CCW Ammo Rotation

October 11, 2018, 11:33 PM

DMF

quote:
Originally posted by mdblanton:
I can’t quite make up my mind as to how often to change out my CCW ammo and home defense ammo.

I’ve had ammo since I was a kid that still goes bang every time I pull the trigger. I’ve even heard stories of WWII ammo that still fires reliably. That being said, CCW/home defense ammo is for a very specific purpose that hopefully is never needed. It’s also some of the most expensive ammo.

So, how often do you pull your CCW ammo and move it to the practice/target ammo pile and reload with new rounds?

Michael

Well, at work we shoot our duty ammo for qualifications and training, so it gets rotated out 4 times a year minimum. However, if the boss wasn't paying for it, I'd go years before I worried about the ammo.

What I won't do ever, is re-chamber a round. If I need to unload my duty gun, the round ejected from the chamber gets moved to the training stash.

http://www.bluesheepdog.com/20...ion-failure-warning/
Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Department
Training Bulletin
January 1, 2012

In September of 2011, a GCPD officer was involved in a situation which quickly became a use of deadly force incident. When the officer made the decision to use deadly force, the chambered round in his duty pistol did not fire. Fortunately, the officer used good tactics, remembered his training and cleared the malfunction, successfully ending the encounter.

The misfired round, which had a full firing pin strike, was collected and was later sent to the manufacturer for analysis. Their analysis showed the following:

“…..the cause of the misfire was determined to be from the primer mix being knocked out of the primer when the round was cycled through the firearm multiple times.”

GCPD also sent an additional 2000 rounds of the Winchester 9mm duty ammunition to the manufacturer. All 2000 rounds were successfully fired.

In discussions with the officer, we discovered that since he has small children at home, he unloads his duty weapon daily. His routine is to eject the chambered round to store the weapon. Prior to returning to duty he chambers the top round in his primary magazine, then takes the previously ejected round and puts it back in the magazine. Those two rounds were repeatedly cycled and had been since duty ammunition was issued in February or March of 2011, resulting in as many as 100 chambering and extracting cycles. This caused an internal failure of the primer, not discernable by external inspection.

This advisory is to inform all sworn personnel that repeated cycling of duty rounds is to be avoided. As a reminder, when loading the weapon, load from the magazine and do not drop the round directly into the chamber. If an officer’s only method of safe home storage is to unload the weapon, the Firearms Training Unit suggests that you unload an entire magazine and rotate those rounds. In addition, you should also rotate through all three duty magazines, so that all 46 duty rounds are cycles, not just a few rounds. A more practical method of home storage is probably to use a trigger lock or a locked storage box.

October 11, 2018, 11:48 PM

mdblanton

quote:
Originally posted by DMF:

Well, at work we shoot our duty ammo for qualifications and training, so it gets rotated out 4 times a year minimum. However, if the boss wasn't paying for it, I'd go years before I worried about the ammo.

What I won't do ever, is re-chamber a round. If I need to unload my duty gun, the round ejected from the chamber gets moved to the training stash.

http://www.bluesheepdog.com/20...ion-failure-warning/
Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Department
Training Bulletin
January 1, 2012

In September of 2011, a GCPD officer was involved in a situation which quickly became a use of deadly force incident. When the officer made the decision to use deadly force, the chambered round in his duty pistol did not fire. Fortunately, the officer used good tactics, remembered his training and cleared the malfunction, successfully ending the encounter.

The misfired round, which had a full firing pin strike, was collected and was later sent to the manufacturer for analysis. Their analysis showed the following:

“…..the cause of the misfire was determined to be from the primer mix being knocked out of the primer when the round was cycled through the firearm multiple times.”......

Very interesting, never considered that.

Michael

October 14, 2018, 04:08 PM

radioman

quote:
“…..the cause of the misfire was determined to be from the primer mix being knocked out of the primer when the round was cycled through the firearm multiple times.”......

For years I've heard that cycling that top round in the mag over and over is a bad idea. A little damage every time it goes in and out.

I rotate what I carry in the gun/mags about every 6 months due to the stress of being knocked around every day.

But aside from that, I trust any quality SD ammo that was made after 1990 or so, if it was stored at room temp, dry, etc. I still have some .357 mag Black Talons (remember those) that I trust my life to in my nightstand revolver.

October 14, 2018, 06:39 PM

Orive 8

The department I worked for qualified 4x each year. Two of the quals was shot with duty ammo, so we were rotating duty ammo every 6 months.

I rotate my carry ammo yearly, when I shoot my LEOSA retired officer qual. My wife rotates her carry ammo yearly too.

October 15, 2018, 09:14 PM

Sigmund

I go about every 18 months, but I fire my CCW guns every two or three months. Each time I fire the chambered JHP round but the rest is ball range ammo.

October 15, 2018, 10:25 PM

Nismo

I shoot out the chambered round every time if I take that gun to the range.

I would shoot off the entire mag and replace with fresh ammo every few months.

October 16, 2018, 12:15 AM

konata88

I should be changing out my carry ammo? Even if it’s just sitting in an magazine?

I don’t really understand but will start to avoid using rounds that have been chambered. But I have rounds in mags that just “sit” around. I need to rotate those annually?

October 16, 2018, 12:47 AM

9mmepiphany

quote:
Originally posted by konata88:
I should be changing out my carry ammo? Even if it’s just sitting in an magazine?

I don’t really understand but will start to avoid using rounds that have been chambered. But I have rounds in mags that just “sit” around. I need to rotate those annually?

The rule-of-thumb used to be never chamber the same round more than twice.

Our department used to shoot our duty ammo at every qualification, which was quarterly...so none of our carry ammo ever spent more than 90 days loaded in magazine riding in either the gun on the belt. We reduced firearms qualification to twice a year, so our rotation of carry ammo became twice a year.

If you set aside the top round in your magazine after it has been chambered twice, you should have enough rounds to at least fill a practice magazine every month

October 16, 2018, 09:02 AM

MNSIG

I don't unload every day, so there is very little chambering going on.

I used to change carry ammo every 6 months. Never once had one fail to fire. Then I went to a year. Never had a failure to fire.

Now, I take a good look at the ammo if I am rechambering it. Any signs of set back and it will get set aside. Other than that, I leave it alone.

October 16, 2018, 12:58 PM

konata88

Is it generally accepted that carry ammo in mags should be used and fresh rounds rotated in on some schedule cadence? If so, I need to re-think how many mags I keep loaded. These rounds are not only expensive but inconvenient to buy in volume around here.

I don't usually cycle chambered rounds -- which probably means I need to be cleaning my carry gun more often. I can deal with one round every cleaning cycle. But refreshing all mags is cost prohibitive for me. In that case, I'll only load mags that I actually carry.

October 16, 2018, 01:06 PM

Ryanp225

I think my carry gun still has most of the same HST's I loaded it with from a couple years ago. I've replaced the chambered round a few times as I shoot it at the range but other than that they are all pretty old.

November 12, 2018, 10:59 PM

armedprof

I shoot my carry ammo every couple months.

My first handgun was a Colt 1911 chambered in 9mm that I bought 26 years ago. I bought some Black Talon ammo and loaded the magazines at the same time. I never carried the Colt, but I cycled that ammo every time I went to the range for about 20 years. I finally thought I should shoot it and buy some new stuff for the Colt. 25 rounds of 20 year old Black Talon went bang with no issue. In hindsight, I am much more careful now.

November 13, 2018, 09:07 AM

rockchalk06

Every 6 months here. That was what my last two departments recommended for us.

November 13, 2018, 11:42 AM

1more

Semi on topic
I have a 7 round mag for a 1911 my uncle loaded in ww1 for the last 2 years I have shot 1 round from it on his B-Day, shot fine FA17 headstamp

Rotate carry ammo 357SIG 2-3 times a year
Ranger T or Gold Dot just what ever I have.

A few years back I acquired a 1 for 1 trade box for box (20)of WW Black Talons for ball ammo as they were going to just shoot it up at range, all shoots fine. 9mm

November 13, 2018, 12:24 PM

Sigmund

quote:
Originally posted by 1more:

...shot fine FA17 headstamp..

I think that's from the Frankford (PA) Arsenal, made in 1917. That's old ammo!!

November 13, 2018, 09:35 PM

Nismo

If I were to guess, I would probably say maybe 3 times a year.

If I plan to shoot one of the carry guns, I drop the mag and shoot the chambered round, saving the mag for carry afterwards.
Every now and then, I would shoot off the entire mag and reload with fresh rounds.

Federal HSTs are getting really hard to acquire now a days, so I will probably not be shooting them off until I find something else to stock up on.

November 13, 2018, 10:58 PM

KMitch200

My EDC ammo was loaded in EDC gun 11.5 months ago. The reason it's so recent is I changed bullet weight.
The ammo before that stayed in for 2 yrs. I shot a bunch of it when I bought it. Shooting more of it isn't needed. I don't have a need to unload my EDC unless it's time to clean it.

However, I don't bang in the chambered round from slidelock. I ease the round out of the mag, it's press-checked for GTG status, make sure it's in battery --> holster. If I do happen to bang in a round, it's the first one fired at the range above a mag of practice ammo so setback never becomes an issue.
The rest of the mag is just fine and will be till the cows come home.

November 14, 2018, 10:52 AM

Perception

I personally think it's good insurance to never chamber the same self defense round twice, so if I clear my gun that one goes into a pile to be shot the next range trip. Other than that, I don't see any compelling need to ever rotate my ammo.

"The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people."
"Odd," said Arthur, "I thought you said it was a democracy."
"I did," said Ford, "it is."
"So," said Arthur, hoping he wasn't sounding ridiculously obtuse, "why don't the people get rid of the lizards?"
"It honestly doesn't occur to them. They've all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they've voted in more or less approximates the government they want."
"You mean they actually vote for the lizards."
"Oh yes," said Ford with a shrug, "of course."
"But," said Arthur, going for the big one again, "why?"
"Because if they didn't vote for a lizard, then the wrong lizard might get in."