How many defensive rounds do you test in your handgun?

[SteadyD]

Pretty self explanatory. How many hollow points do you run through your gun to test reliability? I run 100 at a minimum (typically 150-250) to verify reliability in my auto loaders. In a revolver it has been as few as 20, mostly checking for crimp jump in the lightweight snubs.

I know several people that only run 1 magazine of hollow points and call it good. I couldn't possibly feel confident in my defensive ammo/gun with so few rounds tested.

 

[bannockburn]

SteadyD

Probably something around 50 to 100 rounds of any particular brand of HP ammo. After that, I will on occasion run 20 rounds of the same ammo through a gun just to make sure they're still working okay.

 

[Jim NE]

About 250 -300 rounds generally through the gun to make sure it's reliable, then probably 50 -100 rounds of a particular brand of HP ammo to know that it's a good fit with the gun.

 

[FL-NC]

A mag or so. Glocks or shield 9, using factory ammo from US companies.

 

[CapnMac]

At least two boxes flawlessly. But that's probably enough to change out whatever the "proven" SD round is.

 

[JONWILL]

I know some say not to do it for SD but I load my own. I use the same make of brass primer and bullet. Run it at recommend velocity for the bullet

I shoot a magazine full twice a month

 

[JTQ]

A mag or two.

I'm assuming I've already tested the reliability of the gun with several hundred rounds of a variety of ammo. At this point I'm just checking the reliability of the ammo in this particular gun. It doesn't take much.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

50 to 100. Problems with feeding a particular design typically show themselves pretty quickly. I try to shoot some whenbthe gun isvtotalky clean, and after it's been dirtied up good. Seems prudent.

 

[CDW4ME]

I typically run 150-200 rounds of HP through a new pistol, if zero problem then I consider it good.
FMJ is not what I carry, I check function with HP ammo I would carry; if pistol initially works with HP then FMJ works later.
I have Glock 10mm and 357 Sig with several hundred rounds through them and they have only been fed HP.
Got a Delta Elite 10mm about a month ago, its had about 300 rounds through it, all my handloads except few mags of Critical Duty, all HP.
I'm confident the Delta works with carry ammo and mags, bet my life confident.

 

[SteadyD]

Being able to buy 50 round boxes of 9mm HST and Gold Dots online for under $25 makes it much more feasible to test hollow points. At $1 per shot it would be much more prohibitive.

 

[TarDevil]

A box. Then another couple mags at each range trip.

 

[Good Ol' Boy]

Couple of mags initially and a couple mags every month or so.

 

[1911 guy]

I do a minimum of 50 rounds for a given JHP design. If no hiccups, good to go. If there are minor hiccups, i shoot more to isolate the cause. Is it a magazine problem? Gun problem? Or is it the ammo? Mags can be replaced, guns can be fixed, ammo can be ditched and then move on to the next choice.

 

[Charlie98]

I do generic accuracy and function testing on my carry pistols with about 3 different SD ammo, once I find the most accurate, I run another box through to prove reliability, including 'one round, mag change, repeat' drills to prove proper feeding. Afterwards, I rotate the ammo every 6 months or so... shooting the ammo in service to get rid of it and again to prove reliability, and reloading with fresh ammos.

 

[jeepnik]

Six. Or maybe even just 5 depending on the cylinder capacity.

 

[chicharrones]

If two boxes (50/box) make it through without a bobble, then I feel pretty good about that ammo and gun. Followed up by continued practice with that ammo and other known working ammo, of course.

 

[GRIZ22]

Used to be a couple of hundred 40 years ago. Now maybe 50-100. Modern semi auto pistols are pretty reliable with just about anything. Most guns in the past 25 years are so will eat anything. Some are more accurate, some hit on or close to agreeing with fixed sights. I have several guns that have never had a feeding issue of any kind.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Pretty self explanatory. How many hollow points do you run through your gun to test reliability? I run 100 at a minimum (typically 150-250) to verify reliability in my auto loaders. In a revolver it has been as few as 20, mostly checking for crimp jump in the lightweight snubs.

I know several people that only run 1 magazine of hollow points and call it good. I couldn't possibly feel confident in my defensive ammo/gun with so few rounds tested.

My defensive handgun is a Glock 19. It's a known quantity using common ammunition. I put a box through it and called it good.

 

[herrwalther]

I work on a curve. If I can shoot 100 HP rounds through it with no hiccups, I call it good. If I get one or two malfunctions out of 100, I usually shoot more to attempt replicating the problem again. The most important thing I focus on is paying attention to which magazine I am using if I have a malfunction. Whenever I consider switching my carry ammo to a different brand, I pay attention to which stuff patterns the best in my firearm that I am shooting.

 

[SteadyD]

My defensive handgun is a Glock 19. It's a known quantity using common ammunition. I put a box through it and called it good.

I typically trust that size auto loader more than pocket size. For example, 50 rounds might convince me from an M&P full size, but wouldn't be sufficient to make me fully confident in an LCP.

 

[JohnBiltz]

Its gun dependent in my mind. If I'm shooting a Glock or S&W I'm starting with the assumption its good to go and I'm just confirming it. Something exotic or a 1911 needs to prove itself.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

just enough to make sure it works and check the sights

 

[Trunk Monkey]

I'm not saying that any manufacturer can't produce a lemon if a given brand has issues we will USUALLY have heard about it here.

If I don't have a reason to suspect that a given brand has issues I don't worry about it too much.

The only gun I've ever owned that had continual feed issues was a CZ 2075 RAMI in .40 S&W and that was a known issue for that model of that gun. I don't know if they ever fixed the problem in that model but I ended up selling MINE to a pawn shop in Colorado Springs.

I think the worst guns I ever owned where I had like three or four Llamas. A .25, a .32, a .380, a 9mm and a .45ACP and even they shot everything I put in the magazine.

 

[481]

Like quite a few, I am satisfied with 150 - 200 rounds through a quality handgun (Glock, S&W, SigSauer, H&K, etc.).

 

[The Evangelist Cowboy]

Dont know... Dont use Hollow points as a defensive round (I can hear the gasps now)