shooting your carry rounds

[Jstrother]

How often, if at all, do ya'll shoot your carry rounds? Not sure if the Texas humidity and my sweat will affect them or not. I've had the same rounds in mine since December.

[PR1042]

Usually once a month, at least 10-15 rounds

[MoJo]

Once a year I fire the ammo in my gun and replace it with fresh. I do this on my birthday and buy myself a box of ammo for my birthday.

[The Annoyed Man]

I'm not a fanatic about it. I probably shoot my carry ammo once a year in each of my carry guns. But like SRO1911, I have several carry pistols, so realistically, it might be longer than a year for each gun. I don't really pay much attention to it. I'll fire a magazine to verify POA/POI and to reacquaint myself with the recoil characteristics for that particular loading, and then I tend to forget about it. Since I have carry weapons in .45 (X3), 9mm (X1), and .357 magnum (X1), I've gotten to where I don't pay that much attention to the differences between calibers, or to the differences between loads within a caliber—particularly at likely self-defense distances.

Edited to add: The above refers to pistols. With my rifles I practice copiously with the ammo I am most likely to use in them.

[CC Italian]

In the past I would shoot off my carry ammo once a month (whatever was in the primary mag) then two months, three, four and on. Now I change it out every six months and practice with ball 4-5 times a month. I change out the chambered round once every 2-3 weeks just encase I get a round with heavy bullet set back. As for the ammo not firing? I just shot off three mags of 9mm that had been sitting in my Ruger P95 that has been my carry rounds(car carry backup) for over a year and a half and all 45 rounds fired in the three mags. As long as you don't get oils or solvents around the primer they should be fine for years. It is just a good idea to change carry ammo out every so often and make sure you switch out the chambered round even more often imo.

[The Annoyed Man]

When I first got my dad's old 1911 after he died, it came with a couple of magazines loaded with lead round nose cartridges that were old enough that the brass has a greenish tinge and the lead looked a little......well.....old. Anyway, that ammo might well have dated back to immediately post WW2, since my dad brought the pistol home from the war. As far as I know, he never fired that gun again after the war. Anyway, a couple of friends of mine took me to the range to teach me how to shoot. I emptied the cartridges out of magazines, wiped them down with a rag to take some of the green off, loaded them back up and fired them. They went bang, just like they're supposed to.

[jmra]

When I first got my dad's old 1911 after he died, it came with a couple of magazines loaded with lead round nose cartridges that were old enough that the brass has a greenish tinge and the lead looked a little......well.....old. Anyway, that ammo might well have dated back to immediately post WW2, since my dad brought the pistol home from the war. As far as I know, he never fired that gun again after the war. Anyway, a couple of friends of mine took me to the range to teach me how to shoot. I emptied the cartridges out of magazines, wiped them down with a rag to take some of the green off, loaded them back up and fired them. They went bang, just like they're supposed to.

I have at least 50 rounds of ammo my FIL brought home from WWII with his 1911. I've shot the 1911 but not the ammo.

[speedsix]

...I can smell that stuff just by lookin' at the picture...what a treasure!!!

[OrangeAnimal]

I have mil surp 7.62 x 54 that is probably 50 years old. It still goes bang every time. Unfortunately I no longer have that rifle but ended up with the ammo laying around. If i get something else that will fire it I will gladly put it down range. As far as my carry ammo. I initially put two mags worth thru the gun. The rest I might change out after a year. I don't really see a reason to fire it unless for self defense and to prove my gun will cycle it.

[Abraham]

When I practice shoot using FMJ's, I simply drop out the carry ammo loaded magazine, eject the round in the pipe, set them aside and load up magazines I keep on hand for range practice.

After practice, I clean my pistol, re-insert the loaded carry ammo mag and chamber one back in the pipe.

My carry ammo is 9mm, Speer Gold Dot, 124 grain, +P, JHP's and quite pricey comparative to FMJ practice ammo. Given the longevity of ammo in general, I don't change out my carry ammo. At this point it's probably three years old or more.

Is there an inherent problem with this procedure?

Thanks!

P.S. About a year ago, my wife forgot to change out her carry ammo, same stuff I carry, before loading up with FMJ's to practice with (and it was probably two years old at the time) and it all fired without a hiccup.

[jimlongley]

When I was shooting IDPA once or twice a week, I shot up my carry ammo regularly. It got a little expensive because I carry "the good stuff" and the rest of my IDPA ammo was the cheapest that Cheaper Than Dirt, or whoever else was lower, had, but it was worth it to have the security of knowing how the carry ammo performed.

[Phoenix]

Routinely shoot my carry ammo, then switch to fmj. Gun gets reloaded with carry ammo when I'm ready to leave. With a few carry guns in rotation this means I refresh my carry ammo in each gun every few months.

There's really no reason not to shoot carry ammo and confirm that it's still good after a year of carry in your pocket or holster. Is your life worth less than a mag of Gold Dots?

[txjim42]

2 mags/20 rounds of .45, every 1.5 months or so on average. About the same for 9mm, perhaps a bit less, but I rarely carry it. Just to remind me that it's not the same as shooting the plinking ammo.

ETA: I don't shoot the rifles anywhere near enough unfortunately.