If you have ever bought a blue-and-white box of cheap, reliable range ammo, you have probably shot Magtech. The brand is the export name of Brazil’s CBC — Companhia Brasileira de Cartuchos — one of the largest ammunition makers in the world, and it has built a loyal following on a simple promise: clean, dependable, brass-cased ammo at a price that lets you shoot a lot of it. Magtech is a particular favorite of revolver and handgun shooters, loading everything from plain 9mm and .38 Special FMJ to a huge bench of big-bore magnum, Cowboy Action and pocket-pistol calibers the big American brands barely touch. Here is who they are, what they make, and what is worth buying.
Who Magtech is
Magtech is the international brand of CBC (Companhia Brasileira de Cartuchos), a Brazilian ammunition maker founded in 1926 and based near São Paulo. It is best known for affordable, reliable brass-cased range and defensive ammunition, and it loads an unusually wide range of handgun and revolver calibers. CBC is one of the largest ammunition manufacturers in the world.
The company traces back to 1926, when two Italian immigrant brothers, Costabile and Gianicola Matarazzo, founded a cartridge factory in São Paulo and quickly earned a name for quality hunting and target ammunition. In 1936 they sold the business to Remington Arms and Imperial Chemical Industries, who renamed it Companhia Brasileira de Cartuchos. CBC grew into Brazil’s national ammunition maker and a designated strategic-defense supplier to the country’s military and police, and in 1990 it created the Magtech brand as its export label for the American and world markets.
CBC did not stop there. It went on to acquire MEN in Germany and, for a time, Sellier & Bellot in the Czech Republic, building the CBC Global Ammunition group into one of the largest ammunition corporations on earth — together producing well over a billion rounds a year. CBC sold Sellier & Bellot to the Colt CZ Group in 2024 but kept a major stake in that buyer, so the connections run deep. Through all of it, Magtech has stayed what it always was: the value workhorse.
Magtech sits squarely in the value bracket, and it does not pretend otherwise. This is honest, no-frills ammunition — reliable, clean enough, and priced to shoot — rather than premium match or boutique defensive ammo. What sets it apart from the other budget brands is the sheer breadth of handgun calibers it keeps in production.
What Magtech makes
Range and target — the green-box staples
Magtech’s core is plain, dependable practice ammunition: brass-cased FMJ in 9mm, .40 S&W, .45 ACP, .38 Special and the rest, sold in 50-round boxes and bulk. The Range/Training line and the standard FMJ loads — in the familiar blue-and-white boxes — are the bread and butter — clean-shooting, affordable, and one of the better value-per-round options when you just need to feed a range day.
Clean Range — indoor-friendly ammo
The Clean Range line uses a fully encapsulated bullet (the lead core is fully jacketed, including the base) and lead-free priming to cut airborne lead and barrel fouling — built for indoor ranges and high-volume training where you breathe what you shoot.
Defensive loads — First Defense, Guardian Gold and Bonded
For carry and home defense, Magtech loads jacketed hollow points across the common calibers, including the solid-copper First Defense, the Guardian Gold JHP, and a Bonded line. These are value-priced defensive options — not a boutique HST or Gold Dot, but honest, functional hollow points at a friendlier price.
Revolver, big-bore and Cowboy Action — the real specialty
This is where Magtech shines and where it has very little competition. It keeps a deep catalog of revolver and big-bore loads alive — .357 Magnum, .44 Magnum, .44 Special, .454 Casull, .500 S&W Magnum and more — plus a full Cowboy Action line of soft lead loads in old chamberings like .44-40, .45 Colt and .38-40 for SASS shooters. It also still loads pocket-pistol oddities like .25 Auto, .32 Auto and .32 S&W. If you own an unusual handgun, Magtech is often the brand still making ammo for it.
Rifle, shotshell and components
Magtech and CBC also load rifle ammunition (including .223/5.56 under the CBC name), shotshells, and they sell their own primers and brass to handloaders. Magtech and CBC brass is well regarded by reloaders — strong, consistent, and reusable.
Where Magtech ammo is made
Magtech ammunition is made by CBC in Ribeirão Pires, in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The CBC plant is fully vertically integrated — it makes its own primers, powder, bullets and brass in-house — which is a genuine advantage in a market where many smaller “brands” simply assemble components made by someone else. That integration, plus the scale of one of the world’s biggest ammo makers, is exactly how Magtech holds quality steady while keeping prices low across such a wide catalog.
How Magtech compares
Magtech’s natural rivals are the other value brass-cased brands — PMC, Sellier & Bellot (its former CBC stablemate), Fiocchi, Blazer Brass and the budget lines from Federal (American Eagle) and Winchester (USA). They all trade blows on price and reliability, and Magtech is right in the mix — often a few cents cheaper. Where it genuinely pulls ahead is the revolver and big-bore range: for .44 Special, .454 Casull, .500 S&W and Cowboy Action calibers, Magtech is frequently the most available, most affordable factory ammo there is.
The honest trade-off: this is value ammunition. It runs reliably and shoots accurately enough for practice and plinking, but it is not match-grade, and some shooters find it a touch dirtier or its primers a little firmer than premium domestic loads. For precision rifle or top-tier carry ammo, you will want a premium brand. For high-volume practice and for feeding an oddball revolver, Magtech is hard to beat on value, and the brass is good enough that a lot of people buy it just to reload.
Who should buy what
- High-volume range shooters: Magtech FMJ in 9mm, .40 or .45 — among the cheapest reliable brass-cased ammo around.
- Revolver shooters: the deep .38 Special and .357 Magnum range, in everything from light lead loads to full-power JHP.
- Indoor-range shooters: Clean Range fully encapsulated loads to cut airborne lead.
- Big-bore handgunners: .44 Magnum, .454 Casull and .500 S&W at a fraction of premium prices.
- Cowboy Action competitors: Magtech’s .44-40, .45 Colt and .38-40 soft lead loads.
- Handloaders: Magtech and CBC brass and components — strong, consistent and reusable.
If you are cross-shopping brands for a specific job rather than buying Magtech in particular, our caliber-by-caliber roundups below pit Magtech against Federal, PMC, Sellier & Bellot and the rest head to head.
The Magtech philosophy
Magtech’s throughline is value through scale and integration: make every component in-house, run one of the world’s largest ammunition operations, and pass the savings on as dependable ammo that ordinary shooters can actually afford to shoot in volume. It has never chased the premium match or boutique-defense crowd. Instead it has done something genuinely useful — kept an enormous range of handgun and revolver calibers in affordable production, including the odd and old ones everyone else dropped. It is the brand of the working shooter and the revolver owner, and it is comfortable being exactly that.
How to choose your Magtech load
Start with the job, then pick the load. For range practice, buy Magtech FMJ in your caliber in the biggest box you can — it is clean, cheap and reliable. For an indoor range, the Clean Range fully encapsulated loads keep the air cleaner. For carry or defense, run a couple of boxes of First Defense or Guardian Gold through your gun first to confirm it feeds and shoots to point of aim. For a revolver or big-bore, Magtech almost certainly loads your caliber — match the bullet weight to your gun and your purpose. When you want to compare Magtech against the other brands for a given caliber, the guides in the next section do exactly that.
Magtech, CBC, and a century of cartridges
It is easy to dismiss Magtech as just “the cheap stuff,” but the company behind it is anything but small. CBC has been making ammunition since 1926, was once owned by Remington and Imperial Chemical Industries, supplies the Brazilian armed forces, and today anchors a global group — with sister plants in Germany — that turns out well over a billion rounds a year. When you buy a blue box of Magtech, you are buying from one of the oldest and largest ammunition makers on the planet, which is a big part of why such inexpensive ammo can be so consistently reliable.
Shop Magtech Ammo & Prices
Live Magtech ammunition and current prices, organized by caliber and updated automatically. Each row shows a cross-section of the Magtech lineup in that caliber — from FMJ range loads to defensive hollow points and the big-bore and Cowboy Action specialties.
Magtech .38 Special & .357 Magnum Ammo
Magtech 9mm Ammo
Magtech .40 S&W Ammo
Magtech Big-Bore Revolver Ammo
Magtech Cowboy Action Ammo
Magtech Pocket Pistol Ammo
Where Magtech Fits in Our Buying Guides
- Best 9mm Ammo
- Best .38 Special Ammo
- Best .357 Magnum Ammo
- Best .44 Magnum Ammo
- Best 10mm Ammo
- Best Defensive Ammo
- The State of Ammo Prices
Magtech FAQ
Where is Magtech ammunition made?
In Brazil, by CBC (Companhia Brasileira de Cartuchos) at its plant in Ribeirão Pires, São Paulo. CBC makes its own primers, powder, bullets and brass in-house.
Is Magtech good ammo?
Yes, for what it is — reliable, clean-enough, value-priced practice and defensive ammunition. It is not match-grade, but it is dependable and very widely used, and it is one of the best values for high-volume shooting.
Who owns Magtech?
Magtech is the export brand of CBC, a Brazilian company that has made ammunition since 1926. CBC also owns MEN in Germany and previously owned Sellier & Bellot. CBC is one of the largest ammunition makers in the world.
Is Magtech brass reloadable?
Yes. Magtech and CBC use boxer-primed, reloadable brass that is well regarded by handloaders for being strong and consistent. A lot of shooters buy Magtech specifically to reload the cases.
What is Magtech Clean Range?
A line that uses a fully encapsulated bullet (the base is jacketed too) and lead-free priming to reduce airborne lead and fouling — designed for indoor ranges and high-volume training.
Why does Magtech make so many revolver calibers?
Because CBC’s huge, vertically integrated operation can profitably load low-volume calibers that bigger US brands drop. That makes Magtech a go-to for big-bore magnums, Cowboy Action rounds and pocket-pistol calibers.
Magtech vs PMC or Sellier & Bellot — which is better?
They are all solid value brands and trade blows on price and reliability. Magtech’s edge is its enormous range of handgun and revolver calibers; PMC and S&B have their own strengths in rifle and European calibers.
What tier is Magtech?
Value tier. It is affordable, dependable practice and defensive ammunition — not premium match ammo — with an unusually deep handgun-caliber range.
Related Ammunition Brands
- Nosler Ammunition Parts
- Barnes Ammunition Parts
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- Federal Ammunition Parts
- CCI Ammunition Parts
- Winchester Ammunition Parts
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