handgun loading philosophy....

[SSN Vet]

For each of my handguns, my basic goal is to build proficiency using the piece with self defense in mind (I'm not a bullseye competitor by any stretch of the imagination).

And I'm a big fan of the "train like you intend to fight" philosophy.... But, sending a lot of expensive hollow points down range into the sand berm offends my frugal Yankee sensibilities (and my wallet).

So, with an eye for economical training ammo, in each of the handgun calibers I load and shoot, I now both cast a bullet and buy a plated bullet of the same weight as my preferred JHP. And I load them all up, more or less, to the same pressure.

That way I'm teaching myself to run each handgun at pretty much the same report and recoil as I see in my personal defense loads. And as long as the cast and plated loads, cycle the action of the auto loaders and they all shoot well, I figure I'm doing pretty well.

Any thoughts?

Anybody out there doing likewise.

 

[mcdonl]

I do the same, but it took me a bit to find a HP my 1911 liked. But, Now that I have one I do the same...

 

[rsrocket1]

Good idea. No need to waste good projectiles if you're just practicing. Equivalent recoil is preferable, but close is good enough. It's making it all work automatically no matter what your stress level or distractions that count.

If you chrony your SD ammo, then match the speed with the same weight cast/plated bullet, you'll have the same recoil. No need to match it exactly, just a load that will be reliable and trouble free with your gun.

 

[Sam1911]

Agreed. I don't shoot expensive hollowpoint (or, for that matter, any factory ammo) just to practice.

 

[USSR]

No reason why hollowpoints have to be expensive - Cast your own.

Don

 

[SSN Vet]

I don't shoot expensive hollowpoint (or, for that matter, any factory ammo) just to practice.

by "expensive" hollow points, I mean 25 cent factory bullets....

a HP my 1911 liked

I've found that Rem Golden Sabers feed flawlessly in my commander.

Here are the bullet weights I've decided on..

.45 acp = 230 gr
9x19=124 gr
357=158 gr

 

[41 Mag]

So, with an eye for economical training ammo, in each of the handgun calibers I load and shoot, I now both cast a bullet and buy a plated bullet of the same weight as my preferred JHP. And I load them all up, more or less, to the same pressure.

Absolutely a good economical way to go about it. Me personally I cannot even remember when I last shot any factory ammo in any of my handguns. I have some sitting on the shelf, and I keep a clip of what ever I feel I need at the time in my auto's for SD, but haven't shot any of them. Like you I simply load to the reported spec's of the load and go to it. Now that I think about it, I have shot a few factory rounds through my 1911 this past fall, but other than that, all handloads.

I've found that Rem Golden Sabers feed flawlessly in my commander.

Here are the bullet weights I've decided on..

.45 acp = 230 gr
9x19=124 gr
357=158 gr

One thing on the Rem GS, and I know it is an apples to oranges comparrison. When they first hit the market I picked up 500 of the 180gr for my 10mm from a source I had at the time. I worked up the load based upon what I had normally been shooting which were the 180gr Winchester JHP and the Gold Dot. My 10mm has a 7" barrel on it and is VERY accurate, despite being one of the IAI SS model Javelina's that most told me was worthy of boat anchor status.

That said it has done a great job on many a feral hog in the up close and personal ranges when we were running dogs. On one occasion however I was using the Golden Sabers after finding a load which was amazingly accurate at 50yds and was running just shy of 1400fps. The dogs bayed up a huge boar hog and I was first on the scene. They had him surrounded but were smartly keeping their distance. I took aim and put the shot just below his ear at about 15 steps, and at the impact, instead of dropping like so many others had before, he soaked up the shot, grunted, growled and left for another part of the river back a few hundred yards away.

The dogs got him stopped once again and again I made it there first, and again I put another round within an inch of the first, which by all rights should have dropped him like a hot potato. Again, same response as the first time, loud growl, grunt, and off to the races again. This time however when we got to him there were three of us and I was behind a big brush pile when another fellow put a 170gr 30-30 round through the top of his head.

What we found was that both shots hit right where they should have, and both should have penetrated through the side of his head and dropped him like the Gold Dots did. Not these, they simply splattered right under the hide and more or less bounced off. There was evidence of lead fragments in a 3" or so circle behind the two holes which were only about 2-3" apart, but right where I usually aim to drop a hog quick.

Like I said might be nothing to do with using them as a SD bullet, but after that I decided they weren't for me, and have had nothing to do with them since. I just figured that if that were the performance I might get when the stakes were much higher, and much more of a priority I didn't want to experience a similar result.

 

[mdi]

I don't use premium bullets for SD. I like a large bullet with a large meplate. (.44 Specials with a RNFP bullet, .38 Specials with a wadcutter, 45 ACP with SWC). So I can practice with my loads as needed with out using premium, $$$ bullets, and still have effective SD ammo...