Pistol Loading Question

[hillman]

How do Departments/Agencies issue and account for an individual's Duty ammunition?

Are they given "X" amount of ammunition, or just enough for a daily load-out?

I think if I was in that situation; Every "cleared" round would go into a coffee can for range time and not recycled back into the chamber or magazine.

It's a perfect way to train with the same ammo you carry and depend on.

That's only 260 rounds a year for a 5-day work week... Well worth the cost.

My department, my chief handed me a box of ammo. Said "you want practice ammo too, or you good?" I said practice ammo please. He handed me half a box of WWB and said "That should be enough." I'm not making it up. When I left, he literally asked for ALL of it back. Three years later.

 

[enbloc]

My department, my chief handed me a box of ammo. Said "you want practice ammo too, or you good?" I said practice ammo please. He handed me half a box of WWB and said "That should be enough." I'm not making it up. When I left, he literally asked for ALL of it back. Three years later.

So, do most LEO's buy/carry/train with ammo they purchase in addition to Department supplied ammunition?

 

[hillman]

So, do most LEO's buy/carry/train with ammo they purchase in addition to Department supplied ammunition?

Most only train if they are forced to. They carry what the department gives them.

 

[Darkwood Arms]

I would recommend loading your 1st round into the chamber with a magazine that has only one round in it, running the slide moderately by hand to chamber the round, then insert your fully loaded mag and then carry on.

Bullet setback is a real thing caused by rechambering the round repeatedly and is usually made worse when doing it from a fully loaded mag as the top round , from a fully loaded mag, is more likely to nosedive into the feed ramp to a greater degree than one from a mag with only 1 round in it. Done repeatedly, this can hammer the bullet back into the case slightly each time it is performed. YMMV.

 

[enbloc]

Most only train if they are forced to. They carry what the department gives them.

I get the feeling no one had to force you to train.

 

[hillman]

I get the feeling no one had to force you to train.

No, I enjoy shooting. And LE discounts for ammo were good then.

 

[hillman]

So could someone explain to me how the action is different regarding the extractor hitting on a cartridge that has been dropped in directly versus skimming the first round from the mag?

 

[enbloc]

Round Chambered:
With the round in the chamber, the extractor moving forward contacts the rim edge of the brass while overcoming the extractor-spring pressure;
the extractor is then pushed outward and then falls back into the rim and seats the hook in a in a ratchet-like motion. Aggressive but functional...

Round Stripped:
As the slide moves forward it strips a round from the magazine and pushes the nose of the projectile upward toward the chamber mouth.
The cantilevering movement of the round slides the rim and casehead up while the tilting barrel and breech face come into alignment.
While this is occurring, the extractor is moving only enough to welcome the case rim into the breech face slot. Much gentler on the extractor...

This is of course not the case with every semi-auto firearm, but is quite common.

 

[Hailstorm]

I had done it a few times with a Glock 21. Then I had extraction issues. Broke the extractor.

 

[AHM]

I think that what you suggest would be fine with a spring-loaded extractor but I'm not sure..

Edgier people at least claim it's less un-fine with a pivoting extractor.

I had done it a few times with a Glock 21. Then I had extraction issues. Broke the extractor.

Those sound related, jus' sayin'.

 

[Marty McFly]

You know if you break a hi point you can send it back no questions asked. Just sayin

 

[enbloc]

I had done it a few times with a Glock 21. Then I had extraction issues. Broke the extractor.

Glocks have used MIM extractors as OEM since 2009...

 

[enbloc]

You know if you break a hi point you can send it back no questions asked. Just sayin

YEET!

 

[Hailstorm]

Glocks have used MIM extractors as OEM since 2009...

It was a gen 3 glock 21. I was trying to avoid bullet setback. Well, I cycle them through the mag now.

 

[MisterHappy]

In my TRP I’ve noticed that multiple loadings and unloading of the same +1 round from the magazine has resulted in the bullet becoming deeper set in the case. I rack the slide and let it go if it’s own volition. Should I guide the slide back slow?
Or just don’t be a poor and fire the round after three loads and buy more?

Mag dump when you clear it. Noisy, and tough on the plaster, but worth it.

 

[Quite_Exasperated]

Don’t overthink this, any quality modern handgun will take 10s of thousands of rounds without a parts failure (absent some minor manufacturing defect). How many rounds could you possibly load this way, dozens in a year? I wouldn’t give it a second thought.

 

[drgrant]

Lol @ all the likely uncessary admin handling here. Your carry ammo doesn’t get beat up if you just leave it loaded as long as you can. When I swap guns the previous one often just goes into the safe, live, in its holster.


“Ghetto port loading” handguns is bizarre, definitely not something to do to a 1911. More modern guns probably don’t care but I still wouldn’t do it anyways.

 

[In God We Trust]

Retired now, but at work we had to clear our weapons after every shift. I would shuffle the rounds so I didn’t use the same one all the time, but it was a pain in the ass.

So, do most LEO's buy/carry/train with ammo they purchase in addition to Department supplied ammunition?

I did. I would train fairly frequently with my own gun and ammo on my own time. When I was SWAT we had range once a month and pretty much shot for 6-8 hours. It got to the point where it wasn’t fun any more .

 

[enbloc]

Thanks for your great replies IGWT. And your Service...