How many rounds before you carry?

bannockburn said:

No set number but typically 200 would be my minimum round count; probably more like between 250 to 300.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I'd go along with this, too. (though, for some reason, I do feel more comfortable increasing this number a bit when 1911's are involved, LOL!!)

I'm with Taliv on this.
The number is not fixed...I have carry guns that I trust already. Before considering carrying a new one, I want some serious familiarity and confidence it that piece of equipment. I want to shoot it often and well.

For example, my recent purchase (Kimber Solo) is very similar to my long-term carry (Kahr PM9). Similar size, similar weight, similar trigger, identical capacity, identical ammo. Still, though, there are differences, and before I'd park my Kahr and carry the Solo, it's going to take several more range trips and several hundred more rounds of a variety of ammo, with zero failures.

A couple of magazines for me. I'm not sure how I get so lucky but if it runs a couple of mags new they seem to run forever. I only have about 30 pistols right now, and I don't have any that have failed after the first two mags ran ok.

I don't put a number on rounds to fire before I consider a gun carry worthy. If my first trip it has malfunctions, it could be a factor of so many things. Could it be the ammo I'm shooting or the magazine or the fact the gun is brand new?

To me the answer is you carry a new gun when you feel confidant it will perform. If the next ten times you take it to the range and the first 50 rounds of whatever you're shooting go fine, then I would say that gun has proven itself reliable the first 50 rounds, which is more shots than should be necessary in a defensive situation.

And this is a situation where after someone buys a new carry gun, but isn't fully confident in it because they haven't tested it enough then maybe they should start looking at carrying a small backup gun like a .25, .32, .22 mini revolver, or a small can of pepper spray.

I like to see 500, without cleaning and a mixture of ball and HP.

Brand new Kahrs are finicky. The factory recommends a min 200 round break in.
My new S&W or Ruger revolvers get just a few cylinders.

With a new or new to me autoloader my standard is 400 rounds without a malfunction with 200 consecutive rounds (with no cleaning or oiling) being my chosen carry ammo. If I change carry ammo, 200 rounds of the new stuff to prove it properly functions.

A couple people said something like "shoot it until it malfunctions"... I laughed at this and wonder what kind of junk they are carrying and trusting with their lives?! My current carry gun is North of 11,000 rounds since new without a single malfunction of any kind. Multiple shooters, at least a dozen kinds of ammo, and a 1000 round 'test' without cleaning or adding oil just to see what would happen. Zero malfunctions. Even with this record if I change carry ammo I'm putting 200 rounds through it first to make sure it's reliable.

Mr.510 said:

With a new or new to me autoloader my standard is 400 rounds without a malfunction with 200 consecutive rounds (with no cleaning or oiling) being my chosen carry ammo. If I change carry ammo, 200 rounds of the new stuff to prove it properly functions.

Click to expand...

This doesn't make sense to me on why you say "200 consecutive rounds" without a malfunction is your standard of reliability. What happens if 9 times out of 10 your gun consistently jams somewhere in the 180 or 190 rounds mark, but performs flawlessly the first 100 rounds? Do you ever see yourself shooting even 150 rounds in one defensive engagement with that gun? Do you even carry 150 or 200 rounds on your person at any given time?

Truthtellers, that kind of reminds me of my Grendel P10, purchased on a law enforcement PO back when they came out. Always, without fail, it will run the first and second magazines perfectly, then will typically malfunction after that once or twice a magazine until it's cleaned and lubed.

Since the gun cannot be rapidly reloaded (internal magazine for those not familiar with this model), one fail-free magazine-full is all someone would need.

(Now, I don't carry this gun, and never really did with any regularity. A bunch of us got them when Grendel marketed them to LE agencies, and ours agreed to let us try them at our expense if we wanted to.)

For a new set up, It's not a bad idea to keep holstered while your around the house doing daily weekend activity to get use to the feel. Any sharp edges or uncomfortable rigs will make themselves evident throughout the day and it's way better to find these things out at home rather than while your out in public. As far as reliability, If you make it through the first time you take it to the range without issue, you've typically shot enough to verify operation.

Depends on a few things. Am I shooting for reliability testing or to get comfortable? If I bought a new Glock/Sig/CZ/Beretta....etc..., I'd shoot enough to learn the sights and then a box of my carry ammo. Obviously no malfunctions during those rounds. A typical range visit would be 200-250 rounds, but I'm not married to that number.

If I was breaking in a 1911 for carry, I would want to see it go 300 rounds without failure and at least a box of carry ammo in the exact mags I would carry. It may take 200 rounds before I get to start my 300 round reliability testing. However, I've learned over time that 1911 issues have been more magazine related than gun related.

This doesn't make sense to me on why you say "200 consecutive rounds" without a malfunction is your standard of reliability. What happens if 9 times out of 10 your gun consistently jams somewhere in the 180 or 190 rounds mark, but performs flawlessly the first 100 rounds? Do you ever see yourself shooting even 150 rounds in one defensive engagement with that gun? Do you even carry 150 or 200 rounds on your person at any given time?

Click to expand...

I guess I could have left the word "consecutive" out of that sentence. What I meant was 200 rounds of carry ammo with nothing else mixed in. It's a consideration for how much any particular ammo dirties up the action. 50 rounds of carry ammo over four range trips doesn't cut it for me. If a gun won't go 400 rounds without a malfunction with no cleaning or oiling I will not carry it. Period.

261.3


.

ammo

I like the "no more than a box" response. Shooting 200/300/500 rounds only proves that the gun was reliable and jam free for that period of use.
Any gun can jam at any time....there are no guarantees that a pistol that has fired 500 rounds without a hitch will not malfunction on the 501st shot. Does shooting 500 rounds make the pistol ten times more reliable than shooting 50? No. It just costs ten times more.

I run about 100 rounds through any gun, new or used, using multiple mags. If I get flawless function, it gets cleaned and get another 50 rounds through it next range session. If those are also flawless, it gets put into the carry/ HD rotation.

Primary CCW, Kel Tec P-11. Secondary CCW, Taurus 709 Slim
Primary HD, S&W 469, no secondary. I will be picking up my Ruger P-89 this weekend, so it will go into the testing phase, and then pull primary duty as HD, bumping the S&W to secondary HD. I doubt the Ruger P-89 will see any concealed carry.


Any malfunctions that are not magazine related render the gun as range use only, and trade fodder.

Depends on the gun. With a 1911, a couple hundred rounds. With a Glock or HK, a couple of mags. Revolver, a cylinder or two.

If I was concerned the gun wouldn't work, I wouldn't buy it.

Pete D. said:

I like the "no more than a box" response. Shooting 200/300/500 rounds only proves that the gun was reliable and jam free for that period of use.
Any gun can jam at any time....there are no guarantees that a pistol that has fired 500 rounds without a hitch will not malfunction on the 501st shot. Does shooting 500 rounds make the pistol ten times more reliable than shooting 50? No. It just costs ten times more.

Click to expand...

This completely misses the point. No one has stated or implied that there were any "guarantees" after a break-in period, but you have to give the weapon ( or anything, for that matter) a decent sized test sample, or your results still don't mean anything.
If you were going to test drive a used car, would you drive it 100 feet, and call it a winner? Why not? It worked, didn't it? And afterall, if you ran it for 25 miles, there's no guarantee it won't break down on mile 26, right?

Any auto, at least 50rounds thru each magazine you plan to use, with the ammo that you intend to carry.

Any revolver, no more than 1-2 cylinders full.

I'm with Colt PythonElite. Just learn to clear it, shoot it and carry it. Hell, you can shoot 10,000 rounds without a FTF or FTF or FTE, call it absolutely reliable, and then get a dud factory round just when you need it most.

Snub

Snub-run a few cylinders of cheap stuff for functioning test. 2 cylinders of premium carry ammo for determining accuracy. If it's good, load 2-4 speed strips of it, put snub in desantis pocket holster, and go to bed and have sweet dreams. Wake up in the morning, put gun in strong-side front pocket, put speed strips in cell phone case with a belt clip, or in a back pocket, and enjoy your day. Repeat as necessary.

It kind of depends. With a revolver a couple boxes of trouble free rounds is good enough for me. With small autos I like to put a couple hundred rounds through them, minimum. With HKs I'm usually satisfied if 75-100 rounds run okay.

I'll note that I begin with ball ammo for autos. While it's true that feeding ball is not proof that it will feed HP ammo I've found that if it won't even run FMJ there's no point wasting time and ammo. If FMJ runs okay then I'll run an assortment of JHP. I'll conclude my testing with at least 50 rounds of the ammo I plan to carry. In the case of auto pistols that means Federal HST.

Personally, I like to be a little more sure than just a "100 rds. with no malfunctions". JMO.
Reliablity is paramount. Then my skill level is next. How proficient am I? Especially with what I use for my CCW.

No disrespect. JMO

And afterall, if you ran it for 25 miles, there's no guarantee it won't break down on mile 26, right?

Click to expand...

Exactly.
How can you say that my earlier comment misses the point and then write that?
I didn't say that it was wrong to shoot, let's say, 500 rounds (ten boxes) before carrying, just expensive and it really doesn't prove anything more than shooting one box.
Pete
PS - How far do you drive a used car before taking it home? Last car I sold used had 250,000 miles on the odometer. The guy that bought it started it up, said "OK" paid cash and drove it away. Just sayin'.
People do what they are comfortable with.

I give the gun a good cleaning and shoot about 300 rounds of range ammo followed by 200 rounds of SD ammo. If I have any malfunctions with the SD ammo, I'll give the gun another good cleaning and try another 200 rounds. If there are any malfunctions that I know are not related to the ammunition or magazines I contact the manufacturer.