+ rds of that in my Glocks and I found it better than that crap Federal from Wally world and UMC. It is made in Russia and I clean my weapons anyway and used it in matches. I only used the brass stuff and not once ever had a failure of any kind. Only bought it on sale for the brass really.
     

    Kyle

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    Feb 24, 2011
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    Conroe
    I have hunted with the stuff and dumped countless numbers into paper with it. You can't go wrong with it at all!
     

    Designated

    Senior Unobtanium Member
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    Jan 22, 2011
    400
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    Killeen
    I liked it, seemed a little more dirty/smoky then higher end stuff but no problems.

    My 1/7 twist Colt did not like it(55gr .223) that much accuracy wise, but you know thats the whole bullet length-twist rate-chrome thing. Sig 556's love it though (at least mine did)
     

    mrcharlie

    Member
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    Dec 9, 2009
    162
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    houston
    Monarch is not an actual manufacturer, it is Academy's house brand. The brass cased ammo is made by PPU in Serbia and the steel jacketed ammo is made by Barnaul in Russia. I don't use steel jacket ammo, but their brass is decent quality.
     

    Wolfwood

    Self Appointed Board Chauvinist
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    May 12, 2009
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    ^^ good info! i did not know that.

    all i know about monarch is it is stinky. i have only had about 100 rounds of 5.56 and no malfunctions.
     

    Lobo_79

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    May 17, 2008
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    San Antonio
    ...Has anyone shot monarch ammo and had problems with this issue?

    I agree with the folks that say it smokes a little more and is dirtier. I've also had some rounds that seemed to have had a lighter powder charge. But I have to say it has worked well in my Berettas and Smith & Wessons. I shoot primarily 9mm and .357 Magnums in guns that are famous for their reliability.

    I have also noticed that my CZ75B in .40 S&W can only handle about 75 rounds or so of Monarch ammo before it gets dirty enough to start having feeding problems. Specifically the feed ramp gets really dirty with this ammo quicker than anything else I shoot.

    So my obvious conclusion for my applications was to take advantage of Monarch's lower price, and be content with cleaning the moving parts more often. Also, and at the risk of being branded a heretic, I've had better luck with Monarch 115 gr FMJ 9mm ammo than I have had with WWB, at least in the 100 round box.
     

    shipwreck

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    Mar 17, 2008
    1,578
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    Beretta City,Texas
    I am a bit surprised to find I will be the only naysayer. But, there are a lot of threads on Monarch ammo on other sites, and others agree with me.. I find the pistol ammo to be crappy, personally. The ammo is a bit underpowered, and I have seen many people report feeding problems until they changed to a different ammo brand.

    In my personal experience, it is underpowered. I've also had it shower me in small pieces of junk from the ejection port.

    I won't shoot it. Federal and WWB at wal-mart is infinitely better, IMHO. But, if it works for you - then go ahead and use it if ya like. But if you have problems with your gun, look at the Monarch first as being the possibility.
     

    cseale86

    Active Member
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    Jul 13, 2010
    307
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    East Houston
    I tend to like the stuff and while it is cheap,in my experience the Federal stuff from walmart is cheaper. The federal tends to shoot a little cleaner.

    My main problem with the federal is getting a walmart employee located to get it out of the case for me.

    I have experienced in the past what Shipwreck was talking about with the carbon specks blowing back on you however at the time when there was a shortage i was happy to be shooting anything.

    Get a few brands see what gives you the best POA and POI and run with it,most likely the cheapest wont be your best.

    I tend to use the 45 monarch when the federal is sold out at walmart.

    As for the general purpose of breaking in a firearm ive found the stuff works great.
     

    Dcav

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    Oct 31, 2009
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    Converse
    Shoot there 30-06 soft points all the time, never an issue, is not the most accurate ammo but works well enough for plinking. Ive shot several hundred rounds of the brass cased 9mm besides it being somewhat dirty ammo no issues to report. I stay away from the the steel cased stuff.
     

    skinman

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    Jul 26, 2010
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    Klein
    We shot a bunch of Monarch (Academy) .380 and 9X19 and had no problems with it. In fact, I'd give it a B+ to A- for the price.

    Flash

    +1

    I have shot a lot of Monarch 9mm and .45 acp with no problems...all brass case. It groups decent at 25 feet in my IWI Desert Eagle .45 and so-so in the Ruger P89DC.
     

    SPCHardin

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    Jul 19, 2010
    498
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    San Antonio
    I have never had a problem with 9mm monarch brass. I shot it through my G19 when I had it, and I still dump a bunch of monarch rounds through my 92f, with NO malfunctions. This is leading me to believe that a.) the 40 S&W monarch is underpowered, b.) I have some sort of chronic problem with my 226. I know that this weapon is a CPO, I actually traded my G19 for it with another member on the board. Could it be that my recoil spring is still new and therefore a bit over zealous?

    Also, I clean my weapon well after every range trip, so I doubt it is because of a cleanliness issue.
     

    lalonguecarabine

    A legend in my own mind!
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    Oct 3, 2009
    4,811
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    Houston
    I've never heard good stuff about it in the past, but there seems to be an overwhelming amount of support for it here.
    Can't say it's the first time I was mis-informed about something. Oh well.
    Have a competent armorer check out the pistol, just in case, and then try feeding different types of ammo through it, as the gun itself may be a bit temperamental as to what it shoots.
    Good luck.
     

    Texas1911

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    May 29, 2017
    10,596
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    Austin, TX
    It's not the best ammo and it's pretty nasty stuff. Sigs tend to be really sensitive with power factor, it's entirely possible the Monarch is underpowered, but make sure you are running the Sig well lubricated and you are getting your grip high enough on the gun, it takes a fair amount of cut back to not cycle.
     

    kurt

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    Dec 8, 2009
    1,324
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    Tyler, Texas
    It can't be any dirtier than the range ammo I bought at Red's North yesterday. I don't even remember the name (edit: Sellier and Bellot), but it was something with two names for a title and looked like the jacket had been painted on. It functioned fine, just nasty to shoot. I went in to shop for a rifle and ended up shooting with my CCW and didn't bring any of my own ammo.
     
    Every Day Man
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