Defensive Ammo and Revolvers

W

Waspinator

New member
Something I was wondering today.

A few years back, a friend, who is an avid shooter and carries a handgun, told me that in order to carry a certain defensive round, he would first run a lot of boxes to make sure it cycled properly and such. His carry weapon was a semi-auto.

That got me thinking today (while in line buying a box of defense .38 specials), how many should I run through my revolver? I mean, it is a revolver, so I don't have to worry about FTF's and stovepipes and what not. Should a just run a couple of cylinders of it to make sure it hits where I aim, then call it good-to-go? (read: defense ammo = $$$ ;) )

Just curios, as I am new to carrying and until now all I was shooting was FMJ range type ammo.
 
500 rounds....

In days of yore :D, ie; 1980s/1990s, gun magazine writers(the pre-web forum resource) like Massad Ayoob would advise shooting at least 500 rounds of duty/defense ammunition to make sure the firearm functions properly.

In 2013, you can get by Id say with 200/250 rounds in most modern weapons but Id still practice often & shoot duty type rounds so you know what the recoil/muzzle flash will be like in a real lethal force event.

Clyde
 
I would think that you should be pretty well dialed-in after the first 50-100 rounds. We're talking defensive shooting here, not long-range bullseye. Get a feel for how and where it shoots and you should be good to go (hopefully for something you'll never need).
 
Instead of "how many" consider "What percentage". Whenever you go to the range, shoot a percentage of your self defense rounds along with your less expensive "range rounds".

Stay familiar with the feel, aimpoint etc of the critical ammo.

And if you find a significant difference between your range rounds and your critical use rounds, consider changing one or the other so that they feel and shoot relatively equal.


Sgt Lumpy
 
And if you find a significant difference between your range rounds and your critical use rounds, consider changing one or the other so that they feel and shoot relatively equal.
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Good suggestion and something I didn't consider. I'll have to see how different the 132 grain FMJ range loads compare to the 158 grain JHP I just bought (.38 specials).

Then again, I probably should have done my homework a bit more. The Hornady .38 special XTP loads I picked up today seam to be not a good defense choice in a 2.25" barrel (something about the bullet not expanding enough when fired out of a snub). Well, I only bought a box (only defense round the store had), so I will see.

The 158 grain .357 JHP I have been shooting are pretty accurate.. but man, I was hoping to find a .38 special variety that is a bit less peppy in the hand , lol
 
I chrono-ed some of them factory Hornady 158gr XTP's and they are rather impotent. Out of a 2/14" Sp101 they ran 742fps, and out of a 4" GP100 they ran slower at 730fps. Not nearly enough speed for any kind of expansion from any tests I did. But they are better then a rock any day! Hope this helps.
 
I don't need to shoot more than a few rounds of SD ammo out of my defensive revolvers, just enough to get a real good idea of POI. However I will buy primers from the same manufacture and shoot 100s of reloads making sure going bang isn't a problem.
 
If you are shooting your SD gun at the range with other ammo than what you carry (as in reloaded practice ammo), I would at least fire one cylinder of carry ammo to make sure you still have your POI/POA in sync.
Personally, I find 250+ through a revolver a little bit excessive since - as you mentioned - you are worried about FTF and FTE issues to the same extent
 
One thing not yet mentioned is that a few extremely light and small revolvers may not get along well with heavy bullet ammunition, especially loads that may be loaded stoutly.

The problem that can surface (however rarely) is a bullet that "jumps crimp." The bullet lurches forward under recoil and makes it's way forward in it's chamber and if it does this at almost any rate, it will lock up a revolver tighter than a bank vault.

In actuality, the bullet isn't lurching forward -- the bullet is observing the laws of physics and it remains stationary while the light revolver, it's cylinder and the containing brass lurch violently backward under recoil... while the bullet attempts to observe Newton's Third Law and remain in place. The net result can be that the bullet ends up jumping crimp and tying up the cylinder.

This is not common with most factory ammunition and it could be argue that it's even less common with high-dollar "defense" ammunition. However... it can happen and it has happened.

The test is really very easy, and should give you piece of mind.
Take one round and mark the case head with a Sharpie marker so you can identify THAT round. Load the cylinder full, including your single marked round.

Fire all the rounds in the revolver except your marked "test" round.
Eject all the spent brass and reload the cylinder, including your "test" round.
Again, fire them all except your test round.
Now eject the spent brass and your test round and compare the test round to a new round of unfired ammo pulled from the box.

For most factory loaded revolver ammunition, you can see a cannelure in the bullet where the round is crimped. Your test round should show this cannelure in the same place as compared to a factory round.

I know there were some very light .357 revolvers marketed at one time that actually stated on the barrel that 125 grain or lighter bullet ammunition was to be used. The lighter the bullet -- the more resistant it is to jumping crimp. I believe it was a S&W product, but I don't recall.
 
Good point Sevens, I had (note had ;) ) a Smith 325PD snub that would pull most any 230gr factory bullet.
IIRC the Smith 296 44 special was marked "200gr bullet max"
 
Should a just run a couple of cylinders of it to make sure it hits where I aim, then call it good-to-go? (read: defense ammo = $$$ )
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I'd say that's good.

All you need to watch for is point of impact vs. point of aim, and that cases extract OK. You should be able to work that out with relatively few rounds.
 
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I'll put 30 to 50 rounds through a revolver, both to see if anything malfunctions and to familiarize myself with it. I count it GTG after that. Semi-autos are a different story.

I do like to practice with bullet weights close to what I will carry. If I'm going to carry 125 gr. loads for defense, I try to shoot 125 or 130 gr. bullets for practice. If I'm shooting 158 gr. bullets for defense, I'll sometimes go down to 148 gr. wadcutters for practice but I prefer 158 gr. bullets. Like others, I'll put at least a cylinder of my carry ammo through the gun whenever I'm at the range.
 
Like others, I'll put at least a cylinder of my carry ammo through the gun whenever I'm at the range.
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I always carry a reload in a speed loader or strip and whenever bullets get tarnished I'll shoot them and take ammo out of gun and replace what's in speed loader or strip, then I put fresh ammo in the gun.
 
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