Stephen A. Camp
Moderator In Memoriam
- Joined
- Dec 24, 2002
- Messages
- 2,430
Hello. Accuracy means different things to different folks depending upon the precision they require. The demand for a load that groups as tightly as possible regardless of power might be of primary concern to a pure bullseye competitor while an IPSC shooter wants one that'll group but meet minimum power requirements. The latter might well be willing to sacrific a bit of grouping for a load that while still accurate, has some margin in meeting minimum requirements for major caliber rating. You get the idea; sometimes some compromising is done to get that which performs best overall for us.
It occurred to me that while we can sort cases, weigh bullets, measure powder dropped into cases, and so forth, a great many handloaders will just load up what they have, throw charges, seat bullets and go to the range....and there's not a thing in the world wrong with that. Therefore, the 4 handloads used today were fired from mixed, fired cases with powder charges thrown, bullets not weighed. In short, no special effort was made for getting really precise.
While the man in pursuit of the tiniest group might be shooting his accurized 1911 with lighter recoil springs or the fellow interested in getting as much velocity with a JHP as possible for hunting, heavier ones, many folks will want a load that works fine with the standard spring or one just a bit heavier such that springs don't have to be changed with the load.
Selected handloads were picked that fall in a velocity range that should do just that.
While there are cleaner powders now available, the two powders used today were Bullseye and Unique, two old stand-bys. I've still got lots and lots and since they can be found in about any gunshop, they were used.
A factory 230 gr ball load was also fired and Sellier & Bellot was the choice as many use this ammunition as it can be had at good prices.
Test Gun: All loads were fired from an STI 5" Trojan .45 ACP that had both a shock buff in place and a Wolff 18.5 lb conventional recoil spring
None of the ammunition fired today showed any excessive pressure signs at all, but one is always wise to work up from the low end when working up handloads.
Firing: When I arrived at the range, there was a fair north wind and the temperature was 27 degrees. For that reason, I did NOT stay for any 50 yard shooting. Targets fired at 15 yards were fired off-hand using a 2-hand hold in slowfire. The 25 yard targets were fired seated and with my wrists supported, using 2 hands, and in slowfire.
Continued...
It occurred to me that while we can sort cases, weigh bullets, measure powder dropped into cases, and so forth, a great many handloaders will just load up what they have, throw charges, seat bullets and go to the range....and there's not a thing in the world wrong with that. Therefore, the 4 handloads used today were fired from mixed, fired cases with powder charges thrown, bullets not weighed. In short, no special effort was made for getting really precise.
While the man in pursuit of the tiniest group might be shooting his accurized 1911 with lighter recoil springs or the fellow interested in getting as much velocity with a JHP as possible for hunting, heavier ones, many folks will want a load that works fine with the standard spring or one just a bit heavier such that springs don't have to be changed with the load.
Selected handloads were picked that fall in a velocity range that should do just that.
While there are cleaner powders now available, the two powders used today were Bullseye and Unique, two old stand-bys. I've still got lots and lots and since they can be found in about any gunshop, they were used.
A factory 230 gr ball load was also fired and Sellier & Bellot was the choice as many use this ammunition as it can be had at good prices.
Test Gun: All loads were fired from an STI 5" Trojan .45 ACP that had both a shock buff in place and a Wolff 18.5 lb conventional recoil spring
None of the ammunition fired today showed any excessive pressure signs at all, but one is always wise to work up from the low end when working up handloads.
Firing: When I arrived at the range, there was a fair north wind and the temperature was 27 degrees. For that reason, I did NOT stay for any 50 yard shooting. Targets fired at 15 yards were fired off-hand using a 2-hand hold in slowfire. The 25 yard targets were fired seated and with my wrists supported, using 2 hands, and in slowfire.
Continued...