Does Your Training Ammo Match Your SD/HD Ammo?

[ElDub1950]

If not, why not?

Disregarding plinking ammo which is generally whatever we can find or reload cheap, do you try to make sure your ammo, used for formal or informal training, match whatever you have chosen for your defensive round?

I see so many people talking about their +P and +P+ defensive ammo, but I have serious doubts that they actually train with equivalent ammo. I can tell a big difference between my 115 gr generic reloads and my 147 gr Fed American Eagle fmj.

Of course any range time is valuable but if you spend all of your range and training time shooting 115 gr WWB and the only time you ever fire your 147 gr +P or 124 gr +P+ or .45 +P is the 20 rounds you tested once a couple of years ago, are you going to be significantly less accurate / effective in a real SD situation?

Personally, my current SD/HD .40s are 180gr @ 1050 fps and my training rounds are 180gr @ 1025 fps .. closest I could find. I'll be adding 9mm and likely choose Fed HST 147gr standard pressure and will reload my training rounds to match it fairly close.

Just a general question for those far more experienced than me. Am I over thinking this?

[Trenchfoot]

I am starting to reload to do exactly that. I prefer standard pressure 124gr HST for my 9mm defensive loads. Most of the boxes of 9mm target ammo I find is 115 or 147 grain.

[Press Check]

I load what I plink with, train with and load in my magazines for SD / HD, which is Hornady XTP in 9 and 45. The same applies to rifle rounds.

[Jsalud]

I wish I could afford to practice with what I use for HD/SD. Those damn Gold Dots aren't too kind on my wallet. Maybe once I reload I can get closer.

[ElDub1950]

I wish I could afford to practice with what I use for HD/SD. Those damn Gold Dots aren't too kind on my wallet. Maybe once I reload I can get closer.

Yeah, pretty tough to train with actual SD ammo, but it's not too difficult to find off the shelf range ammo to pretty closely matches any standard pressure SD ammo.

[Sleighter]

Nope. The difference between my reloads and +P ammo is less than 2" at 50 ft. I consider that negligible for defensive shooting. That and I dont run +P for SD.

[sholling]

I use heavy weight 124gr +P or 147gr 9mm SD ammo so I train with 124 fmj. 230gr +P for 45acp so I train with 230 fmj because I'm looking for the POIs to come as close as possible between 10-25yds when practicing so that I know what to expect. I seriously doubt that you will notice the +P's added recoil in an adrenaline fueled situation and your unlikely to be fixated on attaining quarter sized groups.

[ServiceCop]

What does your actual training consist of? Target shooting HD/SD rounds hardly constitutes training for a self defense scenario. You want to mimic a SD situation so you shoot your HD/SD ammo but you neglect the biggest part which is the scenario/environment. Doesn't make much sense.

[FUBAR]

I carry 147 hp and train with 147 fmj as it is cheaper.

[Corbin Dallas]

The answer for me is yes. I load my ammo to near factory spec. My 45 acp chronos at an avg of 890fps with a SD of 7fps. These are not plus p but are close enough to most sd/hd shelf bought ammo.

[drtyhands]

Nope, I am not affected as much as I thought by the different loads.
I'll run hundreds of cheaper then finish off with a few score of SD's for a range confirmation nightcap

[wpod]

The majority if my current drills is with snap-caps.
Drawing and first shot. Transition back and forth between shotgun and pistol. Tactical reloading.

Sent from my VS950 4G using Tapatalk

[L84CABO]

I wish I could afford to practice with what I use for HD/SD. Those damn Gold Dots aren't too kind on my wallet. Maybe once I reload I can get closer.

+1. But I do try to run through a box of 50 of my Federal HST's a couple times of year. My defense gun is a 45 ACP and I'm not using a +P round...so my plinking ammo is pretty close anyway.

[perpetual otter]

Does Your Training Ammo Match Your SD/HD Ammo?

I shoot pu$$y rounds reloaded by my local range a lot lately. I also reload pretty decent stuff for 223 and 45 but I only run a box of defensive ammo once a year. I tried doing push-ups and jumping jacks (all to get my lungs and heart working hard) before I shot a magazine of SD ammo the other day and I was actually pleasantly surprised at my performance. By no means .5 inch groups but effective nonetheless.

[jg7]

“Train like you fight, and fight like you train.”

I reload, so I pick an energy level and bullet type I’m comfortable with and generally shoot that.

That’s not to say I don’t make a selection of lower power rounds for friends/newer shooters or to add a little variety sometimes (fundamentals work).

I read an article in the Cowboy Chronicle once that really hit home. It was talking about Tombstone, and a satirical mythical conversation between combatants about to enter battle, saying how light and low recoiling their loads were for quick follow up shots and best times. The gist being, who is going to go into battle with loads that, while they may be accurate, are designed to barely knock down plates/puncture paper? Light loads are great for competition, but may not be so good for survival.