Time change is time to refresh your carry load

[Lo-Profile]

Thankfully I have the same carry ammo in my Sig Sauer C3 I have for years.
I still shoot it and only replace the chambered round each time.
Total confidence that my magazines and rounds are fine.

 

[jmorris]

When y'all are practicing with your carry guns, do you 100% use your carry ammo, or some range ammo also? I use the good stuff sometimes, but for how much I shoot can't justify the cost.

I don’t carry ammunition that I don’t know runs 100%.

If all I have shot through a firearm was ”practice ammo”, that’s the only stuff I would carry in it.

Mine often have my game gun, minor or major loads because the stuff I am shooting at doesn’t seem to care what bullet kills them and I know they run all the time.

 

[lee n. field]

It’s that weekend….the dreaded time change. This is when I refresh my Colt Agent with 6 new rounds and I unload my G22.3 magazine and load another one with fresh 180s. Same for the Secuity Six house gun.

That 38 and 40 ammo goes into the range bucket. I also replace the batteries in my flashlights (and tv remotes!). It’s been my ritual for almost 30 years now to freshen up at time change in the fall and spring. Who else does such things?

I carry a revolver, so no worries about setback from repeated chambering. Social purposes ammo is too pricey to just blow through for the purpose of "refreshing it".

Mine stays.

 

[mavs]

You can shoot off your carry ammo and replace it once a year if you want, but it really is not necessary. If it makes you feel all neat and organized, then go right ahead. But I've got ammo that is several years old and would not worry about it one bit.

I do change my clocks every year though, actually twice a year.

 

[The Night Rider]

Eh? Is that a 'snipe hunt' type comment? Like a left handed monkey wrench?

10 inch Craftsman adjustable wrench.

The other side says 250 mm.

A coworker borrowed it several years ago at work.

I handed it to him and told him one side was Standard and the other Metric and please make sure he used the right side.

He got it while he was walking away from me. He turned around and said something nasty to me, I don't remember what I probably couldn't get away with posting it anyway.

 

[Rodfac]

Good suggestions Anchor...I try to do the same, plus change all the alarm & fire detection batteries as well.......And the gun safe 9 volts too. Rod

 

[Necessary_Nutrient]

Without some frame of reference for lifespan of ammo that shows a benefit, changing every 6 months, even every year, seems aggressive.

it’s well known that ammo in storage lasts for decades. How do we justify these timelines for ammo that is carried?

As far as 9V batteries, yearly would be plenty and is what smoke alarm manufacturers recommend

 

[The Happy Kaboomer]

My carry 9mm Shield has the same defensive ammo in it that I put in it years ago when I bought the gun. I shoot the gun but with other ammo.........It doesn't go bad......It doesn't go bad.....Last week I had it in my pocket and needed to finish off a buck I shot. One bullet the back of the head and it was over.....So the ammo still works as intended. It doesn't go bad.

 

[drobs]

Yeah that's a no for me.

I could see firing off / replacing the top 2 rounds of my carry defensive ammo, but the rest of the ammo in the mag is fine.

I shoot my carry guns frequently. I have other mags that I use for practice fmj ammo.

 

[WisBorn]

I can't understand why many of the members don't cycle/rotate out there carry ammo? I don't see that the cost of carry ammo being so high, that I shouldn't shoot some each time I go to the range.
I like to start with my carry handgun. Pull it from my holster and fire off the magazine or cylinder. If it works without issue, life is good! If not, you were not prepared to defend yourself.
I will also fire a few rounds of carry ammo at the end my range session.

After the Covid ammo shortage, I have more carry ammo on hand than range ammo. Which ammo do you want to have extra on hand?

 

[trackskippy]

Id rather have a boat load of practice ammo that Im constantly shooting, than a boat load of carry ammo that just sits there, unless someone else was paying for the carry ammo for practice.

Whatever is in the gun should I need it, practice ammo or carry ammo, Im not shooting the gun any differently and both will work.

Except for the bullet, my practice ammo basically duplicates my carry ammo and you cant tell the difference between them while shooting. Thats the whole point, constant shooting and practice.

 

[buck460XVR]

I shoot my carry guns , Always fresh ammo in them.

^^^....same here. Can't say I have ever had the same ammo in any of my carry guns for more than a month or so. IMHO, regular practice with your carry guns is more important than the ammo in the gun. I load my own, so carry ammo and practice ammo is the same. No different than my hunting handguns.

 

[Corpral_Agarn]

Yeah that's a no for me.

I could see firing off / replacing the top 2 rounds of my carry defensive ammo, but the rest of the ammo in the mag is fine.

I shoot my carry guns frequently. I have other mags that I use for practice fmj ammo.

Same. I shoot too much.

Hard to justify thousands of defensive rounds down range when a much more affordable target ammunition is handy

 

[The Night Rider]

I've been stocking ammunition since 2012(ish).

My wife watches for sales and when she finds one she buys as much as we can afford. We have quite a bit of SD ammunition (Speer Gold Dots) stashed away.

When we started our "load out" was 5 Glock 19 magazines and 1 12 round Glock 26 magazine, for a total of 87 rounds.

My wife no longer carries a gun. My current "load out" is 3 19 magazines and 1 12 round 26 magazine for a total of 57 rounds.

I can afford to "rotate" one box of ammunition a year. It's cheap insurance.

On January 1st I will unload all 4 of my self defense magazines and put the ammunition back in the box and put that box in the shipping box the last case of SD ammunition we bought came in. If there's ever an emergency situation that ammunition will be available.

Then I'll grab the oldest unused box of Gold Dots I have and load up a new set of four magazines.

Then I'll bag up last years magazines and put them in a box and pull out this year's set of magazines and load them. Last Years magazines will come back up in the "rotation" in 2027 unless The Rapture happens.

 

[halfmoonclip]

My carry ammo isn't always easy to replace...the ammo in the 365 is so labeled by SIG; local shop had a ton of it, reasonably priced, and I'd buy some every time in. I've seen none since, but it's the same velocity/bullet weight as my standard reloads. So I practice with the range ammo, and save the good stuff, an occasional magful excepted.
It's not just cost; sometimes your chosen ammo is hard to find.
Moon

 

[drobs]

Even though I choose to do differently, it's a good reminder. Yearly firing off your carry ammo is a good idea for some people.
New shooters - who don't give things much thought.
Cops - whose department provides them with ammo and whose guns are open carried in all / wet conditions.
Cops that don't shoot very often.
CCW-ers that don't shoot very often.


I was just shooting with my neighbor on his range, Monday. He had mentioned previously about going squirrel hunting, I loaned him a 22LR rifle of mine plus an older bulk pack of 22LR. I told him I didn't want the ammo back.

He is a current county deputy. He was sighting in a new red dot that is mounted on top of his scoped AR15.
He had emptied out his AR15 duty mag onto the tailgate of his pickup. All the bullets (nickel cased) were tarnished - dark brown. He was loading that mag with fresh ammo to sight in the red dot. Our county deputies - get crap for pay and have to provide their own guns, ammo, uniforms, armor, & gear. The only thing the country provides is a vehicle, fuel, taser, computer, and a radio.

I dug around the house and found a couple fresh boxes of 9mm Federal 124gr +P HST that I plan to give him the next time I see him.

 

[PistoleroWadcutterGANG]

My worthless two cents. After 6 months of carry it get transferred over to the like chambered carbines and new ammo brought in. doesn't cost that much.

 

[Otto]

This thread piqued my curiosity, so I dug out a box of Black Talon 9mm, aka. “Cop killer bullets”. These were purchased in 1993, the same year Winchester took them off the market due to political pressures. Unsurprisingly, every round functioned flawlessly in my Glock G34. 15 yard groups were 2” or less. Felt recoil was consistent and predictable with every round.
Even though it’s 31 years old, I don’t have any reservations concerning it’s performance. But I do regret not selling it for $90 a box back in 2021.

 

[The Night Rider]

This thread piqued my curiosity, so I dug out a box of Black Talon 9mm, aka. “Cop killer bullets”. These were purchased in 1993, the same year Winchester took them off the market due to political pressures. Unsurprisingly, every round functioned flawlessly in my Glock G34. 15 yard groups were 2” or less. Felt recoil was consistent and predictable with every round.
Even though it’s 31 years old, I don’t have any reservations concerning it’s performance. But I do regret not selling it for $90 a box back in 2021.

31 years old in a box in a fairly climate controlled environment is not the same as 31 years in your holster.