Carry Ammo

[Doug M.]

If you unload an auto pistol I would replace that ammo after one chambering just because some are more prone to setback. If you are not unloading after it is loaded, you should be able to go a year or more. I will note that one of the fatal errors in "Officer Down, Code Three" was not replacing for so long that it failed due to environmental conditions. (Which is another way of saying I am old without saying I am old. I read that book when it was new.)

 

[Llance]

Who taught that? The USCG?

No sir, my father taught me this. Later still, in conversation with an FBI agent at a local copshop, suggested the same. Part of that conversation involved range time and how one should fire practice ammo and before leaving or changing to a different firearm to shoot some standard carry ammo so the shock of the difference in velocity or "kick" doesn't throw my aim off. I reasoned he knew what he was talking about.

I try to make my EDC the last firearm of the day so it is fresh in my mind (limited as it may be) how it handles. Thus, I shoot at least 10 rounds of EDC ammo before leaving the range.

 

[WR Moore]

Interested in how many wash cycles the carry ammo is good for ... askin' for a friend.

I expect you've got a washer & ammo. Experiment and let us know.

 

[biku324]

Interested in how many wash cycles the carry ammo is good for ... askin' for a friend.

Mine made it through the warm cycle for permanent press and still made a bang, but it was factory ammo.

Didn't try the dryer.

 

[besshoudini]

It depends on how you store the ammo.

 

[alwslate]

Interested in how many wash cycles the carry ammo is good for ... askin' for a friend.

Several years ago I did a test of a variety of factory handgun ammo by putting rounds in a bucket of water for a week. All went bang after being under water for a week except for a couple of Aluminum cased CCI Blazer rounds.

 

[Gamecock]

Ammo doesn't rot. Being in a gun doesn't change that.

I've heard the setback theory many times, but I've never seen it.

 

[gjgalligan]

When I remove mags of SD carry ammo I drop the mag, eject the rd in the chamber.
I then do 1 of 2 things, when I go to reload my pistol with SD ammo I can load that eject rd by hand or in most cases I just install it a range mag. Once the range mag is full I will shoot it up.
I have shot a lot of OLD ammo. If it was stored properly I have never had any failures. I still have some 22lr that my father bought in the 1960s. Sometimes I will shoot 9 or 18 rounds out of his H&R revolver(the gun I learned to shoot with). Always goes bang.

 

[IAM Rand]

I have read the posts here and was debating saying anything. It sounds like there have been many answers from, Ammo is not like bread, it doesn't go stale to every time you look at your gun you need to change it out. Okay, not so much that last one but close.

I have been in the Public Service business so to speak for the last 25 years +/-. We would shoot our duty ammo once a year to get the fresh, crispy new stuff. In all that time I have never been told the specific reason why other than rotating to the new stuff. I suspect that it has more to do with the bean counters and not having to explain why something didn't go bang or maybe it went bang too much. This and our range instructor found the latest and greatest 1 shot magic bullet that we were all switching to (Thank you FBI).

In all of that 25 years I have used the cheap ole FMJ bullets that the agency can get the cheapest because again, the bean counters didn't want to spend $$$ on the good carry ammo to train with. I have never fully agreed that you need to do lots of practicing with duty ammo so you know what it is like when you shoot it in a real situation. I have been in on a handful of OIS investigations and never once has an officer mentioned something about the difference between training ammo and duty ammo. They were more concentrating on what the HE double tooth picks was happening and even then they didn't recall everything. I have never really understood why people think that they will be able to tell the difference in a real life situation vs training the difference in the ammo they are shooting. I have had 25 years of shooting training ammo and duty ammo and I have never really worried or noticed a big difference.

This and the need to always ask that the best ammo for defense drives me crazy. Practice with what you can. If money is no object, go out and buy carry ammo and practice with it all the time. If you are like the rest of use, get a cheap but good FMJ and practice. Practice is good. Talking about how often to change your ammo or what ammo is the best carry ammo is a waste of time. Not trying to disparage anyone but discussions over what is the best ammo or best gun are exercises in futility. Carry what is comfortable and shoot what you can. I have never heard someone complain with what gun they were shot with or what the ammo was, mostly because they weren't talking.

Just sayin.

 

[Doug M.]

The philosophy of training w/duty ammo applied more to revolvers. It was a tangential issue in the Newhall event. Training with .38 WC and carrying far stouter duty ammo presents validity problems. In an auto pistol it takes ammo of certain level to function correctly anyway, and the action will use some of the recoil so the problem/feel are different.

 

[chief38]

People are free to do what they like - it's (barely) still a free Country.

Personally I practice with Federal 124 grain FMJ because it feels almost identical to the Federal HST 124 grain JHP which is my carry ammo. It also shoots to the same point of aim and I spend just over $11 bucks (delivered) a box of 50 for the FMJ training ammo and $34 / box of 50 for the HST's. I see no reason to shoot HST's when the FMJ version shoots pretty much the same.

I would also never use FMJ rounds in a SD gun because they could easily over penetrate and will never expand. The HST's and alike will expend their energy expanding inside a target and won't usually exit - to possibly harm an innocent bystander. That is the theory - to me it makes sense to take any and all precautions to the best of my ability, the rest is out of my hands.

 

[Warren Sear]

Carry ammo should be good for at least 100 years. I'd play it safe and change it out after 50, but that's just me.

 

[Pointblank2U]

The PD replaced our carry ammo annually & I’ve kept to that schedule in retirement.

We did the same thing.

 

[ISCS Yoda]

Many years ago I heard a story about someone being out West and finding old .45-70 ammunition lying on some ledge or rocks or something. It all went bang when he tried it. I can't prove that story but from my experience if your ammunition has been kept safe and dry it will work 100% of the time. Since I do shoot my 9mm carry gun now and again it always has fresh ammunition on board but my EDC M649 probably hasn't been fired in more than a year. I don't fret over the ammunition for a minute. I recollect shooting ancient Remington Kleanbore ammunition with nary a hitch.

 

[bugsym]

I was carrying with full magazine + 1 in chamber (hst). When at range I would clear and then use a different magazine with my range ammo. When done I would put back the hst magazine, rack and fill magazine again. What I noticed was the hst rounds were getting dented as a result of doing this after several trips to the range. As a result I no longer carry plus 1. What do you guys think?

Thanks!

 

[Warren Sear]

what is "hst"?

 

[SGT ROCK 11B]

... in conversation with an FBI agent at a local copshop, suggested the same.

You should talk to a street cop like me. Not to be mean but most FBI Agents are lawyers and accountants. In the movie; "Public Enemies". J. Edgar Hoover asked Melvin Purvis what do we need to take down gangsters. He answered Texas Lawmen, still true today.

 

[SGT ROCK 11B]

Ammo doesn't rot. Being in a gun doesn't change that.

A while back a senior couple my age (70s) came into the LGS. They had a gun pouch so I hover close by because I thought they had brought in a handgun to sell.

Well the couple had bought a J-frame because of civil unrest. He wanted to know why the bullets turned green. Well that old noob was monthly oiling his revolver so it be ready to go. But never wiped off the excess oil.

 

[SGT ROCK 11B]

Carry ammo should be good for at least 100 years. I'd play it safe and change it out after 50, but that's just me.

That can be a fatal error. On Forensic Files was a story from early 1990s. A WWII Veteran kept his 1911 loaded with WWII ammo (45 years old). He lived alone and heard a noise down stairs. He went half way down the stairs and confronted the burglar who just happen to steal a .38 revolver from his previous burglary. Veteran's pistol went click, nothing happened and the bad guy (who has no training or experience with guns) point/shoot one fatal round.

 

[Doug M.]

I was carrying with full magazine + 1 in chamber (hst). When at range I would clear and then use a different magazine with my range ammo. When done I would put back the hst magazine, rack and fill magazine again. What I noticed was the hst rounds were getting dented as a result of doing this after several trips to the range. As a result I no longer carry plus 1. What do you guys think?
Thanks!

**
Warren Sear: HST is an ammo type.

Don't stop carrying +1. That is not the problem. When u train, swap the mags but don't drop the chambered round. Shoot it. Regular manual cycling is the problem.