[cali-da]

This is some what related to the last thread that I started. Now that I have been "converted" so to speak to carrying with a round in the chamber, I have another question.

I don't change my ammo from day to day. I pretty much am carrying the same rounds every day. Is there an amount of time you can carry the same rounds? When do you need to rotate them out and put in "new" rounds that have never been in the magazine before?

I would have to add that this is a great source of information specifically on common practices. It is great to have a place to ask what may be obvious to some but unknown to beginners like me.

Thanks

 

[blueyedevil]

Depends on where you live, hot and humid places are tough on ammo. Also depends on your habits, if you're a guy who constantly clears his sidearm and rechambers a round, you might want to think about swapping out the first two in the mag fairly often. I personally live in a dry climate and rarely eject and rechamber, so my practice is generally once a year. I usually dispose of my old rounds by putting them into a target and haven't had a failure yet so apparently it's adequate.

 

[Rugerman]

I am not sure you need to rotate them. The shelf life on bullets is pretty long. My rounds get pulled out of the magazine everytime I go to the range.

I have my carry rounds "hollow points" and then range bulletts that are full metal jacket. They get rotated that way but are loaded right back in the magazine when I am done at the range.

I don't know if this was any help or not.

 

[blueyedevil]

Also, if you don't already know, make sure that you keep your chambers free of solvents and oils. These substances are designed to penetrate and can turn your chambered round into a squib if you keep a wet chamber.

 

[QKShooter]

Good Questions

I don't have any kids & I usually keep the same firearm that I carry during the day...as my home defense firearm at night.

I just keep mine fully loaded & with the same round chambered.

Doing that (of course) mandates that I ALWAYS treat it as a loaded firearm at all times. No problem at all for me.

I got in the habit (many moons ago) of treating EVERY firearm as if it is HOT until I visually & physically check it to make absolutely certain that it is not. It is second nature to be.
Even if I set a checked EMPTY firearm down on the table & walk away from it for a minute...I check it again when I pick it back up again.

Naturally, if I know that I have just chambered a round and my firearm is HOT...I don't keep checking it to make sure that it's still loaded. I just treat it like it IS. :yup:

Since every carried, lubricated, firearm picks up random debris, lint, holster shavings, etc...when I DO UNchamber to do a routine "clean & maintain" of that firearm...I will only chamber the same cartridge 4 times & then that cartridge goes into a coffee can...until I can shoot them all up.

So...I don't "slam home" any semi~auto rounds more than 4 times.

Why 4 ??? You ask? Because that is what some highly talented & respected Gun Guru told me TOO MANY YEARS AGO & it has always worked for me. :yup:
I have never had a problem doing it that way so that is what I continue to do.

When I am all done scrubbing/cleaning my barrel after a shooting session....I run a WET patch of either Break~Free or FP~10 (Firepower 10) through the barrel. I let the inside of the barrel bore & chamber stay wet with that for about 15 or 20 minutes.

Then I run enough CLEAN DRY VIRGIN patches through the barrel until they come out dry ~ Then I reassemble & re chamber.

Do not use WD40 or any other penetrating, migrating, solvent based petroleum oils to lube your firearm or your magazines. If you DO use Break~Free or FP~10 to clean the inside of your magazines then wipe them dry in there before you reassemble your magazines. There will still be a molecular coat remaining on the metal but, nothing that can migrate to the cartridges.

I am not suggesting that anyone else do exactly what works for me. I am just stating what I do.

 

[Bud White]

I like to change them as a general rule every 6 months

 

[festus]

Some thing else to consider is magazine spring tension.
I have extra mags for my guns so that I can let the springs "unload" and stay as close to full strength as is possible.

I rotate my mags every two weeks. At that time I inspect the rounds load up the two spare mags and let the mags I was carrying "rest" for the next two weeks. This may seem like overkill, but I have used rifle mags in the past that the springs were worn out in. It made for some interesting shooting at the range. I cannot afford that kind of failure with my CCW gun. Another point of contention is the fact that I do not load my mags to max capacity. I only put 10 rounds in a twelve round magzine. This will also prevent the mag springs from taking a crap with low tension when you need them most.

My carry ammo gets swapped out every six months or so and replaced with fresh ammo. I write the date it was loaded in the mags for carry inside the flap on the box. This will help me have my ducks in a row if I ever have to defend life, liberty or property.

I know this was probably all overkill but...I learned well and practice often. My stuff works first time every time.

 

[PapaScout]

I live in the middle of nowhere and have a firing range down in a ravine. Once a month I shoot the ammo in my carry guns (+ some usually) and replace with fresh.

This keeps me in practice and cycles the rounds.

 

[Rob72]

Good Questions

.I will only chamber the same cartridge 4 times & then that cartridge goes into a coffee can...until I can shoot them all up.

So...I don't "slam home" any semi~auto rounds more than 4 times.

Why 4 ??? You ask? Because that is what some highly talented & respected Gun Guru told me TOO MANY YEARS AGO & it has always worked for me. :yup:
I have never had a problem doing it that way so that is what I continue to do.

That was the one consideration I was going to mention: unless you have a subgun, with straight-into-the-chamber feed, every time you cycle a round, the nose is impacted- eventually this will change the seating depth, increasing chamber pressure. Some calibers are more tolerant than others; hot 9mm and 40S&W are more likely to reach case-failure with less compression than, say, the classic 230 gr/900 fps .45.

 

[Bud White]

Qk and rob72 hit cartridge set back and i was coming to add something about that also i will only chamber the round so many times about 4 is right since i do a quick clean every week and then it goes to a shoot it pile

 

[enigmaone]

I agree with Bud, every 6 months.

 

[P95Carry]

It's well covered - not really anything to add but will confirm the usefullness of not hammering just one round, always the same round - into chamber every time loading up again to leave gun hot.

I have occasionally actually used caliper gauge to check OAL of the rounds to make sure no single round has suffered bullet set-back. As for the ammo longevity itself - that is not an issue for me but the carry stuff will get shot up after a few months and a fresh lot loaded in a fresh mag.

 

[Jungle Work]

'bout every 6th month, unless I'd been in an extremely high moisture area, ie. on a boat, then a little sooner.

Jungle Work

 

[xsquidgator]

On-topic from Stephen Wenger's daily email... (if he's here I hope he doesn't mind me repeating it here)

From A Recent Law-Enforcement Bulletin:

CATASTROPHIC FAILURE OF SEMIAUTOMATIC HANDGUNS

The continuous reloading and chambering of the same round may cause catastrophic failure in semiautomatic handguns.

Current Information - The Security Force at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico, recently reported on the catastrophic failure of a semiautomatic handgun when it was fired. The internal explosion caused the frame to break while the slide and barrel separated from the weapon and traveled down range. No one was injured in the incident. An investigation revealed that security personnel were repeatedly charging same round of ammunition into the chamber.
Technical personnel at Glock, Inc. advise that repeated chambering of the same round may cause the bullet to move deeper in the casing, further compacting the propellant. When a normal cartridge is fired, the firing pin hits the primer, igniting the propellant. When the propellant burns, the gas pressure drives the bullet out of the case and down the barrel. However, if the propellant has been compacted, the pressure may increase beyond the gun’s specifications, causing the weapon to break apart. Sigarms, Inc.’s personnel confirm that reloading the same round five or six times will cause problems, noting that reloading the same round even once will void their warranty. Both manufacturers stress that the prob-lem is not with the gun, but with chambering the same round repeatedly...

(I don't believe that the powder needs to be compacted for this phenomenon to occur - it should only require that the available space inside the case be reduced.)

--
Stephen P. Wenger

Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.

 

[joleary223]

Good information! Thanks, xsquidgator.

 

[Steve48]

I change my carry ammo about every year but I do rotate the ammo evry month. Remember, there is still WW2 surplus ammo out their that still shoots well but I would not trust my life on it. Steve48

 

[Blackeagle]

I've got a "carry pool" of 30 rounds or so. Once I've chambered each one a couple of times, I'll go out and shoot them.

 

[fed_wif_a_sig]

I change my duty carry rounds every three months when we qualify, not by direction but by choice. I change my chambered round every month, even thought it dosent get down loaded to much just because of a number of incidents with chambered rounds being messed up and the posibility of a bad ignition.

On my personal weapons, I change the ammo every year on the date I conduct a qualifier with them. Since these weapons dont get chambered much I only switch around the ammo in the mags on the monthly cleanings.

Its a little more expensive to qualify with what you carry but its worth the price for me.

 

[Timmy Jimmy]

I carry Speer GOLD DOT personal protection 230 gr GDHP. I train with S&B 230 FMJ. I shoot up the Speer when we change the clocks and buy a new box of 20.

I did not know that I was supposed to change the first round after it has been chambered.

Thanks for the information.

 

[RETSUPT99]

Between BG's...

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