So on my self defense ammo, I use a an Ultra Fine Point sharpie to put a line on the bullet where it meets the case. Let them dry and the line stays there pretty good!

This gives me an instant visual indication of bullet set back if I see less or none of the line.

Anyone else do something similar? Could the ink cause any problems when the rounds are fired? I would guess it get's burned off or otherwise vaporizes.

I fail to comprehend the purpose of the marking?

Special Self Defense Ammo commercially sold at higher costs is IMO a waste of money.

A lot depends if the bullet is smooth wall "Pistol type" bullet or the revolver type bullet that is crimped in a cannelure.

Most quality SD "pistol bullets" have a gel that sets up on the bullet inside the case for extra insurance against set back problems.
A crimped revolver bullet will generally, never get set back unless it is shot in a light weight weapon.

Ink is one way............ a "Mic" of bullets before and after is another way to test for SB. I have only seen it in J frames, however.

These are Federal 9mm HST 147gr I talking about specifically. Repeated chambering of the same round causing setback is the issue. Putting a line on the bullet where it meets the case is way to determine if the bullet is getting pushed back into the case.

Actually not a bad idea. The only other way is to measure them.

Setback does not occur in revolver rounds. They can be affected by a different phenomenom called "bullet jump" or "bullet creep." This is caused by bullets pulling OUT (as opposed to being pushed IN with setback) due to heavy recoil, particularly in lightweight revolvers. Setback with auto rounds is caused by the nose of the bullet hitting the feed ramp upon chambering. As noted above, good SD ammo has a "glue" sealant on the bullet that, in addition to good case neck tension, virtually eliminates setback. But only virtually. To be certain you have to either measure or use a Sharpie.

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USAF, 69-92
Vietnam, 72-73

I've never seen it happen either and hope it never does, but this seems like cheap insurance.

How about this: Don't rechamber rounds! Potential problem solved.

Kind of my thinking too. No harm in marking the rounds, but if your really want a 100%, sure-fire way to absolutely, positively avoid set-back problems, mark the round you eject, chamber a fresh round, then put the marked round at the bottom of the mag. When it comes up again set it aside for practice.

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Pisgah

So you never ever unload a round once it's chambered except for firing it? What if you want to dry fire or practice your draw?

Do you just go outside of your house and fire a .50 to .60 cent round into the dirt? What if you carry every day and want to dry fire practice 3-4 times per week?

I see your process, but it's kind of a pain to dump the entire mag to put the chambered round at the bottom. Plus, you'll still eventually fire that round even if it's just for practice yes?

Seems like a lot of trouble for little return.

I use hand loads exclusively (swc hard cast). I know what they're supposed to look like.

Setback is obvious, in the very unusual case it occurs.

When I chamber a round in my carry pistols they stay there until I rotate out my carry ammo. If I have to unchamber a round it goes into another box for practice use.

When I want to do dry fire practice I have a separate pistol (same model) for practice and majority of my range use.

Despite the naysayers who always come out in force when
any questions regarding the techniques of the poster are
posted there's absolutely nothing wrong with what you're
doing. In general though it's probably not a good idea to
rechamber the same round over and over because of small
burrs usually left on case rims by extractors. But then I don't
think it's a good idea to repeatedly dry fire any SD gun over
and over and risk a broken firing pin that could ruin your
whole day. But that's my opinion, sure to be challenged by
those who know much more about my own guns than I do.
Bottom line, do what you are comfortable with and forget
about getting lots of others to agree with you.

Yes, and neatly done, I might add. I happen to use other methods, when I use autoloaders, and they are probably adequate. Yours is better. It's that simple. It's just as simple as it seems.

There were a few good posts here that explained the above - I just wanted to make sure that you know that there are others who recognize that a cautious step that costs almost nothing is generally, and certainly specifically here, a good thing.

Carry on.

Hunter, I like your idea. I carry 1 in the chamber, When I go to the range, I drop the mag and the reload the round that was chambered.After 2or3 times I rotate the rounds in the mag and every once in a while replace the rnds in the mag. I like the mark idea.

What is this gel or glue you speak of?

Factory ammo with jacketed bullets in auto pistol calibers
just about always has a ring of asphaltum cement applied to
the case neck just prior to seating the bullet. This helps
keep the smooth jacketed bullet in place during the loading
cycle and helps seal the round. Look inside the fired case of
a factory round and you will see the residue of this in the
form of a dark ring. Factory ammo is loaded on automated
machinery. Obviously trying to duplicate this process would
be very difficult for the handloader.

Presumably you've made it known to literally every law enforcement agency across the land that they can carry Winchester White Box without a worry?

If it functions in the gun,absolutely but if something is known to you to be bad ammo why would you consider it even for target shooting in the first place?

What's the guarantee with the special Critical Defense and the like?

AFASK law enforcement agencies issue ammo to be used in duty guns.If you use something else liability shifts to you if something goes bad plus you have no guarantee that every round will go boom from any manufacturer.

The concern should be on gun function and rounds going boom and not how well it expands if it hits it's mark.

I survived 11 shootouts,how many have you?

The point was law enforcement at the federal, state and local levels have all voted in favor of your so-called "special self defense ammo". I'll wager that collectively the entire law enforcement community has had more shootouts than your comparatively few 11, so by your odd standards, their call is the better informed one.

Also, by more rational standards -- like ballistic tests and forensic investigation of reams of data related to real-word shootings -- modern hollow point ammunition has won the day and its selection by law enforcement agencies is the result.

By the way, surviving shootouts doesn't de facto make one a ballistics authority any more than surviving a fire makes someone an arson expert, but you're welcome to try and shut down discussion with it; all it seems to indicate is you're an authority on getting yourself shot at.

That works great...if you have a 2nd gun. If I could have 2 identical semi-autos, that's what I would do.

When I had a Glock 23, my only semi-auto at the time, I did as you suggested, the chambered round got placed in a box for practice use after I used a Sharpie on it to ID it as having been chambered. When the box got full it got fired. I also dry-fired regularly, so it didn't take long for that box to fill up. And it got expensive. It's one of the reasons I like revolvers.

If I get another semi-auto, I will likely follow some other advice I read, which is that it's ok to chamber a round 2-3 times, but to compare it to an unchambered round and place it in the practice box if there's any noticeable difference in OAL.