Pistol reloading and accuracy...

[MarkRohfrietsch]

Hi everyone,

In pistols shooting, how much affect does bullet style have on accuracy?

Our chief range officer has been shooting revolver all of his life and he has found that wad-cutters give him an amazing boost in accuracy over round nose lead or jacketed ammo.

He theorizes that it is the longer cylindrical shape giving more contact with the rifling, resulting in the accuracy improvement. (I remember a brief time quite a while ago when our local municipal police carried Colt .38 revolvers, and the wad-cutter was their standard issue bullet). Times have changed!

Anyway, what shoots better for everyone in their semis; SWC, Truncated cone, hollow point?

Do heavier bullets shoot better for you?

I am using 127 gr in my 9; plated round nose; and I have used Berry's 230 gr RN in the 45 as well as Xmetal Polymer coated 230 gr. RN. Both shoot OK for a "Combat" hand gun; I want to do better.

I'm using also 145 Gr. Cowboy Action .38 (measure .359 dia) in a very tight Webley Enfileld loaded with 4 g of Universal (fairly hot load) and it does not shoot well at all.

Any advice is welcome.

Mark

 

[GeorgeJ]

For precision pistol, I use light loads of Alliant Bullseye with 185gr SWC at 25 yds and 185gr JHP at 50 yds in my .45. If you use these types of precision target loads, you will need to replace your slide spring. A standard slide spring is too heavy and your pistol will not cycle. I use an 11 lb spring.

I use Berry's 230g RN with standard loads of HP-38 for general plinking.

 

[Servant68]

All pistols are different and the quest for maximum accuracy can be both very expensive and very time-consuming.

When I first started shooting GSSF matches last year, I used a Glock G29 10mm with the stock barrel and a .40 S&W conversion barrel from Lone Wolf.

I found perfect loads for it using 180gr Hornady XTPs and either Unique or TiteGroup powder. I can buy the Hornady bullets at WalMart for $20 per 100. A little spendy, but they worked great.

Then I decided to buy the Glock G35 in .40 S&W for my matches. I tried the same load that I used in my G29 and it did not like them at all.

I have since discovered that it likes lighter bullets. It does equally well with 155gr Berry's or Hornady's and 145gr cast bullets from a Lee mold. And I use Win 231 and Unique for it.

My carry pistol prefers 165gr bullets...

I don't know enough to explain why different pistols prefer different weights of bullets, I just know what weights my pistols prefer.

 

[MarkRohfrietsch]

Thanks for the info; I will be doing a fair bit of experimenting. I have been using Hodgdon Universal in the .38 S & W, the 9 and the 45. I will play more with Min to max in .3 gr increments in all three. And maybe try some other powders as well.