Replacing Carry Ammunition

"Borrowed" From Rangemaster Tactical Talk Volume 11, Issue 10



Replacing Carry Ammunition


Some people call it “carry ammo”. Others call it “duty ammo” We are referring to the ammunition you actually carry in your handgun for self defense purposes, as opposed to “practice ammo”

Carry ammo should be shot up and replaced with fresh ammunition every six months. The ammunition you carry in your gun is exposed to extreme temperature variations, as you go from air conditioned office to summer outdoor heat, or warm cozy office to 25 – 30 degree winter outdoor weather. If your gun is left in your car in the summer, it is exposed to temperatures in excess of 140 – 150 degrees. Traces of gun oils and cleaning solvents inevitably get on the ammo. All of these things can lead to serious issues.

Ammo is relatively cheap. Shoot your carry ammo in a practice session and replace it with fresh ammo every few months to avoid this hazard.

On a related note, some people habitually unload their pistols when not carrying them. If you do this, take the round that came out of the chamber and put it aside, for later use in practice. Do not repeatedly load the same cartridge into your pistol. When the slide slams the top round in the magazine out of the magazine and onto the feed ramp, the bullet nose takes a pretty hard impact on the feed ramp as it is chambered. Repeatedly chambering the same round can pound the bullet deeper into the cartridge case, resulting in drastically higher pressures. I never chamber the same cartridge more than twice before replacing it. Ammunition is a perishable item. Carry ammo needs to be fresh and properly cared for.

'neck, I already follow this procedure, but thanks for the post. Most people do not think of these things. I know I didn't until a LEO friend of mine told me about it.

I got some shooting to do!

bigsig wrote: Most people do not think of these things. I know I didn't until a LEO friend of mine told me about it.

I guess that I am with the "most" -- haven't given it much thought until now!!

Well that's what I'm here for...getting them brain cells "flowing"

I always swab the chamber of my auto pistols and cylinder of revolvers before I load up. I rotate my handguns/clips each month. I DO set aside the chambered rounds in my autopistols. I rotate ammo yearly. I used to shoot it up, but the way ammo is now, I box it back up and save it for a rainy day.

Not something I have done like I should but will.

I usually shoot up the carry ammo I have in the mags toward the end of a range session. This allows me to check my accuracy with it, as well as get fresh ammo in the mags.