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I have not carried odd or off brands of SD ammo in any of my carry guns when I had .40's or now that I've carried .45's the last several years.

I shoot about three full mags and if there are no hiccups I'm good to go. The first mag I'll shoot 3-4 rounds kinda slowly just to make sure there are no obvious feeding issues. If successful, I'll shoot the rest of that mag up and the other two as quick as I can with the mag changes. No hiccups, GTG. If there are any hiccups I'll try a 2-3 more mags to see if if was an anomaly or not. Then if there are no more hiccups I'm still GTG.

Nothing's perfect and there could still be a malfunction at any time, but I've also worked through things like that during matches.

I'm a fan of hollow points.

I use 124 gr Gold Dot JHP +P in my Glock 26 for my conceal carry ammo. Those boys pack a punch! When I'm at the range I use my 115 gr FMJ bulk ammo. I usually shoot 150 rounds or so of FMJ. I shot a box of my gold dots and called it good. Very expensive ammo

180 gr hornady critical duty 40 S&W out of a fullsize. if I were to carry a compact or a sub i'd carry their critical defense rounds. my 2nd choice would be speer gold dots

EDC: Federal Premium 124 gr. Target I use any 115 gr fmj that is on sale.

bblhd672 wrote:Search the internet for recommended self defense ammo for your hangun, ammo that has been proven to cycle reliably in your gun,. Buy a box and shoot a magazine or two full to see that it is giving the desired results. Carry the rest.

What he said.

Obviously, it is better to test repeatedly if you can afford it - but not everyone can afford it. But if you can afford to, buy the following:

Busy 100 rounds of cheap FMJ. You’re going to run this through the gun in one session to get it at least partially broken in and confirm that it generally functions OK. Some guns, like Glocks or M&Ps for instance, won’t really need to be broken in much and will run like a champ right out of the box. You might be able to do this with 50 rounds instead of a hundred with a gun like that. Other guns might need more break in than that. Unfortunately, a lot of .380 pistols are ammo finicky, but most will feed FMJs just fine, so this is a good way to get the gun broken in a bit.

Next.....you’ll need to do some research here to try and select a load that has a reputation of running well in .380 pistols. A decent source for that is the wound channel on YouTube, where they’ve done a number of videos testing various .380 loads in ballistic gelatin. Whatever load you settle on, buy 3 boxes of it. Self defense loads typically come in 20 or 25 round boxes.

Take 2 of the 3 boxes of your chosen self defense ammo to the range along with your gun. Shoot one box of it to to get used to how it feels to shoot real carry ammo in your carry gun - which will typically feel a bit hotter under recoil than cheap practice ammo. If the gun runs reliably with the first box, shoot the second box to confirm that the gun will function more or less reliably. If it does, go home and load the gun with that ammo, and carry it to your heart’s content.

Yes, it is better to run 500 or 1000 rounds through a gun before you start carrying it. It is also better to take your hunting rifle to the range and run 1000 rounds through it before taking it into the hunting fields. A LOT of people cannot afford that level of commitment. But almost anyone can afford 50-100 rounds of cheap FMJ, and 60-75 rounds of carry ammo - which unless your gun is total junk, is way less money than your gun would have cost. Once you’ve bought your carry ammo, as long as you take care of it and your gun, it has a long shelf life. Wisdom would dictate that about once a year, you shoot your carry ammo to reacquaint yourself with how it feels to shoot it, and buy one more box to replace it. Generally speaking, you’d be talking about $25-$30 a year in carry ammo......and however much you want to spend to run a box of cheap FMJ through the gun once in a while to maintain your proficiency and familiarity with the gun.

The Annoyed Man wrote: Obviously, it is better to test repeatedly if you can afford it - but not everyone can afford it. But if you can afford to, buy the following:

Man oh man. some self defense ammo is expeeeensive.... speaking of ammo i went to my local atwoods today and asked if they ever got any 40 S&W hornady ammo in he said no. i said ok.. what kind of target ammo do you have? he said "none" i said in ANY caliber? he said nope. all we have is self defense ammo. i said okay and walked out.... what the heck? atwoods wal mart pawn shops ace hardware... literally nobody in my town sells 40 S&W anymore. This is quite concerning for me.

Grundy1133 wrote: Man oh man. some self defense ammo is expeeeensive.... speaking of ammo i went to my local atwoods today and asked if they ever got any 40 S&W hornady ammo in he said no. i said ok.. what kind of target ammo do you have? he said "none" i said in ANY caliber? he said nope. all we have is self defense ammo. i said okay and walked out.... what the heck? atwoods wal mart pawn shops ace hardware... literally nobody in my town sells 40 S&W anymore. This is quite concerning for me.

This is why so many people choose 9mm, availability and affordability. Acadamy should still have plenty of .40 cal options at least for now.

Grundy1133 wrote:

The Annoyed Man wrote: Obviously, it is better to test repeatedly if you can afford it - but not everyone can afford it. But if you can afford to, buy the following:

Man oh man. some self defense ammo is expeeeensive.... speaking of ammo i went to my local atwoods today and asked if they ever got any 40 S&W hornady ammo in he said no. i said ok.. what kind of target ammo do you have? he said "none" i said in ANY caliber? he said nope. all we have is self defense ammo. i said okay and walked out.... what the heck? atwoods wal mart pawn shops ace hardware... literally nobody in my town sells 40 S&W anymore. This is quite concerning for me.

There’s plenty of online places to buy 40S&W at reasonable prices. I hardly ever buy ammo in retail stores anymore unless it’s a great deal or I have a I need it today situation.

bblhd672 wrote:

Grundy1133 wrote:

The Annoyed Man wrote: Obviously, it is better to test repeatedly if you can afford it - but not everyone can afford it. But if you can afford to, buy the following:

Man oh man. some self defense ammo is expeeeensive.... speaking of ammo i went to my local atwoods today and asked if they ever got any 40 S&W hornady ammo in he said no. i said ok.. what kind of target ammo do you have? he said "none" i said in ANY caliber? he said nope. all we have is self defense ammo. i said okay and walked out.... what the heck? atwoods wal mart pawn shops ace hardware... literally nobody in my town sells 40 S&W anymore. This is quite concerning for me.

There’s plenty of online places to buy 40S&W at reasonable prices. I hardly ever buy ammo in retail stores anymore unless it’s a great deal or I have a I need it today situation.

That's what I'm gonna have to start doing. Idk why nobody is selling 40s in my town i'd have to drive 30+ miles just to get some ammo. kinda ridiculous lol

Liberty wrote:

Grundy1133 wrote: Man oh man. some self defense ammo is expeeeensive.... speaking of ammo i went to my local atwoods today and asked if they ever got any 40 S&W hornady ammo in he said no. i said ok.. what kind of target ammo do you have? he said "none" i said in ANY caliber? he said nope. all we have is self defense ammo. i said okay and walked out.... what the heck? atwoods wal mart pawn shops ace hardware... literally nobody in my town sells 40 S&W anymore. This is quite concerning for me.

This is why so many people choose 9mm, availability and affordability. Acadamy should still have plenty of .40 cal options at least for now.

went to academy last month they dont sell the self defense ammo i carry but they did have target ammo

I buy mine online. Lotsa sites, lotsa ammo choices, and with a little time and a little luck, you can find some pretty good bargains.

E10 wrote:I buy mine online. Lotsa sites, lotsa ammo choices, and with a little time and a little luck, you can find some pretty good bargains.

ive used freedommunitions once. i bought 1k rounds. the prices arent too terrible... its a few cents less per round than it would be in the store. and if your order is big enough you get free shipping which is nice.

Grundy1133 wrote:

Liberty wrote:

Grundy1133 wrote: Man oh man. some self defense ammo is expeeeensive.... speaking of ammo i went to my local atwoods today and asked if they ever got any 40 S&W hornady ammo in he said no. i said ok.. what kind of target ammo do you have? he said "none" i said in ANY caliber? he said nope. all we have is self defense ammo. i said okay and walked out.... what the heck? atwoods wal mart pawn shops ace hardware... literally nobody in my town sells 40 S&W anymore. This is quite concerning for me.

This is why so many people choose 9mm, availability and affordability. Acadamy should still have plenty of .40 cal options at least for now.

went to academy last month they dont sell the self defense ammo i carry but they did have target ammo

Maybe it's time to rethink your choice of arms. For many people the costs of ammo often is larger than the costs of the costs of the gun itself. I own very few arms, and my choices have each had many hours of consideration. The ammo the eat and the sustainabilty is a large part of the decision process. Buying into the latest and greatest new fad for a weapon you want to keep you alive might be a mistake.

Liberty wrote:

Grundy1133 wrote:

Liberty wrote:

Grundy1133 wrote: Man oh man. some self defense ammo is expeeeensive.... speaking of ammo i went to my local atwoods today and asked if they ever got any 40 S&W hornady ammo in he said no. i said ok.. what kind of target ammo do you have? he said "none" i said in ANY caliber? he said nope. all we have is self defense ammo. i said okay and walked out.... what the heck? atwoods wal mart pawn shops ace hardware... literally nobody in my town sells 40 S&W anymore. This is quite concerning for me.

This is why so many people choose 9mm, availability and affordability. Acadamy should still have plenty of .40 cal options at least for now.

went to academy last month they dont sell the self defense ammo i carry but they did have target ammo

Maybe it's time to rethink your choice of arms. For many people the costs of ammo often is larger than the costs of the costs of the gun itself. I own very few arms, and my choices have each had many hours of consideration. The ammo the eat and the sustainabilty is a large part of the decision process. Buying into the latest and greatest new fad for a weapon you want to keep you alive might be a mistake.

I'm not sure what you mean by "newest fad" the 40 S&W cailber has been around for decades.