Have seen several threads about what carry firearms/ammo loads people are carrying/using during these crazy times. What about SD ammo rotation? I have several boxes of different brands of self defense ammo but all are at least a couple years old. Some buy new, some use older inventory. Not sure who loads their own for SD purposes. What say you?
Poll: Self Defense/Carry Ammunition Rotation
- Thread starter robrossk
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Rpg
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Don't worry about your ammo being too old! Unless it's visibly corroded, it will work fine.
I use the same 45 acp hand loaded ammo for practice, competition, sd, and wandering about in our mountains: #68 H&G hard cast swc at about 1,000 FPS.
I'm not a big fan of 'rotating' ammo (or guns!) for sd: no need to rotate ammo, although I do shoot the ammo that's in the gun; rotating your sd guns is certainly a way to play with more guns than sticking to one gun, but there are precious few people who have great skill with one gun, let alone a variety of guns.
I use the same 45 acp hand loaded ammo for practice, competition, sd, and wandering about in our mountains: #68 H&G hard cast swc at about 1,000 FPS.
I'm not a big fan of 'rotating' ammo (or guns!) for sd: no need to rotate ammo, although I do shoot the ammo that's in the gun; rotating your sd guns is certainly a way to play with more guns than sticking to one gun, but there are precious few people who have great skill with one gun, let alone a variety of guns.
ContinentalOp
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I aim for every 6 months (pun intended... 
) with new ammo, but realistically, it's probably closer to 1 year, ideally with fresh/new ammo, but most likely from what I have in inventory, especially nowadays. Sometimes I do get closer to the 6 month-mark, but not always. And the ammo in my inventory is not subjected to the same conditions as the ammo I'm carrying, so I'm not as worried if the ammo is a few years old. If I'm feeling particularly OCD, I may pick a few rounds from the box I'm using to replace carry ammo and fire them when I shoot up my old ammo to make sure they work.
) with new ammo, but realistically, it's probably closer to 1 year, ideally with fresh/new ammo, but most likely from what I have in inventory, especially nowadays. Sometimes I do get closer to the 6 month-mark, but not always. And the ammo in my inventory is not subjected to the same conditions as the ammo I'm carrying, so I'm not as worried if the ammo is a few years old. If I'm feeling particularly OCD, I may pick a few rounds from the box I'm using to replace carry ammo and fire them when I shoot up my old ammo to make sure they work.I never rotate or replace it. I do remove it from my 3 Glock 43x mags every time I go shooting, which is fairly often(not as often recently due to the ammo shortage). I carry Speer Gold Dot 124gr+p rounds. But I dont just take it out 9f the mags for no reason. Why do that?
Fresh carry ammo after each trip to the range -
ContinentalOp
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Ammo that's been stored properly, i.e. dry and relatively stable temperatures, can last almost indefinitely. That is pretty much the exact opposite of what carry ammo goes through. Worn close to the body, it's exposed to humidity and the same temperature variations you experience. Not to mention potential effects of loading, unloading, and reloading carry ammo (for example, unloading a gun for dry fire practice or to replace carry ammo with practice ammo at the range) on things like wear-and-tear of the case rim and potential bullet setback issues. Changing out ammo is basically a "belt-and-suspenders" approach to ensuring one's carry ammo will go "bang!" when it's supposed to.
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Monthly I will empty all mags, checking for any damage or setback, reload with same ammo. I do this because ammo can shift in mag and cause a malfunction. I would not be using 50 year old ammo due to improvement in technology. Be Safe.
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Usually Underwood or Hornaday Critical Defense. I'll cycle though it within the year as range practice.
Gunslinger808
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Indeed.
If you're not practicing with at least one mag of your carry ammo every session, you really aren't practicing.
The difference between carry and practice ammo can be big, from recoil to point of impact, and even cycling.
Part of practice is certainty, and if all you shoot is ball, that first round of full power carry can cause a momentary pause which might be deadly.
Saving a few dollars isn't worth a darn if you don't really know your carry ammo.
As to what I carry, it depends on what I am doing, for outside pistol carry is usually a .40 which I stick to 180 grain HST.
For concealed or other 9 mm work it's 124 Gold Dot +p.
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fredj338
Member
I used to do annually but 18m seems where I am headed. It always goes bang.
fredj338
Member
I disagree, as long aS you have fired your ammo to verify poi & reliability, there really is no diff between expensive jhp & equiv ball ammo, just wasting ammo.
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fredj338
Member
Ok, how does ammo "shift" in the mag? Bullets dont move unless the gun is fired. Its fine if you just want to shoot your expensive carry ammo, but your reasoning is severely flawed.
Btw, 50y we didnt really have any decent carry ammo, well maybe the old 158gr lswchp+p in 38sp.
fredj338
Member
Once a week, month, year??
Gunslinger808
Member
If you remove and constantly rechamber Ammo you get something called setback.
It will slowly push a bullet deeper into the case which can lead to over pressure and other issues.
I guess as far as shifting in the mag, that might happen with some rifles where the bullet wasn't properly crimped, but I've never heard of it in a handgun.
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Gunslinger808
Member
And this brings up another point.
What do you consider practice?
If it standing in one spot shooting for tight groups and bullseyes, it probably doesn't matter.
If instead you are doing speed and failure drills like 2 to the body and 1 to the head, it absolutely does matter.
Full power loads are completely different, and if you haven't practiced, there is no way you'll be near as accurate as you are with ball ammo.
Recoil difference alone will ensure that.
I always go back to an experience I had in about 1993. I bought a bandoleer with mags and ammo in the mags, all for an M1 carbine. 8, 15 round mags, all headstamped LC43. Fired them all. No misfires, no misfeeds, nothing but a bang every time. Didn't think much of the accuracy, but the 50 year old ammo and mag springs all worked just fine.
All of our SD guns are loaded with Speer 124 grain +P Gold Dots. I change them all out from my on hand inventory on January 1st every year. That's also when I change out magazines. The old ammunition gets put into the range supply.
I try to keep a minimum of 5 years worth on hand at all times.
I try to keep a minimum of 5 years worth on hand at all times.
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sigp220.45
US Veteran
I don't worry about it. I have ammo I got 25 years ago and have hauled around ever since. Louisiana, Montana, Idaho, New Mexico, and Colorado - usually stored in unheated/uncooled garages during extreme cold and heat. Now that I'm retired I'm shooting it up, and it all works perfectly well.
My .357 carry ammo is 145 grain Silvertip. At a buck a round I shoot all but 12 and save those until Winchester poops out another batch.
For .32 ACP, .25 ACP, and .380 there's no difference between carry ammo and practice ammo so I just shoot whats in the gun. Ball is ball.
My Hi-Power is full of BPLE +P+. I buy it when I find it, then shoot what's in the gun. My current stash is about a year old.
My .38s are loaded from a stash of FBI LHPs I got from the FBI. Its at least 30 years old. Always works great.
My .357 carry ammo is 145 grain Silvertip. At a buck a round I shoot all but 12 and save those until Winchester poops out another batch.
For .32 ACP, .25 ACP, and .380 there's no difference between carry ammo and practice ammo so I just shoot whats in the gun. Ball is ball.
My Hi-Power is full of BPLE +P+. I buy it when I find it, then shoot what's in the gun. My current stash is about a year old.
My .38s are loaded from a stash of FBI LHPs I got from the FBI. Its at least 30 years old. Always works great.
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