Monarch Ammo

[phlmorgan]

Has anyone tried Monarch 9mm ammo? Since the price of ammo is going up every where I found Acadamy sells this ammo for 5.86 a box (brass not steel). They also sell 30-06 Monarch in steel for around $6 a box. Might be alright for target.

Sales man said it is fine ammo for target practice and I would like to stock up on some additional ammo. Just wanted to see if anyone has used it.

I also found that Bass Pro is selling 38 spc +P 125 gr. JHP for 9.99. I cannot even get cheap Magtech 38 spc for under 10.99.

[bluesea112]

I purchased Monarch .223 from Academy and it would not cycle in my Bushmaster. That is my only experience with Monarch ammo.

[layusn1]

I have used their 223 for my AR15 and Saiga. They worked great in both but the Saiga did like them better. Never had a problem and they were decent accuracy-wise.

[JLA]

ran accross a couple of boxes of 9X19 about a year ago, cycled fine through my ruger p89, but accuracy was a little erratic at best, decent plinkin ammo though. when i buy "cheap ammo" for general use, i like CCI blaser brass. theyre reloadable versions of thier aluminum alloy cased blaser ammo, and at 5.89 per box of 50 @ Wal-Mart. plus they are a little cleaner burning and more consistent.

[rhino1]

I've tried 3 or 4 boxes of .40 in my new Sig. I have had four instances where the last round ejects but the slide does not lock back. I've asked several knowledgeable people and have gotten a variety of answers from magazine problems to the ammo. Bottom line for me is I won't use Monarch any longer. I've never had that problem with any pistol I've owned and have experienced it only with Monarch ammo. Problem occurred over a couple of trips to the range on different days and with different boxes of Monarch.

[patrickg]

I just bought a Smith and Wesson M&P 9mm last week and took it out that night with only Winchester Ammo and had no problems. Loved every minute of it! Then two nights ago I bought some Monarch Ammo from Academy because it was inexpensive for the target range and out of 50 round had close to 12 or 13 problems. Either the bullet would jam or the slide would not grab the next round from the magazine. I thought my gun might have had something wrong with it and got sorta pissed but changed back to the Winchester. After 200+ Winchester rounds I have had ZERO problems. So, my only diagnosis is that Monarch Ammo sucks. Really bad.

Also, my target spread was a lot tighter with Winchester where I had a few stray shots with Monarch. Russian made crap. Don't buy it.

[rocky_lange]

From what yall have written here backs up my experiences with Monarch as well as that of others I have talked to. They seem to be loaded a little on the lighter side. Not quite enough recoil, or gas preasure for those with ARs, to cycle 100%. Seems there is enough to eject the spent round and strip the next round (most of the time), but not enough to clear the follower after the last shot. My friend had a 1911 in 9mm that he put a lighter recoil spring in and it solved the problem and also makes for a lighter hitting gun. AR owners, I suppose you cound find a way to allow the bolt to cycle under lower preasures, but that sound like a lot of hassle.

If you don't mind a few cycling problems during target practice, the lower preasures may save some wear and tear on your equipment.

Rocky

[ca2tx2tn]

Phil,

I just joined the forum, but I've had some experience shooting the Monarch. I've been using Monarch in my Glock 17 for quite some time when I want to just plink. I've had no problem in my gun. Never had a misfire or a jam. I've blown through several boxes in the past few months. That said, I've not seen real good target response, if you know what I mean. Of course, that could be that my shooting quality sucks. That said, I'd give it a try in your gun and see what kind of performance you see. The price is nice and several of the ranges I've visited sell it, as well as Academy. Also, I've not noticed any significant problems after I clean my gun.

Since we're on the subject of cheap ammo, has anyone had any experience with Bear brand 9mm ammo? Ammunition to go has it for the same price I'm buying Monarch. That said, I keep my clip filled with Remington when it sits on the nightstand. I trust Remington when my life might be on the line.

Great forum, I'm looking forward to getting some great feedback.

[Brando]

I just joined....bought my first gun yesterday, Ruger P95. I bought it at Academy and got 500 rnds of Monarch ammo. the first box of ammo I shot gave me 7 or 8 malfunctions...either not ejecting the cartridge or the next round getting hung up. the second box of monarch ammo fired flawlessly, except not kicking the slide back all the way when the last round was fired. I have only fired a few guns a few times so i'm sure my aim needs to improve before I can comment on its accuraacy, although I did hit my target several times, and missed by up to 6 or 8 inches several times as well.

Im thinking I will buy some Remington Hollow Point to keep at the ready in the house, and I will use this cheap monarch for target practice...and practice I will.

Brando

[jnunez]

I'm new here, but I wanted to share my experience with the Monarch Ammo. I recently bought a Taurus Millennium Pro PT111 9mm at Academy. I also bought three boxes of their Monarch ammo to go practice with. The very first time I went I put 150rds. thru the gun without a single misfire or malfunction of any kind. The gun has strange trigger pull, so I'm not going to comment on the accuracy of the ammo, but at 10 yards. It was close enough.

I took the gun home, stripped it and cleaned it immediately. Once it was lubed up and ready to go, I put it away. A couple of weeks later I went back to the range with another three boxes of the same monarch ammo, and again....150 rds. not one malfunctions or misfire.

Some guns like the Glock 17 that was mentioned will shoot anything you put in it, just about, with no problems and with minimal maintenace and care. Most guns however need to be well maintained to work properly. You should also check the manufacture’s specs on the type of ammo that is appropriate for your gun. Don't ask the guys behind counters. Call the manufacture directly.

For the price of this ammo, if its specs meet you manufacture’s recommendation; you can't beat it for target practice. Just make sure to maintain your gun.

José

[Neo873]

To give you some up to date info on monarch rounds I bought a Px4 storm from acadamy and have put about 600 rnds through it with no problems and have consistantly hit targets out to 100 yrds it is good practice ammo.

[woolleyworm]

Originally Posted by Brando

Im thinking I will buy some Remington Hollow Point to keep at the ready in the house, and I will use this cheap monarch for target practice...and practice I will.
Brando

Good idea! Another great idea is to pick up a couple more boxes of defense ammo and take it to the range. You can not replace the experience of practice with full power loads with anything else off the shelf. After you run a few boxes through, you'll have full confidence in what is ready at the house. It may be a little spendy; but even a couple hundred bucks worth of "practice" with defense ammo is WELL worth it if you ever are put in a situation where your life depends on it. Too many people buy defense ammo and then only shoot a minimal amount of it, in order to "save $$"; this confuses me. It takes a good 20-30 rounds at a minimum in order to get a good feel for the recoil and to develop a consistent sight picture and know where point of impact is at while at deteremined distances.
I have handloads that are worked up to mimic factory defense loads, this saves on the wallet. Still have to fire the defense loads in order to be able to get to that point though.

As far as Monarch ammo goes; it's ok for plinking and that is it. I don't use it unless it's nearly the last thing on the shelf and for some ungodly reason, I'm out of components to roll my own. ( if memory serves me correctly, I've shot 2 boxes of it in the past 4-5 yrs ) When it comes to any firearm that I have "at the ready", I don't care to practice with light loads, inconsistent loads and dealing with malfunctions. I like to be very very comfortable and conditioned to shooting with "like" conditions.

[Tanker6]

Wooley has a point. There's powder-puff reloads for enjoyment and then there's reloads which mimic the factory SD ammo.

I load both (about 4 boxes of "enjoyment" to 1 box of reloads which mimic factory SD). My factory SD ammo is hollowpoint, but my reloads are all TC lead. My SD reloads (or what I'm loading to mimic SD factory stuff) differs in the bullet shape only. I've tried to get recoil and muzzle velocities as close to the factory SD load as I can. It's these loads that I work with to keep my confidence in the factory SD loads so that (God forbide) I should have to defend myself or my family, I know what I'm capable of doing.

The powder-puff stuff, however, is the same TC lead bullet (same grains as the SD factory btw) but with a lower powder charge for lighter recoil.

I guess I could get a little closer by buying JHP's to reload, but I'm too cheap to do that (costs are more than double).

[tfreeman1911]

I recently went to Academy and decided to try out some Monarch 9mm Luger steel casing ammo because it was $10/50 rounds. I bought 250 rounds, shot 150, and am planning to return the other 100. All rounds were fired in about 45 minutes from my new Glock 19.
There were 2 major problems:
1.) 7 out of 150 bullets fragmented upon exiting the barrel. Believe me, it wasn't because my firearm was dirty. I learned firearm shooting/cleaning/maintenance in the military, and I completely disassemble and thoroughly clean my firearms every time after they are fired at the range.
2.) The ammo was excessively dirty. When I took apart and cleaned my Glock, there was little residue in the slide assembly, however, there was more residue than I have ever seen in the barrel itself when I removed it. I realize I shot quite a few rounds in a somewhat short time, however, I've put the same number of Fiocchi and Winchester rounds through it the first time I shot it, and there wasn't near the residue buildup.

I can only speculate that Monarch and Wolf Ammo are similar in these aspects because they are both made in Russia. I suspect that like Wolf, Monarch is also made in a former Soviet state owned ammunition factory, where regulations and standards may not be as high as in the USA.
My recommendation is to do one of two things for those looking for cheap ammo:
1.) Buy Winchester for about a dollar more a box. You can't go wrong with Winchester.
2.) Buy Federal Champion ammo from Wal-Mart for the same price as Monarch ($10/50 rounds), and stock up whenever you can. It's federal ammo, like American Eagle, and in my experience thus far has been great.

Please let me know if this was helpful.

[gyrfalcon]

Monarch ammunition appears to be made from Prvi Partizan components so you can probably expect it to perform similarly. The PPU brass is supposedly hard or difficult to reload if that's a concern.

[gandog56]

Originally Posted by layusn1

I have used their 223 for my AR15 and Saiga. They worked great in both but the Saiga did like them better. Never had a problem and they were decent accuracy-wise.

Everything works better in a Saiga than an AR!

[jlgwiz]

I believe the Monarch brass ammo is made by Prvi, as it is made in Serbia. Steel case I am not sure about, Russia, I think. I have never reloaded the 9mm but the 30-06 brass is not bad for reloading.

[graehaven]

Originally Posted by gandog56

Everything works better in a Saiga than an AR!

Oooooh my. You little stinker!

[graehaven]

Originally Posted by jlgwiz

I believe the Monarch brass ammo is made by Prvi, as it is made in Serbia. Steel case I am not sure about, Russia, I think. I have never reloaded the 9mm but the 30-06 brass is not bad for reloading.

I've bought and used Prvi ammo in .223 for my AR (it was brass) and it worked fine.

[JLA]

The PPU cases are not any harder to reload than an RP or a Winchester case is. I have about 500 in .223 and prolly about 500 in 9mm and 40 S&W that all reload just fine.

[keokeboy]

went to the range today,100 rd fired 9mm [slim 709 o problems. 100 rds fired 40 s&w [glock 27] 0 problems. 100 rds fired 45acp [kimber compact] 0 problems. I was really happy and accuracy was great compare to winchester target ammo.

[nickpick2]

have to say I fired 50 rnds 3 days ago through my Ruger P95, 0 problems. Today however, after buying 3 more boxes, it jammed every other shot, and these were bad jams. Put in Remington 115 FMJ and not one hitch in 100 rnds. I wanted to like it because of the price, but for my Ruger.... it is just way too inconsistent.

[bayhawk2]

Monarch sucks.cheap and under powered.My experience with them
is to never buy another box.

[mkshill]

I agree totally with Bayhawk2. That ammo doesn't print well. burns dirty, and causes jams. I bought it to loosen up a new gun just a bit, not to depend on, but it's not even good for breaking in a new gun. What crap!

[Brisk44]

Never heard of it.