People Don't Kill Guns; Ammunition Kills Guns

I thought my little revolver died and got rigormortis!! It froze - it wouldn't fire and the cylinder wouldn't open. But the gunsmith said, no, it wasn't dead, just mad at me for using cheap ammunition.

Apparently, just because you buy reloads in a box, this doesn't mean you're going to get a good reload. A problem with reloads may be inconsistent amounts of firepower - gads, I've forgotten the right terms already, was it powder or primer? Anyway, If the amount/proportions of ingredients aren't consistent, the different bullets out of the same box may have differing amounts of oomph. Apparently this will confuse your gun. I say confuse - he wouldn't allow the word 'stress.' So if you're going to buy reloads, buy good ones. I don't know how you can tell if a reloader is reputable or not.

Hollowpoints are good, because they tend to stop traveling when they hit a bad guy, unlike some bullets which, according to rumor*, will continue thru the bad guy and go on through the apartment wall to hit your neighbor's kid. But hollowpoints are also bad, because the lack of a cap tends to spew little bits of lead and saltpeter and brimstone or whatever is in bullets all over your gun and your hand, leading to lots of cleanup work. You'll have to clean your gun more often if you practice with hollowpoints. You'll have to clean MUCH more often if you practice with cheap hollowpoint reloads.

& your gun will hate you for it.

So the gunsmith recommended a particular type of round-nosed bullet, which he didn't have in stock.

Yo? Gun business people? Can we be a little bit more user-friendly, please?


Either my gun stinks, or my ammo stinks, or they both stink. I don't want to have to become Roy Rogers or Charleton Heston to figure it out. Please don't sell me crap just because you have a high profit margin on it. If I have to buy a new gun because you sold me bad ammo, I am hardly likely to buy a new gun from you.

*Per the gunsmith, this rumor is not true and you simply can't be piercing armor with a handgun, no matter what kind of bullet you put in it. I'm just repeating what I've heard, I don't know. Don't be daft and start experimenting, ya hear?