I have counseled people for years on ammunition selection, although it typically has more to do with Self-Defense and Hunting ammunition than with everyday range ammo.
To refresh your memory or if you are new to shooting, the selection of the ammo you use has a lot to do with your success. It is important to remember that all ammo is not created equal. Economy rounds are manufactured cheaply and often provide the best value for a day at the range. Premium ammunition that uses very specific projectiles and powder charges are tailored to the intended use whether that is small game, large game or bad guys.
I was reminder of this during the “Women on Target” event this past weekend. For the past several years 22 LR ammo has been hard to find, and often you may need to use whatever you can find.
This year’s Women on Target organizers procured some Winchester Hyper Velocity ammo that we had never seen before and is not in the current catalog of product offerings.
We found out the hard way that the combination of a lightweight bullet (26 gr.) and Hyper velocity (1650 feet per second) would not create the necessary energy to function our guns properly.
The short barrels of the Ruger SR22P and Ruger Mark III 22/45 resulted in bullets leaving the barrel before enough pressure was created to extract the spent round, force the bolt open and pick up a fresh round. A frustrating combination of malfunctions from jams, failure to feeds and stovepipes to lack of extraction resulted.
We even had a couple dozen failures where there were clear firing pin strikes on the case and the primer failed to fire. This might be acceptable if your intent was to teach malfunction drills, but was not welcome in an introductory event.
We found the ammo would work in long barrel guns like my Ruger Mark II Target with a 6 7/8” barrel and it functioned in some revolvers we had. Fortunately some of us had our own ammo with us and substituted it in to salvage our day and the event for the ladies.
Every gun has ammunition that it “Likes” and Doesn’t like”: the ammunition from different ammo makers have different shapes, power, weights, points or hollow points. Every gun has different chamber and feed ramp designs, different spring weights, that can affect the way it functions.
The list goes on and on, but suffice it to say that not all combinations work well together, and when your gun absolutely positively has to go “Bang” you do not want to hear “click”!
I suggest if you intend to carry a gun you that run 300-500 of value/ practice ammo through it before you begin to carry it. In addition to good practice for your technique (stance, grip, trigger control and sight picture) it will help smooth and burnish the sliding surfaces, rails and other internal parts.
Clean the gun and lubricate it properly, select your defensive ammo and put two boxes of this premium defensive ammo through the gun. If it fires and cycles perfectly (no malfunctions) now you are ready to carry that gun/ammo combination for self-defense with the confidence that it will work.