When testing defense ammo for cycle reliability...

[jakjakman]

When testing home/personal defense ammo in your carry/home-defense gun, how many of those defense rounds do you run through your gun before you decide it will cycle the ammo reliably?

I'm thinking about picking up some Ranger Talons and I've never run them in my M&P9 before. So far the gun has been flawless with ball and Gold Dots, and I don't expect any different with the Rangers, but want to be sure. Although they're not absurdly expensive, they're not that cheap either, so I'd like to limit the test rounds if possible.

Oh, and would you vary the number of rounds on a different platform, say for example a 1911?

[markm]

I run very few through a glock, a handful through my M&P 45. I'm not huge on testing a ton of defensive ammo in modern autos.... Modern pistols are not one of a kinds that need thorough vetting. I definitely run a good 300-500 rounds of practice ammo before I'll carry it though.... just to wring out any possible defects in manufacturing.



Oh, and would you vary the number of rounds on a different platform, say for example a 1911?

There isn't enough ammo in the world to get me to trust a 1911.

[GermanSynergy]

I generally run 150-200 rds of defensive ammo through a handgun prior to deeming it acceptable for defensive use. This is just me, though.


Never had any problems with my M&P 9's with any duty load.




When testing home/personal defense ammo in your carry/home-defense gun, how many of those defense rounds do you run through your gun before you decide it will cycle the ammo reliably?

I'm thinking about picking up some Ranger Talons and I've never run them in my M&P9 before. So far the gun has been flawless with ball and Gold Dots, and I don't expect any different with the Rangers, but want to be sure. Although they're not absurdly expensive, they're not that cheap either, so I'd like to limit the test rounds if possible.

Oh, and would you vary the number of rounds on a different platform, say for example a 1911?

[tpd223]

After the near disaster in 2006 with our Glock 22s and the duty ammo we chose, I personally run a full mag of duty and/or carry ammo through each of my carry mags that I am going to use with that gun.

[BrianS]

After the near disaster in 2006 with our Glock 22s and the duty ammo we chose...

Can you elaborate?

[markm]

Can you elaborate?

Yeah! Me too.

[Triton28]

https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=19887


Whatever you choose, make sure you fire at least 500 and preferably 1000 failure free shots through your pistol prior to carrying it. If your pistol cannot fire at least 1000 consecutive shots without a malfunction, something is wrong and it is not suitable for duty/self-defense use.

[VHinch]

250 rounds minimum for me.

[tpd223]

Short answer, during our transition to the Glock 22 in 2006 we had very few issues with our training/ball ammo, a few hickups but the whole "limp wrist" thing from the Glock guys seemed to cover what was up.

The plan was to transition, train and qual everyone with the ball ammo and issue the 165gr Gold Dot, chosen purely from a wound ballistics and popularity of weight contest.

I INSISTED that we test some of the GD in our guns before we sent people on the street, even though folks thought I was being an asshole, and the GD ammo is expensive, and "is that really necessary?".....

Well, the guns didn't work with the 165gr GD, or the 180gr GD, or....


While this was a gun issue and not an ammo issue, we would have never known if we didn't test THAT gun and THAT ammo combination together.

We now carry Glock 9mms BTW.


This experience made me even more anal about gun and ammo testing, now my MO is to run 500 rounds or more practice rounds through a proven system (say I just bought a new Glock 19) and then a full magazine of duty ammo through each of the mags I am going to carry.

In a new and/or unproven system I would run more ammo through as a T&E to see what happens.


If you are into reading epic threads, you can start here;

http://lightfighter.net/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/1931084651/m/481101302/p/1


A good intardweb search will yield hits on this site, the 10-8 forums, more on Lightfighter, etc.


Feel free to PM me if you'd like.

[RogerinTPA]

I run very few through a glock, a handful through my M&P 45. I'm not huge on testing a ton of defensive ammo in modern autos.... Modern pistols are not one of a kinds that need thorough vetting. I definitely run a good 300-500 rounds of practice ammo before I'll carry it though.... just to wring out any possible defects in manufacturing.

Agreed. I worry about reliability with practice ammo first, at least 500-1K rounds and 200-300 rounds of carry ammo.

[Fireglock]

I carry Glocks and actually fire very few rounds through the gun for testing, at least for the firearm itself. What concerns me more than the firearm itself is the mags, those I test with the load in the carry gun before even dreaming of carrying them for SD.