Rotating magazine ammo?

[allthumbsplusone]

Having gone to every day carry I am now loading and unloading my gun more than usual. I am finding that the bullets keep seating deeper with every time through the action. Any advice?

[berettabone]

Yeah, quit loading and unloading. I keep mine loaded 24/7 and don't experience any set back....................................

[zredwire]

Not sure how much you load and unload your gun. I unload mine about once a week. As soon as I see any setback with the bullet I replace it. Some bullets will start setting deeper the second time you chamber them. If so I would replace that round every time you re-chambered. For me it means replacing one to two bullets a month. I know a guy that goes through about 5 a month because of this.

[Bawanna]

I usually only unload to clean or switch carry guns.

If I see signs of setback (different brands vary) I just empty the magazine and put that round at the bottom, provided of course it's not set back a lot.

I used to swap magazines about once a month but finally accepted the fact that it probably doesn't make much difference, except it did provide a good opportunity to inspect the ammo and replace questionable stuff.

[b4uqzme]

Yeah, quit loading and unloading. I keep mine loaded 24/7 and don't experience any set back....................................

+1. Put it in the nightstand...or the bedside safe. Then take it to the range and shoot your carry mag once in awhile. Then give it a good cleaning and reload. ==> no set back issues.

[wyntrout]

My guns are ready to go... loaded... unless they're dirty from the range, or not generally used except for the range. I don't unload them except for the range and cleaning. I do try to keep from chambering the same round over and over, inspecting them and changing position of the top round in the magazines.

[OvalNut]

+1. Put it in the nightstand...or the bedside safe. Then take it to the range and shoot your carry mag once in awhile. Then give it a good cleaning and reload. ==> no set back issues.

Exactly this. Mine never leaves my holster unless I draw it to shoot, or empty it to clean it.

When I go to the range I just shoot my carry mag then continue with other range fodder mags. It keeps me current on how my carry ammo shoots, and reconfirms that it cycles well. Before I leave the range I reload my carry mag with fresh HSTs, because it IS my carry gun. Then when I get ready to clean it at home later, I drop the mag, eject the chambered round, then clean it.

After it is clean, I insert the carry mag and chamber a round, drop the mag and top it off with the previously chambered and ejected round which has been cycled just that 1 time. Then I reinsert the mag so that I am carrying a full mag +1 in the chamber. Then the gun is holstered and put on my hip or in my safe. The next time that gun is removed from the holster it will be fired, first using the carry ammo with which it is currently loaded.

It's a routine that works reliably. It is a touch more expensive to always shoot a carry mag of HSTs on every range trip, yet I see the value in doing so.

The key is that the gun and holster are a secure unit that always stay together.





Be well,


Tim

[dustnchips]

I dry fire often so when I reload the chamber I drop the round in the chamber and release the slide lock and reinsert the mag. I have checked after many rounds of this with a micrometer and found no set back.

[SteveOak]

Like b4uqzme and OvalNut I shoot my carry ammo when I get to the range and then reload with fresh ammo when I am ready to leave.

[Bawanna]

I dry fire often so when I reload the chamber I drop the round in the chamber and release the slide lock and reinsert the mag. I have checked after many rounds of this with a micrometer and found no set back.

This can in some cases put a lot of strain on the extractor as it has to work it's way over the case rim rather than have the case slide up under the hook from the magazine. If it works for you with no issue stick with it.


"The key is that the gun and holster are a secure unit that always stay together."

I never leave a gun I'm not wearing in it's holster except my PM45 in the ankle rig. It stays together.
If I need to grab a gun off the dresser in a hurry I don't want the holster. I also think probably incorrectly that it gives the gun a chance to breath some. Probably not as important with kydex but more so with leather.

[erichard]

This can in some cases put a lot of strain on the extractor as it has to work it's way over the case rim rather than have the case slide up under the hook from the magazine. If it works for you with no issue stick with it.

Coincidentally, I was just trying dustnchips' method yesterday before this thread started, after having unloaded and loaded a few times trying to answer the disassembly thread. I always am reluctant to unload the chamber knowing that when I reload it, the bullet will suffer setback. Wouldn't be so bad except that I use the Lehigh XD bullets which are over a buck apiece. I try to shoot those as infrequently as possible. I now have a collection of XD's and XP's with setback, so I was tempted to insert the round straight into the chamber with the slide locked back. I was initially wondering about the stress/wear on the extractor, too. I know it does stress the extractor because the slide won't close to full battery unless it is slammed home with the release of the slide lock (because the rim hangs up on the extractor if the slide moves too slowly).

The question then becomes, how much do I save with respect to XD bullets vs. the need to prematurely retire the extractor one day, and just how long will it take to wear down the hard extractor with soft brass rims. It'll probably take a while, and the extractor costs about 11 XD bullets (and I have about that many with setback so far). So on a cost analysis basis, it might not be a bad plan depending on how expensive your ammo is. Lehigh, being the most expensive, may push me to using the method.

BTW, this is similar to the question of using steel cased ammo in your AR (or whatever). I originally swore I'd never use steel cased ammo, but when someone pointed out that you could save enough money using steel cased ammo that you could buy an entire basic AR with the savings after so many thousands of rounds, it suddenly made sense to use steel cased ammo, especially when you consider you don't need to buy an entire new AR to solve the wear from the hard steel case. Just install a new extractor. But even that may be exaggerated, because many report that their extractors look OK after thousands of rounds (having watched a number of youtube talking heads on the subject). In fact, the more respected experts I watch on youtube all use steel cased ammo in their AR's approximately 80% of their time at the range, which surprised me initially (until person after person confirmed their confidence in the steel cased bargain ammo). Bottom line, it made training cheap enough that they could actually do it, and that's what's key to getting good.

[Bawanna]

My fear on extractors isn't minimal wear over time, but sudden breakage at the most inopportune time possible. Me and Murphy have a very long and intimate relationship.

If I had an AK I might use steel case ammunition but nothing I own at present will ever see a steel case.
Your probably right, lots of folks use it. I'm cheap like everybody else but just not in my make up to use steel.

It's like messing with mother nature or something. Just me, your probably fine. I'm so so.

[wyntrout]

Manuals and brochures at Kahr.com:

http://www.kahr.com/Brochures-Manuals:

See the note below the images. I don't think that you would want your extractor to fail at an inopportune moment!

I keep my carry weapons loaded and all loaded pistols are in holsters or cases to cover the triggers. I don't have children about or visiting morons, so I can't see unloading and reloading every time I want to carry a pistol. I maintain pre-positioned pistols and magazines and those are in holsters, but ready to draw and fire. This is in addition to the P380 that stays on my hip or very close by around the house.

Wynn

[jonholl]

I just shoot the round in the chamber (147 HST) when going to the range if the pistol has a round in the chamber. I unload the magazine with the expensive HSTs, fire the round in the chamber with an empty magazine inserted, then proceed to shoot inexpensive range ammo. I just reload a magazine with the HSTs from before & with a fresh HST to fill the magazine if recharging the pistol. This works for me as I don't keep my CM9 with a loaded chamber unless I plan on carrying it.

[Bawanna]

Good post Wynn. I wasn't sure if Kahrs were specific about it or not, been awhile since I read a manual.
Some brands are far more fragile in the extractor department than others.

S&W's with the external extractors I think were far more forgiving but I still don't recommend loading the chamber.

Since most of us shoot several different brands and styles it's probably the safest practice to just avoid it with everything.