Vetting Your New Carry Gun?

Not necessarily a number for me, so I haven't voted yet.

I like a few hundred range rounds for familiarity, but if it's an auto I also want a few boxes of whatever jhp I'll be carrying unless I'm going with a flat point round, like 380, or any ol round in 45 acp

With a revolver this all becomes pretty simple. Confirming point of impact and no catastrophic parts failures in a few hundred rounds, you're probably good to go. But, I almost exclusively buy used wheel guns.

I like to run a decent amount of mags through. For break in and reliability. I also shoot my EDC(S) often. To stay sharp with them.

I voted 50-200 but that's not a completely accurate answer. I tend to put 50-100 rounds through a gun while sighting in/verifying POI and if I have no issues with it, I will then use it in one of the handgun classes I teach. So technically I end up carrying it for the day of the class and then that evening put another 100-150 rounds through it running various drills with the students that often times gets repeated anywhere from 4 or 5 times before I actually start carrying the gun on a regular basis on non-class days.

With revolvers, I don't have any concerns about feeding. Misfires can be a concern, but are only typical of a gun where an effort has been made to lighten the double-action pull. Overwhelmingly, the concerns with a revolver can be worked out without firing, but it will take several tools and about an hour to check it out. If the pull has been lightened, problems usually show up in 20 rounds fired, and if it fires 100 without a light-strike, it's been my experience it will never give a problem.

While double-action revolvers are legendary for dependability because of the absence of feeding problems and the ability to move past cartridge problems with a simple pull of the trigger, there are more things that can go wrong with a revolver. I'm not under any illusion that there is anything "for sure." A backup gun is a good idea. My idea of a backup gun is one that is at least as good or better than the primary that already failed -- not a mouse gun.

I made an inquiry recently about function-checking magazines. My question pertained to rifles, but I suppose it could apply to handguns. I found an Armalite technical bulletin that advised 4 rounds, 10 times to verify a magazine. If I was concerned about a magazine or a cartridge functioning on the feed ramp, I think that would be a good starting place -- 40 rounds. Of course, afterwards, I would continue to monitor the magazine and record any issues that come up in training/practice.

If I was carrying a magazine fed gun, I would be training/practicing with it enough that I would have 1000 rounds through it before long. My magazines would be marked, and I'd know which ones I'd want to keep carrying and which ones I would not. I wouldn't hesitate to carry the gun or magazines if they didn't show obvious problems in the first few full cycles. If the gun or magazines gave cause for concern over a longer term, I would rethink it for sure.

Presuming the pistol is made by one of the major makers who do a lot of LE/Gov business, and it's a model that sees such use ... and a visual inspection doesn't find anything that appears out-of-spec ... I like to fire between 25-50rds through each magazine that's going to be carried with the pistol. That serves to allow enough live-fire time with the pistol to confirm normal functioning of both the pistol and the magazines.

Given my druthers, I like to function test each new (replacement/additional) magazine put into service with at least a couple of full magazine loads. I still lean toward using the 25-50rd yardstick, if only to support some trigger time.

FWIW, since magazines are at the very heart of a pistol's reliable feeding and functioning, I like to periodically inspect both magazines in-service, and new magazines that are going to be put in-service. It's not something I'd consider common, but I've seen the occasional odd magazine that had an assembly issue, so I prefer to check them.

I normally vet a carry gun with about 500-1000 FMJ rounds. And 150-200 of whatever carry ammo I plan to use in it. With ammo prices these days, I might knock that down quite a bit if I break in something new.

Eh, I'm a little on the conservative side. 200 rounds of quality JHPs after a hundred rounds of ball, through every magazine I have for the pistol has typically proven sufficient.

Unless it's a (1) a used pistol, especially if I don't know the previous owner(s) or (2) a 1911 -- I'm careful about deciding when these critters are reliable and may go another 200 rounds beyond. Not that I don't believe a 1911 can be as reliable as any other modern handgun, but I'm superstitious that way. Have a sweet Colt's 100 Years of Service LW Commander that suddenly became finicky after around 300 rounds without a malfunction and it took a bit of investigation 'til I got it cleared up...

Although, if I was forced to carry a handgun I'd just bought off the shelf without firing any rounds through it, I'd probably not worry too much if it were almost any new SIG, Glock, Beretta or CZ (I might feel a little better if I had a chance to clean and lubricate it first, sometimes the factory grease turns into sludge).

I still love 1911s and am sorely tempted to carry my milspec. It's chugged along now for countless variety if jhp and hundreds or rounds of ball ammo.
But....I depended 100% on my colt series 70. All original, collet bushing and all. It went everywhere with me. It was with me on the scariest night of my life in the woods.

It was always 100%. Then one day with no prior warning, while walking far afield with a friend and plinking on his land, it suddenly suffered a catastrophic issue that couldn't be repaired in the field.

It certainly shook my confidence with the platform, though I love the accuracy and form factor. A government model is comfortable for me to carry with a decent belt. I always think the next shot isn't guaranteed.

I usually end up with a few hundred through it before the stupid permit paper work makes it back.

Old Dog said:

Eh, I'm a little on the conservative side. 200 rounds of quality JHPs after a hundred rounds of ball, through every magazine I have for the pistol has typically proven sufficient.

Unless it's a (1) a used pistol, especially if I don't know the previous owner(s) or (2) a 1911 -- I'm careful about deciding when these critters are reliable and may go another 200 rounds beyond. Not that I don't believe a 1911 can be as reliable as any other modern handgun, but I'm superstitious that way. Have a sweet Colt's 100 Years of Service LW Commander that suddenly became finicky after around 300 rounds without a malfunction and it took a bit of investigation 'til I got it cleared up...

Although, if I was forced to carry a handgun I'd just bought off the shelf without firing any rounds through it, I'd probably not worry too much if it were almost any new SIG, Glock, Beretta or CZ (I might feel a little better if I had a chance to clean and lubricate it first, sometimes the factory grease turns into sludge).

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Pretty much ditto to what Old Dog said here. I carried 1911's for a couple of decades, but all of them had some minor work done to them so they were reliable and would function with different type bullets. I would not feel comfortable carrying one that hadn't had some buffing and smoothing done to it, and a set of vetted mags.

And as he said, I really wouldnt have an issue with Glocks or SIGs going from box to holster, if I "had" to, as they always ran 100% out of the box with new, factory ammo for me.

Generally though, I usually shoot around 300-500 rounds out of anything new to me before Id consider it OK for anything serious. Its just making sure the gun functions OK and I get familiar with it if its something different.

Agree with the above...glocks and sigs are usually good to go from box to holster if you had to.

My new sig 938 did decide to launch its recoil spring downrange at the target directly behind a 115 gr 9mm...maybe it was a feature?

But I refer here to duty grade, full size models.

I can usually tell within the 1st couple magazines or cylinders whether the gun is a keeper or trading fodder.
If all my shots go into the dirt in front of my backyard steel gongs - that gun is getting sold.

A Sig P365 failed that test and is gone. I'm 47 years old and have been shooting since I was 12. If I can't hit the paper or a gong with a gun it goes bye bye. I'm not going to waste time or ammo on "learning" where a gun shoots.

A gun I can hit with gets about 200rds through it before I start carrying it.

My current daily carry I've been carrying for 10 years. If there was anything wrong with it from the factory I'm thinking it would have shown up by now.

I don't know if this was necessarily intentionally to vet the pistol but every handgun that I own has been through at least a couple of Tactical Pistol classes with me. So, I'm confident carrying any of them.

I'm a 1000 round guy, but it's not just for vetting reliability. I want to know if it's going to give me problematic callouses on my hands (that interfere with other daily activities...like typing). I want to know if it comes out of the holster as fast as the last carry pistol. I really want to know if my scores are faster or slower than the last carry pistol.

And, of course, if it doesn't run.

It would depend. For most guns, I think problems typically arise in the first magazine you fire, if problems are going to arise. If you go 25 rounds through a gun without a malfunction, I'd be 80% confident you'd get through 500 without a malfunction. At 200 rounds without a malfunction, I'd be confident through a thousand or more. Past a few thousand, you start having the potential for malfunctions due to natural parts wear, though. I usually do a few hundred FMJ and a full magazine of carry JHPs through every magazine I have before I'll carry a gun, and there need to be zero critical malfunctions, and if there are any malfunctions, I won't carry the gun unless I can with 100% confidence say the malfunction was caused by the ammo or the magazine.

I went with the 10-50 rounds, but I usually find out if I want to keep a gun/firearm after the 1st magazine. I remember a time when I bought a new Taurus .40 S&W, and after the first magazine full of failure to feed/failure to fire issues, I decided to stop using it after the first range session. I ended up selling it for like $150 bucks to somebody, but I made them aware of the issues. I believe the new owner paid to get the feed ramp polished, and he never said I sold him a lemon.
Why my approach?
Well, I believe most failures will be human error induced, specially in a stressful situation. For example, I was at the range with a co-worker, and all of a sudden, I see him to aim his pistol, and I see a round fall out of the barrel, a complete round of 9mm ammo. He chambers a new round, and the same thing!
Come to find out he loaded his mag with 9mm, but his pistol was .45ACP!
Tomorrow morning, I am going to the range to test-fire a 6mm ARC I just put together a few minutes ago. If it goes well after the 1st mag, it will be a keeper!

It depends. If it's a revolver, maybe 50-100 rounds to get familiar with where it hits, and how it fells in my hand on recoil, especially if it's something similar to what I have. The first J frame I owned, for example, I shot quite a bit to get a feel for it.

If it's a full size semi auto from a company that military and police use, it's probably pretty reliable and I can put a hundred rounds or so through it and trust it. If it's some scaled down version of a full sized gun or a semi-custom 1911, I shoot it more.

I used to worry a lot about malfunctions, but I worried less when I got used to clearing malfunctions.

Depends on the gun. I'd trust some brands after 50 rounds of range ammo and a full mag of JHP, providing it ran flawlessly.

If still in doubt, I'd carry a known reliable backup gun until the new one has a higher round count.

I selected “More Than 200,” but that applies to autoloaders such as Glocks, that do not require “break-in.” There is nothing magical about the number 200, but I prefer to vet each carry magazine that I will be using with a particular auto-loader. Ten to 17 rounds per mag starts to add up really quickly, if I want to run more than just one mag-full through each one, and have about half a dozen carry mags.

On this forum, I have seen assertions that Les Baer recommends 1500 rounds be run through each of their tightly-fitted 1911 pistols. The only Les Baer that I bought new has not “needed” this amount of shooting, as it zipped right through 1000+ with no malfunctions, at which point I started carrying it. This was in her year 2000, before I had started reading THR, and was therefore blissfully that I “should” have run another 500 round through it.

It always concerns me when someone says they bought a 20rd box of "death ripper" or whatever neat/cool ammo which was really $$$ so they are going to shoot 4rds out of it and then fill their magazine with it. Then, bet their life on said odd ammo which they really never tested.

I prefer old school, standard loads, which I can shoot a lot of before I carry them. Sure, they may not do as well as above mentioned "death rippers" but the standard loads will be available in 5-10yrs or I can load a similar load.

With a handgun shot placement is the key. 5 misses with the latest "death ripper" round does nothing.

WisBorn said:

When going through the vetting process when do you feel a new handgun is good to go for carry?

I will include a poll for number of rounds shot as a second part of the question???

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1) Gather at least six mags for the test.
2) Shoot at least 50 rounds of FMJ. Fill the mags and just go through them and note any failures.
3) If there are no failures, mix in some JHP. First two, last two and two mixed into the middle. Fire from a loaded chamber to test if the first round will load.

If the gun performs well and is not a 1911, milsurp/old gun, or game gun, then I'll carry it. 1911's need more testing. I'll usually do three sessions.

My personal standard is at least 200 rounds of FMJ target ammo, and at least 50 rounds of my carry hollow-points without a single malfunction. If the gun malfunctions at all, I try to diagnose the reason for the error and fix it if possible (sometimes a bad spring, or a machining burr on something) and restart that round count back at 0.

I run maybe 200 rds through a semi auto, 100 rds through a revolver.

When I was a municipal police officer 50 years ago I knew guys who bought an off duty gun and never fired it. I couldn't do that