Comparing Remington Ammo: UMC vs. Rem Green & White
Russ Chastain 03.14.19
Most shooters are aware that different ammo companies make different grades of ammo, and several have even created lower-cost versions with no real indicator of the difference aside from less-ornate labeling and a lower price. For Remington, most handgun ammo sold on the civilian market in recent years has been in a green and white box with a stylized Remington logo.
Also seen in recent years was a yellow box with “Remington” in small letters and “UMC” in large letters. I always considered this to be Remington’s answer to the “Winchester white box” ammo that’s of good quality but less expensive. And apparently, that yellow packaging has gone by the wayside.
In its place is another green-and-white (G&W) box, but like the old yellow-box groceries it bears both the Remington and UMC names. Paul Harrell takes a look at both of these green-and-white-boxed versions to see if he can determine whether there are any appreciable differences between them.
For what it’s worth, UMC stands for Union Metallic Cartridge, an old ammo company which was acquired by Remington more than one hundred years ago. These days, Remington usually uses the UMC brand to designate their lower-priced ammo.
Paul begins by comparing velocity between Remington G&W and Rem-UMC ammo in 9mm Luger 115-grain FMJ.
- G&W: 1128 FPS
- UMC: 1141 FPS
The UMC actually seemed a bit more consistent. (My numbers vary slightly from Paul’s because I “crunched the numbers” myself.)
Next he compares 45 ACP ammo in a 1911, 230-grain FMJ.
- G&W: 836 FPS
- UMC: 811 FPS
On to the accuracy test, starting with the 9mm and then the 45. Both did just fine.
His conclusion: “If there is any difference, it’s not enough to make a difference.”
Happy shooting.
