CARRY CLONES

Ballistically Matched Carry and Practice Loads

- Richard Mann

A local physician used to attend many of the action pistol matches; he was probably the wealthiest competitor there, which was apparent by the fact that he competed with Federal Hydra-Shock ammo. Yep, that can get expensive, especially for him since he used the same ammunition to practice. His logic for doing this — and it was sound logic — is that he wanted to train with the ammo he might have to fight with. Doc could afford it, but most of us can’t, creating a problem that needs to be addressed.

Fortunately, manufacturers have already thought of this; you can purchase factory ammunition like Winchester’s Train & Defend that offers ballistically matched loads for 9mm Luger, 380 Automatic, 38 Special, 40 Smith & Wesson, and 45 Automatic. All you need to do is purchase a box of the “Defend” loads and a box of the matching “Train” loads, and their point of impact and felt recoil should be nearly identical. Federal took the concept a step further with their Practice & Defend Combo Packs, which include 50 rounds of HST ammunition and 50 rounds of ballistically matched Syntech training ammunition in the same box. It’s offered in 9mm, 40 S&W, and 45 Auto.

Of course, given our current state of affairs, you have about as much of a chance of finding these loads as you do to replace Keanu Reeves in the next John Wick flick. This leaves you with three important questions:

1. How important is it that your practice ammo is a ballistic match to your carry ammo?

2. How do you verify that a practice load matches your carry load?

3. Can you create handloads that duplicate carry load external ballistics?