New carry ammo - how often?

[PALADIN85020]

I routinely carry a little North American Arms mini-revolver with a folding holster/grip on my belt. Sure not the best self-defense gun, but it's always with me, even around the house. When I venture out to the nearby stop-n-rob or other destinations, I carry more serious ordnance in addition to that.

Today I looked at the ammo I've been carrying around in that little mini-revolver. It has been loaded with CCI hyper-velocity "Quik-Shok" .22 LR ammo for...how long? I honestly don't remember when I last loaded it up, but I'm estimating maybe as long as two years or so. Definitely not good. Today I disassembled the little gun, blew all the fuzz off of it, cleaned it, sparingly oiled it, and loaded it up with new ammo of the same brand. I feel more confident now that if I call on this little stinger, it will go bang.

I recall when I was a kid, that two doors up the block from where I lived was the residence of one John Slaughter, a Phoenix police officer. If the name sounds familiar, it should, because his father was once the Sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona, and a more rugged and effective lawman never lived. "Texas John" Slaughter was a story in himself, and you might want to Google him if you want to know more. At any rate, his son had a habit that the neighbors around him knew about, but which would surprise the uninitiated in the vicinity.

Once a month, we'd hear a quick succession of six shots from Slaughter's back yard. This was John emptying his service revolver into the ground. He said that fulfilled several functions. Number one, it verified to him that his revolver worked as intended. Number two, it forced him to load it with new ammo. Number three, since he had fired it, it reminded him to clean the piece. His father had taught him never to carry a gun that he wasn't sure worked, and that didn't have fresh ammo in it. We once had some guests at our house for dinner, and ol' John started firing off his gun about the time we sat down to eat. Our guests were startled, and wondered if there was a real situation developing a couple of doors away. My dad assured them that everything was normal, and explained what was going on.

Which brings me to the question - how about you? How often do you replace the ammo you routinely carry for your personal protection gun? How often do you shoot that gun? And how often do you clean and oil it? Are you really sure that if called upon, that gun will go "bang" for you? Food for thought.

 

[palmetto99]

That's good food for thought. I have the same 18 rounds in three speed strips for over two years. I inspect them every so often. The EDC goes BANG every couple of months (I shoot other guns in practice) and gets a good cleaning after every trip.

 

[aterry33]

I have heard everything from a month to six months to a year or more. I'm comfortable with shooting the rounds out of my guns every six months or so.

For LEOs and other professionals the answer may be different.

 

[oldman45]

I routinely shoot ammo that was bought as WWII surplus in .45 hardball. Never had a problem. The last case of 12 ga shells I bought was about 1994 and I am still shooting it with no problem.

I carry four different handguns (one at a time) depending on weather, dress and time of the year. The main one I carry daily is loaded with the original Black Talon rounds I bought many years ago. I fired some of it recently and it worked just like new. My S&W model 686 is loaded with the same type ammo, just another caliber and I have no doubt that it would and will work fine when I need it. I got my 1911 .45acp on my desk right now and it is loaded with some shells I bought when I got this office in 2002. Some of that case of shells were used on Feb 05, 2010, when I last qualified. Not a one was bad.

Bullets last longer than people. They are waterproof and powder is a lot better than it was back 70 years ago.

No need to change bullets. The only bad thing about a bullet is while they last forever, they can only be used once.

 

[pharmer]

I carry 12 rds of Federal HydraShoks in my 6906. I used to shoot it every 6 mos and replace. Last couple years( @ over a buck a round), 12-16 mos. Never had any fail to go boom. None of my other ammo either for that matter. Joe

 

[photoman]

Ammo in the gun gets shot at the next range visit.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

Have Fed Hydra-Shok in 9mm,.357,.38 and 45ACP over a decade.

 

[oldman45]

Ammo in the gun gets shot at the next range visit.

Do you shoot your select social situation ammo on the range as opposed to target/practice ammo?

 

[photoman]

Do you shoot your select social situation ammo on the range as opposed to target/practice ammo?

The carry ammo is the first to go at the range. I find it reassuring to know that my gun and ammo would've worked if needed...

How much is your life worth?

 

[cp1969]

I just shot some 14-year old .44 mag reloads today. I could tell no difference between them and newer stuff.

edit: I should add that these rounds were stored for six years in an unheated pole barn, exposed to temps of 100+F to -10F.

 

[Class III]

I should add that these rounds were stored for six years in an unheated pole barn, exposed to temps of 100+F to -10F.

CP, about ten years ago CDNN had FN produced 30-06 ammo for rock bottom pricing. I bought a few cases and have not had a single FTF. It is 150 gr FMJ and most of the head stamps are FN 52. It has been stored in waterproof ammo cans but been subjected to the same storage conditions as your 44's. The stuff still shoots BEAUTIFULLY through my 03's and M1's. Sorry about the poor quality picture. I didn't feel like breaking out the camera and just placed a shell on the scanner.

As far as CCW/Defensive ammo goes, it is used every trip to the range. I start out with range fodder and the last cylinders full/magazines full are what I have been carrying for the last few weeks in the way of what was loaded in the gun and speed strips and the mag that was in the gun and the two spares.

Class III

 

[max]

I shot some factory 9mm jhp's earlier this month that were at least 20 years old and they all worked just fine.

 

[westkybanded]

The Hydrashocks I'm carrying are at least 12 if not 15 years old. I have 100% faith that they will go bang.

 

[4864]

Every three years. Some times never. I had some very old .45 Hydra-shocks I shot off for qualification a year and a half ago and they all went bang.

 

[zercool]

I shoot my carry *gun* every time I'm at the range. A few cylinders of light target loads and a few of standard-pressure FMJ.

Carry ammo? Once a year or so.

 

[oldman45]

How much is your life worth?

Depending on who is around, not too much. I find life is worth more to the individual than it is to others. Since I do not have much time left in life, I figure my life is worth the balance in the bank account for time being until the lady that lives here just to spend my money and make my life miserable depletes the account.

 

[oldman45]

Has anyone considered that high performance ammo is getting more costly and difficult to find?

Granted ammo now is better than it was 20 yrs ago but shooting up the stock of SSS ammo in the event it will go bad might be an ill advised move.

I shoot FMJ target ammo at the range and keep building the stockpile of quality bullets.

I will also bet nobody will stand in front of my gun thinking the ammo will not work.

 

[BUFF]

I have no doubt that modern ammo (made since WWII) has a tremendous shelf life. Generally, if it looks good, it is good.

I made it a habit to purchase extra magazines for the handguns carried by my patrol shift (I am a police sergeant) and some extra M-16 mags and got duty ammo to fill them from our armorer. I made some simple pouches from bubble wrap for the mags. I carry them in the trunk of my patrol car in the incredibly unlikely event that one of my folks would run dry during a social event and need a re-supply while under fire. The bubble wrap pouches allow me to throw the loaded mags.

Recently, I noticed the ammo in my grab bag was more than 5 years old. In the trunk for all 4 seasons, 100+ degree days, below zero degree nights, rain, snow, no humidity, you name it, not ideal storage conditions. I shot up most of it a few weeks ago, .223, 9mm, .40 S&W and .45 ACP, nice Federal bonded "Tactical" stuff. It was all just perfect.

That said, I think it is a good idea to shoot some of your carry ammo every year. It keeps you familiar with the gun and ammo and demonstrates, in the event of things going south, that you ARE familiar with your carry gun and ammo combination.

For the most part, my department takes care of my carry ammo in .38 Special, 9mm and .45 ACP. We shoot up our year-old carry ammo once a year during a qualification shoot and are issued new stuff. About all I buy of my own serious ammo is .32 ACP for my Seecamp.

I will shoot up the old stuff and at least one gun-full of the new stuff each year, just to make sure the new stuff works in my gun. I'll shoot much more than one gun full if the new stuff is different than the old stuff, such as a change in manufacturer, bullet weight or style, or such.

I get a verification that the gun and ammo combination still hits to point-of-impact, that my gun still works with that ammo and find it is just one less distraction for me if I ever need my gun for serious again.

I wouldn't shoot up my old serious ammo until I had bought a replacement supply, however. I would hate to shoot up all my good hollowpoint stuff and then find out the stores were all out and I had to carry ball or such until I could find more!

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

The Columbus, Ohio PD replaced all service weapon ammo twice a year[ as of a few years ago].

 

[Bat Guano]

When I was working we fired off our on-duty ammo at each qualification (90 days). Retired, I fire off what's in my 4" and 2" CCW revolvers about every 2 years. In many, many rounds of factory .38 and .357 ammo, the only bad ammo I have ever seen were visibly malformed rounds that the merest glance would have spotted. I do not recall ANY failures to cycle or function with a properly maintained weapon.

In almost 50 years of handloading ammo, I have only had about three bad rounds; 1 bad primer and 2 instances of inverted primers in 9mm that got past my inspection because I was in a hurry trying to crank out 2000 rounds for a class. I have some handloads that date back to 1976 that still fire off perfectly.

I do not carry semiautos anymore, but I try not to cycle the same rounds too many times through the gun.

As other posters mentioned, the reliability of ammo these days is very good, as long as the care and storage is at all reasonable.