Ammo: how long before u trust it?

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  • Ammo: how long before you trust it?


    • Total voters
      64

    md123

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 29, 2011
    2,005
    So I'm buying some new SD ammo for a glock. Federal HST, Speer Gold Dot, etc. It's pricey and I'm wondering how much I need to shoot before I can trust it. Assume standard pressure, so this is just a reliability question.

    How much do you feel you need to shoot a round before it can be trusted with your life?

    None if the gun & round are reputable? A box or five? More? Practice with your SD ammo?

    Please vote!
     

    c4snipar

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 21, 2014
    1,450
    Montgomery County, MD
    Personally, if it's reliable brands and stored correctly I trust them before shooting them a whole lot. I use federal HST, Speer gold and Remingron golden saber. I have shot them through my guns, but not a whole lot and don't need to.

    I do visual inspection of each round I loaded to my concealed carry or home defense guns.
     

    mopar92

    Official MDS Court Jester
    May 5, 2011
    9,513
    Taneytown
    Load 3 SD rounds in mag, fill up mag then drop 3 and top off with 3 SD mags. Do that 5 times for each mag then fill them up.

    This is based off averages I've seen. Most failures I've seen have been at the top (most spring pressure) or the bottom (least spring pressure) of the mag. Absent feed lip issues I've never seen a firearm malfunction in the middle of a mag. I have seen user induced malfunctions in the middle though.
     

    AliasNeo07

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 12, 2009
    6,547
    MD
    Meh. For a modern semi auto, esp the polymer wonders (glock sigs walthers m&ps XDs whatever) after 75-100 rounds I'm satisfied. Would I like to put a few hundred through it? Sure, but not at modern hollowpoint prices.

    If it feeds 100 rds reliably but for some reason malfunctions after that...well...that's what we do malfunction drills for :-)
     

    Minuteman

    Member
    BANNED!!!
    Testing new ammo is for several purposes.

    How well does it feed into the chamber, does it eject ok?

    Work with all your mags for that gun?

    Shot placement, point of aim at various distances; know this.

    How fast can you accurately shoot it?

    What's the recoil response and recovery like?

    Is there a less expensive training cartridge that mimics these performance aspects?

    Shooting it strong/weak, two handed and single; can do this in a box or two. A single malfunction is a no-go for that ammo. Clean, inspect, repeat until you can shoot 50-100 times flawlessly before considering it for SD duty.
     

    RoadDawg

    Nos nostraque Deo
    Dec 6, 2010
    94,181
    New gun gets about 200 to 300 rounds of cheaper fmj... then if all goes well... 50 to 100 rounds SD ammo. All split up between all available magazines. Hiccups get adjusted and tests start over. When all rounds go bang and hit the targets without hiccups... the pistol is cleaned, lubed, and placed in rotation, deemed as reliable. It gets a work out periodically to maintain trust.
     

    cantstop

    Pentultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Aug 10, 2012
    8,158
    MD
    I usually trust ammo after a box or two. Won't buy it again if I have any issues. OTOH, for the 2-3 guns that are my goto SD weapons, I always practice with what I keep in magazines for SD.

    With that said, most of my guns are for plinking and target shooting, so I'll run most any brand name ammo through them.
     

    Huckleberry

    No One of Consequence
    MDS Supporter
    Oct 19, 2007
    23,306
    Severn & Lewes
    Changing ammo should just take a box or two for familiarization and qualification.

    As for reliabilty, no need to worry too much if you practice your FTF, FTE drills regularly.

    Any gun is subject to failure at any time for any reason. Just like the 2nd Coming of Christ, we know not the time nor place but we have to be prepared.
     

    GuitarmanNick

    Ultimate Member
    Jan 9, 2017
    2,221
    Laurel
    The most important thing is for the rounds to feed perfectly. It won't discharge if it doesn't go in the pipe!
    I would make that my main concern. Most commercially available ammunition is reliable.
    Some weapons have a reputation of not feeding all types of rounds well and may require some trial and error to find the perfect round.
     

    alucard0822

    For great Justice
    Oct 29, 2007
    17,643
    PA
    I'll run a couple boxes through to get familiar with it, especially 9mm+p, it can group in a different spot than FMJ, but usually don't have many issues with feeding. After than I'll run a box though every couple months primarily to get rid of the beat up carry ammo, figure if that functions fine, then fresh ammo should be fine.
     

    todbiker

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 11, 2012
    1,245
    Laurel, Maryland
    If it's a reputable brand, a box or two works for me. If carrying on a regular basis, it would make sense to shoot the ammo loaded in your carry gun once in awhile to feel comfortable with recoil and shot placement. If course this is MD and that's not an issue for most.... :sad20:
     

    Blaster229

    God loves you, I don't.
    MDS Supporter
    Sep 14, 2010
    46,407
    Glen Burnie
    Speer, HST, I would carry a full mag in any of my pistols without firing 1 test round. Not that I would.
    I have bought pistols and loaded them in the car right from the gun shop with good ammo and had zero concern that it wouldn't go boom.

    Proficiency and confidence with malfunction drills helps alleviate the "pistol no go boom" concern.
     

    browning guy

    SCRUFFY NERF HERDER
    Dec 10, 2009
    8,525
    Essex
    Changing ammo should just take a box or two for familiarization and qualification.

    As for reliabilty, no need to worry too much if you practice your FTF, FTE drills regularly.

    Any gun is subject to failure at any time for any reason. Just like the 2nd Coming of Christ, we know not the time nor place but we have to be prepared.





    I LOVE THE SAGE WISDOM OF THIS MAN!
     

    Z_Man

    Ultimate Member
    May 23, 2014
    2,698
    Harford County
    with SD ammo, if its the fancy nickel plated brass stuff (speer, federal, hornady etc) i'll fire a few magazines, as well as check feeding and extraction. i also prefer to buy the SD stuff in bulk, as i have several boxes of ammo from the same manufacturer's available to me.
     

    md123

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 29, 2011
    2,005
    Personally, if it's reliable brands and stored correctly I trust them before shooting them a whole lot. I use federal HST, Speer gold and Remingron golden saber. I have shot them through my guns, but not a whole lot and don't need to.

    I do visual inspection of each round I loaded to my concealed carry or home defense guns.

    What defects are you looking for in visual inspection? Dented brass? Uniform seal of bullet? Or the old, I'll know it when I see it?
     

    jimbobborg

    Oddball caliber fan
    Aug 2, 2010
    17,112
    Northern Virginia
    What's this feeding stuff you're talking about? Just drop the ammunition into the cylinder and you're set!

    Absent feed lip issues I've never seen a firearm malfunction in the middle of a mag.

    Not that I pick on you, but I've had two separate magazines malfunction in the middle of a mag. I had a Troy Battlemag just stop feeding in the middle of the magazine, and a Kimber 1911 magazine that pushes the slide stop up in the middle of a magazine.

    If it's a reputable brand, a box or two works for me. If carrying on a regular basis, it would make sense to shoot the ammo loaded in your carry gun once in awhile to feel comfortable with recoil and shot placement. If course this is MD and that's not an issue for most.... :sad20:

    Since Wes seems to be back :D
     

    md123

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 29, 2011
    2,005
    Looking like a few boxes is consensus, though some good commentary here:

    -Point of impact can shift
    -Ejection can be totally different
    -Monitor follow up shot changes
    -Visually inspect SD ammo (can't believe I wasn't doing that).
    -Feeding issues CAN present more frequently top and bottom of mag


    Can't wait for my HST shipment to show up today!
     

    Blaster229

    God loves you, I don't.
    MDS Supporter
    Sep 14, 2010
    46,407
    Glen Burnie
    Looking like a few boxes is consensus, though some good commentary here:

    Point of impact can shift
    Monitor follow up shot changes
    Visually inspect SD ammo (can't believe I wasn't doing that).
    Feeding issues CAN present more frequently top and bottom of mag


    Can't wait for my HST shipment to show up today!

    Nothing will shift so much that there won't be a good self defense shot. I did a little test few months ago...
     

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