how many rounds do you put through a pistol before YOU CARRY IT

[GRIZZLYBEAR]

How many trouble free rounds do you require your pistol or revolver to fire before you are willing to call it carry ready?

These are my opinions and they work for me:

For a revolver ,300 rounds. For a semi-auto 500 trouble free rounds. I set the round count to zero if a FTF, FTE, or FTRB is encountered, and start over till 500 is reached.



When I test an autoloader, it has to go through 500 rounds of the ammunition that I've decided to carry, not that number of ball rounds or cheaper ammunition. Ball will feed in most anything, some guns are picky about hollow points.

Use the same mags for this test that you plan on using for carry. It means you have to stop every two or three mags to reload them, but the mags are the most likely part to fail, so they must be the ones you use. When a failure encountered, I mark the magazine that had the failure with an X with my sharpie. If there is another failure with that magazine it gets shelved, the gun cleaned, with extra attention to the extractor, a good ramp polish and start all over again with different mags.

If I bought the semi-auto used, I give it detail strip-down and cleaning, I replace the mag and recoil springs before I start the test. The mainspring and extractor spring (if present) are also replaced. If it is a used revolver, a strip-down and a quick action job along with a good cleaning.

4) For a revolver, it doesn't matter if the ammo doesn't want to chamber easily due to powder accumulation after a dozen or more cylindersful of ammo. You're going to carry it clean. Brush out the chambers and under the extractor star after every five or six gunloads. OTOH, if rounds don't want to drop in after one or two cylindersful, you need to change the ammo.

These are just my requirements and not recommendations.

grizz

[dgg9]

1. 500 rds FMJ just to break it in. Glocks generally have no failures here, but it's not a dealbreaker. Gun cleaned here.
2. 500 rds cheap HP (Blazer is good for this) in the gun and in the mags that came with the gun. No failures allowed. Gun cleaned here.
3. Gun gets cycled through a weekend training class, where you typically shoot 1,000 rds w/o cleaning, gun gets dirt and mud in it -- a sort of mini-torture test.
4. After that, gun is cleaned thoroughly, and it is either designated a range gun or carry gun. Carry gun gets several boxes carry ammo run through it.

[ChamberedRound]

I put about 500 rds through my M&P, with little to no cleaning, before I started carrying it. I tried a bunch of different JHP and FMJ to make sure all was well, and after not a single FTE or FTF, I figured it was OK.

I now have just under 1000 rounds through the gun, and again, no FTEs or FTFs, so I'm confident it will go BANG if I ever need it to (God forbid).

[Thekatar]

I say 1,000 rounds through a semi-auto pistol or rifle/carbine before I call it "reliable."

[RoyJackson]

For any Taurus, I'd go 200 rounds (for carry or not). I am a real Taurus fan and a Taurus 85 is my primary carry weapon.
Kahr reccomends a 200 round break in.
Glock..I'd carry from day 1 (if it's a 9mm)

[JayBell]

I put at least 100 straight rounds of what I'm going to carry in it without a malfunction, and thats after regualr breakin of 1-200 rds at least.

the gun must shoot the carry ammo flawlessly for me to use it.

[G21.45]

I'll do a minimum of 500 rounds through a semi-auto pistol; however, I'm happy with 100 rounds, or so, through a revolver.

(Got 'a remember to check each of your carry magazines, too!)

[dgg9]

(Got 'a remember to check each of your carry magazines, too!)

Back in the heyday of the AWB, I remember buying $50 - $75 hicap mags in droves, then spending entire afternoons at the range testing them.

[Frenchy]

I guess i am just one of those guys that believes in Murphey's law, You can put 5000 rounds through your gun without a hitch, pull it out and see the first round jamb when you really need it, or put a single round in and have it jamb, then pull it out and see it function flawlessly.
I put the rounds through the gun untill i am satisfied I can handle the gun, Its not the gun I test so much as it is me using the gun properly.
On the other hand, I have never seen my guns have a bad hair day, I have one at least once a week Its pretty rough to control the wind some days, and the 4 hairs i have on top of my head seem to have a mind of their own!

[dgg9]

Thanks for sharing! It's comforting to know that I'm not the only idiot who went out and paid as much as $125.00, each, for magazines that are now selling for under 20 bucks, apiece.

You're hardly the only one. In fact, as it stands now, I have the world's most expensive "range and training" mag collection.

PS: Of course, with Hillary announced for the White House, I'm presently contemplating buying up as much of the existing stock of standard capacity magazines as I can afford;

You and me both. I think we have maybe 2 safe years left, so buy everything you need to NOW.