Would you trust your life to ammo you have never tested?
- Thread starter drjeffrock
- Start date
I would like to say that I came up with the 200 round rule becouse I am just so smart
But your all to smart to believe that crap.
Where I picked this up was from a great man that is no loner with us that taught me every thing that I have learned about guns. He used to ride trains with a man named Harry from Joplan MO to Washington back in the late 40's and early 50's and did it caring a gun.
The reasion that he told me that 200 is a good starting place is that the auto's at the time took about 200 to work the slide in to the frame. It was kind of like changing oil in your car after the first 500 miles.
I also wont carry an auto untill it has 200 rounds through it and the last 50 or so better be failure free.
But your all to smart to believe that crap.
Where I picked this up was from a great man that is no loner with us that taught me every thing that I have learned about guns. He used to ride trains with a man named Harry from Joplan MO to Washington back in the late 40's and early 50's and did it caring a gun.
The reasion that he told me that 200 is a good starting place is that the auto's at the time took about 200 to work the slide in to the frame. It was kind of like changing oil in your car after the first 500 miles.
I also wont carry an auto untill it has 200 rounds through it and the last 50 or so better be failure free.
Mannlicher
New member
better fire 200 rounds...........
This old saw ranks right up there with 'Over penetration' and 'don't carry handloads in your carry gun'.
Yes, its prudent to try a new ammo. Shoot a few rounds to see it the design works with your particular gun. Other than that, its a waste of money. The only round you KNOW will go boom is the last one that did. Period. Shooting 200, or 2000 is no guarantee that #2001 will work.
This old saw ranks right up there with 'Over penetration' and 'don't carry handloads in your carry gun'.
Yes, its prudent to try a new ammo. Shoot a few rounds to see it the design works with your particular gun. Other than that, its a waste of money. The only round you KNOW will go boom is the last one that did. Period. Shooting 200, or 2000 is no guarantee that #2001 will work.
Not to mention the very important fact that in testing your carry ammo you are also testing the accuracy of your gun with your chosen load --- this can be suprising at times --- though it is not a carry load, WWB FMJ in my Sig 229 stainless patterns like a shot gun, working through the half case of WWB I got with the gun I thought the gun was a real lemon untill I loaded it up with Hornady TAP ammo and was rewarded with the usual sig level of accuracy --- other FMJ works as well, I have tried other lots of WWB, same results, gun does not like it.
Strike Penguin
Inactive
"Would you trust your life to ammo you have never tested?"
HELL NO.
I've read too many strange "my gun X will function flawlessly with A but not with B and I can't figure out why" stories to gamble with something like that. It's just not sensible. Load up with ammo you have confirmed as working in your gun. Don't gamble.
HELL NO.
I've read too many strange "my gun X will function flawlessly with A but not with B and I can't figure out why" stories to gamble with something like that. It's just not sensible. Load up with ammo you have confirmed as working in your gun. Don't gamble.
drjeffrock
New member
Thanks for the replies everyone. Lots of good info here.
I plan on going to the range that allows jhps in a couple weeks. Only problem is that this range is super out of my way and schedule, and I am already paying for one somewhere else.
I plan on putting a hundred rounds of jhps through the USP as well as the Champion.
I might have to sell my sexy rearend on the corner to pay for the Hydra-shoks, but oh well.
On a somewhat related note, I had my first experience with a defective round. It was WWB FMJ 9mm (in the USPf,) and it was the final round in the magazine on maybe my 80th round. I pulled the trigger, knew there was still one round left. Except the empty mag, I tried racking the slide, but it would not move. As I was at the range, and not in a shtf situation I called over the range officer to take a look. He racked the slide forcefully, and from the bottom of the magazine area dropped a really bent round. The brass casing had a huge dent in it.
The range officer swore up and down that it was defective from the factory. I field stripped it, everything looked fine, so I ran another 60 rounds through it without a hiccup.
Still, it was valuable at showing me the importance of being able to clear a dud quickly, as swmike said earlier. I have also used snap caps to help make sure I have a good grip, and am not flinching.
Oh, and the front white dot sight from my USP popped out as well. I wanted to get Mepro night sites, but my buddies insisted that I black out the white rear dots and try using all black first. Some of them are pretty good shots, so I cant really argue with them. I am not quite sure how I am liking them though...
Mikeyboy, no offense taken. In fact, check out the other range rules: No rapid fire (only one shot per second,) no shotgun, no rifles.
My other local range does allow rifles and shotguns, but I have just seen a few dangerous situations there and had been put off from joining there. I saw on numerous occassions, homie-g thugs rolls in with Glocks in their waistband (obviously lacking a CCW here in Kalifornia.) other gangsta-thugs practing how fast they can pull the trigger without hitting the piece of paper in front of them, among other stuff. People handing loaded weapons to each other haphazardly among other stuff. Both those ranges are indoor-only, by the way,
Trip20, thanks! I really lucked out on the Champion. I bought it "blindly." I had not had a chance to shoot any Commander-sized 1911s, but I loved the way it felt in my hand. It felt very comfortable.
I rationalized the USP purchase in order to "save money, as .45 ammo is so expensive."
Before settling on the USP I narrowed down the 9mm field to the p226, 92fs, Bhp, and Glock 17. All are great, in their own way. I honestly think I would have been happy with any of those. I think I will hold off on any more guns for a while and focus on taking tactical courses and other classes that allow me to shoot the two I currently have better.
And I do believe the range rules against JHPs is completely due to liability issues, and worrying about them exploding hollow points.
Thanks again for the replies, they have been quite informative.
I plan on going to the range that allows jhps in a couple weeks. Only problem is that this range is super out of my way and schedule, and I am already paying for one somewhere else.
I plan on putting a hundred rounds of jhps through the USP as well as the Champion.I might have to sell my sexy rearend on the corner to pay for the Hydra-shoks, but oh well.
On a somewhat related note, I had my first experience with a defective round. It was WWB FMJ 9mm (in the USPf,) and it was the final round in the magazine on maybe my 80th round. I pulled the trigger, knew there was still one round left. Except the empty mag, I tried racking the slide, but it would not move. As I was at the range, and not in a shtf situation I called over the range officer to take a look. He racked the slide forcefully, and from the bottom of the magazine area dropped a really bent round. The brass casing had a huge dent in it.
The range officer swore up and down that it was defective from the factory. I field stripped it, everything looked fine, so I ran another 60 rounds through it without a hiccup.
Still, it was valuable at showing me the importance of being able to clear a dud quickly, as swmike said earlier. I have also used snap caps to help make sure I have a good grip, and am not flinching.
Oh, and the front white dot sight from my USP popped out as well. I wanted to get Mepro night sites, but my buddies insisted that I black out the white rear dots and try using all black first. Some of them are pretty good shots, so I cant really argue with them. I am not quite sure how I am liking them though...
Mikeyboy, no offense taken. In fact, check out the other range rules: No rapid fire (only one shot per second,) no shotgun, no rifles.
My other local range does allow rifles and shotguns, but I have just seen a few dangerous situations there and had been put off from joining there. I saw on numerous occassions, homie-g thugs rolls in with Glocks in their waistband (obviously lacking a CCW here in Kalifornia.) other gangsta-thugs practing how fast they can pull the trigger without hitting the piece of paper in front of them, among other stuff. People handing loaded weapons to each other haphazardly among other stuff. Both those ranges are indoor-only, by the way,
Trip20, thanks! I really lucked out on the Champion. I bought it "blindly." I had not had a chance to shoot any Commander-sized 1911s, but I loved the way it felt in my hand. It felt very comfortable.
I rationalized the USP purchase in order to "save money, as .45 ammo is so expensive."
Before settling on the USP I narrowed down the 9mm field to the p226, 92fs, Bhp, and Glock 17. All are great, in their own way. I honestly think I would have been happy with any of those. I think I will hold off on any more guns for a while and focus on taking tactical courses and other classes that allow me to shoot the two I currently have better.And I do believe the range rules against JHPs is completely due to liability issues, and worrying about them exploding hollow points.
Thanks again for the replies, they have been quite informative.
Blackwater OPS
New member
Obviously not, also keep in mind that ammo can vary by lot. Just because you bought a box of X ammo 6 months ago and it was great does not mean that the exact same ammo you buy today from the store will work the same in your gun.
+1 for Blackwater.
I'm getting into the habit of putting a dent into a box of ammo, by shoot 5 or 10 rounds out of a box of 50 before loading that ammo into a magazine of a defensive weapon. If I have any problems with those 5 or 10 rounds, I use the ammo for the range only. You never want to find out you bought a bad box of ammo, in a life or death situation.
I'm getting into the habit of putting a dent into a box of ammo, by shoot 5 or 10 rounds out of a box of 50 before loading that ammo into a magazine of a defensive weapon. If I have any problems with those 5 or 10 rounds, I use the ammo for the range only. You never want to find out you bought a bad box of ammo, in a life or death situation.