Failure to feed

[Kaptein L]

M43 and ady what bullets and weight do you use?

[SoldierMan]

Lots of factory ammo sucks ass. The factory T Rex slayer hollow point in your EDC might just be that one in a million dud... When the factory maybe made 10 M of that specific batch...It amazes me that people have the runny shits if they find out I carry home assembled (and QA'ed by me) ammo. (Not reloads, newly loaded)

But its perfectly normal to go hunt an elephant / lion buffalo or some other big thing that will surely kill you if it gets half a chance, with self loaded ammo...

If you can load one round perfectly you can load ten perfectly... and then 100 perfectly loaded rounds isn't such a big challenge.

Anyone know if factory self defense ammo undergoes some kind of better quality control than regular range ammo?

[M43]

M43 and ady what bullets and weight do you use?

My EDC is a 9mm, my current load is a 115 gr Sierra Power jacket HP at about 1200 fps from a G19.
When those get converted to range brass I have a container full of 115 Hornady XTPs loaded to the same velocity. (But If anyone knows where I can get more Powerjackets I'm all ears...)

I have shot buckets full of the above over the years. I have not managed to make any of the guns I own choke on it.
And I have seen with my own eyes what my carry ammo does in actual armed robber media (bare media and through a car door and side window). I see no reason to switch to anything else.

On the other hand I have seen 2 instances where the old Winchester Black Talon 127gr +P+ load behaved EXACTLY like FMJ / Ball.
Their newer bullets might be better but given some of the shitty factory Winchester rounds I've seen come out of brand new boxes I would rather load my own stuff.

The one factory load I would trust my life (and wallet) to would be regular CBC / Magtech 115gr HP's. (the "9C" load) I carried those at one stage.
It looks exactly like the old Winchester Silvertips but its copper coloured, They always open up and they do well on car body panels. (I didn't Google it; I saw it for myself) And if you can find them they are priced so that you CAN actually function test them without selling a kidney.

[M43]

Anyone know if factory self defense ammo undergoes some kind of better quality control than regular range ammo?

If that was the case you would not be able to buy an R800 box of Winchester HP's that you still need to remove the belling from the case mouths...

[zguy]

My EDC is a 9mm, my current load is a 115 gr Sierra Power jacket HP at about 1200 fps from a G19.
When those get converted to range brass I have a container full of 115 Hornady XTPs loaded to the same velocity. (But If anyone knows where I can get more Powerjackets I'm all ears...)

I have shot buckets full of the above over the years. I have not managed to make any of the guns I own choke on it.
And I have seen with my own eyes what my carry ammo does in actual armed robber media (bare media and through a car door and side window). I see no reason to switch to anything else.

On the other hand I have seen 2 instances where the old Winchester Black Talon 127gr +P+ load behaved EXACTLY like FMJ / Ball.
Their newer bullets might be better but given some of the shitty factory Winchester rounds I've seen come out of brand new boxes I would rather load my own stuff.

The one factory load I would trust my life (and wallet) to would be regular CBC / Magtech 115gr HP's. (the "9C" load) I carried those at one stage.
It looks exactly like the old Winchester Silvertips but its copper coloured, They always open up and they do well on car body panels. (I didn't Google it; I saw it for myself) And if you can find them they are priced so that you CAN actually function test them without selling a kidney.

What new brass are you using? Also, powders and make of primers? Single stage or progressive press?

Do you use them for your work as well or just in your private FA?

Any tricks or extra steps like using a FCD or crimping pockets etc etc?

You make a valid point about loading for big 5 game but not wanting to load for 9mm EDC rounds...

[zguy]

If that was the case you would not be able to buy an R800 box of Winchester HP's that you still need to remove the belling from the case mouths...

I would k@k in my pants, especially considering what 'premium' ammo costs....

[Kaptein L]

My EDC is a 9mm, my current load is a 115 gr Sierra Power jacket HP at about 1200 fps from a G19.
When those get converted to range brass I have a container full of 115 Hornady XTPs loaded to the same velocity. (But If anyone knows where I can get more Powerjackets I'm all ears...)

I have shot buckets full of the above over the years. I have not managed to make any of the guns I own choke on it.
And I have seen with my own eyes what my carry ammo does in actual armed robber media (bare media and through a car door and side window). I see no reason to switch to anything else.

On the other hand I have seen 2 instances where the old Winchester Black Talon 127gr +P+ load behaved EXACTLY like FMJ / Ball.
Their newer bullets might be better but given some of the shitty factory Winchester rounds I've seen come out of brand new boxes I would rather load my own stuff.

The one factory load I would trust my life (and wallet) to would be regular CBC / Magtech 115gr HP's. (the "9C" load) I carried those at one stage.
It looks exactly like the old Winchester Silvertips but its copper coloured, They always open up and they do well on car body panels. (I didn't Google it; I saw it for myself) And if you can find them they are priced so that you CAN actually function test them without selling a kidney.

Thanks for the answer good food for thought.

[Kaptein L]

What new brass are you using? Also, powders and make of primers? Single stage or progressive press?

Do you use them for your work as well or just in your private FA?

Any tricks or extra steps like using a FCD or crimping pockets etc etc?

You make a valid point about loading for big 5 game but not wanting to load for 9mm EDC rounds...

Yes please give more detail.

Plus do you have experience on how the XTP 115 gr performs in real live ?

[Adoons]

I know it is not the same, but I have shot some pigs over the years with .44 Magnum with Hornady XTP. Never found one that did not mushroom or completely fail like in break into pieces on impact.

[A-R]

I have carried self-loaded 9mm XTP's for many years. Living in a rural area means I get to use them occasionally on targets ranging from trespassing black mambas (any volunteers to come catch them on demand?) to vervets, baboons, poacher's dogs and warthogs. I have used 115gn (1250fps), 124 gn (1200fps) and 147gn XTP's (1000fps). All of them seem to expand fine in live media, the lighter ones slightly faster, the 147's seem to penetrate deeper. The few I have recovered show good mushrooms. I also did my QC like my life might depend on it, so I have good confidence in them. I have shot about 1000 of them so far and can report 1 misfire, likely due to a dud Winchester primer. (All the ammo that accidentally landed in the laundry still fired perfectly.) Once my stash is depleted, I will carry my factory JHP ammo, before it gets old. I have a few packs of Winchesters, my favourite load is the 127gn +P+ stuff.

Loading procedure for carry ammo is not the same as range ammo. I do put more effort into my range loads than a few other reloaders that I know. I use selected 1-fired brass from a single make, each one individually inspected for bulges, cracks and other defects. I like nickel plated cases, simply because they stay shiny for longer. (They are easier to find on the ground too.) Cases are properly cleaned after decapping. Powder charges are each visually checked. I only load powders that measure very consistently in my measure. Up to recently I was limited to local powders, which were ok, but now we have better powders available occasionally. The local handgun powders are/where not too bad to start with. The only improvement that one can hope for is a cleaner burn and less muzzle flash. When loading a fresh batch, especially the amount of flash would influence my powder selection. Primer selection would be important too. I have a liking for Federal primers in handgun loads. Definitely not Murom, S&B or Ginex, although they are fine for competition loads. CCI seem good, but they are slightly harder. Winchester are not bad either. No idea how Fiocchi and the rest will do in my guns. I hand-prime the cases, but the loading is done on a progressive.

Having related all that, when I hit the road to the Big Smoke, I swap my mags and carry PDX or Ranger T. These do offer better expansion than the older generation XTP bullet can.

My needs and circumstances differ from yours, so this is not an instruction manual for everyone. Take from it what you can use and adapt to your own needs. My point is that I prefer to load my own carry ammo for both reliability and cost. My QC process is likely much better than that of the big manufacturers.

I have seen some pretty crazy mistakes in factory ammo from all makers, even high-end brands like RWS. I have seen a round of a different caliber mixed in a sealed pack. I have seen ammo without powder and even without a flash hole. I have seen damaged rounds. These things can happen if you load a million rounds per batch. Do check your carry ammo before you carry it.