RANGEor PRACTICE AMMO

I’m often asked which load for any particular cartridge would be good cheap “range” or “practice” ammo? There are so many potential problems with this question that I could literally write a book on the subject, but for now, this short article will have to do.

I practice with ammo I carry in the gun, not with some sort of cheaper “range” ammo that will have a different muzzle blast, recoil impulse, point of impact, etc., than my carry ammo. When the “chips are down”, I have no desire to pull the trigger with ammo I have not been practicing with. I do not want any surprises when that moment of truth (when people’s lives are on the line) arrives, so I practice with ammo that I carry in the gun, not different ammo…….by doing this, nothing changes under stress and there are no surprises, at least not from the gun/ammo combination I’m using. Last but not least, by practicing with ammo I carry, I do not have to re-sight the gun in after every time I practice with different ammo.

The only exception to the above paragraph would be when I am initially breaking in a new pistol. Some pistols require at least 400-500 rounds of break-in to become reliable. Match pistols require double that break in number due to their ultra-tight tolerances. While some types of pistols (like Glocks) require less break-in to function reliably, still, I put at least a few hundred rounds and often more rounds through a new gun. For this chore, I will use some cheap range ammo, (However, never gun show re-loads assembled by some person I do not know) but as soon as the gun is broken in, I’ll sight in my gun with and start using my intended carry load for practice. If I am going to shoot anyone or any animal to save the lives of others, it will be done with ammo that I have practiced with, a lot.

Good shooting and God bless,

Tim Sundles