Loading firearms question

[CaliforniaSelfDefense]

I work as an armed security guard 4 days a week and I have a question about loading my firearm.

When i get to work I chamber a round and when I am off of work I de-chamber the round. I do this 4 days a week. How will it affect the same 1-2 rounds that I am chambering? Is this an Ok practice as far as my firearm/ammunition is concerned? Should I use a rotation of more than the 1 or 2 rounds that I am using on a weekly basis?

What are your suggestions/concerns? Thanks.

[OneSevenDeuce]

It shouldn't affect your rounds at all. Just make sure you chamber your rounds from the magazine and not by hand.

[plan-b]

Bullet set-back is the real risk. When the nose of the round rams into the feedramp over and over again, the bullet can slowly creep back into the case. If/when it gets fired, you could potentially have an overpressure situation. Anecdotal evidence (if you believe all the internets) says that .40 is slightly more prone to overpressure from set-back than .45 or 9mm. If you have calipers and can measure the rounds that you chamber and re-chamber, you can compare against standard rounds to see if the bullets are creeping back.

[OneSevenDeuce]

^^^ That might start to be a problem after years and years, but I'd bet even then it wont be an issue.

[SexualChocolate]

I have read from numerous places that this is a bad practice as stated above due to bullet set back.

Is there a reason you don't keep the weapon with one in the chamber all the time?

What kind of pistol is it?

[fennecfrank]

Bullet set-back is the real risk. When the nose of the round rams into the feedramp over and over again, the bullet can slowly creep back into the case. If/when it gets fired, you could potentially have an overpressure situation. Anecdotal evidence (if you believe all the internets) says that .40 is slightly more prone to overpressure from set-back than .45 or 9mm. If you have calipers and can measure the rounds that you chamber and re-chamber, you can compare against standard rounds to see if the bullets are creeping back.

+1 to this post.

[OneSevenDeuce]

I will say that I loaded the same 1 or 2 rounds into my weapon for 16 months in Iraq when I left the wire. When I was preparing to go home and blasting some ammo those 1 or 2 rounds worked fine. In real life a lot of these technical risks don't mean much. But hey, nothing wrong with rotating your rounds if you want to be double sure. Shoot your carry ammo at the range and replace it when you leave. Easy way to ensure that you always have new rounds.

[ir0nclash86]

It shouldn't affect your rounds at all. Just make sure you chamber your rounds from the magazine and not by hand.

How come you can't chamber the round by hand?

[SixtyDashOne]

Every now and then if I've chambered the same round more than a few times, I will drop it in my range bag and replace it with a fresh round, just in case. I'd rather lose a 50 cent round every so often than risk damaging my gun or injuring myself due to an overpressure situation from bullet setback.

[OneSevenDeuce]

How come you can't chamber the round by hand?

It can damage the extractor over time.

[ir0nclash86]

It can damage the extractor over time.

I better stop doing that then. Thanks for the heads up.

[RTE]

It can damage the extractor over time.

OneSevenDeuce
Would it help to give more detail on why it may damage the extractor over time?
I know why,but it couldn't hurt to spell it out for the rest.

[OneSevenDeuce]

Excellent idea. When you drop a round in the chamber by hand the extractor will do one of two things, depending on your gun. It will slam against the rear of the case and not engage at all, or it will actually bend into place around the rim. Either one of these things can weaken or crack the extractor over time.

[rojocorsa]

Nevermind...

[9mmepiphany]

Both of these practices/advice originate from the 1911, as do many other things taught when learning about how to operate an auto pistol. While they may not be universally applicable across other platforms, they certainly don't hurt anything.

When the 1911 chambers a .45ACP round, the bullet is first slammed into the feeding ramp and then the roof of the barrel hood on it's way into the chamber...this can push a bullet back into a case in short order. Contributing factors would be neck tension holding the bullet of in place.

The two platforms that come to mind that do not suffer from this are the H&K P7 and the Beretta 92, as neither of them have tilting barrels and afford a straight feed from the magazine into the chamber.

Not chambering a round directly into the barrel is due to breakage problems this causes with the 1911 extractor. Again neither the H&K P7 nor the Beretta 92 have this issue. The Beretta was held up as an example of this during a Advanced Handgun course I took with a former Marine Instructor. He related that they broke numerous extractors during drills with their M1911s, but that the failures stopped when they converted over to the M9s