What Would You Do?

[sjs]

A few weeks ago I bought a M2 5" FDE. Yesterday I bought a M2 Compact FDE. Problem is I got out of 9mm shooting a few years ago and had no ammo.

I managed to find some ball ammo which I have been enjoying for training. I then shopped for premium defense loads and had the fun of watching as the availability and price of 9mm changed within days, and sometimes hours, as I looked at various internet sources. By the time I made the decision to go ahead and accept the inflated prices it was tough to get anything.

As it stands now I have several notification requests posted, but as far as actual shipments I only have three boxes of carry ammo on the way, and they are three different types.

I only have 20 rounds of each to go with and that doesn't leave much for reliability testing. Given a 17+1 and a 15+1 capacity how would you choose to test and still leave enough to carry for use?

I could test 2 rounds of one in one pistol, and 2 to 4 in another and carry those loads in the respective pistols, but that is not much testing for reliability. I could test a whole box of one type, half in each pistol, but then I would be carrying a different type and would only have proven they will function with hollow points, but of another brand.

Eventually I suspect I will get more but for now, what would you do?

[mscampbell2734]

I would NOT carry a gun without putting at least 100 rds of what I intend to carry through it.

Right now is not the time to be switching guns. I have to assume you've been carrying something before you bought these Smiths so I'd say stick with that for now

The ammo shortage will pass, I hope and pray, and when it does you can get enough to wring out your new guns.

[sandog]

9mm would be the least likely caliber I would worry about as far as ammo reliability. Between the tapered case and long rounded bullet profile they are as reliable as they come.
And assuming you have good factory magazines and not Pro Mag or the like.

Not sure what ammo you will have on hand, but if any are Fed HST that's what I would carry.
All of my defensive ammo is HST, it feeds like FMJ.

Most others will be as good in 9mm.
Only top tier ammo I've had feeding bobbles with was Speer Gold Dot, and that was in .45 ACP.

I would worry more about thoroughly breaking in the new pistols with 300-400 rounds of range ammo, than needing to put a lot of your carry JHP through them.
A couple boxes of the carry ammo in each pistol would be preferable, but I'd feel O.K. with less with a fully broken in pistol.

[Okie21]

My M&P's are my "go to" pistols. They shoot everything they're fed. Never had any "break in" issues. They shot everything right out of the box, after a thorough cleaning.

However, I wouldn't feel comfortable carrying any firearm without shooting at least one 50 round box of carry ammo thru it. 2 or 3 boxes would be better. I would hold off on carrying until you can be absolutely sure of your pistol.

Sent from my moto g(7) power using Tapatalk

[gwpercle]

Carry my 1911 in 45 acp ... When the number starts with 4 and ends with 5 ... even hardball works .

You don't have any other handguns...just one or two brand new 9mm Lugers ???
How about a 38 Special / 357 magnum revolver ... they have a good reliability track record .
Gary

[BSA1]

I frequently read comments in discussion forums about how a new gun should be 100% reliable straight out of the box and the poster is confident with carrying the gun for self-defense after shooting one box of ammunition though it. If the gun malfunctions during that short test then it is junk and they proceed to bad mouth it.

The M&P’s are excellent guns. We have four of them and they all work flawlessly. However this doesn’t mean that I will skip throughly testing the next M&P I get just because the previous four work fine. I understand your desire to carry your new gun but you owe it yourself and your loved ones to test it enough to make sure it doesn’t have any manufacturing faults and to chase anyway any gremlins.

[ZOEY]

IMO and what I would do is to pick one of these 2 new guns you bought( for carry I would go with the compact) and if I had a minimum of 400 rounds of target ammo thru it I would take(60-16=44 rounds) of the self defense ammo and mix all 3 brands and shoot those. If all goes well load up one mag and one in the chamber and carry that. You should be good to go. Note I said you should be good to go. If you have other calibers that you know are reliable the best thing to do would be to carry the other calibure for self defense for now until the ammo shortage lessons. I guess I would rather have a carry weapon that has 400 rounds of target ammo and 44 rounds of various self defense ammo than no carry weapon at all. Good luck with your decision.

[sjs]

I want to thank everyone who posted a comment. I found them all to be thoughtful, responsible and well informed. I have a good basis for making my decision.

[hostler]

Originally Posted by sjs

A few weeks ago I bought a M2 5" FDE. Yesterday I bought a M2 Compact FDE. Problem is I got out of 9mm shooting a few years ago and had no ammo.

I managed to find some ball ammo which I have been enjoying for training. I then shopped for premium defense loads and had the fun of watching as the availability and price of 9mm changed within days, and sometimes hours, as I looked at various internet sources. By the time I made the decision to go ahead and accept the inflated prices it was tough to get anything.

As it stands now I have several notification requests posted, but as far as actual shipments I only have three boxes of carry ammo on the way, and they are three different types.

I only have 20 rounds of each to go with and that doesn't leave much for reliability testing. Given a 17+1 and a 15+1 capacity how would you choose to test and still leave enough to carry for use?

I could test 2 rounds of one in one pistol, and 2 to 4 in another and carry those loads in the respective pistols, but that is not much testing for reliability. I could test a whole box of one type, half in each pistol, but then I would be carrying a different type and would only have proven they will function with hollow points, but of another brand.

Eventually I suspect I will get more but for now, what would you do?

I'm kind of in the same spot. I bought a 2.0 compact a couple months ago. I've had it to the range a couple of times shooting range ammo but my supply of defensive 9mm is pretty low. I've got about 3 mags worth of ammo that is not already spoken for ny other carry guns.
I'm just going to sit tight and leave the compact out of carry rotation until I can run some defensive ammo through it. I have other guns that are well tested and trusted that I can carry instead, so it won't leave me unarmed.
If I didn't have other carry options, I'm not sure what I would do. I always carry an extra mag so I would need a minimum of 31 rounds either way. If I didn't have that, and I didn't have another gun to carry, I suppose I would just carry ball ammo and call it good until I had other options. Not ideal, but desperate times right?

[LVSteve]

If you have no alternative carry guns, load up with ball and call it done. Yes, 9mm can overpenetrate, but that doesn't get you dead like a gun that jams on untried JHP ammo.

[JJEH]

If you have an alternative gun then go with that. If you don't then buy more ammo and go shoot it, period. It's a very !@#$%^ timing to start something new with very limited or no availability.

If you need ammo check with Buffalo Bore, they have ammo in stock and it's top notch.

[ContinentalOp]

If I were in your position, I would wait until I had enough ammo to do at least a minimal reliability test.

The protocol I use is based on the gun's capacity. First, I look at the maximum amount of ammo I expect to carry. For example, with my PX4 Compact that'd be 46 rounds, 15+1 in the gun and 2 15-round spares (though I actually only carry 1 spare mag). Then I go to the range and fire that many rounds of range/FMJ ammo, using my carry mags. With the gun still dirty, I then run that many rounds of JHP, including firing strong- and weak-hand only and with a loose grip to try to induce a limp-wrist malfunction. If it passes all of that, I would consider it good to carry. So, I would try to get at least 100 rounds of carry ammo, half for the minimal test and half for carry, plus 50 rounds of FMJ for the warm-up.

But, with the times being what they are, it can be difficult to get even that much ammo. You'll have to decide for yourself what you're comfortable with, and do the best you can with that.

Just my opinion.

[stansdds]

I would not rely upon any firearm for serious purposes until I fired at least 100 rounds through it. New pistols often need 100 rounds to break in and function properly and you also need to know how the sights are regulated. I would not feel comfortable relying upon a firearm that I did not adequately test fire.

[dla]

Originally Posted by sjs

A few weeks ago I bought a M2 5" FDE. Yesterday I bought a M2 Compact FDE. Problem is I got out of 9mm shooting a few years ago and had no ammo.

I managed to find some ball ammo which I have been enjoying for training. I then shopped for premium defense loads and had the fun of watching as the availability and price of 9mm changed within days, and sometimes hours, as I looked at various internet sources. By the time I made the decision to go ahead and accept the inflated prices it was tough to get anything.

As it stands now I have several notification requests posted, but as far as actual shipments I only have three boxes of carry ammo on the way, and they are three different types.

I only have 20 rounds of each to go with and that doesn't leave much for reliability testing. Given a 17+1 and a 15+1 capacity how would you choose to test and still leave enough to carry for use?

I could test 2 rounds of one in one pistol, and 2 to 4 in another and carry those loads in the respective pistols, but that is not much testing for reliability. I could test a whole box of one type, half in each pistol, but then I would be carrying a different type and would only have proven they will function with hollow points, but of another brand.

Eventually I suspect I will get more but for now, what would you do?

Just carry it. The M&P line will gobble anything, so the only thing you get by burning 100 rounds is poorer.
Besides, you can always rack the slide and keep shooting - stoppages are not a big deal.

[CB3]

I’ve only had one type of defensive ammo of any caliber ever fail in a handgun. It was a small manufacturer in .380 ACP. The rounds were loaded too long. Hand cycling without firing showed the weakness. I have had a low-end commercial reload fmj leave a squib in my barrel. Good brand name ammo + broken in gun = reliable banging success. Hundreds of rounds are not really necessary if your initial process shows no weakness. These guns eat, fire and eject everything.

Given your situation, go buy some snap caps, maybe two or three five packs. Choose one gun and clean and lubricate it. Hand cycle all your mags and pull the trigger. Break your gun in for 4-500 cycles without firing a live round. Hand cycling dummy rounds, or even just hand cycling with trigger pulls, breaks a gun in and smooths it out. It greatly reduces one of your variables. You will most likely—like 99.9%—have no problems at this stage.

Go to a range. Get a variety of fmj by trading some of what you have with other shooters, maybe 5 rounds at a time. Hand cycle it without firing. No problems? Shoot it using your different mags. They don’t have to be fully loaded, although maybe choose one of them, mark it, and make it your more tested, full load mag.

When those rounds (60-80) prove reliable, see if another 9mm range shooter will donate (or trade for fmj) a few rounds of their different defensive ammo. Load all your varieties and hand cycle for function through all your mags. Don’t worry about bullet setback. A few cycles won’t hurt.

Now fire a variety of defensive ammo, about 3 each if possible. Check the function of your primary carry mag during these tests. No failures? Carry what you’ve got, even if it is mixed.

This sounds more complex than it is. If you do have a problem at any stage, see if the one experience is repeatable under the same conditions. If it is, don’t use the gun for defensive purposes until it is properly broken in or fixed.

When done without problems, load mags, insert the primary mag in gun and carry it. You’ll be fine.

Do the hundreds round testing when you can get more ammo, but that shooting will be more new gun training than ammo reliability checking. This process will give you confidence to carry after <100 rounds. The bottom rounds in a carry mag can be fmj if you don’t have enough hp to fill two mags. No big deal. If you get down to that level in a self defense shooting, you’re firing wildly anyway.

Continue to hand cycle and dry fire both pistols at home. Hundreds and hundreds of manipulations. You’ll become familiar with the pistols. You’ll be fine.

You’re not going to shoot anyone anyway, because being trained and disciplined you know how to avoid confrontations rather than get embroiled, right?

[WR Moore]

I feel for you at the present time. FWIW, the closer the profile of the self defense bullet is to ball, the more likely it will feed without issue. However, having said that, the original 9 mm (back in 1908) used a truncated cone bullet. The nose edge of the truncated cone/flat point, gives the round about the same point of feed contact as a RN and is generally more accurate.

[catcus-jack]

If it will fire 2 magazines of your carry ammo you should be good to go.
Who is to say you shoot 100,200,500 rounds through it that 101 or 201 or 501 will not fail.
Practice malfunction drills and carry a back up gun.