Yes...They Make That, Too

Best known for their world-class shotgun ammo, Fiocchi also produces defensive handgun ammunition used by defense professionals around the world

by the Shoot On staff

Fiocchi is one of those companies in the firearms arena that many shooters don’t quite have a good bead on. Some know Fiocchi as a manufacturer headquartered in Italy that imbues “Old World” craftsmanship into their ammunition. Many more don’t realize is that the company has a large manufacturing footprint here in the U.S., employing over 100 American workers from their base in Ozark, Missouri. Ask a competitive shotgunner and they’ll tell you Fiocchi makes the leading shotshell ammo for everything from sporting clays club shoots to the Olympics. Upland and waterfowl hunters will say Fiocchi delivers some of the best-performing pheasant and goose ammunition around.

Well, we’ve been spending some time with Fiocchi this year to get a feel for the company’s handgun ammunition. Yep, they make that as well. In fact, we seem to be a bit late to the party, because we’re learning that law enforcement agencies both in the U.S. and around the world have been using Fiocchi handgun ammo for their duty weapons for many years.

Fiocchi has been something of a stealth ammo company from the perspective of most American shooters. Historically, Fiocchi has not put a lot of fanfare into its marketing; the product packaging hasn’t always caught the eyes of buyers, and the somewhat lower price point relative to bigger name ammo brands has likely stayed the hand of many serious shooters. That’s certainly been the case with us…and we were wrong.

We have burned through quite a bit of Fiocchi defensive loads in 9mm, .357 Magnum, and .45 Auto over the last several months and have been impressed with both the quality and performance. There have been no cycling issues in pistols ranging from sub-compact to full-size, and accuracy has been consistent with our other go-to brands we include in our testing. Accuracy, of course, is testament to consistency in loads and components, which are the two key areas Fiocchi prides itself on.

For most calibers, Fiocchi offers a good range of bullet weights and designs. There are jacketed round-nose offerings for training to jacketed hollow points and Extreme Terminal Performance bullets for defensive use. This year, Fiocchi introduced a new line of defensive ammo called Blue Guardian — some of which will include frangible, hollow point, and all-copper bullets. We’ll be evaluating Blue Guardian ammo soon, but in the meantime, if you are looking to enhance your ammo stash (and you should), we recommend giving some of Fiocchi’s offerings a try. We think you’ll be pleased.