[Squeaky Wheel]

Do any of you reload ammo in the caliber of your ccw for the purpose of being able to practice a lot with your ccw? If so, which caliber do you do this with? Would you recommend this option to someone who's interested in practicing a lot with their ccw?

Thanks in advance!

[mljdeckard]

Cheap? Switch to a 9mm. I reload for .45.

[deadin]

For self defense CCW, practice with what you are going to carry....

[zxcvbob]

Yes, in .38 Special. 158 grain cast RNFP bullets over 4.5 grains of American Select powder.

[mavracer]

For self defense CCW, practice with what you are going to carry
If you can afford to practice with premium SD ammo you either have way too much money or don't practice enough. I'm betting the latter.
I load most of my practice ammo, I only shoot enough factory to check function and accuracy, then occasionally to keep fresh ammo in my CCW.
I've been reloading for 30+ years and it's not too difficult to mimic most factory SD loads.

[ArchAngelCD]

I reload for everything I own and I do reload practice ammo for my carry revolver.

I not only reload for practice ammo I have made replica ammo to shoot in my carry gun so it's a better practice. There is no way I would be able to afford all the ammo I shoot if I had to buy factory ammo.

As for which caliber, you will save money reloading for any caliber you shoot, including 9mm ammo. If you carry a .32 Auto, .380 Auto, 38/357, 9mm, 40 S&W or a .45 Auto you will save money reloading.

[allaroundhunter]

For self defense CCW, practice with what you are going to carry....

Heck no. I can go through several hundred rounds in a day of practice, and I do not have the money to pay for that many premium JHPs per practice. Yes, I shoot enough of my carry loads to be comfortable with them and to know they function in my gun, but they do not need to be the only thing that you practice with.

I split my practice rounds as some cheap ammo, some NATO spec rounds (a little hotter), and occasionally my carry rounds that I have had on hand for a few months.

[dogmush]

Yep, 9mm and .45.

[mcdonl]

I reload .45 LRN230's which I carry, and I reload 9mm JHP's for my Kahr 9mm

[skt239]

I don't reload but I do try to least practice with a lot of +P's as that's what I usually carry. I recently went to a gun show and bought a lot of ammo. Some of the carry ammo I bought was 158gr LSWCHP +P, I also bought the same amount of the same ammo but HC not HP to practice with.

[wally]

For self defense CCW, practice with what you are going to carry....

Can't argue with the theory, but in practice few can afford to do so with an adequate volume of practice.

I have two points to make:

1) Where you put a handgun bullet on the target has far more influence on its effectiveness that does which particular bullet it happens to be.

2) The only two people I know who've actually fired a shot in a SD situation both report being so amped up that they don't even remember hearing the gun go off, so I doubt any difference in your practice ammo vs. carry ammo would be noticeable except how any differences in POA/POI would affect my point 1.

As long as you've shot enough of your preferred carry ammo to be sure you gun is reliable with it, and your practice ammo shoots the same POA/POI at your maximum expected distance, I'd say you are much better off with more practice using cheap ammo than with less practice using your carry load.

[JJE]

Yep - 9mm, 38 Spl and 357 Magnum. If you enjoy loading, it's a fun challenge to try to duplicate a commercial SD load. You have to be sure your carry load performs reliably in your carry gun, but I don't think it's critical that your practice loads exactly match carry loads. I think some of my most valuable practice (drawing, forming a grip, extending gun while maintaining a sight picture) is dry-fire practice, and some of my most valuable range practice happens with a 22LR conversion kit on my G19. In other words, I think that lots of reps, even with dry fire, is much more important that having the exact same recoil during practice as during an actual shoot.

[Chuck R.]

9mm & .45ACP

For general practice I reload either lead or plated to save money.

I only buy SD ammo that I can get the same bullets for IE Speer GD and REM GS bullets. I then buy a couple boxes of the real deal, take OAL measurements and chronograph 5-10 of them. I then build a load that has the same MV as the factory in my pistol/rifle.

I still carry the factory, but the reloaded SD ammo makes for much cheaper occasional practice and reliability testing in different guns.

After chronographing each of my pistols with the same loads I can get a pretty decent deviation between guns that I can extrapolate ammo MVs across pistols. For instance after checking a few loads I know my PPS is about 6% slower than my PPQ, so I can get a pretty decent “guesstimate” without having to chrony both pistols.

Chuck

[ColtPythonElite]

All I shoot or carry are handloaded now (with the exception of ammo provided by my employer for my work gun) Back before I handloaded, I only shot remanufactured ammo from a great, but now defunct company call National Bullet Company....I have bought exactly 1 box of new factory loaded handgun ammunition in my life. That was 20+ years ago and I still have 5 rounds of it left...LOL.

[FMF Doc]

I don't , but my uncle reloads his .38spl+P practice loads to duplicate the factory rounds he carries but at much lower cost.

[Jason_G]

I bought a .22 conversion kit for my carry gun (1911). Best thing I ever did. Lots of trigger time with the .22, then put the .45 top end back on and shoot what I can afford to shoot.

I wouldn't recommend shooting .22 only during practice sessions though. You need to finish up with your carry caliber to "keep the recoil in your brain." At least that's been my opinion so far.


Jason

[oneounceload]

another who reloads practice ammo in 9 and 45. While I will reload the weight bullet, it may or may not be the exact same style, but POI/POA will be the same

[jfrey]

9mm and .45 for me too

[Sapper771]

Yes 9mm, 45acp, & 38spl.

[bbuddtec]

I load 'em all, my previous carry hasn't even seen a factory cartridge... :D

[orionengnr]

I handload for every cartridge that I shoot.
My EDC pistol is a .45 acp, and I try to shoot once a week.

If I did not handload, I would shoot a lot of .22LR.

[SRH78]

I reload for a lot more than my ccw and I would definitely recommend reloading.

[smalls]

If you reload, why wouldn't you reload to practice with your carry gun?

[TennJed]

out of the 4 centerfire guns I use for carry 3 of them have never seen factory ammo

[Ben86]

Instead of getting into reloading I took to a dedicated .22 trainer. I CC a S&W M&P9 and practice with a S&W M&P22. I realize the difference in recoil must be considered, but as long as I don't let my grip get lazy it hasn't made a difference yet.

[Valkman]

I do reload for my carry .45 and practice with them. I usually only shoot what premium ammo I've had loaded for some time.

[JoelSteinbach]

I reload everything I shhot, except 7.62.39, and of course rimfire ammo

[MCgunner]

Handgun calibers I reload (does not include rifles, .30-30 is a handgun caliber in my house)

.38
.357
9x17
9x18
9x19
.45 Colt
.30-30 Winchester
7mm TCU
.45 ACP

I handload practice ammo. I handload carry ammo. I handload hunting ammo. I've been handloading .30-30 for 45 years, .38 special and .357 magnum 35 years. Yeah, the .30-30 I loaded up until about 20 years ago was for a bolt action rifle. I've always loaded .30-30 with spitzer and it was FAR better ammo than anything available for the caliber until Hornady Lever Evolution came out. Actually, I shoot a Nosler 150 BT and think it's BETTER than the new Hornady, myself. Cheaper, I can tell ya THAT, and plenty effective.

[wildehond]

I HAVE to reload for my Glock 22. I shoot at least 1000 rounds 40S&W a month through this handgun.

[premier1]

I carry everyday for my job.There I carry factory ammo.For practice I reload for 38 spec.9mm,40 s&w,45 acp,and .380 acp.

[iwilc2]

The only factory ammo I ever buy are my self defence rounds everything else are reloads.




Len

[GLShooter]

I shoot several matches a month. Nothing but reloads and 150 rounds.. The idea that I would use factory ammo for practice flies in the face of common sense.

I'd rather shoot a bunch and get good rather than worry about dropping $1.00 every time I pulled the trigger on the good stuff. Imagine spending $13.00 for a magazine of PRACTICE ammo when you can load it for about $3.00 good bullets and all.

Greg

[mcdonl]

Handgun calibers I reload (does not include rifles, .30-30 is a handgun caliber in my house)

Thats funny as heck.

I am looking into a spitzer bullet for my Savage bolt action 30-30. I will look into the Nosler.

[ny32182]

That is the beauty of reloading, you can load basically anything you want, for the same (cheap) price.

I shoot action pistol matches, so my typical load is 147gr FMJ at ~880fps. It costs half what WWB does, and is better tailored to my exact performance needs.

If I wanted to practice with something like what I carry (factory 124gr Gold Dot at 1175fps as chronoed from my G19) I would load a 124gr FMJ to 1175fps, and it would cost about 1/8th of what factory Gold Dots cost.

If you want to shoot a lot for any reason, and are paying the ammo bill yourself, it is the only way to go.

[MCgunner]

I am looking into a spitzer bullet for my Savage bolt action 30-30. I will look into the Nosler.

My rifle was a Savage 340. Sold it to my uncle. He's since sold it. It was an accurate gun at a bargain price when I was in high school and didn't have a lot of cash on hand.

I've killed 5 deer so far with the 12" contender, longest 90 yards, using the Nosler 150. It expands readily at contender velocities, 2050 fps at the muzzle. It has a good BC and I also shoot it at 2800 fps from a .308 Winchester. I've killed near a dozen deer and a few hogs with that rifle/load and it performs great at that level, too. It's a good bullet and at .30-30 rifle velocities, it should work fine right out to 300 or so yards if stretched.

I used to load the Sierra 150 flat base bullet in the Savage and it worked fine, too. I do like the Nosler BTs, though.

[schnarrgj]

Load practice ammo for 380,38 Special ,9mm,44 special and 45. Allows me to practice a lot more than factory ammo. Been reloading for right at 40 years. I just shoot the SD ammo when changing it out. Initially I made sure the SD ammo was reliable and accurate. Then adjusted the reloads to close to the same point of aim.

[josephbw]

.32 ACP, 9 mm, .40 S&W, & .44 SPL. My Charter Arms Bulldog has only had my reloads through it. :D

[buck460XVR]

All I shoot or carry are handloaded now .


Same here. .45ACP and .38 Special. Those carry guns get shot as a much as my hunting revolvers.....everytime I go to the range. It amazing how fast even experienced hand-gunners lose their proficiency when the don't practice regularly.

[LT.Diver]

If you want to shoot well, shoot often. If you shoot often you either reload or you spend a lot of money!
When I was a member of my department's TRT we trained monthly. I couldn't begin to guess how much ammo we went through, but at the end of our three days traing my thumb was raw and sore from loading magazines.
Now I realize that most of us who arn't shooting the tax payer's ammo arn't going to go through thousands of rounds a month, (unless we compete), but we would still need to shoot hundreds of rounds. Personally, I can't afford a few hundred rounds of factory ammo every week, so I shoot reloads exclusively.

[PabloJ]

9x19 is the answer. Speer Lawman for practice and Speer Gold Dot for Defensive use.

[Furncliff]

CZ 75b plus a Kadet conversion kit allows me to practice with cheap ammo using my full weight, full size handgun. Switching between calibers takes 15 seconds. I don't reload 9mm...yet. The gun is reliable and accurate with both calibers. I would do the same with my 1911 if I could find a reliable conversion kit. I do reload .45acp.

At my age stance, sight picture and grip are the things that I need to work on most frequently. Rimfire calibers are just the ticket for me.