Anybody else have an ammo drawer?
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slowly closes all the drawers in my house
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slowly closes closet doors
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Slowly looks at a wall of ammo cans and opens the drawer containing random single rounds from various ammo boxes. YUP!
Cheers,
Craig6
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@John292–tons of great points!
For me, the accuracy of the handloads for practice is 'close enough for government work and is primarily for my 1911’s in .45. They hit pretty similar out to 10 yards, and you’re right–most shooting for me is 5-7 yards. I don’t change my sights for the practice, I dial them in with the defensive loads and work on consistency with the fundamentals {grip, aiming, breath control, hold control, trigger control and follow through) with the practice rounds.
And they are really inexpensive compared to factory.
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hahaha!
I would stock up like that but I’m under the impression ammo goes bad after so long.
Is this wise tell true?
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If properly stored, ammo will last for a looooooong time. As in decades.
To store ammo well, put it in a sealed ammo can, toss a desicant pack in it, keep it indoors (house, garage) to protect from massive temp swings.
Ammo that is “mil-spec” will be crimped and/or sealed for even better protection against the elements. Some people are still shooting WW2 ammo in their M1 Garands…
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So, ammo is like fine wine? 
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Indeed it is!
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hahahaha
That is good to know!
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huh? what? what ammo?
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hahaha!
I got enough for my trip to the range & (or) self defense–God forbid but enough
That’s not counting whats in my gun and its spare mag not to mention my staged fire arms and their spare. (Some randoms in the gun safe)
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I have fired in less than pleasant circumstances M2 machine gun ammo with a head stamp of 54. 5.56 with a head stamp of 68. At one time I needed solid ballistic data for my 1898 30-40 Krag and took apart one round and fired 4 rounds that were manufactured in 1899. All of the above went boom as required. I have even as recently as this year fired .308 that I loaded in 1989. So if ammo goes bad it must be after 100 years or so but alas it is hard to find 200 year old brass cartridges 
Cheers,
Craig6
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I practice and carry the same ammunition. It may be a bit more expensive,however. I am used to all of the characteristics. I obviously checked for bullet drop over distance,terminal velocity 1100fps at p.o.i (approx) . But a big one is powder residue from firing ,burn rate etc.
For me I typically use one of two ammunition types for any given pistol,based upon performance( including expansion etc) Also abuse firing capabilities(lack of cleaning, performance when wet etc). Some of my thinking is crossover from rifles,sealed primers etc. However,being careful,safe and precautionary never hurts. Our useage also usually comes when we really don’t want it too,under conditions we can’t control,so for me- the more I consider and do right ahead of time is just protection.
Online also generally has some bulk purchase opportunities.
My basics. Weapon peculiarities,residue left,ammo performance (fog, water,heat etc.) Terminal velocity. My EDC is a 40 so that also figures in to my calculation. I’ll spend a little more,for the hidden extras
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For me there is defensive ammo and there is practice ammo.
I neither need or care to store large quantities of defensive ammo, and I probably couldn’t afford to if I did.
Practice ammo, OTOH, is a regular and very predictable consumable—whether you shoot a lot of it or little. With the recent ammo shortages and resultant price hikes this makes keeping larger quantities of practice ammo, and/or hand loading, more attractive if not a necessity.
How much ammo and components is up to you and local fire ordinances as well as available secure space.
FWIW, I knew a gent, a civilian, who survived living in Nazi, and later Soviet, occupied Poland during WW2. Firearms were forbidden of course, and predictably there were gangs of hooligans roving around the countryside stealing whatever wasn’t nailed down.
He told me he made it through the entire war with just 300 rounds of parabellum and his father’s (a White Russian Army officer who was executed) Radom pistol.
Why 300? It was (6 boxes) a convenient amount to cache to avoid discovery and if needed, easily transported to another location in the pockets of an overcoat or a farm wagon.
BTW ammunition does degrade over time, depending on several factors and it isn’t just benign degradation. The US military doesn’t store ammo “forever” because of this.
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Inexpensive (not cheap) is not bad ammo. If the ammo performs well in your gun and s ballistically sound (penetration, expansion, …) then stick with it. I see a fair amount of JHP ammo that comes in shiny nickel plated casings that has a near exact duplicate in a brass casing. My assumption is that the performance will be similar.
Personally, my preference for EDC is Federal HST which happens to be the same that LMPD currently carries. With over 20 law enforcement agencies in Louisvlle and more in surrounding counties it is safe to say, there are numerous brands of ammo being used in my area.
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I cannot say with any legal authority that carrying the same ammo as your local police department would prevail in front of a jury, but, it cannot hurt. I think what is more important would be how you explain why you carry what you carry. The easy answer for carrying what police carry is that if it’s good enough to for them, it must be good for me too. We all assume that the local department tests what they are shooting and can justify their choice based on performance and other factors. That is probably true for large departments but their answer may be because x agency does so or they trust a brand. In some instances you also need to remember that what an agency does may be based on the lowest bid.
You must also consider what weapon you are using versus what the department carries. Are they shooting the same caliber, brand and model firearm? Shooting a Glock 43 Is a lot different than shooting Glock 34s? Two inches of barrel and 7 ounces make a big difference in handling.
I think the main thing about choosing your ammunition is to be able to articulate why you use what you use as @Dawn said!
And as to all legal questions, the real answer is always “It depends!”
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Remember some wine turns into vinegar when it ages
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…and the safe
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And the trunk
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