A variation on the worst caliber question

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vito

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Not to start the endless discussion as to which caliber is best for self defense, or why the 22LR is the worst, etc., but I have been wondering if there is any data to support the RELIABILITY of one caliber over another. Reliability as in that the round fires when the trigger is pulled. Obviously a rim fire caliber such as 22LR has more dud rounds than center fire cartridges, but what about among center fires? Personally I have rarely had a dud when shooting 9mm, 40S&W, 380acp, 38 Special, 357mag or 45acp other than when I foolishly was using really cheap Russian made ammo, but since I count on any one of these calibers in my carry guns, I would hate to discover at the worst possible moment that I have a dud round in the chamber, especially when carrying a semi-auto. Other than carrying a revolver, what might I do to decrease my chances of having a dud?
 
with the good modern ammo most of the common pistol rounds are so close it matters very little. (9mm, 38spl, 357sig, 40s&w, 45acp, 10mm,) just buy good ammo.
 
Good question and I have never seen any speculation on which centerfire round is the most reliable. There is of course plenty of speculation on which platform is the most reliable, which round is "better", etc, ad nauseum.

I personally have rarely had an actual dud in my carry guns. I have had guns with light strikes (9mm) but that was a gun issue (fixed by manufacturer) and not a cartridge issue. Like most, I will not carry a gun for SD if it doesn't live up to my requirements for dependability and I have some guns in different calibers that are not reliable enough but, once again, that is because of that particular firearm and not the caliber.
 
That is what we call "tap and rack"
Seriously if that first one fails then move on to the next one. Its that easy.
 
I don't see this as a valid comparison as I understand your question. The "reliability" of a Centerfire cartridge has nothing to do with the dimensions of the cartridge/ bullet. It's all to do with the primer, which as far as modern primers go, are all universally pretty damn reliable.
 
Not so much duds, but some semi-autos are very sensitive about what types of ammo will feed properly in a particular model, while others seem to digest about anything.
 
Today's ammunition is very good - though every once in a while you hear about a recall; I'm not sure ANY manufacturer is "perfect."

Still, I very much doubt there is any measurable, reproducible difference in centerfire reliability for different calibers of modern ammunition stored properly from the major name brand U.S. manufacturers.

I do have some reservations about some of the smaller, "boutique" ammo makers and certain imports.
 
It's a system, ammo is a component, need to find what your gun likes that is consistent.

That said, remember reading about a fellow who got a couple hundred thousand rounds from the army? marksmanship unit, .22, the lot failed their consistency and accuracy standards...
 
Of probably 17-20K rimfire rounds and maybe 11-13K centerfire rounds, I've had two misfires. One was a 9mm Luger round of a make I cannot recall. The other was a commercially-reloaded .38 Special round issued to me by my employer some fifteen years earlier.

Both fired the second time the hammers were dropped on them.

Admittedly, probably 80% or more of the rimfire rounds I've fired were CCI MiniMags, quite possibly the "gold standard" of .22LR ammo quality.
 
^^^I had two misfires using powderless 22 ammo yesterday out of 15 rounds fired while sighting in a semi rifle and both had solid strikes. I compared the firing pin indentations on the fired rounds to these two rounds and there was no visible difference so maybe that is typical of powderless ammo? Both fired the 2nd time through the gun
 
I've heard speculation that rounds like 9mm due to its taper or 357 SIG with its bottleneck will feed more reliably. Haven't ever heard much about actual dud frequency.
 
Without stepping on toes, my vote is for the tried and true wheel gun as far as "Most Reliable" Smith model 19 fits the bill. As far as Quailty Factory ammo, The failure rate is so minuscule, That if by chance you find yourself in a shoot out, and the cartridge doesn't fire, say a prayer..its just your time.
And as someone pointed out, have a back-up.lol
 
Last edited:
vito said:
Not to start the endless discussion as to which caliber is best for self defense, or why the 22LR is the worst, etc., but I have been wondering if there is any data to support the RELIABILITY of one caliber over another. Reliability as in that the round fires when the trigger is pulled. Obviously a rim fire caliber such as 22LR has more dud rounds than center fire cartridges, but what about among center fires? Personally I have rarely had a dud when shooting 9mm, 40S&W, 380acp, 38 Special, 357mag or 45acp other than when I foolishly was using really cheap Russian made ammo, but since I count on any one of these calibers in my carry guns, I would hate to discover at the worst possible moment that I have a dud round in the chamber, especially when carrying a semi-auto. Other than carrying a revolver, what might I do to decrease my chances of having a dud?
Click to expand...

Outside of action type which isn't really a function of ammunition's reliability, I think that the best way to achieve what you are asking is to buy newly manufactured, high-quality ammo from the big-name manufacturers like Remington, Winchester, Hornady, Federal/Speer, etc. Not knocking the 'smaller' producers at all, but the professionals who've been doing this for decades are the best bet and it's all a bet.
 
Outside of action type which isn't really a function of ammunition's reliability,
Click to expand...

Ammo's compatability is a function of the system's reliability.

I've not run into any ammo I would consider unreliable. When it comes to compatability, I have found the conventional wisdom of "good ammo feeds well, cheap ammo feeds poorly" to carry no water. Once you find an ammo that works well, semi's are extremely reliable, but you can't assume that just because your ammo has a big name, or is a premium, expensive self defense load, that it will work well in your gun.

That I can remember in my lifetime, I've had one Federal .22 rimfire fail (squib), and one Remington 25acp (squib) that failed that was over 30 years old. I had occasional handloads fail to ignite without a 2nd strike when i first started reloading in the 80's.

"Ammo failures" today are pretty rare and often related to gun failures such as trigger modifications.
 
> most reliable

That's a primer issue, not a cartridge issue.

At least, I don't know of any cases where the primer went off but failed to ignite the powder.
 
Number of people confusing handgun model or type (semi-auto, revolver) with cartridge.

The OP's question had to do with reliability of individual cartridge (to be accurate, actually, chambering).

No cartridge/chambering (outside of rimfire types) is inherently less reliable than any other. Every chambering with a small pistol primer is as reliable/unreliable as any other, given the same primer...
 
Quality ammo. That doesn't mean finding some highly branded $4/round stuff. Pick a company that has a good reputation like Federal HST or Golden Saber. Run a few hundred rounds through your weapon now and then. Keep a WRITTEN list of failures and why. Bad primers, magazines, parts, trips to gunsmiths etc.
 
Agree with all said above.

Quality ammo
Revolver
If you want semi that eats anything and it isn't used for sharpshooting, Glock
 
I can't recall ever have a centerfire cartridge fail in the thousands I've shot.
Have had a few .22s, all of which eventually fired when reclocked. Except one, hit that Thunderbolt 5 or 6 times in different spots with nothing working.
Wish I'd have saved it as a conversation piece...
 
We should be efficient enough with our firearms, to include training to clear a jam or mis-fire, as it's always a relevant risk.

GS
 
And the winning answers are.....
Drum roll, please.........
gamestalker and improperlyaged.
Guns and ammo are mechanical devices and sooner or later, they will fail.
Knowing what to do next could make your day.
 
Use fresh ammo in your carry guns. Use the older ammo for practice.
 
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