How often to change carry ammo? More often than I did!

I carry a CZ-75B as a truck gun, or as a ccw when clothing permits concealment of a full size auto. It is my go to gun, I have 4. Federal 9mm 124 gr. hydra shocks are what i carry in it. I found this load to work in all 4 of my 75Bs flawlessly. My carry ammo was loaded up in my favorite 2 tone 75B for maybe three years. I have fired this gun/load enough to know it works. I train with WWB in one of the other 75Bs. Yesterday I took my practice gun to the range, and I grabbed the mag from my carry gun and the 2 spares that I carry with it. I figured it was time for fresh ammo in the carry gun. It must have been well past time! The first mag and the third mag worked fine. The 2nd mag had a dud that 2 hammer strikes wouldn't set off, a short cycle that left me with an empty chamber, and a failure to feed presumably caused by the round before it. I rarely unloaded/loaded this ammo, I just left the pistol loaded, and trained with a different pistol. I'm guessing temperature changes going from truck to house and back. So, I think I am not going to carry the same ammo for mor than a year.

Good lesson to learn on the range!

Every 6 months for me....but i usually end up shooting it up earlier than that.

Good lesson. Thanks for the reminder. I hate spending money on carry ammo but like to draw and fire my CCW when out training to ensure it works and it keeps me confidence up in my weapon.

It's definitely critical if it spends a lot of time in your vehicle, but not on your body. The temperature changes will wreak havoc on ammo.

You got that right! Hate to have figured it out the hard way! Got a little malfunction clearing practice out of it.

I used to change every year or two. I just changed everything from hydrashoks to HST and fired the old hydrashoks. Every single one went off. They were at least 5 years old. We have some pretty good temperature swings around here...............

I also hated to change carry ammo because all I could find was small, expensive boxes and I could never find everything I needed.

Then I found ammo to go dot com. I don't remember who turned me on to them, but their boxes are mostly 50 rounders, their prices reasonable, and they shipped fast. I needed .45, .38, and 9mm, and got it all here, along with bulk rimfire. Now, don't go telling everyone about this place, let's keep it to ourselves.

I had old old old .45 Corbon that had been loaded and unloaded, chambered and unchambered hundreds of times over probably 10 years. It all worked just fine.

I change my carry ammo at least every 12 months. Usually more like every 6 months. And I change the round in the chamber after a few chamberings.

A lot of this depends on the gun.

I shoot up my carry ammo and replace every New Years and 4th of July.

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Wow some of you really need to practice more with your carry weapon. I always shoot at least 1 mag through a month with my carry ammo. I run my carry gun at least once a month for 50rds unless I'm doing something specific with it that requires more.

Why shoot your carry ammo that often? We all practice with our carry weapon, just not with expensive ass ammo. I've put ~250 rounds through my carry gun with my carry ammo, and replace it every 18 months. I practice with hardball. Same POI, same recoil, no need to shoot expensive.

My carry ammo is used at least one a month at the range.

I feel like I must shoot more than most of you.....

I pose the same question to you as I did to fuzzy. You all DO know there is cheaper ammo to shoot than your carry load, right?

I change my carry ammo out on Jan. 1st and July 1st. Currently running through 1000 rnds of practice ammo every 5-6 weeks.

As long as it's not left in the car, once a year for rotating carry ammo should be good. Of course, if you want to rotate more often, more power to you.

At the PD I work for, we rotate our duty ammo once a year during qualifications. Shoot up the carry ammo, finish with practice ammo, get new carry ammo after qualifications. For me, that means the carry ammo in my off duty gun gets rotated out once a year, since we have to carry issued ammo in our off duty guns. Works well and, AFAIK, we've never had a problem with duty ammo not firing. I, for one, practice as much as I can but I use practice ammo (my own reloads, in my case) and not my carry ammo. I don't know about you, but I can't afford to be shooting my carry ammo every time I go out.

When left in the car, or someplace like a garage without heat or AC or some other area without climate control, I'm not sure I would leave ammo there if I could help it. Like the OP, at one time, when I carried a J Frame or my SP101, I left a couple boxes of ammo in the car, just in case. I then forgot about the ammo for a couple years, till we traded the car in. Like the OP, I had trouble with some of the ammo not going off when I went to shoot it. Since them, I don't leave ammo in the car and have removed all the ammo and powder/primers from my non-climate-controlled detached garage, where I have my reloader set up.

I heard ammo storage described like this one time; if you're comfortable, your ammo is comfortable for storage. Sounds good to me and I try to follow it. Never had a problem since.

Bub75

I'm not saying shoot 200 rds of carry ammo in one session for practice,.......I'm saying run a mag through once a month or however often you shoot your SD weapon as part of your practice.
The mag that's been loaded in my carry gun gets shot 1st at the range. I draw & fire at my target. Then FMJ goes in.
For me that's 192rds a year of HP's doing this. That's what $200? If that. This works for me. Do whatever you guys feel is right for you.

I leave ammo in the car. I never had any problems with said ammo. Used to keep a loaded AK in the car. With a few spare mags loaded. Had the mags in the car a full year. All through the hot humid FL summer. Shot just fine when I did shoot it.

I rotate when my dept rotates our duty ammo which is every 2 to three years. havent had an issue in 10 years.....

Dont just change ammo, keep spare empty mags and rotate them bimonthly or quarterly, stretching the springs.

Rotating mags wears the spring out faster than constant loaded.

Eta
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/855236_The_Myth_of_Magazine_Spring_Set.html

http://www.ar15.com/content/page.html?id=331

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I just shoot the carry stuff when I go to the range, then load it back up with fresh when I'm done. I can't make it to the range every week or two like some people, so I don't worry about the cost.

Seriously? Surefire way to f mag springs or any spring is to stretch it.

I'm guessing it was a dud when Federal made it.

Yes, and I also shoot around 1000 rounds a month of fmj.

So my question is: Do you ever run your carry ammo at the range to look for malfunctions ect?

I usually run around 3-4 mags of my carry ammo. have around 1000 of carry ammo fired total atm, rest is fmj/

Chances are it was just a bad round.

I've shot lots of WWII era 45 ball stored in no telling what kind of conditions and it all went off. OP probably had a bad primer. It happens

All the more reason to have someone else put a snap cap into your mags when they pack it for a practice session as a stoppage drill.

Your SD ammo also may have different recoil impulse, different flash, and as one member said....make sure it runs.

I change it out once a year. When I dry fire, I make sure to rotate the round that's getting racked. I have seen observable bullet setback from rechambering the same round, and it's a bit unnerving.

This. Every time I go to the range, I have a friend load a mag up with my dummy rounds. I tell them to make it as crazy as they like. Sometimes they put none in to make sure I'm getting my hits. Sometimes they put 5 in a row. Sometimes they're well mixed. Either way, it keeps me "guessing" and the malfunction clearance becomes very natural.

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