How Do You Choose Your Self Defense Ammo

[carlson1]

How many rounds do you run through your carry firearm before you are comfortable that it functions in your firearm? I personally will not carry it until I have at least 300 rounds of defensive ammo that will run flawlessly through my carry firearm. I know there are some who is probably thinking it cost too much money too run too much defense ammo, but I can't put a price on my loved ones.

How do you choose your defense ammo? Do you just have a favorite brand and that is what you use in all of your pistols no matter what? Do you make sure the defense ammo you choose works in your EDC firearms? I have been guilty in the past of just buying Federal HST no matter what caliber or pistol.

It wasn't long ago I found out my Sig P239 (.357 sig) does not like the Federal HST, but will take all of the Speer Gold Dot 125gr HP you can put through it.

[boxermoose]

Although I posted a specific qty in response to the categorization, really once I'm happy the pistol functions well on 2 or 3 hundred rounds of fmj I'll run all mags with a few jhp on top & if that runs well i'll run each mag once fully loaded with jhp and call it good.

Then I'll run some more on each subsequent trip to the range.

[rentz]

Although I posted a specific qty in response to the categorization, really once I'm happy the pistol functions well on 2 or 3 hundred rounds of fmj I'll run all mags with a few jhp on top & if that runs well i'll run each mag once fully loaded with jhp and call it good.

Then I'll run some more on each subsequent trip to the range.

I do this as well, run 2-300 rounds of fmj then a mag of sd ammo if no issues i consider it good.
ideally i'd run an entire box of SD ammo but its cost prohibitive and it's not easy to always walk into walmart/academy and find the hst or golddots i use.

now....if it were a 1911 i'd be carrying i might be more worried about running a lot more rounds through first to make sure they feed though i havent had a jhp fail to feed a 1911 yet (knock on wood)

[Jusme]

I will generally run about 100 rounds to test the ammo to see how it runs, accuracy etc. I also rotate my ammo after a year so my EDC becomes my practice ammo, then I have better idea as to how it changes, or my gun's fondness for it etc. I always pick at least 6 random round in each new box to see if there is any differences in the new ammo. I have carried the same defensive ammo for the past few years and I don't change brands or types very often. If I run across a good deal on some I want to test, I'll do that and then keep a record of any likes or dislikes in case my favorite is discontinued, or harder to get.

Great Post it will be interesting to see the replies.

[Excaliber]

Although I posted a specific qty in response to the categorization, really once I'm happy the pistol functions well on 2 or 3 hundred rounds of fmj I'll run all mags with a few jhp on top & if that runs well i'll run each mag once fully loaded with jhp and call it good.

Then I'll run some more on each subsequent trip to the range.

I do this as well, run 2-300 rounds of fmj then a mag of sd ammo if no issues i consider it good.
ideally i'd run an entire box of SD ammo but its cost prohibitive and it's not easy to always walk into walmart/academy and find the hst or golddots i use.

now....if it were a 1911 i'd be carrying i might be more worried about running a lot more rounds through first to make sure they feed though i havent had a jhp fail to feed a 1911 yet (knock on wood)

For a new gun, I run at least 300 of FMJ and at least one box of my carry ammo (Speer Gold Dot or Federal HST) and then a mix of hollowpoints from my older ammo while using all of the magazines I plan to carry with that gun. If it passes that test either flawlessly or with no more than a couple of failures to go into battery during the first 100 rounds (for a tight 1911), it's good to go.

[RPBrown]

I usually put about 100 rounds of carry ammo before I will put into my rotation or if I change carry ammo, I will do that with each gun in my rotation. If no hiccups then it goes in.

[maverick2076]

I try to run 100 rounds of SD ammo, and at least 200 rounds of FMJ through a pistol before I carry it. I also test the ammo specifically with the mags I carry, and try to replace my carry ammo once a year by shooting it and buying new.

As for choosing ammo, I've previously just used whatever premium round by one of the big makers I found. However, ever since LuckyGunner.com published this fairly extensive test on SD ammo found at http://www.luckygunner.com/labs/self-de ... tic-tests/ I've used its results to validate my choices. While the results may not match performance on live tissue perfectly, it is the largest set of tests I've seen using the exact same criteria for each bullet.

[JALLEN]

It's a good idea to see what the manufacturer says about it.

I had a bunch of 9mm for my 226 Navy, 147 gr. That worked just fine for the 226, but when I got the P7M8, I started having problems. It turns out HK tells you to use 124 gr. in the P7M8, as it was designed for that. Sure enough, 124-125 gr. Gold Dots worked flawlessly.

[Bitter Clinger]

With the exception of my one Kimber , I have never found any issues.

[Lena]

I usually carry Ranger T or Gold Dot either in my Colt Gen Officers or Glock 32, I have never had any problems with either, they both work and preform very well, some days working here when I do think of possibly shooting a few rounds I may exchange this ammo for a magazine of ball to save my SD ammo as my supply option have changed !
When we switched from Federal to these mentioned I shot 2-3 matches with Gold Dots and Ranger T after that I was good to go. I have hand loaded bullets backwards before and they fed just fine in the test in all my pistols. I want my pistols to feed anything I put in them and I am always trying out other brands to check this if I can obtain them.

[WinoVeritas]

Any new or used gun 200-300 flawless rounds of FMJ. SD ammo one or two mags. There after, the first gun shot on range is my carry - one mag. If no hiccups, good to go until next time. Price and if it cycles in ALL my pistols is criteria. Currently that was been WWB Personal Protection series JHP - reasonably priced and cycles thru all - 147 gr. 9MM; 180 gr. .40S&W. I'm not much into super uber SD ammo that cost an arm and a leg and expect any decent SD ammo will get the job done.

[android]

I usually put about 100 rounds of carry ammo before I will put into my rotation or if I change carry ammo, I will do that with each gun in my rotation. If no hiccups then it goes in.

Most of my pistols are HKs and they are not finicky with ammo. About a 1000 rounds of FMJ followed by 100 rounds of SD ammo without a problem is convincing enough for me with a new gun.

Actually 500 rounds of FMJ is enough. The rest are just for fun.

[Jago668]

Brand new pistol (or brand new to me either way). I run 200 rounds of FMJ in one go. Then another trip run another 200 FMJ. If it works flawlessly then I put 150 rounds of whatever I'm going to carry through it all in one go. No hiccups then I'm ready to go. Have done this with a Bersa Thunder 380, Glock 30, Springfield XDM 9mm, S&W MP 9mm, and Glock 17. The only problem I've ever had was 1 failure to feed on the Bersa somewhere between 200 and 250 rounds of Armscor I think was the brand. The feed ramp was completely black at that point.

[WildBill]

I am surprised at the low number of rounds for 60% of the voters.

I don't remember is there has been a thread about how many total rounds before trusting a gun as an EDC.