Ugh, monarch rounds = no thanks

[ea40ss]

I've shot several thousand rounds of the Monarch 9mm 115gr brass case bullets. I've haven't had a single problem with the ammo.

Well, except that a month ago it was $5.86 per box and last week it was $6.99 per box.

This was with a SigPro and a S&W M&P.

Try using the brass case and see if it works better.

Thanks,
Eric

[308nato]

I had problems with various brands of ammo in my cz RAMI. When I
started using the monarch brassed case I didnt have any more problems
of any kind. My Baretta 92fs thinks they are great also.
They are now 6.99 a box ??
Now I think is the time to look into some reloading equip.

[NguyenVanDon]

I don't know about you guys, but I have better experience with Monarch compared to Blazer for some odd reason.

[jbirds1210]

I have never bought any of the Monarch stuff. I looked at the ammo once and it struck me as poorly finished and dirty looking. Some of the metal jacket was chipping away.

A dear friend warned me against the stuff after it damaged his gun....that is enough warning for me.

I have shot thousands upon thousand of Blazer aluminum 115 grain FMJ's through my Glocks and find it to be fairly hot, consistant, and very clean.
Jason

[Popshot]

I have lost count of the thousands of rounds of Monarch 9mm and .40 S&W brass case in full sized XD40 and S&W M&P without any problems. I prefer to not use steel case ammo in a non-Eastern bloc weapon, so I cannot comment on the their steel case pistol ammo. Monarch has recently released steel cased 7.62x39 and it functions in an AK just fine.

[nitrogen]

I don't know about you guys, but I have better experience with Monarch compared to Blazer for some odd reason.

Are you talking about the Blazer aluminum cased stuff?

I have 2 friends, one with a sig p229 and one with a pieced-together 1911 and neither of their guns deal well with the blazer aluminum cased stuff. My previous XD and my current M&P deal with it just fine. Strange.

[NguyenVanDon]

I don't know about you guys, but I have better experience with Monarch compared to Blazer for some odd reason.

Are you talking about the Blazer aluminum cased stuff?

I have 2 friends, one with a sig p229 and one with a pieced-together 1911 and neither of their guns deal well with the blazer aluminum cased stuff. My previous XD and my current M&P deal with it just fine. Strange.

Yeah, the aluminum cased for the Blazer is the worst experienced for me. Even with the Glock, when I try to feed it and pull the slide back, it jams up right there. With Monarch, I never had a problem like that. I'm scared to use Blazer now.

[Mike1951]

Yeah, the aluminum cased for the Blazer is the worst experienced for me. Even with the Glock, when I try to feed it and pull the slide back, it jams up right there. With Monarch, I never had a problem like that. I'm scared to use Blazer now.

My own personal opinion is that most difficulties encountered with regular Blazer ammunition are due to a different lubricity of the aluminum and not due to poor quality of the ammunition.

Thus, tolerances of a gun or how vigorously a gun feeds and extracts may be responsible for poor functioning in some guns.

I never had a problem with any aluminum Blazer. I bought mainly 9mm, when I didn't consider it worth reloading and .45 Colt because they had a good defense load. Since the introduction of Blazer Brass, I have used sizeable amounts of 9mm, .40S&W, and .45acp without issue.

[pbandjelly]

Blazer Aluminum works just fine in my S&W Sigma (9mm), Beretta 92 (9mm).
However, I do not like it in my .357, as it is dificult to extract. but it shoots just fine.

[jbenat]

I've bought a couple of 50 round boxes of 9mm and 40 caliber Monarch from Academy. The 9mm aluminum is a little cheaper but the 40 caliber is about the same price as WWB which I usually buy in boxes of 100 at Wal Mart. I didn't have any problems with the Monarch but it's probably better to buy the WWB.
The last time I was at Academy (West Plano, Tx store), I was pretty much ignored by the big boy clerk and the middle aged, manager looking, person behind the gun counter. I've bought 1000's of rounds of ammo and five guns there. I don't expect them to jump for joy when I come in but at least sell me something when I'm standing at the counter like a kid in a candy store. I just walked out empty handed. Guess I'll do my gun and ammo buying at Sportsmans Warehouse or Wal Mart. Most of the so called sports stores, in my area, would rather be selling tennis rackets than shooting related merchandise anyway.

[Rex B]

Could the heavier weight of the steel cases be causing the FTEs?

[NcongruNt]

I shot off a couple of boxes of monarch brass-cased ammo yesterday. It fed just fine through my Hi-Power, and I didn't find any cosmetic faults with it.

After I shot it, a very experienced shooter friend informed me that Monarch was corrosive. This didn't cause concern for me in this situation as I was cleaning my gun immediately after my shooting session anyway, but it is something to keep in mind for the future. I'll probably go with WWB or S&B for cheap plinking ammo in the future, simply because I don't want something like corrosive ammo degrading the crisp rifling and shiny bore of my pretty new pistol.

[Mike1951]

I doubt seriously that Monarch is corrosive.

However, assuming he was correct, the cleaning after corrosive ammo involves patches and wiping with a roughly 50/50 water/ammonia mix.

You're probably not doing that as part of your cleaning.

I'll see if I can find anything definitive on Monarch being corrosive.

[NcongruNt]

I doubt seriously that Monarch is corrosive.

However, assuming he was correct, the cleaning after corrosive ammo involves patches and wiping with a roughly 50/50 water/ammonia mix.

You're probably not doing that as part of your cleaning.

I'll see if I can find anything definitive on Monarch being corrosive.

Let me know what you find.

I'm familiar with shooting corrosive ammo - I run nothing but corrosive milsurp through my Mosin-Nagant rifles. A liberal dose of Break-Free CLP for cleaning will accomplish the same goal.

[Mike1951]

Steel cased Monarch is made by Barnaul.

From the Barnaul web page:

Superior Quality & Reliability
Russia's premier ammunition manufacturer has over 100 years of experience in ammunition excellence. All Barnaul Ammunition are non-corrosive, new production and use environmentally safe primers.