Sidearms & Scatterguns Carry Ammo double check

[jeffbird]

This past week I was helping four people practice for their concealed carry test which was today.

All were using factory ammo. There were two defective rounds in the course of the day.

One was Winchester 9mm 115 gr FMJ, which had the bullet crushing the lip of the case causing significant deformation. The other was Hornady 45 Auto 200 gr. XTP, in which the bullet was seated long, about 0.100 - 0.200" just eyeballing it, which resulted in the bullet jamming in the lands before the slide fully closed and locked in place.

This really was an eye opener for me. From now on, for ALL of my CCW ammo, I am visually inspecting it and cycling it through my pistol to make sure it runs smoothly, and keeping all mags filled only with ammo that has been test cycled.

Just a heads fwiw.

 

[prekarious]

Re: Carry Ammo Safety Lesson

Should do that with all rounds, not just for ccw. Have known people to miss a great buck for that and can easily see it happening in a comp.
Start taking things for granted and you'll get complacent

 

[300WSM]

Re: Carry Ammo Safety Lesson

corbon

 

[Mr.Kirk]

Re: Carry Ammo Safety Lesson

Dillon

 

[Powder_Burns]

Re: Carry Ammo Safety Lesson

Lyman

 

[kraigWY]

Re: Carry Ammo Safety Lesson

Some times you just cant tell by looking.

I bought two boxes of Remington 38 158 Grn LSWC. I was trying as carry ammo. Better then 1/3 would take two, sometimes three hammer falls to get it to go off.

I went back to my reloads.

Years ago when, then, the DCM was furnishing ammo for EIC Leg matches we got some Lake City M72 '06 ammo for the Garands many were using.

Had problems with them also, seems someone forgot to put a flash hole in the primer pocket.

Turned out OK, I was running a snper school using M1C/Ds at the time and donated the ammo for the Leg match.

You just don't know, and you can't always tell by looking either.

 

[CMonty256]

Re: Carry Ammo Safety Lesson

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 300WSM</div><div class="ubbcode-body">corbon</div></div>

+ DPX

 

[Cornholeo]

Re: Carry Ammo Safety Lesson

+2 on corbon

 

[want2Baccurate]

Re: Carry Ammo Safety Lesson

Although I don't have a lot of experience, I am currently using Hornady critical defense ammunition. I have shot almost 200 rounds of it so far and haven't had a problem.

Until I saw this, I didn't even think about defensive ammunition failures, because I haven't had any with anything other than WWB target loads. I should probably start looking at my ammo as I load it up.

 

[rez187]

Re: Carry Ammo Safety Lesson

buy quality ammo and practice malfunction drills

 

[jeffbird]

Re: Carry Ammo Safety Lesson

My point is whatever ammo is chosen, check it visually and cycle it through as a double check.

My note has nothing to do with any particular brand. Hornady and Winchester both make excellent quality ammo.

Five minutes of quality control and preparation can help reduce the likelihood of a failure in an extreme situation - which hopefully never occurs - and yes, practice malfunction/stoppage drills, but try to reduce the likelihood of it occurring in the first place.

 

[KTDLS7]

Re: Carry Ammo Safety Lesson

Some of the problems described above can be identified with a quick visual inspection, though others cannot. I am not a proponent of "cycling" ammo through the firearm, but prefer "chamber checking" each round.

When I shot Bullseye, besides the visual check, "chamber checking" each round was SOP prior to every match. This was accomplished by field stripping my 1911, drop every round in the chamber by hand, then remove. If there was a case or bullet problem with any round, it was discovered with this process. I still do this with duty ammo.

I use a Dillon 550B, and on occasion, a case will wrinkle when the bullet is seated.

Kevin