Carry Ammo Rotation...

[misplacedtexan]

How often do you rotate or even shoot off your carry ammo?

I wasn't in the habit of all out shooting it off, but I would rotate the rounds in the mag so the same round never was chamber more than a handful of times.

Through some faulty ammo management the lady friend decided to load all my hornady critical defense up and blast away at some paper. Now this is all fine and dandy, normally I could just buy some more or in my case fire up the reloading press, but what really got me was two round in the mag had a failure to fire.

Not the ammo was probably 3-5 months old, was in my daily carry pistol that serves as my nightstand gun, and honestly it is never empty unless I'm at the range shooting.

Pulled the ammo apart and the powder was present, without moisture, the primer seemed to have some separation of the material that ignites the powder though.

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[2Wheels4Ever]

I usually go out shooting once a month, and will fire my carry gun twice with carry ammo. So through a year I go through a little over a box of the stuff. Never have had a ftf. I use hornady critical defense.

 

[deadeye]

I rotate every six months and fire what is rotated out. It really depends on your activities and how you carry the firearm and extra ammo. Perspiration is a big issue as well as climate you are in, wet/damp/dry. I also believe that daily activities such as work, play or exercise along with any other jostling may affect ammo performance or integrity.
If you are in the habit of clearing a semi auto every time you take it off as seems to be the case I would only chamber that round twice then switch it out for a fresh one, not cycle it further down the mag.

 

[G1GRANDEUR]

just don't use the ammo that has been in and out from chamber too much.

 

[U201491]

With factory loads, I have carried rounds for years with zero failure.
The worst thing is solvents and penetrants, like break free, or H9 and contaminating unsealed primers. I can truly say I have never had a fail to fire due to carrying too long, and I do use them up every 4 or 5 years.
My carry ammo is BT and I dont use it for anything else.
If you notice scratches in the case, might as well use it up. If not, I wouldn't worry about it. I have shot ammo I bought or reloaded in the 50's and 60's even recently and just dont have problems with it.
If it has been stored in a can or box that had solvents and cleaning supplies or you use too much of those on a firearm and leave too much on the surfaces of the mag, bolt face, etc ....that is where you get into primer contamination.
I have shot up cases of surplus ammo from the 40's that never had a problem. It was stored well.
I even used 8 mm Lebel that came from back in the 20's or 30's. ( think it was charged with cordite?)
The best reason to change it is for your own peace of mind.
Sometimes that is just necessary but seldom is ammo that has been stored well and not overly subjected to the solvents will be just fine as long as the firearm itself functions properly and you dont get light strikes.
I found some light target loads for a 38 that I loaded back in about 66 or 67 with 3 gr bulseye and all 200 rds went bang just like when I loaded them.

 

[wichaka]

There was a member, I think on the 1911.com forum sometime back who did a test of solvents and penetrating oils etc.

He turned the cartridges upside down, and covered the primer end with different liquids as stated above. After a period of time, I can't recall how long, but they all fired.

Unless the primer doesn't have a good seat into the case, or there's a fine crack somewhere...ammo should last for many years.

I have ran across WW II stuff that looks like it had been thru D-Day, yet still fired.

 

[Koda]

I measure the setback caused from chambering with calipers and when its gets enough setback I set the round aside for range use. Those rounds also help validate the integrity of that lot of carry ammo... I've had some boxes last years with no failures. I just got back into 9mm and the ammo I had stored for ~10 years fires perfect.

 

[wichaka]

If yer gettin set back, or too much of it...it means the rounds is crashing into the feed ramp...not a good thing.

 

[Hook686]

I have never had a failure to fire with a factory load. I use a revolver and never worry about COAL reduction.

 

[simon99]

I rarely, maybe only once a year at best, fire off a few rounds of my carry ammo. With that said, my carry ammo is factory, rather than re-loads. I have never, ever, had a FTF, misfire or any other issue over the years with this arrangement.

 

[misplacedtexan]

I'm not very sure how the ammo failed to fire. I didn't have any setback, the 2 that did were down the magazine, like the number 5 and 9 spots.

It just started a whole train of though about 'what if' that had happened when I needed them to go bang?

 

[Certaindeaf]

..I use a revolver and never worry about COAL reduction.

No, but the opposite is the worry for revolvers.. revolvers will jump the crimp/exceed the length of the cylinder, hopelessly tying up the gun.. well, until you can find a rod and hammer to pound them back in the cases so you can open the gun for removal of the cartridges.

 

[Nick Burkhardt]

Through some faulty ammo management the lady friend decided to load all my hornady critical defense up and blast away at some paper.

My wife did that once. Grabbed the magazine loaded with Buffalo Bore +p to use for target practice. No failures and she did not complain about the recoil so I consider it a good test of SD ammo.

 

[DeanfromOregon]

Hornady will tell you if you unload it without firing it off, then it goes in the training bag. From what I recall I think the reasoning was that the crimp is very not tight. My buddy like to fuss around with his and a few rounds ended up coming apart on him. It's worth it to him because of superior ballistics.

Not a problem with Hydroshock, Golden Saber, etc.

 

[U201491]

No, but the opposite is the worry for revolvers.. revolvers will jump the crimp/exceed the length of the cylinder, hopelessly tying up the gun.. well, until you can find a rod and hammer to pound them back in the cases so you can open the gun for removal of the cartridges.

No tactical or defensive ammo should ever be without a good crimp.
For that very reason.
Its fine for target ammo, but too risky for defensive ammo.
A cannelure and crimp .... always. Very important on med to large bore handgun ammo when your life may depend on it.

 

[Certaindeaf]

No tactical or defensive ammo should ever be without a good crimp.
For that very reason.
Its fine for target ammo, but too risky for defensive ammo.
A cannelure and crimp .... always. Very important on med to large bore handgun ammo when your life may depend on it.

For revolver ammunition.
For ammunition that headspaces on the case mouth (most semi-automatic ammo).. you can't roll crimp like a revolver - maximum case grip on the bullet is achieved via a tight fit and any "taper crimp" or "factory crimp die" will actually reduce initial tension/be less than before using that die.. ie, "post sizing" reduces tension because of case/bullet spring-back differential.

 

[U201491]

For revolver ammunition.
For ammunition that headspaces on the case mouth (most semi-automatic ammo).. you can't roll crimp like a revolver - maximum case grip on the bullet is achieved via a tight fit and any "taper crimp" or "factory crimp die" will actually reduce initial tension/be less than before using that die.. ie, "post sizing" reduces tension because of case/bullet spring-back differential.

Yes, that was what the discussion was about. Revolvers and locking up a cylinder with a separated cartridge.
As per below;

No, but the opposite is the worry for revolvers.. revolvers will jump the crimp/exceed the length of the cylinder, hopelessly tying up the gun.

 

[Daryl Coda]

How often do you rotate or even shoot off your carry ammo?

I wasn't in the habit of all out shooting it off, but I would rotate the rounds in the mag so the same round never was chamber more than a handful of times.

Through some faulty ammo management the lady friend decided to load all my hornady critical defense up and blast away at some paper. Now this is all fine and dandy, normally I could just buy some more or in my case fire up the reloading press, but what really got me was two round in the mag had a failure to fire.

Not the ammo was probably 3-5 months old, was in my daily carry pistol that serves as my nightstand gun, and honestly it is never empty unless I'm at the range shooting.

Pulled the ammo apart and the powder was present, without moisture, the primer seemed to have some separation of the material that ignites the powder though.

I know this is an old thread, but it's a great topic. Repeated chambering of the same round not only causes setback, which could arguably lead to kaboom, it DEFINITELY can also cause primer compound separation, which caused a Georgia police officer's gun to fail to fire at a critical moment. It's in the video:

 

[John H]

You guy don't wont to know how long I have had the same carry ammo.

Let just say Speer Gold Dot 200 +p was only $11.50 for box of 20

 

[Flopsweat]

I know this is an old thread, but it's a great topic. Repeated chambering of the same round not only causes setback, which could arguably lead to kaboom, it DEFINITELY can also cause primer compound separation, which caused a Georgia police officer's gun to fail to fire at a critical moment. It's in the video:

Interesting. I have experienced setback on repeated chambering. I use a kinetic bullet puller to return the round to factory COL and then remove it from rotation. It gets shot at a range eventually. I haven't had a failure from my carry ammo yet but that doesn't necessarily mean that none of the primers have had their compound separate. Food for thought.