How many rounds of a certain ammo must your pistol cycle before you trust that ammo?

[Walt Sherrill]

The original poster asked about "proving" ammo -- and that's the question to which I responded. But many, maybe most, of the responses seem to be about proving the reliability of the weapon, not the ammo.

If the gun is already "proven" -- I have several that have been problem free for years -- what do you do to prove a new or different ammo of choice?

 

[Cards81fan]

The original poster asked about "proving" ammo -- and that's the question to which I responded. But many, maybe most, of the responses seem to be about proving the reliability of the weapon, not the ammo.

If the gun is already "proven" -- I have several that have been problem free for years -- what do you do to prove a new or different ammo of choice?

You are correct. And if we are vetting how well the particular ammo feeds with a particular weapon, well generally these issues show up very quickly. I voted 50.

 

[Mike1234567]

Indeed, ascertaining how reliably a particular defensive ammo feeds in a particular defensive firearm is what I understood the OP was addressing. Maybe I was reading more into it than I should have but this is the only logical reason I can imagine for it being posted at all.

 

[FIVETWOSEVEN]

Call me inexperianced but if a gun works fine with target ammo and its a high quality gun such as a Glock or a XD. If it can go through a box of JHP just fine like the rest of the target ammo. Its fine, if there was a problem with a Glock and a certain brand of quality ammo, you would hear about it all the time. My XD has seen over 100 JHP rounds and countless FMJ rounds without a single jam, if there was a problem, it would have shown itself already. You should always test fire a new gun and shoot it regulary to get proficent with it and maybe the carry ammo if it is loaded hotter but to just fire 500 rounds through it of that one expensive JHP seems redundant with most new production guns. If there was a problem with it, it would be evident pretty fast.

 

[SSN Vet]

My carry ammo is expensive. First shoot a couple hundred rounds of cheap stuff. If everything is ok a couple magazines of the carry rounds.

This is one reason why I like to load my own carry ammo...

Another option is to load a clone of factory carry ammo. for practice and reliability, validate the factory stuff performs in like manner with a smaller test lot and then actually carry the factory stuff.

But this can be pretty limiting, as many of the best HPs are not available as components.

 

[Warp]

If the gun is already "proven" -- I have several that have been problem free for years -- what do you do to prove a new or different ammo of choice?

A magazine or two, if that.

You are correct. And if we are vetting how well the particular ammo feeds with a particular weapon, well generally these issues show up very quickly. I voted 50.

This year I bought a new Glock 30SF. It was perfect through a few hundred rounds of FMJ and 50 rounds of 230gr Ranger T series +P. It failed in the first magazine of Ranger 230gr T series. Then it failed multiple times over the next box of same. I tried +P 230gr HST next. Failed on the 97th round

 

[WebHobbit]

Warp - so what did you end up carrying in that Glock? It seems crazy that a Glock would be unreliable with a standard mainstream SD load. Have you tried Gold-dots?

 

[Fotno]

I'd love to have the time, the money, and the range where I could shoot thousands of rounds every year. I don't. Once I'm satisfied that the gun is trustworthy with a variety of ammo types (several hundred rounds of FMJ and HP), I fire a box or two of carry ammo and call it good to go.

Would I do differently if I could? Sure. But would and could are two different things.

 

[I_Am_NOT_Lost]

Sorta hard to answer

Here's the thing about "trusting ammo", let's say I'm testing some new ammo in a gun I've had for 5 years. If this gun has never given me any problems, and eats sh*t up, I'm probably going to run a magazine through it and go, "yep, still no problems, lets wrap it up."

Now let's say I just got a NEW(ish) gun and I'm testing ammo for it, this gun will have to prove to me that it can feed this ammo reliably, so in the case of SD HP's, at least roughly 50 rounds.

With FMJ's I usually buy the 100 or 250 round packs, so I guess if it feeds either one of those packs fine I keep going with it. But with target ammo cost is the biggest factor.

 

[PRM]

Depends on how many mags I've got. I like to run each mag through the gun. No glitches ~ I'm good.

That has got nothing to do with practice, nor taking a closer look if something is not right.

 

[Warp]

Warp - so what did you end up carrying in that Glock? It seems crazy that a Glock would be unreliable with a standard mainstream SD load. Have you tried Gold-dots?

I sent it back to Glock after that. When it returned I fired some FMJ then went right back into the saddle with Ranger. 35 rounds to failure. I sent it back again, refusing to try a different JHP (would probably just be wasting money again) and simply requested a different firearm. An entirely different model...the 30SF rumors may be true after all.

I sent it back for the second time July 1. I am still waiting on Glock to get me a 21SF. They don't have any in Smyrna right now, apparently.

My thread about it
http://glocktalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1331775