Gun Digest Book of Beretta Pistols: Function, Accuracy, Performance

by Massad Ayoob

Keep a fresh box of your duty ammo handy. Change out the round in the chamber every month or so. Every time you unload and reload, the extractor takes another bite at the rim and the ejector takes another kick at it. Dinged up brass is one reason reloaded ammo tends to be less reliable than virgin factory ammunition. Moreover, each time the cartridge is rammed into the chamber is another chance to weaken the watertight seal between case mouth and bullet, which down the road can at least theoretically compromise the integrity of the powder charge. With some ammo, repeated chamberings can push the bullet back into the cartridge casing. This shortens overall length, which can cause a feeding stoppage the next time that cartridge finds its way into a magazine. Worse, it increases the pressure inside the casing when it is finally fired, which can lead to catastrophic results.