[fmiller4]

I have a Kel-Tec P3AT that I carry with Hydra-Shoks.

So far I've been carrying without chambering a round because I heard - somewhere - that repeatedly chambering the same round can push the bullet into the case. This eventually leads to an increased pressure situation and the gun KBs if you fire that round.

Have any of encountered this before? Is it BS?

I'm used to big happy 1911s and am trying to get a lot of range time (using reloads) with the P3AT to get proficient with the trigger..... SO that means I'm always changing the ammo in the gun. (that is, "chamber a round and leave it alone" doesn't work here).


Any thoughts?


f

 

[TedBeau]

Thread hijack (addition)

I know someone here will give you the answer. Personally I don't know, although I have seenit discussed here many times.
My question though is the bullet setback caused by racking the round from the mag to the chamber or is it caused by placing the round into the mag? Is it the bullet nose dragging on the ramp as it is aligned to the chamber, or is it the end of the bullet being forced into the forcing cone at the front of the chamber?

More details please.

 

[boss mustang]

If i have chambered a round more than a couple times, I will just leave it in the chamber, load up the mag with practice ammo and fire off the chambered round first. Yeah, you are shooting one of your defense loads but it is only 1 round, You probably have 20 or 30 sitting in a box waiting to be loaded up. 1 round hear and there will not break the bank.

 

[Rcher]

It is not BS. Chambering the same round over and over can cause bullet setback. Setback is caused as the loaded round impacts the feed ramp. A bullet that has been set back will have a higher velocity and pressure than one not set back. If your ammo is at, or above maximum pressure, this can be a bad thing. A KB (KaBoom) can occur due to bullet setback. I have never witnessed a KB due to setback but have seen the results from an improperly reloaded bullet that has been seated too deeply.

 

[Cycler]

I've decided to start transferring the chambered bullet to a new magazine and popping a fresh one in the mag when topping off. Eventually you end up with a mag full of once chambered rounds but I imagine that re-chambering a few times won't do any harm.

 

[David in FL]

Multiple chambering of the same round can certainly cause setback and should be avoided. I curious though. Why would you be chambering and rechambering? It's a sd handgun. Load it up and leave it alone.

 

[Red82]

Multiple chambering of the same round can certainly cause setback and should be avoided. I curious though. Why would you be chambering and rechambering? It's a sd handgun. Load it up and leave it alone.

If you're taking that gun to the range and shooting ball ammo and not your SD ammo then you would chamber the round to carry it, then unchamber it to load up your practice ammo. Then reload your SD ammo. If you never go to the range with your SD gun then it's not an issue, but hopefully you are spending quality time at a range regularly.

 

[dukalmighty]

It is true,but It requires pretty substantial setback,you can compare the round you are chambering with a fresh bullet,at first sign of bullet length being shorter,you can tell by looking at serrations on side of hollowpoints and how far from the case lip they are,I put that round in the range ammo,I only chamber a round in my carry gun about once a week when I clean the gun from wearing it and keep it lubed,or you can use one magazine and either mark the primer end with different color sharpies and each time chamber a different round,then about once a month or every two months just shoot that magazine and reload with fresh rounds.I reload ammo and the only thing I've had severe bgullet setback on was .380,bad magazine and it slammed the round into the bottom of the feed ramp pushing the bullet in about 1/8" that kind of setback will cause a Kaboom

 

[nutz4utwo]

...I curious though. Why would you be chambering and rechambering? It's a sd handgun. Load it up and leave it alone.

My range requires all firearms be unloaded and actions open whenever you are not on a hot range (entering, signing in, walking around, setting up targets). One could be sneaky with a concealed pistol, but the rules are there for everyone's safety so I respect them. I unload in the car- hence a defensive round gets ejected...

I go to the range once a week, so I collect a fair number of rounds.

I will mark any ejected round with a sharpie. I will check it with a micrometer and it if reads the original length, I may go ahead and fire it. Note: re-chambering a round more then once could be dangerous and will void some gun's warranty. Do so at your own risk.

 

[StevePVB]

Great idea

I've decided to start transferring the chambered bullet to a new magazine and popping a fresh one in the mag when topping off. Eventually you end up with a mag full of once chambered rounds but I imagine that re-chambering a few times won't do any harm.

I have been rotating the previously chambered round to the bottom of the magazine. I don't worry about multiple rechambers because I shoot out that magazine (obviously at the range) before they rotate through multiple times. It will be a lot less work to simply start filling up one of my empty magazines.

 

[carver]

Drop the mag, eject the chambered rd., and put it in your pocket. When you are through at the range, drop the empty mag, lock the slide. When you get to the car, manually insert the bullet from your pocket, drop the slide, insert the mag. That was easy, and I don't keep chambering the same rd. form the mag.

 

[natticarry]

dropping the slide on a chambered round can put some excess wear on the extractor over time though.

 

[automatic slim]

What he said.........

Multiple chambering of the same round can certainly cause setback and should be avoided. I curious though. Why would you be chambering and rechambering? It's a sd handgun. Load it up and leave it alone.

:congrats::congrats::congrats:

 

[Kevin Jensen]

I had this same concern, since I carried a .40 caliber GLOCK, so I did my own test a few years ago.

Originally posted here. UtahConcealedCarry.Com • View topic - How to make your autoloader blow up in your hand

Here is a quick test I did... I took a new Independence round and chambered it several times without the use of a magazine, measuring it after each loading. My goal was to see if I could make it shorter than 1.100"

New Independence round factory length. 1.120"

Here is a new Federal Self Defense Round just for reference. Also 1.120"

Chambered 0nce: 1.117"

Two: 1.115"

Three: 1.112"

Four: 1.108"

Five: 1.105

Six: 1.1025

Seven: SUCCESS! 1.099

As you can see this round is officially junk. As I was doing this, I noticed the sound of the round going in getting worse. I believe this was the sound of the extractor slamming against the back of the cartridge.

 

[Kevin Jensen]

OK, did another test, with very similar results. Same Independence ammo, same G23. This time I let the pistol load the round from the magazine, as there are some speculations as to whether or not this had anything to do with the results. Remember, the round measured 1.120 when I started.

One - 1.118

Two - 1.115

Three - 1.112

Four - 1.109

Five - 1.107

Six - 1.103

Seven - 1.100

On the first test when I put the bullet in the chamber and let the extractor hit it, it measured 1.099 after seven times. This is only + .001 difference using the magazine.

 

[gottabkiddin]

Once or twice shouldn't cause a noticeable set back with quality ammo IMO. It's not feasible to load a autoloader up and not need to clean and oil it up every other week or so with daily carry, especially the stainless ones. Simply by maintaining your EDC will produce the round in question. Just put it to the bottom of the mag or put it in the box it came in and shoot it at the range the next time you're there.

 

[Xader]

Multiple chambering of the same round can certainly cause setback and should be avoided. I curious though. Why would you be chambering and rechambering? It's a sd handgun. Load it up and leave it alone.

:hand1:

One big problem with that. My EDC is my only handgun. I guess I could just never shoot and hope I hit the BG if the time arises? Practice is for suckers...

Dont think so.

Just rotate your ammo, and discard if setback occurs. Simple as that.

 

[tns0038]

While current ammo is good from now on, I still always shoot my carry ammo. Reason is moisture, oils from the gun and us can affect the round over time.

jWhile I understand practicing with cheap ball ammo, my first volley of rounds is with the magazine I’ve been carrying. So set back is never a problem because it’s only been racked once.

When I leave the range, I return home clean and lube the weapon, and then load it with fresh rounds.

 

[nutz4utwo]

manually insert the bullet from your pocket, drop the slide, insert the mag.

Some guns can handle this, some can't.

Glock tells us it is a big no no and there are a few stories floating around Defensive Carry about chipped extractors.

 

[NCRonB]

Threads like this seem to pop up pretty regularly, but I haven't read any studies on the issue. If a study hasn't been done, it should be.

I just took a never-chambered round of 9mm Gold Dot 124+P and ran a simple test on it. It measured 1.12" out of the box. I chambered it 20 times in my M&P 9c and after each time it still measured 1.12". I got bored, so I quit. All of my Gold Dot rounds measure within 0.005" of 1.12"; some have been chambered as many as 5 times, but most have not been chambered at all.

It seems logical that setback would be highly dependent on the round and the gun that's chambering it. I saw a bullet/casing design in a recent ad where the diameter of the bullet inside the casing is smaller than the exposed part of the bullet. That is, there's a small lip to prevent setback altogether. If setback is such a problem, why don't all defensive rounds use that design? Perhaps the manufacturers want setback to be a problem so that people worry about it and continue to buy more ammo. :smile:

Assuming setback is not a factor, is there any other reason that a round should not be trusted after being chambered and extracted many times?