[Guest]

...and dropping the slide.

Good to go or no dice?

I have a USPc in 9mm and was wondering if this is an option to avoid possible bullet setback into casing. Gun is kept loaded all the time but, every so often needs to be unloaded for dry fire practice, cleaning, draw practice etc.

Will I damage the extractor if I start doing this or be at a bigger risk of a slam fire? Is setback from chambering the same round over and over not as big an issue as it's made out to be?

 

[SudS]

I understand it's a bad thing to do...can't remember why.

 

[Big Bore]

Very bad thing to do. The extractor is designed for the rim of the case to slip up under it during the chambering process. It is NOT designed to snap over the rim. Snapping over the rim causes the extractor to move out further than it is supposed to and that over stresses the extractor spring which will eventually weaken it or cause the extractor to break.
Chamber from the mag then remove and top off the mag. Anything else will sooner or later lead to problems.

 

[Guest]

Very bad thing to do. The extractor is designed for the rim of the case to slip up under it during the chambering process. It is NOT designed to snap over the rim. Snapping over the rim causes the extractor to move out further than it is supposed to and that over stresses the extractor spring which will eventually weaken it or cause the extractor to break.
Chamber from the mag then remove and top off the mag. Anything else will sooner or later lead to problems.

Pretty much what I thought.

Not really an issue of topping off as much as it is trying to avoid set back by chambering the same round off the feed ramp over and over.

 

[Guest]

yes, definitely dont keep chambering the same round either. if you must, rotate them. but i dont have to tell you what will happen if one gets seated in too far

 

[Big Bore]

Now, this is just what I have experienced and what happens to you could be totally different. I have rounds of Gold Dot +P 200 gr. GD ammo that I have chambered dozens of times with no ill affect. I have measured them before chambering and also every time I extract them and so far, all the rounds in the magazine measure the same before and after, even after multiple chamberings. I do not know if Speer keeps a very tight case neck or glues them in, and it is completely possible that other ammo might set back if chambered two or three times, but so far I have yet to experience any set back with the Speer GD or the Hornady 230 gr. Hydra-Shoks. I usually keep the ammo in the gun for 3-6 months before shooting or marking and changing out for fresh and during that time it is very likely that the round gets chambered a dozen or more times, and I have yet to see any of them set back even a fraction of a millimeter. I know it can happen, only that I have yet to see it. To that I think that you should test a few and see if the OAL changes after a few chamberings. If it does, don't do it. If not, I wouldn't worry about it BUT I would keep an eye on them because anything can and does happen.

 

[Guest]

Now, this is just what I have experienced and what happens to you could be totally different. I have rounds of Gold Dot +P 200 gr. GD ammo that I have chambered dozens of times with no ill affect. I have measured them before chambering and also every time I extract them and so far, all the rounds in the magazine measure the same before and after, even after multiple chamberings. I do not know if Speer keeps a very tight case neck or glues them in, and it is completely possible that other ammo might set back if chambered two or three times, but so far I have yet to experience any set back with the Speer GD or the Hornady 230 gr. Hydra-Shoks. I usually keep the ammo in the gun for 3-6 months before shooting or marking and changing out for fresh and during that time it is very likely that the round gets chambered a dozen or more times, and I have yet to see any of them set back even a fraction of a millimeter. I know it can happen, only that I have yet to see it. To that I think that you should test a few and see if the OAL changes after a few chamberings. If it does, don't do it. If not, I wouldn't worry about it BUT I would keep an eye on them because anything can and does happen.

Thank's for the quick response guys...

I'm also using Speer Gold Dot +P ammo (124 gr) and while I have never measured, I do visually inspect the cartridges from time to time. I have never visually seen anything to suggest set back, or any other damage for that matter.

When I go to the range, I draw and fire off my carry ammo I had loaded in the gun just to see how it would have performed had I needed it. I'll spend the rest of my session shooting cheap stuff then fire off another mag of carry stuff. Load up with good stuff and head home. So my carry ammo does get replaced pretty often.

I just thought it would be a two birds, one stone deal if it was ok to put one in the tube by hand ( solve set back concern and save time loading from mag, dropping, topping off etc ).

I'm pretty sure it's ok to do this with the 92FS and was curious about my USPc...no biggie.

Thank's again

 

[softmentor]

Interesting thread. I had never thought about this. I rechamber the first round out of my mag every time I get ready to start a shift. I then unload that round and squeeze it back into the mag at the end of every shif. I just checked and my Winchester Silvertip, looks to be fine, no setback that I can see to the naked eye. I unload my 3 duty mags every so often at the range when I shoot FMJ's for practice, then randomly reload the same 30 rounds back into the 3 duty mags.
I also shot my 30 rounds that I have been carrying on duty when I shoot my qualifications, which we do every 6 months. That way I have fresh ammo every 6 months. Does that seem like a good plan?
I will keep an eye on that first round. Like you say, stuff that can happen, will.

 

[Reoze]

There was a story not too long ago about a police officer who rechambered the same first round day after day. When he would turn in his duty weapon before leaving he had an empty magazine for the one round in the chamber that he would keep and load in there to have a full mag and one in the chamber. Well after a while the case failed, rather catastrophicly. Needless to say I chamber a different round every time.

 

[Whiplash23]

BigBore, could you post the OAL for the Gold Dot 200grn +P rounds you use? I use the same ammo and have also taken several measurements. After measuring a box, I found a max length of 1.210" and a min length of 1.205". However, I just recently measured a round that I chambered and it was just barely above 1.200". Sadly, my calipers are cheap ones and are only marked to .01 increments so the third decimal place is mostly a guess.

I suspect that this is completely within the tolerance of Speer's manufacturing, but I would love to know what your experiences have shown you.

 

[madmike283]

I guess I'll pay closer attention and maybe change up the way that I load my defense rounds while at home. I shoot pretty often, 1-2 times a week, and keep a mag of Gold Dot for home defense. I just pop that mag and round out when I go to the range, then just load the same round back into the top of the mag and rechamber it after my range trip. Maybe I'll rotate them every few times or so now.

 

[Andre]

Manual re-chambering

As Big Bore noted quite correctly, the extractor was not designed to be slammed onto the case rim. It probably will take many many repetitions before failure, but none the less.

If you want to rechamber manually, put the round in the chamber and manually drop the slide by hand (in other words slowly) onto the round. The slide will not seat because the extractor is now resting on the case rim. Just take your index finger and depress the rear of the extractor. The ectractor "tooth" will then just simply climb over the case rim and presto. A loaded gun with no unnecessary impact stress on your extractor.

I still prefer to load from a mag though, and I still lower the slide by hand to try and minimize any chance of bullet setback.

 

[H&K 4 LIFE]

Now, this is just what I have experienced and what happens to you could be totally different. I have rounds of Gold Dot +P 200 gr. GD ammo that I have chambered dozens of times with no ill affect. I have measured them before chambering and also every time I extract them and so far, all the rounds in the magazine measure the same before and after, even after multiple chamberings. I do not know if Speer keeps a very tight case neck or glues them in, and it is completely possible that other ammo might set back if chambered two or three times, but so far I have yet to experience any set back with the Speer GD or the Hornady 230 gr. Hydra-Shoks. I usually keep the ammo in the gun for 3-6 months before shooting or marking and changing out for fresh and during that time it is very likely that the round gets chambered a dozen or more times, and I have yet to see any of them set back even a fraction of a millimeter. I know it can happen, only that I have yet to see it. To that I think that you should test a few and see if the OAL changes after a few chamberings. If it does, don't do it. If not, I wouldn't worry about it BUT I would keep an eye on them because anything can and does happen.

I always wondered about rechambering the same round over and over and if it was bad. Speer puts a serious crimp on those Gold Dots so it would be pretty hard to budge it. I am using Black Hills in my USPc .40 and they do not have as aggressive a crimp. I suppose I should switch the top round from time to time, it's getting kind of ugly. You should see my snap caps, the extractor has ripped the rim to pieces but it still extracts fine.

Another reason why I love revolvers!

 

[Lukas Koukal]

For those who haven´t witnessed the phenomenon yet, buy a box ox Lapua Cepp ammo. You can SEE the difference in length after two loadings quite easily with these.

 

[FIX BAYONETS!®]

There was a scene in Danzel's movie "Man on Fire" where J-Lo's husband loaded it through the chamber opening and slide locked his Glock before OFFing himself. Don't believe Hollywood.

 

[so_fla]

Martin Riggs also loaded a 9mm bullet into the chamber by hand, and dropped the slide on his 92FS while watching Bugs Bunny's 'A Christmas Carol' in his trailer at the beach while thinking about doing the unmentionable in the first Lethal Weapon movie.

 

[GARY1911A1]

HKs' chamber the rounds so smoothly I think setback takes longer than dare I even think it, a 1911. There I said it.