Optimum Load(s): When am I there?

[TonyS. 12]

Loading newbie here. Just a few days ago I got my Hornady LnL AP setup, cleaned up, and dies installed. I've not adjusted the dies yet due to time constraints....hopefully next week I'll be able to do it. So after reading and reading and reading the past 3-4 months about reloading I believe I have a good grasp on it, yet there's one thing that I haven't seen talked about. Knowing when your loads are optimal for the gun you're using them in. I have an STI Lawman .45acp 1911 and I'd like to eventually get into USPSA. For now I'm practicing at a 25yard bullseye range. How or when do I know I've gotten to that optimal load for my gun? When it's shooting the tightest groups at an amount of recoil I can deal with and the velocity (or power factor) I'm looking for, while not blowing up the gun/barrel? Thank you.

[Heavyopp 167]

You said it right there... "When it's shooting the tightest groups at an amount of recoil I can deal with and the velocity (or power factor) I'm looking for?"

 

For my 1st 20 years shooting I never really cared about power factor -- It just didn't matter how fast the bullets where traveling to put a hole in a target

 

My optimum loads where when the tightest group formed shot from a sandbag

 

Luckily, My optimum load makes major -- but for 20 years it just didn't matter

 

Do not just use this posted load -- It is just what works for me -- It may not work for you -- always start low and work up

 

200 grn semi wadcutter  by  Ibeji

 

4.1 grn of promo

 

large pistol primer #300   CCI

 

seated to an OAL of 1.248

[Vlad G 345]

It depends.

 

For bullseye type shooting, it doesn't matter if you can watch your bullets fly to the paper as long as the load is accurate. It doesn't matter if they cycle your gun, because even in the rapid fire events you could hand charge every round.

 

For "practical" type competition you have about 4 more major points to worry about.

 

1) Is it reliable? Is that combination of bullet/powder/primer/magazines/gunsprings working 100% of the time? Everything else doesn't matter because if your gun doesn't run, you are wasting your time in a shooting discipline where time matters. You don't want to spend time clearing jams. So you need to make sure that the bullet profile you have chosen, at the length you are sitting it always feeds right. You need to make sure that if you are running reduced weigh recoil springs (for the reason explained bellow) the gun has enough energy to cycle your load and feed a new round into the chamber. If you are running reduce weight hammer springs, you need to make sure the primers always light up.

 

2) Does  it feel right? If that load works your gun just fine but hammers your hand or feels like you are waiting forever for the slide to be back in battery then it will drive you mad. Some powders at certain loads feel like you are smacking a lead bar into your hand, where a different powder moving the bullet just as fine feels like firm handshake. When you are trying to shoot fast and accurate, you don't want to fight the gun.

 

3) Can you afford it? Sure maybe some $1 a bullet load, with match bullets, and rare and hard to find powders, and with just the right magic primer works fine with your overly tuned gun, but can you afford to practice and shoot matches? For a while, Federal primers had vanished from the market, and everyone who depended on their softer cups to have their lighten hammer springs light them up was SOL for a while. If you can, avoid depending on rare components.

 

4) Does it make power factor? Now, with .45 this isn't a problem, generally speaking the gun won't even cycle right with loads that don't make power factor required by most gun games, but in other calibers it can be an issue.

 

Finally is it accurate enough?  Note, I say "enough" because while ideally you want the most accurate possible, sometimes the things above matter more. "Action shooting" type matches are a game of high speed precision, but only to a point. You will rarely if ever be required to engage targets smaller then 6x6" (basically the USPSA B zone) at reasonable distances, usually under 25 yards.   Sure, if your gun can hit 2" groups at that same distance, thats great, but don't let accuracy be the sole driver of your load, but it doesn't matter how accurate the load is if you can't afford to shoot it, doesn't run your gun, feels like crap when shooting it, or doesn't push your bullets fast enough.

[T Bill 649]

1911 45ACP is one of the most forgiving handgun rounds on the planet.  It loves just about everything. Big dumb slow and  happy is how I describe 45ACP.  Load some with a fast burning powder and some with a slow burning powder.  Shoot them both on the same day.  Decide if you like a snappy round (fast powder), or a big push (slow powder) type of recoil. Whatever allows you to get back on target sooner.  After your decision, use that powder to max out your load.  Rarely do you have to load over 170PF.  Overworking brass with hammer ammo just plain costs more for little or no benefit.  Make a charge ladder and work up it till you get where you are comfortable with it and have the accuracy and PF you desire.  One hole pistol round accuracy is as elusive as unicorns, do not expect it or try to achieve it.  Now you have your USPSA load. Practice Practice Practise.  Other sports use different loads. For Bullseye you slow it down to where the bullet only travels fast enough to be accurate to reach the target, nothing more. In fact the recoil spring will be reduced to allow the slide to function.  That is why some shooters have a BE gun and a USPSA gun.  Different disciplines.  Bowling pin shoots, different type of heads, almost saw tooth looking and full power loads to clear the table as fast as possible.

 

Experience and time will tell you what you need to load.  Start with the basic two USPSA or IDPA, and Bullseye.  Master these and the others disciplines will become second nature.

 

Good Shooting.