Why didn't I think of this before??

[JLStorm]

I have been carrying corbon +p 185 grain 45acp ammo for years. Today my coworker asked me how I liked the ammo, and I said that it was great, it is accurate and reliable and controllable. He then asked me why I constantly train with 230 grain ammo, but choose to carry something not only of different weight, but of far different pressure than what I train with. I pondered the question silently and then went online to order the 230 grain hydroshoks that are NOT +p. I will be switching all my mags for my carry weapon over to the hydroshoks...now I just have to figure out what to do with the few boxes of corbon I have laying around .

Has anyone else had this issue? What did you decide on?

 

[CWL]

I just shoot thru the existing box or two of carry loads as part of training and replace with new ammo. This is part of my ammo rotation schedule anyways. You definitely should train with what you plan to use in SD situation.

 

[mpmarty]

I carry 45 acp solid copper (Barnes) 185 grain in all my SD pistols. This ammo is made by Taurus using Barnes bullets, PMC brass, Hodgden powder and I beleive Winchester primers. I got a buy on a large lot of this fine ammo several months ago and am very fond of it.

I train with handloads using the same weight bullet with same velocity (1000fps)
Each week I fire about two or three hundres practice rounds and finish up with the carry mag full of the Barnes cartridges to verify that they print the same poa (point of aim).

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

Well I'll be a kind person and take those boxes of ammo off your hands for free!
I usually train and plink with different ammo but shoot my carry ammo several times a year to rotate my supplies of it and verify POI is still POA and remember how it shoots. Carry ammo is spendy, I shoot my reloads most of the time (which are more accurate and the same velocity as most of the big name carry ammo, but use FMJ bullets).

 

[OpFlash]

I carry 45 acp solid copper (Barnes) 185 grain in all my SD pistols. This ammo is made by Taurus using Barnes bullets, PMC brass, Hodgden powder and I beleive Winchester primers. I got a buy on a large lot of this fine ammo several months ago and am very fond of it.

CDNN had it on closeout. By the time I called it was gone. Great ammo I wish I could have stocked up. Wonder why it was short lived? Guess no one trusted ammo from Taurus?

 

[the naked prophet]

I make a point to have my practice ammo and carry ammo feel the same, and print to the same POI. Fortunately, for some odd reason, the DoubleTap 147 grain 9mm+P Gold Dots feel exactly the same as the WWB 115 grain Wal-Mart special. They hit exactly the same place compared to POA as the DT ammo out to 50 yards (or as close as I can get to the target at that range) from my Glock 19. I literally can't tell the difference in felt recoil if I switch up my mags between DT and WWB.

You might find the same thing, if you can find a practice ammo that "feels" the same as your carry ammo. Might even want to load some up. That way you can carry the ammo you feel will have the best performance, and practice with ammo that has the same feel and POI.

 

[strambo]

I just handload practice ammo of the same bullet weight at a little less velocity. So, my 9mm 124 gr FMJ practice ammo at ~1080fps is very close to my 124gr carry ammo at ~1150fps. Closer to my carry load than 115gr FMJ store bought anyway.

 

[brownie0486]

As Strambo mentions, I don't think it is absolutely necessary to practice with a duplicate load that perfectly mirrors your street ammo.

I practice with 115 wwb from Wally's all the time, and shoot 147 ranger t as a steet loading. When I do shoot the street ammo off, the difference is nill between the two.

In 45acp, I use Wallys 230 ball and on the road, ranger t 230 standard vel. Just about the same there for the most part.

Practice and shoot enough, keep the costs as low as possible and keep shooting to develop the skills sets you'll need on the street. After a time, you should not notice much difference between the street ammo and your practice ammo.

The difference may be more perceived between them if you are not firing a lot of ammo per month, but with enough downrange, ammo is ammo. The gun barks, the physical skills are there and the difference is minimized.

Brownie

 

[AndyC]

I shoot some of my carry ammo to ensure that it functions reliably in my pistol - common sense, really.

 

[JLStorm]

everyone shoots their carry ammo, thats a no brainer, but I shoot around 10000 rounds a year and of 230 grain and only around 250 rounds of carry ammo a year, and at two different weights, it just didnt make sense to me once I really thought about it.

Of course even at 250 rounds a year that still isnt a clear marker of how the ammo will function considering my personal rule is never carry a pistol without first having it run 10000 - 2000 rounds without non user induced issue.

sheesh the more I think about it the worse it gets lol

 

[OpFlash]

JLStorm I wouldn't worry too much about such things. If and when you ever do need to defend yourself with your weapon they will be trivial compared to all the seemingly random things that will come together that will determine how you come through it. Things like the nature of the attack, how soon you recognize the danger and exactly when and how you react will mean much more than whether your gun has a 1/1000 or 1/2000 chance of malfunctioning, or whether your rounds impact an inch low at 10yds.

 

[gazpacho]

I chronographed my wife's carry load in three different weapons, then ordered components (cheaper) to reload to similar weight and velocity performance out of the same three guns. The resulting reload had a much lower Standard Deviation, and cost less than WWBox.

In shooting mixed cylinders of Carry vs Reload, my wife couldn't tell the difference.

 

[nemoaz]

Things like the nature of the attack, how soon you recognize the danger and exactly when and how you react will mean much more than whether your gun has a 1/1000 or 1/2000 chance of malfunctioning, or whether your rounds impact an inch low at 10yds.

Yeah, what he said.

Dumbfounded by:

1. Anyone who would use lower pressure, lower velocity ammo unless their gun won't feed it reliably or they couldn't handle the recoil (small woman etc.) If you are worried about velocity causing changes in point of impact, then get high velocity practice ammo.

2. Anyone who uses FMJ if they aren't military and required to. (If your sidearm isn't reliable with hollow points, you need a sidearm.)

This isn't 1903 people!