I got a Sig P238 for Christmas. I've been able to take it out once and I really like it. I don't want to be in too big of a hurry to carry it however, I am interested in knowing: How many rounds would you want to put through a new gun before you start carrying that gun?
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LoneGoose
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I put 100 through it in the first session, clean it, then another 100. If no malfunctions, I carry it. If malfunctions, I shoot another couple hundred using different brands of ammo. When I find a good match for the gun, I put 100 rounds of it through the gun. If still good, I carry using it. Have fun.
Bula
Member
If you're new to carry, I'd say at least 500 rounds. 100 is just way too low. Myself, I would go at least 1000 rounds of practice. Confidence carrying a gun is a slow and go affair. Learn, learn then shoot, shoot and shoot again. Rinse and repeat. As many rounds as you can shoot, as often as possible.
I want to run 250 rounds minimum of my intended self-defense ammunition with zero equipment or ammo-related failures before trusting it for everyday carry. But I've been using the same EDC gun and brand of ammo for several years now so my practice round count is well over 5000 at this point.
Zaydok Allen
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300 minimum. 500 to feel good.
ColtPythonElite
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I have been issued 3 new duty handguns and one new duty rifle in my career. We never did any high round count before we carried nonsense. We qualified...a 50 round course or two and put them in service...You would be better served worrying about learning to clear a malfunction than worrying about trying to find a majic number that makes a gun appear reliable.
Tallball
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It's just my personal preference and not a magic number by any means, but I am good with about 300.
But I want the 300 to be perfect. I have plenty of handguns. There is no reason for me to count on one that has malfunctioned when I have plenty of others that have never malfunctioned.
If I had only been smart enough to have had similar standards for GF's my life would have been a lot easier.
But I want the 300 to be perfect. I have plenty of handguns. There is no reason for me to count on one that has malfunctioned when I have plenty of others that have never malfunctioned.
If I had only been smart enough to have had similar standards for GF's my life would have been a lot easier.
bannockburn
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No set number but typically 200 would be my minimum round count; probably more like between 250 to 300.
I'm preparing to break in a new night stand gun that my wife recently purchased in celebration of our move to a free state. It's a Glock 19 Gen 4, to which I've made a few common tweaks (sights, Talon Grips, etc.).
I've scheduled a class where the gun will get wrung out with 600 rounds in a day. I'll pack along 200 rounds of the intended carry ammo to shoot as part of that.
I've scheduled a class where the gun will get wrung out with 600 rounds in a day. I'll pack along 200 rounds of the intended carry ammo to shoot as part of that.
Devonai
Member
I prefer at least 100 rounds of the ammo I intend to carry. FWIW, I've never had a new or used pistol manifest a problem after the first 100 rounds. Most notably I had a pre-Kahr Auto Ordnance 1911A1 that was obviously garbage within the first two mags.
I also had a S&W 1006 that ran fine with target ammo loaded to .40 S&W levels, but failed to extract higher velocity carry ammo. Again, that problem was evident within the first 100 rounds. S&W put a new extractor spring in at no charge, but if I hadn't run carry ammo through it then I could have been terminally disappointed.
I also had a S&W 1006 that ran fine with target ammo loaded to .40 S&W levels, but failed to extract higher velocity carry ammo. Again, that problem was evident within the first 100 rounds. S&W put a new extractor spring in at no charge, but if I hadn't run carry ammo through it then I could have been terminally disappointed.
Onward Allusion
Member
Semi - a few hundred rounds. Revolver - a full box.
bikerdoc
Moderator In Memoriam
A box per mag for an auto. A box for a revolver.
GBExpat
Member
No more than a box, unless I run into an issue.
BSA1
member
500 rounds of FMJ or RNL without any malfunctions i can not identify the cause of such as bad magazine, weak ammo, etc. After that another 200 rounds of carry ammo.
Shooting is more than burning a bunch of rounds. It is learning how to grip the gun, where the controls are located, how easy they are to operate especially when under stress, dozens of repetitions. 700 rounds is merely a good start.
Shooting is more than burning a bunch of rounds. It is learning how to grip the gun, where the controls are located, how easy they are to operate especially when under stress, dozens of repetitions. 700 rounds is merely a good start.
W.E.G.
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Varies depending on the gun and the locale.
BearBrimstone
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I'm happy with a couple boxes as long as there were no issues with those two boxes.
for me, there are lots of considerations beyond number of rounds. the way you asked the question sort of implied your concern was reliability. i.e. how many rounds does it take for you to trust that the next round will probably go where you want it without a malfunction.
but familiarity and dryfiring, drawing it from a holster and being able to get a good clean purchase on it, knowing exactly how hard i have to pull the trigger for it to go off, and making sure i can do so without moving the sites, etc. and getting to know the feel of the mag release, slide release, where i want to grip the slide to cycle it, etc are all part of it.
for reliability, based on my experience:
for custom guns, like tight 1911s and whatnot, i would shoot them until they fail, and repeat that a few times before i carried them. even if that took a few thousand rounds.
for factory guns like a glock or M&P or something, i'd just shoot a few hundred rounds.
ideally, i'd shoot a match with it before i carried it
but my overall perspective is not to expect the gun will never fail, but to get used to how it is likely to fail and how to fix it quickly. all the carry guns i've ever used have failed except my current one and i've only got about 1500 rounds on it
but familiarity and dryfiring, drawing it from a holster and being able to get a good clean purchase on it, knowing exactly how hard i have to pull the trigger for it to go off, and making sure i can do so without moving the sites, etc. and getting to know the feel of the mag release, slide release, where i want to grip the slide to cycle it, etc are all part of it.
for reliability, based on my experience:
for custom guns, like tight 1911s and whatnot, i would shoot them until they fail, and repeat that a few times before i carried them. even if that took a few thousand rounds.
for factory guns like a glock or M&P or something, i'd just shoot a few hundred rounds.
ideally, i'd shoot a match with it before i carried it
but my overall perspective is not to expect the gun will never fail, but to get used to how it is likely to fail and how to fix it quickly. all the carry guns i've ever used have failed except my current one and i've only got about 1500 rounds on it
JohnBiltz
Member
I'm sort of getting the idea that this is your first gun to carry. If that is the case take it to the range, make sure it fires and carry it.
If you are talking about replacing another gun you are already carrying that is a different question. Then you have the luxury firing a lot of rounds and testing.
I did not have near as many rounds on my M16 when I left for Desert Storm as you guys want to walk around town. I'd be shocked if most guys who went to Nam, Iraq and Afghanistan had 100 rounds on each magazine. I would be surprised if they had 500 live rounds on the gun. Quite a few were probably issued a rifle and zeroed and qualified on it.
If you are talking about replacing another gun you are already carrying that is a different question. Then you have the luxury firing a lot of rounds and testing.
I did not have near as many rounds on my M16 when I left for Desert Storm as you guys want to walk around town. I'd be shocked if most guys who went to Nam, Iraq and Afghanistan had 100 rounds on each magazine. I would be surprised if they had 500 live rounds on the gun. Quite a few were probably issued a rifle and zeroed and qualified on it.
Corpral_Agarn
Member
How many rounds? Shoot until it has a failure of some kind.
Then decide if the round count was high enough. 200-500 would be reasonable.
All machines can/will fail if given enough time or neglect. Some machines take longer and those are the once I am interested in carrying.
Then decide if the round count was high enough. 200-500 would be reasonable.
All machines can/will fail if given enough time or neglect. Some machines take longer and those are the once I am interested in carrying.
TimSr
Member
If the alternative is carrying nothing, one magazine/or one from each cylinder.
Before chnaging from one trusted weapon to another, about 100 with 0 issues with the ammo I'm carrying.
Before chnaging from one trusted weapon to another, about 100 with 0 issues with the ammo I'm carrying.
fastbolt
Member
Functional reliability is dependent on the shooter, the ammunition, gun maintenance, the conditions in which the gun is being used by the particular shooter ... and the gun, itself, which includes the magazines.
Presuming a good quality semiauto pistol, which appears in normal condition when field-stripped and inspected (and new recoil & mag springs if it's a used gun that hasn't been refurbed by an armorer, factory tech or a smith) ...
... and good quality, fresh factory ammunition is being used (I prefer to use something made by one of the major American ammo companies) ...
... and I've familiarized myself with any recommendations by a particular gun maker for a make/model (lubrication, ammunition used, etc) ...
... I like to shoot 25-50 rounds per magazine that's planned to be used with the gun.
If it's only 2 magazines being used for the initial session, then I like to fire at least 50 rounds per magazine. (After all, we're checking the condition and functionality of the magazines, which are at the heart of optimal functioning of the gun.)
I usually use whatever JHP ammunition is going to be carried for the bulk of my function testing, or, a mix of various good quality JHP ammunition that I may have on hand (that's been either issued or has been approved for optional use, in my case). I'll include some ball loads, if available, but I prefer to use JHP's to confirm normal feeding and function in semiauto pistols.
Now, in armorer classes I've attended (for a number of makes/models), a related issue of test-firing to confirm normal function after a repair is recommended. At various times this has usually been recommended as firing at least a magazine-load, or whatever "duty load-out" may be carried (typically interpreted to be a primary magazine and 2 spares, but it may be more for an agency), before the gun is returned to service.
I typically like to have the user/owner of a repaired pistol fire at least that many rounds, and have often suggested they fire more rounds, if only to satisfy themselves that their gun is now functioning normally. (When I return a repaired gun to service, it means I'm personally willing to carry/use it, but that's me.)
Presuming a good quality semiauto pistol, which appears in normal condition when field-stripped and inspected (and new recoil & mag springs if it's a used gun that hasn't been refurbed by an armorer, factory tech or a smith) ...
... and good quality, fresh factory ammunition is being used (I prefer to use something made by one of the major American ammo companies) ...
... and I've familiarized myself with any recommendations by a particular gun maker for a make/model (lubrication, ammunition used, etc) ...
... I like to shoot 25-50 rounds per magazine that's planned to be used with the gun.
If it's only 2 magazines being used for the initial session, then I like to fire at least 50 rounds per magazine. (After all, we're checking the condition and functionality of the magazines, which are at the heart of optimal functioning of the gun.)
I usually use whatever JHP ammunition is going to be carried for the bulk of my function testing, or, a mix of various good quality JHP ammunition that I may have on hand (that's been either issued or has been approved for optional use, in my case). I'll include some ball loads, if available, but I prefer to use JHP's to confirm normal feeding and function in semiauto pistols.
Now, in armorer classes I've attended (for a number of makes/models), a related issue of test-firing to confirm normal function after a repair is recommended. At various times this has usually been recommended as firing at least a magazine-load, or whatever "duty load-out" may be carried (typically interpreted to be a primary magazine and 2 spares, but it may be more for an agency), before the gun is returned to service.
I typically like to have the user/owner of a repaired pistol fire at least that many rounds, and have often suggested they fire more rounds, if only to satisfy themselves that their gun is now functioning normally. (When I return a repaired gun to service, it means I'm personally willing to carry/use it, but that's me.)
Stevie-Ray
Member
Never went more than 200, especially if no malf. Some went only 100, like my Glock 26.
Corpral_Agarn
Member
sound advice.
huntsman
Member
Numbers are arbitrary, platform familiarity and confidence are what's important so shoot as much as you need to achieve those goals.
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