Defensive ammo rotation?

[bigVtwin88]

I just got my CCW permit and I'm curious about how long you guys carry your defensive rounds before you swap for fresh stuff. Just a thought from a reliability standpoint. Is it even something worth worrying about?

[Longitude Zero]

I generally swap mine every six months.

[CJB]

I carry every day, most of the day. I will usually cycle the same round into the chamber until it shows setback of the bullet. I'm mindful to watch for that when unloading. They always eventually show setback - except those great bitument sealed US Mil .45's. But I don't shoot 50 year old ammo defensively (even though it never fails to go bang).

The setback round gets fired in the back yard, or put into the odd ammo box and brought to the range and fired there. A new round is used as the chamber round. Mag rounds stay put until they start to look cruddy - no particular time frame, months and months. Then they all get fired, and the process renews. I'd probably go through a box of ammo that way in four or five years?

[yqtszhj]

Mine depends on carry conditions. I pocket carry so if it's winter, cold, and I haven't been working outside sweating or getting wet 6 months or so.

If it's the heat of summer and I've been working in the yard, humidity is up, and I think there might be some moisture exposure, I'll shoot it next range trip.

All that said, I've never had any SD ammo fail to fire at the range. More important though I take the pistol and just wipe it down and lightly oil it because I HAVE! had a malfunction once at the range because I failed to clean it regularly during the summer. It was a fail to feed. So I focus on cleaning more often now.

[muggsy]

I've shot .45 military ball ammo that was manufactured during WWII and never had a problem with it. I don't think it's worth worrying about. If you are worried about it expend the ammo at the range once a month and put in fresh.

[CJB]

Keep in mind that WWII era ammo is corrosively primed - except for the .30M1 Carbine, which was non-corrosive from the get go. The 45acp military ammo didn't go non-corrosive until 1951 (or up to 1954 depending on the manufacturing site).

Will say, the old hardball kicks like it oughta! Some of the commercial stuff today seems wimpy, ie, WWB

[chrish]

Same as LZ, I rotate every few months. I do not keep anything in the gun safe loaded, just to remain consistent so that I know everything in there is unloaded (and every time I pull a gun out, it's cleared and safety checked). So when a CCW piece goes back into the safe, I clear it again. I try not an chamber that round over an over again and cycle what's in the mag into the chamber. But after a 6 month period, in a 7-8 round mag, I shoot that full mag and replace it all. Rinse and Repeat.

[leftysixty]

I pocket carry 24/7. Well I do put the pistol on the night stand when I sleep.:p

I only unload it when I shoot it or clean it. Normally clean it after shooting.:)

I change the ammo when I shoot it. The ammo carried in the gun is only changed by shooting it:D No worries about bullet set back:p

Sometimes I blow the lint off with canned air. No need to unload for that.

:amflag:

[garyb]

I carry the same Win T's every day. I have experimented with them after carrying over a year. They fired just fine. How would you know...? I have 40 yr old hunting ammo that is just fine. I don't see this as a real issue, but suppose that there is a remote possibility that fresh ammo out of the box might not fire, just as ammo I've carried for several yrs. Experiment and figure it out for yourself. I don't see it as an issue. JMO.

[Alfonse]

The only round I rotate is the one in the chamber. Sometimes I de-gunk the gun between range trips, requiring it to be unloaded. I reload that same first round. The next range trip, I shoot it. That way, setback is never an issue.

I have a couple of times, after unusually long time to the range, shot the gun just like it had been sitting, as loaded, in my pocket. It goes bang perfectly every time.

A box of hollow points lasts a long time with my routine.

[jocko]

I never unload my PMJ9, so I don't worry aobut bullet pushback either. It is a choice to each owner as to whether one recycles or leaves wel enough alone..

[hardluk1]

I shoot what is in my pistol ever couple weeks along with some practice ammo. Rotate the ammo in the back up mag to the carry mag at the end of the range trip. Reload the back up mag with new ammo. Get home clean, lube and reload, chamber round moved down one . Repeat in a couple weeks.

[Bawanna]

This is pretty much what I do. I don't prep my carry guns before range. If I shoot often I sometimes just take out the carry mags and shoot practice stuff. If I don't shoot as much as I want I shoot the carry guns just the way they are carried, then load fresh stuff when I head home.

As others mentioned I watch the top round closely although I don't unload often enough for that to generally be an issue.

[100percent]

All my ammo in a given caliber is the same as my practice. Handloads, usually with my cast bullets. I generally chamber a round once.

[Yogi 117]

I practice with FMJ of the same weight as my carry ammo. I always cycle the chambered carry round to the bottom of the magazine after practice, and don't really worry too much about length of carrying the SD rounds. I do, as a precaution, wipe all the carry rounds to be loaded into a magazine down with a clean cloth...just me!

Just shot 130 carry rounds for 4 different handguns yesterday that I had carried for almost 2 years. Not one failure. Do what you feel is right, but a box of JHP's should last you a fairly long time IMHO! :D

[Pointblank]

I rotate fairly often, probably once a month. As for rechambering, the biggest risk for bullet setback is with the .40 S&W.

[Rubb]

Every time I eject a round I dot the head stamp with a Sharpie.
When a round has 4 dots it moves to the bottom of the mag.
When all 7 have 4 dots they're shot and I replace with new.
I avoid any risk of set back and replace carry rounds about once a year.

[Pointblank]

Every time I eject a round I dot the head stamp with a Sharpie.
When a round has 4 dots it moves to the bottom of the mag.
When all 7 have 4 dots they're shot and I replace with new.
I avoid any risk of set back and replace carry rounds about once a year.



Good system. I do something similar. When I eject the chambered round I put it the ammo box nose-up in place of the new round I am loading. I just use it for range ammunition after that.

[muggsy]

The only time I rotate my ammo is when I spin the cylinder of my revolver when I'm playing Russian Roulette. Otherwise, I leave that ammo alone. It's not bothering anyone. :)