Black Sheep Ammo: Built For Shooters Who Actually Shoot [REVIEW]

Good ammo is like clean water or dark comedy, not everyone gets it. 

In times like these shooters can use all the ammo they can get their hands on. But with the big brands having quality issues due to overproduction, new hires, overtime, and more — it’s getting harder and harder to find ammo that you can trust, and won’t cost your life savings. 

Black Sheep Ammo is a new player that offers something a lot of us need. Quality, but in enough bulk to feed people who actually train and shoot.

HISTORY

In a world where ammo shortages started hard with Covid and never really went away, Black Sheep Ammo is a new brand trying to make ammo available again. Founded less than a year ago by veterans and industry experts, they know what shooters need most. Ammo. Lots of ammo.

But also, ammo that works every single time no matter what.

Black Sheep’s offerings is a fairly short list, for now, and that is intentional. You won’t find a dozen different types of bullets in 50 calibers on their site. Instead, what you find is .223 Rem, .308 Win, 6.5 Creedmoor, 9mm, and .45 ACP. Each of these are available in two or three weights.

I met Black Sheep at the grand opening of BRVO Tactical and got to shoot some of their ammo. Liking how it shot, Black Sheep sent me a box filled with some 9mm and .223 Rem to test out.

ON THE RANGE

After about 300 rounds of .223 Rem and 300 rounds of 9mm, I’ve had zero malfs of any kind across 5 guns. The ammo just shot perfectly. Granted, this isn’t a huge sample size, but it’s large enough to feel comfortable with the ammo.

Every shot fired with Black Sheep was on the clock for drills and training or in competition. With prices being what they are, this isn’t the ammo I would choose to waste by plinking randomly.

What stands out most is how insanely consistent Black Sheep is. We’ll dive into the chrono numbers soon, but from a shooter’s perspective, every shot feels the exact same. This is critical for when every shot counts. If you’re throwing doubles and every shot feels different, it slows you down. Consistent ammo means consistent results.

What is a little odd is that Black Sheep ammo was consistent not only shot to shot and box to box, but even grain weight to grain weight. The 115gr 9mm felt almost exactly like the 124gr. 

For most people, you might have no idea what I’m talking about, but if you shoot a lot and you shoot on the clock, you probably know what I mean. Normally, different grain weights (even from the brand and style of ammo) feel different. Heavier bullets shoot slower and have a longer recoil impulse than lighter bullets.

This isn’t always super apparent with 9mm, but is pretty easy to see/feel when you’re shooting .45 ACP or .308 Win.

Black Sheep’s 9mm didn’t do this. The 115gr and 124gr I shot had almost the same muzzle velocity and in my hand, felt almost the exact same. It was pretty awesome.

RAW NUMBERS

Here is the data for all 4 flavors tested:

What The Numbers Mean

Across the board, Black Sheep Ammo has proven to be very consistent but the pistol ammo also tends toward being a lighter load than most others.  

For context, AAC 115gr ammo I ran side-by-side with the Black Sheep 115gr averaging 1,156 FPS, 72 ES, 22 STD DEV. AAC was hotter, but with a lot more variability. 

Black Sheep’s .223 Rem wasn’t as consistent, but still a lot more consistent than other bulk ammo types. In fact, Black Sheep’s “bulk” ammo isn’t far off from what can be found in a lot of “match” ammo.

Keep in mind this was tested with a 12.5” barrel, so the max number is a little low. Black Sheep .223 Rem 55gr: 2,731 FPS average, 84 ES, 24 STD DEV.

Again for context, GGG 55gr 5.56 out of the same barrel was 2,736 FPS average, 109 ES, 36 STD DEV.

Raw speed was basically the same, but the ES and STD DEV are a lot better with Black Sheep.

And just for funzies; Black Hills is often considered some of the best factory ammo on the market, with the price to match, and it normally gives me an ES of ~35 FPS.

Looking at the 9mm, the consistency is amazing and you can feel it. Shooting a match with Black Sheep ammo was honestly a lot of fun and felt really smooth. The ammo is a little underpowered, but I don’t think that was a bad thing. Even on steel targets, I didn’t notice enough difference to matter. That said, I would like it if the 124gr was a little spicier for things like rusty steel knock-downs and spinners. 

The .223 Rem was spot on the money. Not long range, small target precision match grade, but a lot better than I normally shoot. For anything inside 500 yards, this is solid ammo. If my goal was past that, I might break into the expensive stuff or handloads.

LOOSE ROUNDS

Black Sheep ammo isn’t one of the huge market shakers like Federal, AAC, or Hornady. But what they offer is very high-quality new manufacturer ammo that doesn’t cut corners.

Downside? Being a smaller operation, the price isn’t rock bottom. At the second I’m writing this, 1,000 rounds of 9mm from Black Sheep runs me $336 + $56 shipping = $393 total. 

If I wanted rock bottom prices, MagTech steel case is shipped to my door for $251. But… it’s MagTech steel case. It shoots, but it’s a much lower-quality ammo.

AAC 115gr would cost me $320 to my door.

MagTech for 25 cents, AAC for 32 cents, or Black Sheep for 39 cents.

If all you want to do is throw rounds downrange, it’s hard to argue with the cheapest option. But for a match or a training class where you need ammo you can depend on and that runs consistently well, a little extra money buys a whole lot of quality from Black Sheep.

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