making an accurate pistol round?

GaryL said:

This. Plus the right handgun. I had a cheap FEG 45acp I could shoot well, until the barrel lug broke. Wasn't ever able to find a replacement barrel for it. :-(

A question one could also ask is - how long does it take for those skills to fade and you have to work back up to where you left off?

IMHO, another thing that helps is a bit of weight lifting to build strength to hold steady and strong. Of course, I ride an office chair and drive a KB pretty much all day at work, so I need something to keep up muscle tone.

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Having had time blocks where little to no shooting was done, I've learned a few things. It surprised me how quickly muscle memory comes right back. I've often out shot my buddy's right out of the gate. But I also wasn't quite as good as when I am shooting constantly.

Armored farmer said:

And remember that long term exposure to lead can cause memory loss.
And memory loss.

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I've heard that before.. I think.

Consistant headstamped brass helps, but testing with various powders and OAL are a must, as well as a decent chronograph. Without a chrono you are simply guessing, while velocity info is important, I believe the MOST important data is standard deviation. If your rounds vary 50 to 100 fps (spread) your groups are not going to be tight. If you can get consistant SD in the mid teens or single digits your groups will be much, much tighter.

bds said:

Iroquois, good shooting but OP is shooting 9mm.

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Thanks for the insight, but my point is what a good rest can do. It shouldn’t matter what caliber your are shooting. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

Blue68f100 said:

I'm wondering if he was standing on his head when he shot these.

Nice shooting.

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Thanks and I was standing on my head! Sorry for the upside down photos bit I’m still learning on this new IPAD and this forum.

If you look around there will be one or two classic bullet/propellant combos for each handgun caliber that will turn up over and over that are inherently accurate in a lot of different handguns. They are easier to find than a good load for a rifle IMHO. First find a OAL that will feed in your semi or will provide a good crimp location for your revolver bullet. Then work up a load using a good combo of components others find accurate. Pretty simple eh?

I'm a little late to this thread, so maybe it has been mentioned, but for me bullet selection seems to be the prime factor in my accurate handgun rounds.

I can get a cast, even swaged 9mm bullets to shoot pretty good, but never well as a good jacketed bullet. I use some plain types too but XTPs have been about the best for me. Plated bullets have not treated me well so far, but I have only just begun tinkering with those. Maybe my revolver just does not like them.

Walkalong said:

You're way over thinking this OH.

Get some 9MM cases. Size and prime them. Add 5.7 Grains BE-86 (Work up to this) or 5.5 Grains of Silhouette. Top them off with the 124 Gr MPR bullets you have loaded to 1.070 to 1.075 OAL.

Shoot them.
View attachment 774615 View attachment 774616

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I think you found accurate loads because you are shooting a 1911.
In all seriousness it is the easiest thing for me to shoot but I still don't shoot a handgun as good as that. I'm happy with 4 inches as long as most of them as touching.

Iroquois said:

Thanks and I was standing on my head! Sorry for the upside down photos bit I’m still learning on this new IPAD and this forum.

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I can't stand on my head let alone shoot while I'm doing it.

Walkalong said:

It's only 7 yards, and with a red dot. When chronographing I set the chrono at 5 and the target at 7 to get numbers and check accuracy potential. I can do it with my XDm and a red dot as well. I do prefer the 1911 overall.

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I use an m&p compact and shoot between 10 and 15 yds. A red dot would probably help me.

I thought about changing the division I compete in and going with an optic, but went with a dedicated pair of shooting glasses instead. Distance for the non-domniate eye, lens of dominate eye set for the front sight and the focus center aligned with where my eye looks through the lens

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Thought about having a pair like that made up, but wondered if my brain could but it together.
Was far sighted in one eye and near sighted in the other, between the two I got by with out glasses for a long time. So my brain was putting that together.
If they are working out for you I may need to have a pair made up to try.

Targets were sort of fuzzy, sights were ok, now targets are fuzzy, sights are fuzzy, brain is fuzzy....getting old is a pain, but the only other alternative is much worse

Walkalong said:

Once my close vision started going south I reluctantly added a red dot to a pistol. Viola, I could shoot to my potential again. Before that I thought a red dot on a pistol was a pox. Adapt, improvise, overcome. Gotta do what ya gotta do. I can still shoot iron sights "ok", but with a red dot I can aim precisely again.

This one makes me look good, it's a tack driver. I bought it with the mount on it. I shortened the mount and added a mini dot.
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I feel your pain, it’s why I use a scope on my hunting revolver, vision is deteriorating.

Of course your gun needs to be accurate but in my experience bullets make the biggest difference. Tweaking the powder quantity is next.

I have often found the upper medium loads to work best for me, but upper medium in one source could be near max or near starting in another.
Sometimes I shoot a load more accurately freehand than one that likes to shoot from a rest. So the one with more potential doesn't do as well in the hand. Go figure. I suppose it I got out more....

Walkalong said:

Once my close vision started going south I reluctantly added a red dot to a pistol. Viola, I could shoot to my potential again. Before that I thought a red dot on a pistol was a pox. Adapt, improvise, overcome. Gotta do what ya gotta do. I can still shoot iron sights "ok", but with a red dot I can aim precisely again.

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Boy, isn't that the truth. My issue is being near sighted. So glasses to see the target makes the front sight pretty fuzzy.
I used to wonder about the guys I shot with some years back who had optics on their pistols. Not anymore.

alliant says decrease the max by ten percent for a start load.

murf

The single biggest factor will be developing a good bench technique.

cp1969 said:

Yes, but if you're shooting standard weight bullets from a handgun which was designed to shoot the same, paper plate group size at 10' is not a twist issue.

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I agree. You have to get really extreme for twist rate to even be a consideration.

Good bullets,

RMR 124gr RN, Match winners, MPR and plated hardcore match

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which you have

I like 4.4-4.5 gr of WSF for about 128 PF
I don't have the targets but as I recall 4.2-4.3 gr of HP38 also shot quite well.
(edit-note was looking for something 125-130 PF so around say about 1030 fps)
MPRs about 1.07
FMJ-FNs about 1.08
I loaded the RNs a little shorter than most other people do at about 1.11.
The old Hardcore Plated FNs used to be my favorite.
Both the MPRs and the FNs shot well for me, settled on the MPRs as my choice.

RNs shot well to but the MPRS and FNs were better.