Changing ammo

imported post

If you over grease it the same thing happens as when you over oil it. If you have to use a degreaser on your gun than your using the wrong grease anyway. If you were to look at my gun you would thing it was oiled but it it's actually greased lightly. You are correct about the set it and forget it thing. You can't do that with oil or grease. When I was in Iraq I started greasing my M4 about halfway through and it ran like a dream. It was only a little bit harder to clean and it ran so much better it was totally worth it. Your right it collects sand and crap, but so did the oil. The only thing you can lube a weapon with that won't attract crap is graphite and that blows away very quickly, especially with the direct impingement of most AR's. I think you should be cleaning your carry weapon twice a week. I think 10 days is too long and 30 is an awful idea.

Great breakdown on the light/medium/heavy lube.

The OP was describing some unfortunate consequences to long-term storage in a hostile environment (his car in different seasons with wide temperature swings, humidity, etc.) He was asking how often to change ammo to avoid these consequences in the future.

As several posters have mentioned, old ammo often works very well. But sometimes it doesn't and that's the problem. The one time in a million problem is one time too often if you needed that round to work. So, rotating ammo is the obvious solution. Which leaves the question of how often to rotate.

From the looks of the previous posts, a frequency somewhere between 30 and 90 days seems pretty reasonable. Depending on how many rounds you carry, firing all your carry rounds every few months may become expensive. But that's less expensive than the misfire consequence.

You suggested that overlubrication may have contributed to the problem. That's certainly possible. It's also possible that humidity could be affecting the ammo. You might want to put some dessicant packets in your range bag in the car to keep the ammo dry.

This is a prime reason you should use the highest quality SD ammo you can find and buy for you carry guns. A good indicator is ammunition specifically loaded for "Law Enforcement" use (i.e. Federal, Speer Gold Dot, Winchester Ranger). This ammo generally has sealed primers and cases and has to meet a variety of specs for use by the LEO community.

Another thing to consider. Don't use gun oil or similar lubricants on your carry guns. Use either a quality dry lube like Hornady's One Shot, or a high quality silicone spray such as CRC's product.

Finally, it is not a bad idea at all to rotate your ammunition if your gun is subject to real extremes, but in most cases you should be fine for some time with the good stuff.