Personal Protection Ammo- Help

[joesmo]

I'd like to hear your thoughts. I'm new to this so be gentle. I do appreciate your opinion.

I friend told me to buy a small box of very expensive stuff. He cited reasons like the metal used, sealing, primers, etc.....said the reason was because it will sit in your mag for a LONG time, and you want it to fire, don't want a mis fire or a jam....

OK, this conversation was AFTER I bought a 100rd box of Remington .45 JHPs. Paid $38 for the 100.

I have been firing inexpensive Winchester FMJ ammo (white box, red letters), 100rd value paks. I've probably put a 600 rounds thru both glocks these past few weeks, no jams or misfires.

Here is my thought process. By buying this less expensive Remington JHP ammo, I can cycle it thru my range time, and get a comfort level that it will fire, and because I'm buying 100rds for the cost of 20, I will indeed cycle it. If it fired at the range every time, why wouldn't it fire the same when needed?

What do you use for personal protection?

[capo2186]

Originally Posted by joesmo

I'd like to hear your thoughts. I'm new to this so be gentle. I do appreciate your opinion.

I friend told me to buy a small box of very expensive stuff. He cited reasons like the metal used, sealing, primers, etc.....said the reason was because it will sit in your mag for a LONG time, and you want it to fire, don't want a mis fire or a jam....

OK, this conversation was AFTER I bought a 100rd box of Remington .45 JHPs. Paid $38 for the 100.

I have been firing inexpensive Winchester FMJ ammo (white box, red letters), 100rd value paks. I've probably put a 600 rounds thru both glocks these past few weeks, no jams or misfires.

Here is my thought process. By buying this less expensive Remington JHP ammo, I can cycle it thru my range time, and get a comfort level that it will fire, and because I'm buying 100rds for the cost of 20, I will indeed cycle it. If it fired at the range every time, why wouldn't it fire the same when needed?

What do you use for personal protection?

Very good question. My guess would be that yes it would fire. I have had ammo sitting around for a while and then use it at the range with out an issue. This is a good question and I am looking forward to what the guys/girls from this site will have to say.

[Red Hat]

It's fine to practice with less expensive ammo but you still need to fire the ammo you carry. I have a couple firearms that work fine with FMJ ammo but when I tried to fire my carry ammo it would not chamber properly. After a little polishing on the ramp it worked fine. If I hadn't tried it then I could be out of luck if I need it. My rule of thumb is to fire my ammo I carry every 6 months and then replace it. Heat, cold and body moisture can play havoc on ammo. I'd rather buy ammo a couple times a year than not have it go bang if I need it.

[Jes]

You should buy what makes you happy as long as it always goes bang. I have had some duds in the Winchester White Box, never used remington. Winchester makes an affordable hollowpoint in the SXZ. About $25 for 50. About half what you pay for Remington Golden Sabres or Federal Hydra-shok.

[Glock Fan]

Originally Posted by Red Hat

It's fine to practice with less expensive ammo but you still need to fire the ammo you carry. I have a couple firearms that work fine with FMJ ammo but when I tried to fire my carry ammo it would not chamber properly. After a little polishing on the ramp it worked fine. If I hadn't tried it then I could be out of luck if I need it. My rule of thumb is to fire my ammo I carry every 6 months and then replace it. Heat, cold and body moisture can play havoc on ammo. I'd rather buy ammo a couple times a year than not have it go bang if I need it.

Excellent advice Red Hat.

When chosing your ammo, be sure that it's something that will do the job it's intended for. I like my Speer Gold Dot ammunition because I know for a fact that a local LE agency uses it. Imagine a deputy prosecutor in court trying to argue my ammo was "overkill". Not going to happen. When practicing, you can use the lower priced ammo, but be sure that it's close to the ammo that you're carrying. For example, my carry ammo is .40 s&w with a 165gr bullet. I'm not going to buy .40 s&w with a 180gr bullet for practice, as the heavier bullet will perform differently. I fire my defensive ammo at least once a month.




gf

[maybejim]

I use Glaser Silver for the first 3 rounds in my carry gun and follow it with one or another of the premium Hollow Points. I use the Glaser's following Jocelyn Elders call for a "safer" bullet. I was impressed with the energy dump of the Glaser (and the goat tests some years ago). I like that they are safer in the case of a miss and that they won't overpenetrate. I carry the premium hollow points for better penetration if needed.

I have heard recommendations of firing your carry ammo every 3 months but I am lucky if I fire it once a year. I've never had a misfire even going over a year.

I use the premium stuff because of the tests of it working better through clothes and other barriers and still opening up. So I am a sucker for the tests and the hype. I can only hope they are reasonably valid.

[Glock Fan]

I don't like the Glaser ammunition. They're over priced and over rated. I have a group of friends that I train with. We put the Glaser ammo up against our usual defensive ammo. There were several cases where the Glaser ammo performed very poorly when shot into a wet phone book. Where the conventional JHP ammo punched through the phone book, the Glaser ammo terminated about a half way into the phone book. The $5 per round is rather pricey as well. I'd say go with a good quality hollow point. Be sure to train frequently with your personal defense ammo. You don't want any surprises when you need to defend yourself.



gf

[MP3Mogul]

Let me tell you, that Remington JHP box of 100 you bought are "fantastic" rounds. I routinely use them in my carry .45's as well.

I make it a point to carry the ammo only for 90 days, then I shoot it off.... then freshen my ammo. With that said, there is "absolutely" no reason for you to do so. I have fired ammo from WW2 that was still good. This is only a personal preference, plus I get to fire my carry ammo and get practice with it.

[gdcleanfun]

From what I understand, and please correct this if it's wrong, a hollow point bullet for home defense is better than anything else in a pistol for the simple fact that when it breaks up or falls apart inside the perp then that bullet is less than likely to "shoot through" and hit a family member. It's kind of the opposite theory of using a shotgun for home defense self protection whereby the scatter hits anything and everything in the general direction it's aimed.

As far as buying any type of ammo for any type of firearm, it's dependent on both the ammo and the firearm. Certain manufacturers and certain jacket types jamb my .45, other jam in the 3ought6. Buy some, try some, get what works for what you have.

[maybejim]

There were several cases where the Glaser ammo performed very poorly when shot into a wet phone book.

I've seen good scientific tests on the Glaser and questionable scientific tests on it. Overall they seem to come out pretty good. It's really just a matter of what you believe after reading as many of the studies as you can. I am comfortable with the Glasers. But I did some research when discussing this on another forum and Mag-Safe's look good even better than Glasers for penetration. I'm happy with the 9" to 12" penetration that I've seen in tests for Glasers.

The $5 per round is rather pricey as well.

I have bought them for $6 to $10 for 6 at gun shows. I found 9mm and .380 for 11.97 for 6 a couple of days ago and $14.97 for .45's. I'm going to a gun show this weekend in Ventura, so I wanted to see what the going prices were.