How often do you shoot your self-defense ammunition?  Almost never right – have you seen the price of that stuff (if you can find it)?!  I have been guilty of this in the past but have tried turning over a new leaf in my more enlightened years.  The question is why you want to shoot your self-defense ammunition on a routine basis.  There are many reasons, let’s explore some.

1)    Our carry ammo goes through a lot when it comes to environmental conditions.  It goes from hot to cold to wet etc.  If you recall from any NRA training class ammunition likes to be stored in cool dry locations.  If we put ourselves (and hence our ammunition) in conditions that are not cool dry conditions, it runs the risk of having issues.  We need to make sure it still works.

2)    Legal protection.  There are some legal aspects that you need to consider as well.  God forbid you are involved in a self-defense shoot and one of your rounds impacts someone else.  While you may escape charges in a criminal court, the civil court is a harder thing to win due to the lower bar of requirements.  One of things the prosecution may ask is how often do you practice with this ammo?  Are you aware that it has a different point of impact than regular ammunition?  They are trying to prove “negligence” that you carried this deadly weapon without understanding how it worked and as such the jury should award punitive damages.  I recommend you keep a record of each time you shoot your self-defense ammunition (as well as any time your train).

3)    Make sure your system works.  Ammunition manufactures don’t set up a line and leave it up.  Typically, they set it up, run a particular style, then put up the next one and the next etc.  This take down, set up over and over can result in minor changes that impact the function of your firearm.  In addition, if the vendor changes components or even the design (they are always trying to improve) it might not work in your gun anymore.  Also, your gun may get more worn in or something tweaked that all of a sudden, your self-defense ammo isn’t working the same way it did when you tried it 10 years ago.  Test the self-defense ammo in your firearm routinely to make sure everything works.

4)    Clean things out.  Do you have any idea how dirty magazines and such can get carrying?  By shooting those stored magazines, you will clean out all the pocket lint etc.  You don’t want the lint causing problems when you need it most.

How often is routine?  I recommend once ever 6 months or no more than a year.  This will be sure to keep things fresh, cleaned and give you a reasonable defense.

See ya on the firing line!