Keeping ammo for protection ?

[Demonvomit]

Ok i was thinking of picking up some good ammo like Ranger sxt or anything with good stopping power to keep in the house just in case.
I think i will get it for my G22 in .40S&W and i was wondering what would be the best way to keep the ammo out of harms way.

I will have time to pop in a mag and chamber a round if someone ever came into the house but i was wondering what are some long term effects of keeping the ammo in a mag for a long time.I may never need it so the ammo may be it the mag for years could there be any problems.

I might have time to load a mag with 2-5 rounds before the perp gets upstairs would it be safer just to keep a box of good ammo by a mag in my desk.
I was also wondering what is the best place on-line to order a box of good ammo i was thinking of maby Black Talon (wich i have a friend that will sell me some if thats what i want) or ranger Stx I want the top of the line jhp ammo all i need is a box of 20-50 so any info will help

Thanks Later

 

[Glock236]

Keep a mag loaded and in the gun and just change the spring every 1-2 years or earlier if needed.

 

[ArmedPatriot]

I would never plan to load a magazine, put it in the weapon, and chamber a round before dealing with a potential threat in my house. It's smart to train for situations like reloading in the dark and under stress (or under fire!), but you're starting out at a disadvantage. You want to put the BG at the disadvantage, not knowing his way around your home, and not knowing that you're armed and prepared to respond to a threat. If you expect to use your weapon, keep it loaded! You probably won't be at your most alert if you're awakened by an intruder, so you want to keep the process as simple as possible.

If there is any concern about others getting access to your handgun, invest in one of the various "quick access" storage boxes that are available. That way, everyone will be safe, but you can be ready to face a threat within a couple of seconds. There's lots more to say about safety (like not leaving loaded weapons unattended), but that's another story...

There are probably several schools of thought about fatigue of magazine springs, but I don't think there's much of a problem with modern weapons. Just to be safe, I've got six mags for my primary handgun. At any time, three are loaded and three are empty. When I go to the range, all six get cycled at least once, then the "other" three get loaded when I leave.

One more thought...don't forget to try your carry load at the range every once in a while. Yes, it's expensive, but you need to know how it feels to shoot, and whether it's reliable in your particular weapon. I usually start and finish a session with a magazine of "the real thing", and use cheap stuff in between.

Hope this helps,
ArmedPatriot

 

[STEVE M]

I second Armedpatriots advice. You need to know that your gun will work with your choice of ammo, and you need to know how to handle the combination.
If you don't feel comfortable with a loaded gun around, maybe you need to spend more time at the range?

 

[branrot]

Keeping the mag unloaded is not a good idea. The one drawback to keeping a mag fully loaded is that the spring can get weak over time and you will get some jams on the last few rounds of the magazine. There are some solutions to this problem: keep the mag only partially loaded (ie, 10 rounds in a 15 round mag), replace your mag springs every year or so, or buy more than one magazine and rotate them.

 

[PreserveFreedom]

Load your mag and shoot the full mag to see how the new ammo functions. Reload the mag and keep it for defense. Fire it off at least every six months and reload. You'll never have it go bad that way and you will know it works. I know it will cost a little, but isn't your family's safety worth $40 a year in ammo?

 

[Demonvomit]

"If you don't feel comfortable with a loaded gun around, maybe you need to spend more time at the range" :barf:

I would love the idea of having a loaded gun in the house but the wife dosent She wouldnt mind haveing a loaded mag next to the gun.Maby it's time she starts going to the range to get her to feel safe with a loaded gun.

i dont have any hicap mags so mow many shells should i keep in the 10rd mags ??

Thanks for the info

 

[Jim V]

Back to the eternal magazine spring question. If the magazine spring goes bad and fails to feed ammunition in a year, 6 months, 6 weeks or a week, it was not a spring.

FWIW IMHO YMMV VWP ONVIAS NWEOI CCBS LS/MFT

If you want to down load your 10 round magazines, do so by 1. I'd buy a lot of magazines and keep one or two full and rotate them if spring failure bothers you.

 

[PreserveFreedom]

Maby it's time she starts going to the range to get her to feel safe with a loaded gun.

Excellent idea. If you are going to have a loaded gun in the house, nobody has a right voicing their opinion on it until they experience it. If they don't want to experience it, they must not want to be able to state an opinion on it.

i dont have any hicap mags so mow many shells should i keep in the 10rd mags

It depends on the design of the mag. I am not sure about the Glock mags, but I know that the neutered Beretta mags I have have a piece of plastic below the follower that keeps me from putting the 11th round in. By loading 10 in a mag like this, It is like downloading a full capacity mag but still having it topped off.

 

[James K]

"The spring can get weak over time". If it is a good spring, "over time" is maybe 50 years.

As for saving "good ammo" for an emergency, wouldn't it be nice to know that the ammo works in the gun BEFORE the emergency?

Make sure you fire at least 200 CONSECUTIVE rounds of the "emergency" ammo before trusting it in an auto pistol.

("Consecutive" means just that. If you have a failure on round 190, start counting over again. Of course it is expensive, but I found out the other day that the average coffin runs about $3000, and that is not counting the plot, the vault, opening the grave, etc. Of course if you are just playing self defense games and there is no real threat, then leave the gun in the safe and don't worry about whether it works or not.)


Jim

 

[chrismc1]

Magazines

Is partially loading a mag an option? I load my spare Makarov mags with six shots as opposed to eight. I know the spring will be weakened, but will the weakening be slowed, as the spring is not fully compressed?