Practice with what you carry?

[ArchAngelCD]

I'm a huge fan of the Winchester 145gr Silvertip .357 Magnum ammo. It is extremely accurate from my M640 and is the only ammo I will carry in that revolver.

Last time I bought it was when Win did a run and bought 2 boxes @$50 each for 50 rounds. I can't guess how much it is now. I have about 6 boxes left so I won't be using it for regular practice.

 

[BabaBlueJay]

I'm a huge fan of the Winchester 145gr Silvertip .357 Magnum ammo. It is extremely accurate from my M640 and is the only ammo I will carry in that revolver.

Last time I bought it was when Win did a run and bought 2 boxes @$50 each for 50 rounds. I can't guess how much it is now. I have about 6 boxes left so I won't be using it for regular practice.

Do you think 158 grain FMJ would be an ok pairing for practice? I can't seem to find 145 grain LRN or FMJ. I suppose I could start getting 145 grain bullets and reload that to be comparable.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Do you think 158 grain FMJ would be an ok pairing for practice? I can't seem to find 145 grain LRN or FMJ. I suppose I could start getting 145 grain bullets and reload that to be comparable.

I think a 140gr bullet might be a better choice. Fiocchi sells a 142gr magnum range ammo in boxes of 50.

 

[BabaBlueJay]

I think because 357 magnum is so expensive the only way to do it is a mix. If I carried 22 LR it would be more reasonable at 500 rounds for under 100$ of quality Federal Punch.

 

[AJ]

I think because 357 magnum is so expensive the only way to do it is a mix. If I carried 22 LR it would be more reasonable at 500 rounds for under 100$ of quality Federal Punch.

From Ashtabula?

 

[Gamecock]

Sorries. I consider 'defensive ammo' to be a marketing ploy.

That said, I carry and practice with Federal Eagle 147 gr FMJ in my 9 mms. AE9FP. Accurate, pleasant to shoot. Reasonably priced. But even Federal calls it a target load.

I carry and practice with Sig V-Crown Elite 200 gr in my C3 .45. Sig calls it a personal defense round.

So, yes, I practice with what I carry, but I don't think I fit OP's mold, since I carry a so-called target round.

 

[cracker57]

"Defensive Ammo" IIRC on this forum there was a post about someones CCW instructor who said " Before you carry that gun with that ammo you better shoot over 2500 rounds before you consider it reliable."
at 2 bucks a round I don't think so! I reload and try to match what I carry.

 

[AJ]

"Defensive Ammo" IIRC on this forum there was a post about someone's CCW instructor who said " Before you carry that gun with that ammo you better shoot over 2500 rounds before you consider it reliable."
at 2 bucks a round I don't think so! I reload and try to match what I carry.

2500 rounds is a crazy number. When I was stationed an Orange County, CA. we had 23 law enforcement agencies using our ranges. The local PD's would let an officer carry his new gun on the street after 250 trouble free rounds when through it. If it malfunctioned it back to square one.......

 

[Eddie Southgate]

My own loads 100% of the time except .380 which gets Hornady CD.

 

[venomballistics]

I not only reload, but I cast my own bullets as well.
In my world, the cost differential between an ideal target load and a business class offering is just a pennies worth of powder.
For all intents and purposes, there's no financial hurdles in the way of the train as you fight mantra

 

[dbescher]

do you practice exclusively with defensive ammo...

Shooting as much as you can, with any handgun, regardless of caliber or action type is the right answer for almost every non-expert. The .22 is the classic prescription for developing skill. Putting a couple hundred rounds per day through a .177 pellet gun in the basement could be the modern prescription for city and suburban types. And if one wants to master fast draw and always-accurate point shooting, a very large number of correct, consistent repetitions are required. In 2023, not many of us could afford to expend the tens of thousands of practice rounds that resulted in our McGiverns, FitzGeralds, or Jordans, especially if we had to use overpriced and overhyped defense ammo. All of those men, of course, spent many developmental years with the .22 and all of them recommended the same for us.

I also think that handgun hunting has quite a lot to offer the smart student of handgun fighting. Unlike the staged BS that pervades handgun hunting media, real shots on real trophies in real conditions have to be taken immediately - seconds or less. Bambi's dad will be visible and then gone if you can't decide and act and hit very, very quickly. We wouldn't use defensive ammo to kill a coyote, bear, pig, or deer, but it's 100% certain that anyone who consistently brings home meat every year is a better handgunner than any name brand professional instructor. Those abilities cannot be developed at the range, while many range-only skills are largely inapplicable to being able to hit moving targets in their small vital zones within a second or two in heavy cover.

To be fair, recoil, flash, noise, and hot cases ejected down your shirt collar do cause some shooters to flinch, develop bad habits, etc. If the good habits have become ingrained and reflexive via lots of practice with the .22, light wadcutters, or even the BB gun, those bad habits will probably not form at all. If they begin to form they can be easily addressed, particularly by switching to more reasonable ammunition.

 

[Imissedagain]

Were you going there when Holden Kriss was there? He came up to Indian River County Shooting range from Markham Park. We have a "no more than one round every three seconds" rule from him. Guess he brought it with him.

That was within the first few weeks that Markham opened.
Will tell that tale soon.
Full autos were allowed back then.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

"Defensive Ammo" IIRC on this forum there was a post about someones CCW instructor who said " Before you carry that gun with that ammo you better shoot over 2500 rounds before you consider it reliable."
at 2 bucks a round I don't think so! I reload and try to match what I carry.

Not with a revolver. With revolvers you need to shoot as many as it takes to find the POI compared to the POA. You need to know the ammo won't stick in the charge holes or bind the cylinder. Other than that, 2500 or 250 or even more than 50 rounds don't need to be shot. Most times a box of 20 will tell you everything you need to know in a revolver. Of course in a semi-auto things are different be even then, 2500 rounds? I would say back when ammo was fairly prices maybe 200 rounds. Today, probably 100 rounds.

Of course, this is only in my opinion. You do what you think is best for you.

 

[Gamecock]

Agreed, ArchAngelCD.

It is a feeling you get. You shoot the gun some, and at some point, you get the feeling, "Okay, this works."

It's more qualitative than quantitative.

 

[AJ]

That was within the first few weeks that Markham opened.
Will tell that take soon.
Full autos were allowed back then.

Full autos were allowed on our range also, during Kriss's tenure. But not now.

 

[Dave Lively]

Not with a revolver. With revolvers you need to shoot as many as it takes to find the POI compared to the POA. You need to know the ammo won't stick in the charge holes or bind the cylinder. Other than that, 2500 or 250 or even more than 50 rounds don't need to be shot.

This is particularly true of boutique ammo companies like Buffalo Bore and Underwood make that push the limits of how powerful a given cartridge can be. My otherwise 100% reliable Glock 43 chocked on a couple of +P loads from Underwood. And I see a lot of reliability complaints from 10mm owners using extra hot ammo from those companies. I wouldn't trust it in any semi-auto without putting at least 200 rounds of expensive ammo through it without any problems.

But their 357 and 44 ammo has always worked fine in every revolver I have tried it in. As you said, I just check POI and make sure cases eject, which they always have. I have never felt the need to shoot more than a 20 round box through a revolver before I felt comfortable with it. The biggest issue with it in a revolver has always been if I can handle the recoil in a light for caliber gun.

 

[BabaBlueJay]

From Ashtabula?

That is right

 

[nra jim]

I will always run at least 100 rounds of a new self defense ammo before carrying it but other than that I will shoot whats in my mag when I'm at the range and then 230gr ball.

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