Chambering/Unloading rounds daily. Bad???

[jgcoastie]

I live on a military base, so when I carry out in town I have to pull over and unload before I get to the gate. I go to town around 2-4 times a week. Are there any long-term effects that this could have on my ammo or mag? What's the best way to rotate your ammo? Just burn it at the range every so often? Thanks.

 

[Keltyke]

I don't see a problem with unloading whenever you need to. I'll practice with my carry ammo about once a month, burning the already loaded magazine for the sake of convenience and reloading with fresh rounds.

 

[scorpion_tyr]

The only problem I've ever had doing that is with my Para Ordnance Big Hawg. I was using 230gr Hydrashoks and the first two rounds in the main magazine were clearly damagaed from it after a while. The first two because I never unloaded the mags and I keep a full mag +1 in the chamber so everytime I unload the gun and reload and chamber those two take turns in the chamber. One of the rounds was pushed in quite a ways and the hollow space at the tip was caved in on both.

The Para wasn't even my main carry gun at the time when I had to do this. My FNP-40 was (and still is). I used Winchester Ranger's in it, and never had this problem.

So it was either the ammo, the gun or a combination of both.

 

[Brian Pfleuger]

Repeatedly chambering a round can cause the bullet to set-back in the case. If the setback is severe enough this can cause dangerously high pressures when that round is fired. (KABOOM!)

It is a good idea to rotate the round that is chambered if you must unload the gun frequently. If you repeatedly rechamber the same round then it would be advisable to measure it's overall length to be sure that it is still within spec.

When I go to the range I always make sure to fire any round that I have chambered more than a couple of times, even if I'm not firing my carry ammo that day.

 

[drail]

Any factory made round that suffers bullet setback is defective and should be returned to the manufacturer. It is poor quality control and sloppy tolerances.

 

[Brian Pfleuger]

Any factory made round that suffers bullet setback is defective and should be returned to the manufacturer. It is poor quality control and sloppy tolerances.

Maybe so, but.... do you want to bet your hand on it?

 

[rjrivero]

Any factory made round that suffers bullet setback is defective and should be returned to the manufacturer. It is poor quality control and sloppy tolerances.

I respectfully disagree.

I challenge you to find ANY handgun ammo that doesn't suffer bullet setback after repeated chambering. It just doesn't exist. Smaller carry guns have a worse issue with them as they tend to have shorter slides and the feed angle tends to be sharper. Over crimping ammo isn't an option.

 

[HammerBite]

Chambering/Unloading rounds daily. Bad???

To my mind, it seems that the worst aspect of this is that each load/unload cycle presents an opportunity for a lapse of attention and an unintended discharge. A loaded gun, left loaded and not messed around with, is unlikely to be a problem. If you add administrative handling to the equation, then the probability of an accident increases.

Unfortunately, the original poster has no choice in the matter.

Regarding the bullet setback issue, why not simply toss the ejected round into a cigar box or something and top off the magazine with a fresh round? When you make a range trip, take the cigar box rounds with you and shoot them. Each will have only been chambered twice.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

You could use a revolver.

 

[The Terminator]

I have unloade/loaded autos lots without problems. I do occasionally rotate one in the mag. However, since autos seat on mouth of the case when chambered, I would think that the bullet set back would take a while to happen. I usually don't keep the chamber hot on an auto unless I know that I am going to an area where I won't have time to do that if I need to.

The Isreali's train their soldiers to carry with chamber empty. Works for them.

 

[HammerBite]

You could use a revolver.

I think that one of the most charming aspects of a modern DA revolver is that, unlike a semi-auto, it can be loaded or unloaded without the hammer ever leaving its forward at-rest position.

 

[chris in va]

I chamber my Kahr quite a bit. I've had to throw away four rounds of defensive ammo due to setback. Be careful, inspect your rounds after doing that a lot.

 

[golfnutrlv]

I load my Glock from my reload magazine, and just chamber the round on top, then replace it with a fresh one. Gets a rotation going. Also, I try to switch magazines every other day or so, to take the rotation to another level.

Essentially spreads the chambering/unchambering over the 105 rounds I have in mags pretty much full time (2 handguns).

 

[Nnobby45]

Any factory made round that suffers bullet setback is defective and should be returned to the manufacturer. It is poor quality control and sloppy tolerances.

A bullet that doesn't stand up to repetitive rechambering isn't necessarily defective. You can get away with it with some guns, but not others. In any event, you still ding the bullet, and scratch the case.

Some bullets in good ammo can get set back when they nose dive against the feed ramp real hard, as happens in some pistols. Maybe the first time, or at least before too long. Better to load those from partially loaded mag.

Bullets that have been chambered hard should go to the bottom of the mag., as someone mentioned.


I never saw a problem with cushioning the slide a little during "administrative" reloading. Bullets that have been loaded with the full force of the slide obviously get dinged more.

 

[drail]

I have been reloading for 25 years now and none of my rounds have ever set back from feeding or been pulled from firing heavy revolver loads. I have some dummy rounds that I loaded at least 15 years ago for testing IPSC competition 1911s on my bench. I still have them. After all these years of feeding them through many different 1911s they still measure 1.255" The tension of the case neck is what holds the bullet in place, not the crimp. On a rimless semi auto pistol round the crimp is applied solely to remove the slight flare applied during expanding. A crimp is only applying pressure at the mouth of the case. A properly sized and expanded case is applying pressure to the entire length of the bullet seated in the case. If the bullet is moving in or out it is because the case was over expanded or not sized down enough. No amount of crimp will stop that movement.

 

[Sport45]

If you use premium self defense ammo and are worried about wasting some by repeated chamberings just load a white-box hollowpoint for the one in the chamber. Keep the mag full of the premium stuff for follow up shots if needed.

 

[jgcoastie]

You could use a revolver.

I have a S&W 642CT... I love the gun, however I am more comfortable with my G22 for the time being because I've had it for so long and have grown accustomed to Glock functionality and controls. I do practice with my .38 every time I go to the range, I just don't think I'm there yet with my .38.

Thanks for the input folks. Much appreciated.

 

[Lost Sheep]

Here's why

Any factory made round that suffers bullet setback is defective and should be returned to the manufacturer. It is poor quality control and sloppy tolerances.

Drail,

A couple of members have stated that rounds can suffer setback even if they are not defective, but did not explain why.

Every time a round is fed up the feed ramp and into the chamber the nose of the bullet receives an impact from the feed ramp at the very least and perhaps an impact on the front of the magazine as well. After a few or several cycles of that, the bullet may be set back. The friction fit of a tapered crimp can only hold so much. If an intertial bullet puller can remove a bullet from the case, repeated impacts can set it deeper.

If your feed ramp is (in a gun that is particularly) steep or if it is not polished nice and smooth it might be the gun that would be considered defective, not the ammo. Yet that gun may function 100% for feeding, extraction and ignition. Until you get an overpressure condition or a feeding hangup on a bullet set back far enough that the ogive is rearward of the case mouth.

Yes, it could be the ammo (brass thickness or bullet diameter). But setback is not definitive. It could be the gun or no defect at all. Bullets for semi-autos are not designed for chambering over and over again and should not be expected to endure that much handling.

The Israeli carry is workable if you train for it, but another option is to manually chamber the round. That way the nose of the bullet never receives an impact, scrapes/slides up the feed ramp or, indeed, ever needs to see the inside of a magazine. Whether this is workable or not depends mainly on your gun's extractor being able to jump the rim and your willingness to work out the procedure.

Good luck,

Lost Sheep

 

[JohnKSa]

Any factory made round that suffers bullet setback is defective and should be returned to the manufacturer. It is poor quality control and sloppy tolerances.

They shouldn't set back to any significant degree after only one loading cycle, but virtually any autopistol round will set back after it's been chambered enough times. What's "enough times"? I haven't seen information from all manufacturers, but the information I've seen indicates that the manufacturer will only guarantee no setback for 3 or maybe 4 chamberings. So I suppose one could return the ammo, but it would likely be a waste of postage and the ammo company's time if you've chambered it more than 3 or 4 times.

It's been my experience that the Blazer aluminum sets back more easily than that (in fewer chamberings).

 

[alloy]

I throw the top round away after a few times, bout one a week from unchambering every day to pass something down the barrel and get the lint out. Oh well.