First batch of defense rounds, what quality control do i need to do?

[mallen]

ok. after the first few mags now its doing the same.... number 13 out of 14 rounds wont feed. im confused on this one now.

[5Shot]

Hand cycling or live fire?

[mallen]

hand cycle

[knifemaker]

Ditch that mag and get a new one. I am going to be honest with you and I do mean to insult you. Based on the questions you are asking you should not be reloading and carrying your reloads for self defense. Your life is more valuable then spending a few bucks for quality factory defense rounds that your can depend on to SAVE YOUR LIFE. I have been reloading for about 40 years and I was a certified law enforcement firearms instructor. In the past I have carried my own ammo for self defense. All that ammo was made using new factory cases, no reloaded brass, and quality control steps taken to insure reliable accurate ammo. I very seldom do that now and buy factory self defense ammo. You should give it some serious consideration as you do not need to have doubts about your ammo when shots are fired in anger and your stress level is at it's highest.

[mallen]

its doing it on another mag as well. most of the time. i added a round and still, next to last round wants to jam. its confusing to me. i wont be carrying this ammo till i figure it out. all i can think is it doesnt like the short rounds. being that these are shorter than the round nose i make. those work perfectly. so ill make up some that are a bit longer. see how those do.

[5Shot]

I'm pretty sure he meant "I don't mean to insult you"...could be wrong though.

Hand cycling won't give you the real picture, and repeatedly chambering rounds can cause setback and a KB. You should be firing them at the range.

That said, I agree with knifemaker.

[mallen]

i thought about that, firing to see how they do on that wise. there is a chance they would work, but the way i figure it, if there is any issue at all, period, they shouldnt be carried. so ill carry the factory loads till i get it absolutely perfect.

they do run perfect in the s&w shield. although im sure thell be shot at the range before that gun actually gets carried.

[5Shot]

Hand cycling isn't function testing...way more physics going on during live fire. I wouldn't use that as my go/no go criteria. Many guns don't do well with hand cycling but function 100% during live fire.

[mallen]

I understand. my fns has always functioned perfectly cycling by hand. the shield you have to be careful with or it doesnt go into battery by hand.

like i said. these will stay at home till i can make some new ones that work better.

[Geezer in NH]

I would buy defense ammo...but that's me. You could load equivalent for practice, but I don't know of anyone who makes their own PD Ammo.

I trust my own loads better than the factory's. Mine all have flash holes and no upside down primers.

[Forgetful]

Mallen you should buy a pack of wolff springs for those mags, and lap/polish the inside of the mag to allow the follower a smoother slide. This solves 99% of the "round 13 always jams" and the like. Jams are almost always attributed to the magazine. So if you're carrying, you should want the most reliable magazine you can find.

[mallen]

ill look into it, thanks for the advice

[truckerdave397]

All of my self defence ammo was bought on sale. No body can pass up a good sale.

[mallen]

All of my self defence ammo was bought on sale. No body can pass up a good sale.

I make ammo for about 10 cents a piece

[Digital Dan]

I build better ammo than factories, 10 times out of 10. Never had a failure to fire or squib from my handloads with one exception and that was a new/old gun that needed a new firing pin. Can't say the same about factory fodder. With that said I haven't a clue why I should trust my life to somebody else that assembles ammo.

[W.R.Buchanan]

If you are really worried about this then maybe buying Factory Ammo is a good idea. It's usually pretty good except for Rimfire nowadays.

You can load your own and then look at each one and ask yourself,,, "will I bet my life on this one?" The only acceptable answer is yes! or else you shouldn't use it.
I load pretty good ammunition and I know how to fix a malfunction of a pistol in a Flash. I won't have any problem using my ammo for defensive use. In fact that's all I have for defensive use at home.

I personally think a more valid question here is "Are you willing to kill someone?"

If you aren't willing to kill someone at the drop of a hat, and haven't already figured out what would trigger that response if you decided to, then maybe this conversation is Mute.

If you have then I would get real good with your carry gun. During this familiarization process you should be able to deduce if the gun and ammo are reliable enough to bet your life on, and you should also be learning how to fix it if it fails.

Any ammo that goes bang with a reasonable degree of certainty is more than adequate. I don't care how good your ammo is or how nice your gun is there is a chance that it won't go off. if it doesn't you need to fix it fast.

I was in a man on man shoot at a Front Sight rifle class. My gun did a double feed after a failure to extract on the very first shot of the first stage. However so did the other guys gun. I had my gun cleared in less than 5 seconds and won the stage. He had not even finished clearing his gun before I was done shooting. I won 4 successive stages before I got beat fair and square on the last stage by an 28 year old fresh out of Afgan. 2nd out of 60 wasn't bad. Only problem was,,, there wasn't a 2nd place. He was just faster than me.

The point of this statement is not about me, it's about you. If you think that there is any ammo or gun that is 100% reliable,,, Think again. The point is you have to run what you brung. Ya kinda need to win the drag race too, no matter what happens out of the hole. There isn't any 2nd place in a real gun fight.

An alternative is to not show up at the gun fight at all. Avoidance is the best defense. Being aware of your surroundings and completely avoiding confrontation is key to survival.

Where I live in CA you would have to decide what you are willing to go to jail for, because if you shot someone,,, unless it was a clearly witnessed self defense situation chances are you'd be going to jail.

I chose avoidance over carrying a gun in public. If things get much worse I might change my mind.

This is my .02 on this subject. YMMV.

Randy

[country gent]

The "plunk test" is using the pistols actual chamber to lightly drop the ammo into and seeing if it chambers / seats fully under its own wieght. On a pistol the barrel is used or a revolver the cylinders chambers are used, The tightest one if you know which one that is. Most semi autos dont feed the same by hand as being fired due to recoil, flex, slide intertia speed. Magazines that feed are thing to be cherished ones that dont need to be worked on to insure they do. Comparing a good one to the one not working as to feed lips angle, radious, length. Mag bodies finish and warps, dings, sticky spots. Springs tension, dia and form. Also that front is front and back is back. Followers fit finish, angle, radious or form. Any diffrent drag feel can make a difrence. Keep in mind from full to last few rounds angle of the cartridge can change slightly. Trouble shooting a magazine is alot of diffrent issues that replacement is sometimes better. Mark the ones that are issues and use for practice they may "break in and become reliable. But if you drop and damage one that isnt always reliable its not a big issue..

[knifemaker]

Thanks 5Shot, I did mean, "I don't mean to insult you". Glad you picked that mistake up and corrected me.

[Slow Elk 45/70]

PD rounds are varied for me depending where the weapon is to be used....yes I make my own. Depending on where you live, if you should need to terminate some jerk that really need it....you might want to use factory ammo, in case some smart SOB lawyer might want to accuse you of making "Killer" boolits, don't laugh it happens....

[Rick O'Shay]

Its a good idea to number your mags. If you start having issues with a particular mag you can correct the problem.