How many round should you shoot through a pistol before you should trust it for carry?
Sidearms & Scatterguns Reliability Round Count
- Thread starter Nosler243Shooter
- Start date
I'd say 500 or so, tops. If it's having issues out towards 500 I'd say send it back to the manufacturer and let them make it right. There's no way that I would hang on to something all the way out to 1,000 rounds praying that it breaks in and smooths up with wear.
All mechanical devices fail at some point, always have a backup or two even if it is a knife. I carry a Glock, folding knife always, in my small backpack is another Glock, S&W revolver and a fixed blade. In the backpack is basic first aid along with an epi-pen, extra mags & gloves.
Your can do it with 200, but it must be done using the circle method.
Using all different brands/kinds of ammo you may use, Starting at 1200hrs 15 strong hand 15 weak side(30 total), then tilt weapon towards 2-4-6-8-an finally 10:00 hrd hrs using the same method at each timing point. If you never get a malfunction it's ready to run with that mag (if it has one). It needs to be done with every mag you have for it, if it's a work weapon. Many weapons will work just fine between 3-9 O'clock but the good ones work everywhere strong an weak handed, very old school method.
I do it each time I add a new loading to my stash, as I do not want a false sense of ready, when I have not proven my shit works. Sometimes just a little tweaking of the ammo is all that is needed if the weapons runs with everything else. I do this with every weapon not just handguns.
How far do you drive a car locally before you take it cross country? Depends on the car? Depends on the pistol. A Glock/Sig I'll plug 200rds ball ammo through, slow/rapid/mixed mags, etc. Then another 100 carry ammo where I see how POA - POI align. 1911 I'll take to 500/600 rds before I carry. IF there is a hiccup, is it the pistol? Ammo? Magazine? I have different mags for practice and carry. Old carry mags become practice mags.
-G45
-G45
Thanks for the replies. I always thought a couple hundred rounds was enough. I have read about some people shooting several thousand rounds and still not be able to make a decision it the pistol was suitable for carry. It was interesting to see what others do though.
Enough to be proficient with it. If youre used to glocks and switch to 1911s or vice versa it can be a big change. By the time you're done making yourself capable of using said weapon in a ccw situation you'll know whether or not you can rely on it.
If its a replacement of the same gun or similar enough, a couple hundred rounds of target ammo and a couple boxes of your carry ammo.
If its a replacement of the same gun or similar enough, a couple hundred rounds of target ammo and a couple boxes of your carry ammo.
I personally think some people are a little crazy, 1000 rounds of a carry round is nuts, if it's a new gun run a couple hundred of practice rounds whatever weight you plan on carrying, if you get no malfunctions buy a 3-4 boxes of carry ammo the same weight and try and keep to the same fps or really close, then run carry ammo through the mags you want to carry at least 2 if not 3 times with no malfunctions you should be gtg, and when you get more money and time run a couple boxes of carry/duty ammo through it after your done practicing with ball ammo to make sure poa and poi are still where it should be, always try to get a carry round that has the same or really close poi as your practice ammo
^ I agree with this, although I have never seen any scientific evidence that this method works. However, (so far) it has worked for me. I am also much more picky about how many rounds I'll put through a 1911 mag before I personally feel comfortable carrying it.
If it empties a whole mag right out the box, you are good to go.
With a quality handgun, only a couple hundred. You should already have one in the chamber; it better go boom. I've never felt that POI was that big of a deal, I never had to make an engagement with a pistol on a person over 50 feet away. Then again, in my experience, I was more worried if the handgun the Army issued would STILL work.
I like to shoot 50 rounds of factory ball first. Then I go to stuff that did not pass the case gauge for matches for 50 or so. Same stuff upside down and sideways with mostly weak hand for 50 rounds. If it runs 100%, I take it apart, clean, inspect and then run 50 rounds of carry ammo and call it good if it is still 100%.
