I run the Black Hills Factory .40 S&W JHP in my M&P. and have carried this for about 3 months. I have carried this ammo through summer and might choose a different brand for the more cooler and colder months, however, if anyone can chime in.

The ammo started to get rings around the cartridges.

Right side is top round of magazine etc.

Is this normal? (see pic below)

Can't explain the rings.

I change my defensive ammunition when I practice with my carry guns. Otherwise I don't do that. Unless the gun gets something all over it, some kind of filthy stuff or serious oily stuff I don't worry about aging in modern ammunition. Oil can ruin it, though, so if something like I said happens I'd change it forthwith.

***GRJ***

Looks like they may be getting a little beaten up in the magazine. Have they just sat in there or do they get taken out or banged around? I'd shoot them for practice and load up new ones and keep an eye on them. Cartridge life is long but if they are getting banged up I'd change them out a few times per year. I don't know if changing brands will help, but there is plenty to choose from. Maybe those have extra thin cases or something.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Thinking maybe
1) That Black Hills cartridges are thin
2) The M&P .40 is 15 plus 1, I have only been chambering the 15th round and 14 in the magazine which maybe makes the stack a little loose. (Top round (right top round) is beat up because I chamber and unchamber everyday, that round gets swamped out weekly)

I'm no expert...would love any experts to chime in!

They are in my everyday concealed carry magazine (So they sit there), top round gets banged up and replaced weekly. New round goes in the bottom of the mag.

During the gunfight.

I change out my carry ammo every time I practice with my carry gun. I shoot reloads at the range which replicate my carry ammo and before I leave I shoot the ammo that was in the cylinders and the reload I was carrying. I load up fresh ammo and back in my pocket it goes till I get home to clean the gun...

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Freedom is never free!!
SWCA #3437

I dunno..............my carry ammo is nickel plated and looks the same now, as it did when I first bought it several months ago.

Here we shoot our guns into the air on New Years Eve and again on 4th of July. That way we rotate our ammo twice a year.

I shoot my carry gun too often to shoot my carry ammo each time. Generally I rotate it once a year.

Repeatedly chambering a round will sometimes/often push the bullet back into the case...... which is not good as it "could" create an over pressure issue.....it looks like the top round in the right hand column is a good example..... I would dispose of it and any rounds that are now shorter than one that is fresh from the box.

Ammo can last decades...... if stored in a cool and dry place......

I like the idea of shooting and replacing carry ammo every 6 months thou I don't worry to much about it........ when I practice with a carry gun the ammo in the gun/magazine is first to go..... practice, clean and reload.

At least once a year. My CCW stays loaded and locked up when it is off me. Repeatedly chambering a top round will loosen the bullet. That can mean high pressure and a jam.

Ammo is made for one trip up the ramp. I heard there is one company that will void your warranty if you rechamber a round.

The carry ammo in a magazine may show rings from bouncing around. I would not fire that top right round. Those rings will appear on rechambered rounds.

I have examined a number of LEO top rounds and found the bullet loose enough to pull out with my fingers. WAY too short and easily noticeable.

Regarding the rings, it could be from the rounds jostling about in the magazine. Your magazine springs are in good condition and hold the rounds firmly, correct? They do eventually wear out, especially if you practice frequently.

I only say this because I've experienced something similar when my magazine springs were worn out on my old BHP. The rounds were starting to get rub marks just from being carried.

I can't explain the rings. Do you load and unload the mag on some routine basis? Chamber and unchamber a round when you put the gun away / pick it up to carry?

To your question - I fire whatever I have in my magazine about every 4-6 weeks when I practice with my carry gun. Just use that mag full as my first one at the range, mix in another mag of the same carry stuff, then switch to range ammo for the remainder of my 50-100 rounds I put through her to stay current.

Then, clean and reload with fresh carry ammo. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Thanks, I do dispose the beat up rounds, and I was thinking the rings are because I don't keep the magazine a full 15 rounds but 14. I'll keep my mag full with the plus one in chamber and see if those rings show up. Appreciate it.

I change mine each time I fire the gun. I empty it with the trigger, and then reload with fresh ammo. This happens every few months.

That's a first for me. I have never seen rings like that before on any ammo.

Like others have mentioned, I change my carry ammo every time I go to the range. I fire off my carry ammo first and then I shoot up reloads. That happens every couple of months or so.

I might worry a little about extractor damage on the chambered round. Other than that, unless the ammo has been exposed to some harsh treatment or environmental condition, I'd carry it forever.

Witch manufacture is that?

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John

Our "house defense" gun is a S&W Model 3904 loaded with Speer Gold Dots that run around 1,150. Hollow Points are illegal here, but I figure if it's come down to repelling boarders inside my house the Law no longer matters much. All the "forensic stuff" you see up North, that doesn't happen here.*

I noticed that the "chambered round" of the 3904, after being extracted and reloaded various times developed rings exactly like the one in your photo so I started always changing out the chambered round and moving it to the bottom of the mag and chambering a new one everytime I unloaded the pistol for either cleaning or to take out shooting. (After about 300 initial tests of the Gold Dot round, I no long ever practice with it and use a lead reload with a similar POI). Perhaps the rings on your rounds stem from the same cause.


*Many years ago, I did some work for the Mexican Army as a sort of "favor exchange". Later on, I was in a hospital in a city an hour south of here for some tests over a parasite I'd picked up probably years earlier in Honduras. While there, a Mexican Army Officer recognized me and asked me if I could come and "check something out" for them. I was lead to a room with a body on a gurney that had a sheet over it, and some technicians standing there with an X-ray.

"What kind of bullet is that?" asked the Army Officer, pointing to the X-ray. Looking at it I could clearly see what appeared to be a 158 grain lead round-nosed bullet turned a funny angle but pretty clearly "side-on" from the camera's point of view.
"Uh," I said, trying to be careful, "it looks like your standard Aguila 158 grain lead round-nosed .38 Special bullet."
The Mexican Army Officer clapped his hands together, turned to the techies, and exclaimed "We have a match!"

I have no idea who got sold down the river over that incident, but I have learned to be more careful before heading blindly into these things now-a-days. It ain't like you see on CSI down here.

At least once a year. Sometimes twice a year. IF you do a lot of loading and unloading of a semi-auto more frequently might be advised as slamming the rounds up and down the feed ramp and repeated extractions can give reliability problems on the particular round(s) that gets worked.

I carry a revolver so the chambering thing is not an issue. My carry ammo is the old FBI +P 158 grain and it's hard to get so I change annually around my birthday, which is just around the corner. Time to find some more.

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Old Cop
LEO (Ret.)

For the most part I change out my carry ammo each time I fire an HR 218 qual.
Once a year is required here in FL but there have been times when I have qualified twice in one year and changed out the ammo each time.

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JimC

I have had a couple of hundred rounds (Corbon and American Eagle(?)) that I had for over 10 years. I recently shot most of them at the range and they worked fine. As mentioned, the biggest problem you might run into is repeatedly handling (chambering and magazine unlading / loading) the rounds. As long as a gun is stored in a place that doesn't harm the gun, the ammo in it should be fine for many years. As of recent, I make sure that cycle through ammo at least yearly.

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M&P Shield 9MM