Ammo stacking

[Chaingunner]

Does anyone here stack their magazines with alternating bullet types (ie one JHP, one ball, one JHP, one ball, all the way through)? I read somewhere that stacking mags in this manner is supposed to allow you to more effectively put down an assailant, although I don't see how. To me it seems that unless your gun eats any kind of ammo, you'll just have feeding problems.

What do you guys think?

 

[Talon66]

The idea is based on the premise that you encounter an assailant with body armor. Loading the mag with cartridges that are designed to expand in soft tissue and following it up with cartridges that are designed to deal with penetration in hard targets (ie. body armor) should do the trick. It's another tactic to deal with a possible predicament.

 

[JamesD]

A family member who was an LEO once told me that the shotguns they (the officers in that department) carried in their cars were loaded so that the first round fired was the lightest round (birdshot? buckshot? I don't know much about shotgun ammunition) and the last rounds were the heaviest, ie one ounce slugs or somesuch. The idea was escalation of force. If the light stuff didn't work, and you had to keep shooting... Eventually you'll get to a round that would take out the BG.

I once tried mixing ball and hollow point ammo alternately in the magazine. I'm glad I tried it at the range, because that was when I discovered that my pistol does not like hollowpoints. Darned 1911's... such a pain in the butt....

 

[Topthis]

I have mixed my magazines in the past...only for the sake of trying to get my handguns to "jam" etc. Other than that, I just load em up with separate rounds, one magazine with JHP's, one with FMJ's etc.

 

[BobK]

Mixing different ammo does'nt really help. It may even cause feeding problems. In a fight, most people are not going to remember which is which or how many rounds they actually fired until after.

 

[shy_man]

When I was new to pistol and carrying it, I buy the best bullet in town, carbide tip bullets, hollowpoint, hydrashock, FMJ whatever kind, then I load them all to my carry magazines in alternate position. But lately, I contented to carrying or using FMJ only with the notion that FMJ can kill any assailant if necessary and it can penetrate a vehicle body or Glass. Also, not all user of pistol is that cunning using body armor, or if there are some and you have an encounter, then we should shoot at the head or legs and arms. That is the use of practicing on the range shooting steel plates and poppers.

 

[Mark54g]

James,

While there are some guns that are problematic with HP ammo, there are alternatives. Have you tried different brands of HPs? That does make a difference. Alternatively, you can take your gun to a smith to have it worked on and made more friendly for hollow point ammo. You could also look at things like Federal EFMJ or CorBon Pow'rBall

 

[atlctyslkr]

Although all the posts so far are on mags for semi's I'm assuming it's okay to talk about revolvers since this is in the general forum. I have alternated rounds in my cylinder (FMJ, HP's) and speed loaders in the past. I now restrict it to all of the same type in a speed loader. Depending on the escalation of a situation it would be nice to have something to switch off too. Don't know if I would want to rely on HP's to get me out of a jam if my attacker was firing on me from behind cover.

 

[BlueTrain]

There was an excellent article in Gun World magazine probably ten years ago at least by a hunting guide somewhere in Florida who made a good case for a 2 1/2" barreled S&W Model 66 as an all-round carry gun, at least for him. Since he carried it principally in the woods, he generally loaded a couple of rounds of shot cartridges for snakes. He also mentioned that shot cartridges wouldn't take care of a swimming snake for which he used wadcutters. For everything else, 125-gr magnums.

 

[Garand Illusion]

I always put an FMJ right below every HP. Since I'm capable of shooting every round into the same hole, the 2nd round will drive the first round deeper in. (j/k, BTW -- forgot to put in the smiley face when I first posted)

I actually do stack ammo in my little .32. I don't see any downsides to it, and that way I get a little of both worlds.

BTW -- in no way would I be trying to figure out what bullet comes up next. I always practice firing double and triple taps, and I could car less what mix of bullets goes out the front as long as the BG gets stopped.

With a more formidable caliber like the 9mm or .45, I figure nothing but HP.

 

[rha600]

A family member who was an LEO once told me that the shotguns they (the officers in that department) carried in their cars were loaded so that the first round fired was the lightest round (birdshot? buckshot? I don't know much about shotgun ammunition) and the last rounds were the heaviest, ie one ounce slugs or somesuch. The idea was escalation of force. If the light stuff didn't work, and you had to keep shooting... Eventually you'll get to a round that would take out the BG.

I don't know about taking down a criminal but you do that with deer (well you're not using birdshot) so that the first shot covers more area and then the slug would be say 3rd because if you missed (which of course we never do) by the time you get to the third shot the deer would be too far for 00 but not for the slugs. I would assume the same could be said for a person running away.

 

[gsfmiker]

I carry with a full mag of HP, then a spare of +P Corbon HPs, and occasionally another spare loaded with the first 6 rounds being +P HP and the last 11 FMJ--and just in case anyone cares, yes my mags hold 17 rounds each without extensions

edit: My 12gauge is fully loaded with 8 rounds of 00 buck cuz it doesn't leave the house.

 

[OBIWAN]

Sigh

 

[Love&Hate12]

I don't see a need if you have anything .38 special or above.

With a .32 I wouldn't even bother with hollowpoints.

I suppose with a .380 I would stagger the mag.