[smolck]

Another topic that allows people to argue for no reason. The chances of blowing up your gun is probably the same as getting hit by lightning. Live your life and have fun.

 

[Blue Thunder]

Forget the issue of set-back. Get to the issue of Primer Failure from the same bullet getting slammed home and then taken out and then re-loaded into the gun when unloading at home. There was an instance where a Gwinnett County (Georgia) had one this and when he needed the first round in his gun to fire it did not. He did the standard failed round not fired drill and then shot the perp with a second bullet that went BANG!. The first bullet was checked by the manufacturer and was found to have had a fractured primer cake under the anvil that had been fractured to bits and found in the cartridge causing the round to not go off when needed. Do not cycle Carry Ammo in and out of your gun. I don't and never will. They go into a chambered round box which goes to the range every couple of years cause I don't unload and show clear when going home.

 

[Skippys]

I saw a test someone did on 9mm bullet setback and they went so far as to hammer the bullet until it was almost flush with the case and it still fired without a problem.

I sure wouldn't take that chance, but I mark the case with a Sharpie and re-chamber no more than three times. I carry Remington .45acp Golden Sabers in a Colt Officer. I have measured them with a caliper and there has been virtually no setback. Went out and shot a dozen of them last week and they performed flawlessly.

My hat's off to those who say to keep the gun loaded and don't fool with it, but personally, I prefer to practice with my carry gun, including lots of dry-fire, and prefer to send 40¢ FMJs down range rather than 75¢ JHPs.

I was unaware that primers can be damaged by re-chambering. First time I've heard that one.

 

[larrym]

Finger-chamber the round and SLOWLY let the slide move forward until it contacts the round - then GENTLY seat the slide with your thumb until you hear a faint CLICK. Been doing it this way for years and have never had an issue with bullet set-back...I do rotate rounds though and have a box of twenty dedicated to chambered rounds...

 

[Fisher10]

Seems like the re-loaders would be a bit more worried about setback than those of us who use factory loads. But it still doesn't hurt to rotate them as you swap out the mags between defensive rounds and range ammo.

Reloaders are just more observant of irregularities in ammunition. Reloaders are responsible for their own quality control and are used to examining ammo for even small irregularities.

Forget the issue of set-back. Get to the issue of Primer Failure from the same bullet getting slammed home and then taken out and then re-loaded into the gun when unloading at home. There was an instance where a Gwinnett County (Georgia) had one this and when he needed the first round in his gun to fire it did not. He did the standard failed round not fired drill and then shot the perp with a second bullet that went BANG!. The first bullet was checked by the manufacturer and was found to have had a fractured primer cake under the anvil that had been fractured to bits and found in the cartridge causing the round to not go off when needed. Do not cycle Carry Ammo in and out of your gun. I don't and never will. They go into a chambered round box which goes to the range every couple of years cause I don't unload and show clear when going home.

This occurrence was with Hornady TAP .223 in an AR-15. This can happen in firearms that have free-floating firing pins, like an AR15. This officer rechambered the round many many times by slamming the BCG forward. This caused the firing pin to beat the crap out of that primer. This will never happen in a striker fired handgun. Unless a handgun has a free-floating firing pin this story has zero relevance.

Bullet setback IS an issue. Some powders have burn characteristics that lessen spike in chamber pressure caused by setback. Some combinations of caliber and powders will give you explosive results.

If you play a stupid game, you might win a stupid prize.

This video by Military Arms Channel does a good job explaining setback. Bullet Setback and Your Defensive Handgun - YouTube

 

[PhilG]

It's about bullet set back. When a round is chambered the force pushes the bullet back into the caseing. This causes the pressure of the cartidge to rise and if enough set back occures you could have a kaboom insead of a bang when you pull the trigger. This could be bad enough to damage the gun or injure you. That being said set back wont occure after a round is chambered once.

I may rechamber a round 4 to 6 times a month depending upon range trips and cleaning frequency. I always make sure the same round is rechambered so i can keep track of it. At the end of a month I fire that 1 round off and replenish the mag. The round could probably be rechamber more before set back was an issue but this routine it easy to keep track of and only costs 12 rounds per year.

IMO its worth the $5 to $10 a year to insure my gun doesnt go kaboom in my hand. The cost associated with only chambering a round once is not worth is. Thats assumming you can find the ammo to replace it with.

Great information, thank you, Phil

 

[myrkr]

I once opened up a box of Winchester 185 grain .45 Silvertips and one of the bullets was so set back it was almost level with the case mouth. I pulled that one apart. Learned that the bullets are concave with a soft, exposed lead bottom. I regularly compare my carry bullets to ones in the box I know have an appropriate OAL. If they're any shorter, I set em aside to be torn down.

 

[74]

While this may have been an outlier, I was quite surprised to find this happen with a Speer GD 124 grain standard pressure round. It had been chambered once through my Glock 26. Since finding this I no longer chamber rounds more than once.

 

[zeke4351]

I bet a lot of you guys don't sleep at night because of worrying about such BS as setback. Funny it has never ever been mentioned during any kind of training either military or LE. The only place you will see it is on the net where some self proclaimed gun expert is spewing BS.

 

[molonlabe821]

I heard someone today say that they never put a round that has already been in the chamber back in the chamber to carry. They set it aside and use it as range ammo. There was no real reason given, I was just wondering if anyone else does that, and or what is the reason?

Was it a famous (or infamous, depending on your sense of humor) gun community youtuber that you heard this from? If so, I saw that video too, and it seems like if it was that big of a deal, why didn't they cover it in my CCDW class?!

 

[Zero_]

Lucky Gunner, an ammo supplier recently did a write up on this. Interesting stuff.

https://plus.google.com/115314872776591251154/posts/CiVxdHvWjYS

 

[Jetfuelrm]

Thanks for sharing! Good read.

 

[74]

I bet a lot of you guys don't sleep at night because of worrying about such BS as setback. Funny it has never ever been mentioned during any kind of training either military or LE. The only place you will see it is on the net where some self proclaimed gun expert is spewing BS.

Just because you think it's BS doesn't mean it isn't a real issue to be aware of. Is every single thing, ever learned anywhere, included in all LE and military training? Lots of people have never heard of setback. Still doesn't mean it's irrelevant. Would you think nothing of seeing what I showed in the pic above?

Was it a famous (or infamous, depending on your sense of humor) gun community youtuber that you heard this from? If so, I saw that video too, and it seems like if it was that big of a deal, why didn't they cover it in my CCDW class?!

Same answer- just because your instructor didn't include it, doesn't mean it's irrelevant. You can't cover all things in all basic CCW courses. And in general, CCW are basic.

 

[TedBeau]

It's about bullet set back. When a round is chambered the force pushes the bullet back into the caseing. This causes the pressure of the cartidge to rise and if enough set back occures you could have a kaboom insead of a bang when you pull the trigger. This could be bad enough to damage the gun or injure you. That being said set back wont occure after a round is chambered once.

I may rechamber a round 4 to 6 times a month depending upon range trips and cleaning frequency. I always make sure the same round is rechambered so i can keep track of it. At the end of a month I fire that 1 round off and replenish the mag. The round could probably be rechamber more before set back was an issue but this routine it easy to keep track of and only costs 12 rounds per year.

IMO its worth the $5 to $10 a year to insure my gun doesnt go kaboom in my hand. The cost associated with only chambering a round once is not worth is. Thats assumming you can find the ammo to replace it with.

Very well explained GetSmith. I have heard the same thing. If you wanted to really be frugal I suppose you could get a set of calibers and measure the rechambered round to make sure the bullet wasn't setback. I would assume the proper overall length is published in reloading manuals.

 

[zeke4351]

So you think that the military should teach you to ease the bolt forward on your M16 to keep setback from happening because you saw it on YouTube? What about the guy that seated a bullet as deep as it would go and then shot it out of his 9mm without noticing any kind of difference? It sounds to me like your time would be better spent trying to get your bird dog to fly.

 

[74]

So you think that the military should teach you to ease the bolt forward on your M16 to keep setback from happening because you saw it on YouTube? What about the guy that seated a bullet as deep as it would go and then shot it out of his 9mm without noticing any kind of difference? It sounds to me like your time would be better spent trying to get your bird dog to fly.

How about a little less sarcasm and a little more open-mindedness?

 

[Jetfuelrm]

Well I don't know about all this setback etc. I do not ever unload mine so I guess I have no worries.

 

[Jemsaal]

Not so. I did a test rechambering my reloads and some very well-known SD loads and one of the commercial loads setback worse than the reload. The simple solution is to quit playing with a loaded gun; leave it chambered.

I make sure to remember that when I dry fire tonight! :wink:

(EDIT: um, no double-entendre meant). :embarassed:

 

[Jemsaal]

Lucky Gunner, an ammo supplier recently did a write up on this. Interesting stuff.

https://plus.google.com/115314872776591251154/posts/CiVxdHvWjYS

Fascinating article. I think he brings up a really good point about .40's and the older unsupported chambers in comparison to the newer Gen 3 and 4 guns. Still don't want to trust it, but a good thing to know nevertheless.

 

[idodishez]

I unchamber and rechamber almost daily. Between being at my girlfriends with her kids when I tuck it under the mattress, or sleeping with it on my bed next to me (and not wanting to grab it unholstered while sleeping) I need to.

I don't need a micrometer or go/no go gauge to see the setback. It's painfully obvious. But I would rather have it on my bed with a magazine next to it than in my safe. And for safety sake will not leave it loaded at my girlfriends with kids in the house. So I need to get rid of the ammo that has been setback?

I used to have a cheap nylon holster I used for nighttime. (My EDC holster is a Crossbreed supertuck and stays on my belt). Guess I should get another one.


NoBama 2012