Do you practice with your carry ammo?

I used to do it once in a while.

Well, it's been a while and I don't have any plans to do it again too soon.

Personally, I would. I've had way different experiences with the exact same ammo from different batches.

Atleast every few months i'd shoot the old stuff and buy new.

It's not the only ammo, but, it gets cycled out of its mags on a regular basis.

Yes, but not very often. I carry .45ACP+P Federal HSTs. They can be really hard to find, even pre-hysteria. Not to mention expensive! I carry with the gun loaded 10+1 with a spare 13 round mag on me. I also keep two more 13 rounders loaded in the console of my truck or in my backpack if I'm in the woods. That makes an even box of 50 and as long as I can find another box I usually send 'em down range about every six months.

I practice with the +P JHP .38 carry ammo at about 20% compared to the cheap stuff.

Les

...it gets cycled out of its mags on a regular basis.

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Same here. When I bought several boxes of my carry ammo the first time, I put one box of 50 through my carry gun to make sure it ate it without any problems. Then every couple of months, I shoot out my carry clip(s) and reload them with "fresh" rounds.

I also try to order a couple of boxes of my carry ammo every 3-4 months and shoot my older stash off. Partially to keep it all fresh and partially to make sure I stay used to how my carry ammo feels to shoot.

yes cause i replicate it. such that a 85 cent XXX costs 12 to 15 on my press.

takes some trial and patience to find the powder and projectile that has the same percieved recoil and point of impact as a gold dot--but is doable
the real carry ammo gets rotated in the mag and shot out at least once a year

Yep....

i use double tap as well 165 gr for two legged critters and the hunting loads for the woods ive tried them both the g29 is extreamly accurate little gun and i use the ammo

I make mine, so yeah, I practice with it as well.

I usually practice with ball ammo ... or the cheapest available.

I do, however, run plenty of self defense stuf (ie., hollowpoints) through the gun to see how it functions and to assure it shoots where I think it will.

Yes. I shoot a certain amount each month.

I order the next 6 months worth every 4 months that way there is a slowly accumulating stock of ammuntion.

Speer Gold Dot 45 ACP Jacketed hollows 230 grain

Piles of lawman training also in 230 grain is availible to help the spouse learn the pistol as well. Dont want to leave her in a situation where maybe both shotguns are at the shop and only handgun is availible.

I've shot my carry ammo a few times so I can feel how it shoots. I don't make a habit of it due to the fact that my carry ammo is about $20 for 20 rounds.

Yes, about one box of my JHP's for every 4 boxes of FMJ.

I use Winchester 230gr JHP's for HD in my pistol, and Winchester and Independence 230gr FMJ both pretty much hit at the same spot as the W. JHP's.

I've mixed mags and cylinders of my +P carry ammo with FMJs and I can't even tell the difference between the two in regard to recoil. Both my carry loads and practice loads shoot to point of aim, so there is zero noticable difference between the two and no sense in practicing for twice the cost with absolutely no benefit.

I've developed a load that shoots exactly to the POI of my carry ammo.

If you don't, what's the point? You could very well walk into a firefight in effect unarmed if you don't know whether the ammo you have in your carry gun will work in it, time after time, every time out. You might select the finest self-defense ammo that money can buy, only to learn -- too late -- that it's useless. I try to run a couple of magazines of Gold Dots a month, at a minimum, through my Walther PPK/S, along with a few magazines of Winchester White Box FMJ. I don't always get it done, but that's the goal.

I do, but not often. Especially since this ammo rush! Freak'n panic buyers.

When I initially purchased my first carry gun (g-19), I chose several brands of hp to shoot and had zero issues. Once I decided which to carry regularly, I fired a couple-hundred rounds of it initially to make sure there were no issues. Now, I practice with fmj but will rotate through the magazine of hp's that are in the gun when I go to the range. I do the same procedure with my other carry guns as well.

You could very well walk into a firefight in effect unarmed if you don't know whether the ammo you have in your carry gun will work in it, time after time, every time out.

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Buy gun. Buy several types of carry ammo. Figure out which one works. Buy a whole bunch of that. Test it a bit more. Save the rest, and you're done.

I can't afford to practice too much with my carry ammo. I will put a few boxes of my carry ammo through my gun but that's just to make sure the gun will function alright with it. I figure if the gun functions flawlessly with a few hundred rounds of the carry ammo then that's all I need to know. Once I've confirmed that the gun likes my carry ammo then I will practice with the cheap stuff.

I'd love to only practice with my carry ammo but with ammo prices the way they are right now I practice with the least expensive ammo I can find.

If you want to see how ridiculous ammo prices are right now then just explore this site for a while:banghead:
http://www.ammoengine.com/

I do, but mostly until I know a new brand works well.

Luckily, my carry guns have been forgiving enough that my +P 9mm and my slightly-light .38 Special shoot to the same point of aim at defense range and relative recoil as Blazer Brass and heavier American Eagle, respectively.

So, best of both worlds--cheap (ahem) ammo that shoots like my SD, for practice.

Yes. I carry reloads so no problem replacing it.

no. practice ammo is way cheaper (since i manufacture it) and at the distances i would be shooting in a self defense situation, a 300 fps difference would not make much of a difference. not that my practice ammo is that much slower than carry ammo anyway. but within 20 -30 feet, how much difference can there be? (actually, i have tried this, and there is not much difference) i am not going to try to "shoot out their eye", i would be shooting @ center of mass.