Cycling Your Carry Ammunition

Here is a topic that I have known about for years, yet I do not regularly cycle out my carry ammunition.  The article Out With the Old: Cycling Your EDC Ammo, appeared at Bearing Arms but was originally published at Guns.com. Oh, I try to keep it in mind, and do cycle on an infrequent basis. But do I have it marked on my calendar every six months that I will cycle out my old carry ammunition and replace it with fresh? Unfortunately, the answer is no. But maybe I should set up such a routine.

 If you are like me, you take your carry gun to the range at least once a month, or preferably twice a month if time and finances permit.  In the meantime, you probably do some dry firing at least once a week.  Each time, you take your carry ammo out of the weapon, clear the weapon, then either dry fire, or load range ammo.  While your carry ammunition may cost upward of a dollar to a dollar and a half a round, range ammo is much cheaper, perhaps 20-30 cents a round.  So it makes sense.  However, when you leave the range, or are through dry firing, you then load the same round that was in the chamber before back in as the chambered round, then shove the rest of the magazine into the weapon.  The result is often set back of the bullet in the case.

Set back occurs when a round is slammed into battery by the action of the recoil spring.  It is a small amount, and if the round is immediately fired, there is not a safety issue.  However, if a round is repeatedly ejected and then re chambered again and again under the action of the recoil spring, the setback can become quite noticeable.  The problem is that the pressure inside the cartridge can become excessive, and exceed the pressure allowance of the weapon itself, resulting in what is known as a kaboom.  A kaboom typically destroys the weapon, perhaps injures your hand, and may result in death.  It certainly ruins your range trip.  You don't want a kaboom.

You can cycle your old ammunition several ways.  One is to take all the ammunition out of the magazine in order, replace the top round with the next in line, and reload the magazine, in order.  Or, when you go to the range, take out the magazine, then shoot the chambered round.  When through, you just replace the chambered round.  Or you can shoot off the entire carry ammunition magazine.  When through, put your spare loaded magazine in the weapon.  Load up another spare magazine when you are done cleaning the weapon.  You do carry a spare magazine, right?

However you do it, you need to change out the ammunition you carry every day as protection for your life, and those of your loved ones.  How frequently you do it will depend on many factors.  But it just makes sense to cycle your old ammunition, and after all, once a year isn't too often.