fastbolt
Member
Overthinking it.
If it was such a wonderful idea, LE would have been doing it in their duty pistols for many years.
Sure, back when I was a young cop and worked some remote beats (cover might be 30-60 minutes) and carried a revolver, I briefly pocketed 1 or 2 extra speedloaders (supplemental to the pair on my gun belt) of some Norma 158gr truncated FMJ loads that were advertised at 1450fps (in order words, some hotter factory loads that hit the same velocity as my lighter weight 125gr Magnum loads).
I only carried them because of early concerns about veh's in the more remote areas, and since we didn't carry rifles back then. As I matured in the job, and became a firearms instructor, I realized my best option had always been my 870 optionally loaded with full power 1oz slugs. I practiced releasing and exchanging the standard buckshot loads in the 870's magazine tube (using dummy shotgun rounds), so I could hopefully quickly change out the buckshot for 1 or 2 slugs (or all 4), if necessary. I carried slug rounds on my belt (or in a jacket pocket, or equipment box between front seats, patrol box on the passenger seat, etc, next to the racked 870).
Then again, it's not uncommon for LE to create policies when it comes to anticipating possible concerns about subjects like ammunition. It's not uncommon for LE to avoid the use of ball/FMJ/TMJ bullet designs due to concerns about threat perforation (also called over-penetration) which might endanger the general public. My own agency had different policies about duty ammunition at different times. When we carried revolvers, a couple of the restrictions were that it had to be factory-made ammunition, and it couldn't exceed 2,000fps velocity (there was a sub-100gr .357 Magnum load available for a while back then that was listed as hitting that velocity). When pistols replaced revolvers the duty ammunition selected had to be a JHP (concerns about perforating the intended threat).
I prefer to pick something designed for defensive application by one of the major American ammunition makers, which demonstrates normal feeding & functioning in my guns and magazines, being used in my hands ... and then focus on training & practice to develop and maintain my skillset.
"Dutch-loading" or mixing mags of with different loads of the same caliber is something I may do on the range, to burn up whatever assorted mix of ammunition may be available, or which I may be trying to clear out of my own ammunition collection. Sometimes I've seen training/qual bins of ammunition which might have a couple of different brands of duty JHP's mixed together (new & old), or some budget "qual ball", or even some "recycled" duty ammunition that had been turned in for replacement with fresh loads.
Also, I often do it if I'm testing a new magazine, in order to evaluate and confirm normal feeding & functioning of new magazines. (At some point I like to function test each new magazine I may acquire for a pistol, with 25-50 rounds fired, preferably with at least a couple of types of whatever JHP's I may commonly be using at one time or another.)
If it was such a wonderful idea, LE would have been doing it in their duty pistols for many years.
Sure, back when I was a young cop and worked some remote beats (cover might be 30-60 minutes) and carried a revolver, I briefly pocketed 1 or 2 extra speedloaders (supplemental to the pair on my gun belt) of some Norma 158gr truncated FMJ loads that were advertised at 1450fps (in order words, some hotter factory loads that hit the same velocity as my lighter weight 125gr Magnum loads).
I only carried them because of early concerns about veh's in the more remote areas, and since we didn't carry rifles back then. As I matured in the job, and became a firearms instructor, I realized my best option had always been my 870 optionally loaded with full power 1oz slugs. I practiced releasing and exchanging the standard buckshot loads in the 870's magazine tube (using dummy shotgun rounds), so I could hopefully quickly change out the buckshot for 1 or 2 slugs (or all 4), if necessary. I carried slug rounds on my belt (or in a jacket pocket, or equipment box between front seats, patrol box on the passenger seat, etc, next to the racked 870).
Then again, it's not uncommon for LE to create policies when it comes to anticipating possible concerns about subjects like ammunition. It's not uncommon for LE to avoid the use of ball/FMJ/TMJ bullet designs due to concerns about threat perforation (also called over-penetration) which might endanger the general public. My own agency had different policies about duty ammunition at different times. When we carried revolvers, a couple of the restrictions were that it had to be factory-made ammunition, and it couldn't exceed 2,000fps velocity (there was a sub-100gr .357 Magnum load available for a while back then that was listed as hitting that velocity). When pistols replaced revolvers the duty ammunition selected had to be a JHP (concerns about perforating the intended threat).
I prefer to pick something designed for defensive application by one of the major American ammunition makers, which demonstrates normal feeding & functioning in my guns and magazines, being used in my hands ... and then focus on training & practice to develop and maintain my skillset.
"Dutch-loading" or mixing mags of with different loads of the same caliber is something I may do on the range, to burn up whatever assorted mix of ammunition may be available, or which I may be trying to clear out of my own ammunition collection. Sometimes I've seen training/qual bins of ammunition which might have a couple of different brands of duty JHP's mixed together (new & old), or some budget "qual ball", or even some "recycled" duty ammunition that had been turned in for replacement with fresh loads.
Also, I often do it if I'm testing a new magazine, in order to evaluate and confirm normal feeding & functioning of new magazines. (At some point I like to function test each new magazine I may acquire for a pistol, with 25-50 rounds fired, preferably with at least a couple of types of whatever JHP's I may commonly be using at one time or another.)
