I have a couple of large (I think 350 round in each box) of Speer Gold Dot .40 cal ammo purchased at a gun show. It is labeled "for Practice Only - Not For Carry". Why would it be labeled that way? I can see no difference between that ammo and my carry Gold Dots. It's very accurate, functions flawless - and I can tell no difference in firing.I have no chrono so do not know if it's loaded weak. Would appreciate any info about this ammo.
Speer Gold Dot -Police, For Practice Only
- Thread starter mes228
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Destructo6
New member
It may have been tested and rejected for duty carry by Speer or the ordering agency. Maybe it's perfect, or maybe there was 1 failure in 1000.
In the Marine Corps..
Any lot of ammunition with more than a certain number of misfires or failures to fire per a number of rounds (somehow, three misfires in a 1000 rounds sticks in my head, but that seems rather high) results in that lot of ammunition being withdrawn from serious use and reserved for training.
Nothing 'dangerous' in the sense of blowing up, it just doesn't work enough.
At one time there were accuracy standards as well, but most of those were dropped during the Vietnam War. I haven't kept up to know if they were reinstated. That could apply to police departments, but typically handgun ammunition is fired at a close enough range where accuracy standards are fairly generous.
So shoot up the ammo, just don't rely on it for self-defense. Maybe put a box away somewhere safe and dig it out in twenty years to see if a collector is interested.
Any lot of ammunition with more than a certain number of misfires or failures to fire per a number of rounds (somehow, three misfires in a 1000 rounds sticks in my head, but that seems rather high) results in that lot of ammunition being withdrawn from serious use and reserved for training.
Nothing 'dangerous' in the sense of blowing up, it just doesn't work enough.
At one time there were accuracy standards as well, but most of those were dropped during the Vietnam War. I haven't kept up to know if they were reinstated. That could apply to police departments, but typically handgun ammunition is fired at a close enough range where accuracy standards are fairly generous.
So shoot up the ammo, just don't rely on it for self-defense. Maybe put a box away somewhere safe and dig it out in twenty years to see if a collector is interested.
In my agency, during requalification we administratively unload prior to gun check by the armorer. After removing our magazines we rack and lock the slide letting the chambered rounds fall to the ground.
These loose duty rounds are collected by the range for practice/testing/etc. I suspect this is how your perfectly fine "practice" Gold Dots were aquired.
I can see them being labeled as such since they are not from the same lot and may have been exposed to the elements, so there dependability may not be as guaranteed as originally boxed by the manufacturer.
These loose duty rounds are collected by the range for practice/testing/etc. I suspect this is how your perfectly fine "practice" Gold Dots were aquired.
I can see them being labeled as such since they are not from the same lot and may have been exposed to the elements, so there dependability may not be as guaranteed as originally boxed by the manufacturer.
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That stuff was selling around her for $36 for a (repackaged) box of 250 rounds years ago. I don't remember exactly but evidently there was a lot-measured failure of some ridiculously low number (1 in 40,000 sticks in my mind) and the contract run was rejected, I bought fifteen or twenty boxes of it, shot it up and had no failures at all.
mes, I'm a little late on this, but will share what I know. I used a few thousand rounds of the 9MM +P version, packaged loose in 250 round boxes. I never experienced an issue or failure of any kind while using this in different pistols, revolvers and cabines. Wish I'd bought a ton more of the stuff. I chronographed it, and found it displayed the same ballistics as any of the regular production Speer 124 Gold dot +P ammo. I researched it at the the time and, IIRC, during manufacture, a slightly different primer was integrated into production. While there were no known failures, when discovered, Speer realized they could not warrant the ammo to LE as performing as with the previous primers. They then packaged it in bulk, with the not for LE use disclaimer, and sold it as practice ammo. It was not scavenged duty rounds, etc. All I bought was was as clean, bright, factory fresh as any purchased in the regular 20 or 50 round boxes would be. While all of mine was the 9MM +P version, I remember seeing the .40 S&W and Non+P 9MM versions being available at the same time...
Other way around, Speer makes God Dot and made the ammo discussed in this thread.
For obvious reasons, ammunition manufacturers do not test fire every round they make. They do spot check each lot (a quantity defined by the manufacturer) and if they find some specified number or percentage of failures*, the whole lot is condemned. But the ammunition already made represents a lot of money, so unless the ammunition is dangerous, it is not destroyed, it is sold off as for range use only, boxed and labelled as such. In spite of that, the actual failure rate will be very low.
*Tests involve breaking down the test ammo, so rejection might not involve actual failure to fire; it might involve a light powder charge, improperly sealed bullets, etc.
Jim
*Tests involve breaking down the test ammo, so rejection might not involve actual failure to fire; it might involve a light powder charge, improperly sealed bullets, etc.
Jim
biohazard313
New member
^^^ this
That ammo was all over the place a few years ago. I cannot verify this, but was told it was part of a large LE contract. The ammo for some reason did not meet specs. Nothing wrong with it, just not made to the specs the customer ordered. Or so I was told.
I bought these several years ago dirt cheap. forgot the price, but they shoot great for me. I've shot about 1/2 so far with zero malfunctions and I get about 1250 fps from my G-19. I shot up a box of the 40's a few years ago too. No chronograph at the time so I don't know the actual speed.
I bought these several years ago dirt cheap. forgot the price, but they shoot great for me. I've shot about 1/2 so far with zero malfunctions and I get about 1250 fps from my G-19. I shot up a box of the 40's a few years ago too. No chronograph at the time so I don't know the actual speed.
armsmaster270
New member
I bought 1,000 rounds of 357sig ammunition like that, no missfires.