Pics from recent range session

[novalty]

Went to the range this past weekend with my brother to try out some test loads in our S&W Shields, he was shooting Xtreme Bullets 115gr plated RN, and I was shooting my own cast 130gr. RNFP. Also brought along my S&W target 1911 to shoot some 200gr. SWC's with 5.0gr. W231. I'm already aware that I am not the most accurate shooter, nor can I post pictures of "one ragged hole groups" like a lot talk of, but figure I ain't ashamed to post a couple pics of my targets from 10 yards-yes it was measured. While I am sure I don't load them right, or on the right equipment--you'll be hard pressed to find anyone that loads them cheaper.

2 Magazines two-handed weaver stance


Two-hands weaver stance


Strong-hand


My Shield at 7 yards with my own cast bullets

[Forrest r]

Very nice!!!!

If you want to tighten your groups up you need to shoot/practice for a decade or 2 with these.

10m air pistol (year round workouts in the basement/10m range)
25m sport pistol
50m free pistol



And yes, the 10m range in the basement see a little offhand practice with rifles also.



If you must use a 2 hand hold a taco hold and a setup like this will easily cut your groups in 1/2".



Gotta luv the 9mm, shoot allot of it myself. Lite recoil & extremely accurate.



I like your style & choices in calibers, the 1911/45apc combo's are hard to beat. Putting a marvel conversion unit on a nm 1911 is one of the best training/practice tools out there.



There's nothing better than quality equipment & tons of range time. Start shooting 500 rounds to a 1000 rounds a week in your pistols, in a year or 2 you'll be shooting bugholes.

When I 1st decided to learn how to accurately shoot a pistol (1987) I shot 3000 rounds a week every week for a year with a 1911 and a conversion kit and a s&w 586. (I'm a slow learner) The 1911 is long gone along with several more but I still have the 586. It was rebuilt once & need rebuilt again along with the bbl & cylinders are shot out.



Practice practice practice

[novalty]

All set with the 22 conversion, just need to get the red dot for my 2206.


Generally I don't punch paper, as I prefer shooting steel-which is why I got my own plate rack.

[Clovishound]

My advice is to concentrate on the basics. Grip. Sight picture. Trigger pull. If you have an experienced shooter handy, get them to watch you shoot and perhaps they can spot something that will reduce your groups significantly.

Having said that, your groups are smaller than most that I see at the range.

In my mind, time at the range is first about safety, then about having fun, then about getting better with your accuracy.

[fredj338]

You are off to a good start. I resist shooting closer than 50ft for testing accuracy. Under that its speed drills. Stay with it, you don't get better by not pulling the trigger.

[venomballistics]

My best friend was raised in a Law enforcement family.
His father passed away early on, and I never met him personally, however I did see some of the mans ammunition collection to include such oddballs as the 236 USN as well as his duty and training ammo.

Some of his training ammo was interesting.
The fairly pedestrian 158 grain cast RN was to be expected, but the 6 grain WC ... yes six ... was quite a novel approach to the problem of getting to the range.

This load was as simple as pressing cleaned and sized cases into a block of warm wax, then seating a primer to propel said wax WC.
In revolvers, you'll need to drill out flash holes to keep the primer setback from binding up the gun. Autos could care less, though you'll have to run it like a single shot.

Primers are good for making some airborne lead compounds, but these do very well as indoor gallery loads.
They have served me well over the years in tasks such as bore sighting and whacking the occasional rodent.

have fun with this old group therapy size reduction program

[Nevada Ed]

Nice shooting at those 30 yard targets........
Most SD shooting are at HALF that distance so I see no problems in the future.

I see no problems with those loads and bullets...
you did great.

[novalty]

Fortunately, my brother-in-law is a Marine, and can quickly identify any issue with accuracy from my firearms is operator error. He shoots incredibly well with everything I've seen him handle.

I have to make myself set up paper targets more often, as I spend most of ny time working on increasing my speed on my plate rack, that I loose the accuracy piece. My reloads generally stay on the mild end to reduce recoil, and increase follow-up shot time. Had my 1911 down to 4.0grs of W231, which still functioned my slide fine--but was so darn dirty I had to increase the charge.

As a result of the powder shortage, my supply of W231 has almost been used up, and I am moving on to the shipment of Bullseye and AA#5, that I got in this summer--so having to experiment with different charges. Also picked up a jug of Ramshot Competition that I heard some good things about.

Winter is rapidly approaching in Maine, so not much opportunity to go shooting in the months to come. So I'll be digging out the RCBS ProMelt to do some casting soon.

[venomballistics]

Never hurts to add to your shooting discipline.
take some time to get in some zen off the bench and see if some of the magic migrates over to the high speed plate shooting.

[Nevada Ed]

Sorry to hear winter is closing in on you and time at the range
or in the fields is coming to an end soon.

Shooting those Speer plastic bullets gets old after a while..........

Are you into Ice fishing ?

[fredj338]

Just me, but before I start doing speed drills, I run a mag or cyl full at 50-75ft for the smallest groups I can shoot. This kind of brings me back to basics of proper trigger control, sights & grip.

[bwxmas]

Had a good one the other day. I am fairly new..Just keep going. Doesn't matter, as long as you are having fun. 10yds..Matts bullets.. good combo
Factory Springfield..Sometimes you just get lucky

[novalty]

Nice shooting bwxmas!

I get excited when I can clear half of my plate rack before my b-I-l clears the other half. He keeps me honest by putting a full magazine through his S&W1911 into a 1" paste on target--jerk.

[rwsmith]

I don't get enough practice. Last time I started out with a group about as big as a beach ball. I realized I was nervous and not concentrating, not having shot in a while. I tried to relax and focus and my next groups were as good as any I've shot.

[bwxmas]

The crazy thing about that group, I knew I pulled the one.. It was the 6th shot I think.. I think I saw the one hole, and got too excited.
For what ever reason I shot some of my dads old Hornady buttons, and every single pistol I shot, regardless of powder was superb in accuracy.
I called Hornady, and they have no info about ever making them.
Matts was the closest I could find.

[fredj338]

I don't think Hornady every made a cast bullet. Swaged yes, but those are cast. Does the box say 185gr something? You may be shooting up collectables??

[bwxmas]

It really doesn't matter, as I would not sell em anyway.
They most definitely are collectable. I kept one box intact.

[Forrest r]

Hornady made an excellent swaged bullet, the long bodies on those bullets (anything over 60% ='s $$$$$) made them stable/accurate.

I make something similar every now and then. Got the idea from the eley 10x esp nosed bullets. They put a dimple on the front of their bullet, it breaks the air in front of the bullet making it more stable/less wind sensitive.

I actually viewed it as making the bullet have better penetration. What I found was that this bullet didn't penetrate any better than a standard fmj bullet. Bbbuuuuutttt it turned out to be an extremely accurate bullet.



I have an old herter's 9-ton swaging press with a set of 45acp dies that make those 1/2 jacketed bullets. It has a swc hp, rn & wc nose forming dies with it along with a swc nose that very similar to the bullet bwxmas pictured above.

Your picture/group has me putting swaging some 45acp's on this winter's bucket list.

[bwxmas]

I actually shot them on a lark. Trying to find a load that my wife could shoot. I loaded a 100, and went out with my brother. I could not believe how accurate they were. Everytime we would shoot them, we would just look at each other, like WOW.
I googled, and did not find one picture of this original bullet.
I called Hornady to find out what I had, and where I could get alot more.They looked at the pics, and said We dunno. Too old, and we have no info.
I would have paid top dollar to get 1000's of those.
I was browsing Matts, and saw theses, and bought a couple thousand. This group was the second group I shot with them. They seem to work pretty well.
If you ever decide to make some let me know. I'd be happy to try some. I really liked the cup design.

[forestswin]

Novalty

Hey
I have the honor of giving you your 1000th like!
there are some nice groupings on your 2 hand stance targets

I'm curious what you were aiming at on the 2 green rectangle target - and is that a crayola green colored dinosaur in the back of the target

I can't remember keeping a one handed target - I must crumple them up fast and get them into the trash bucket before anyone sees them.

Here try this target
I have all my handgun loads shooting nice small groups on a rest, so when I shoot off the rest - this guide tells me whether its me or the gun.

[IMG][/IMG]

[novalty]

Thanks for the 1,000th Like forestwin! My Daily Thread has almost hit 1,000 posts and has over 80,000 views too.

The two green rectangle target is actually card-stock paper that my work was going to throw out. I aim at the dark green rectangle. My 1911 is set up for a 6 o'clock hold, and the target sites are all serrated black. Work pretty well on the plates when they are painted a good contrast.

Very good eye on the crayola dinosaur it is actually a painting of Yoshi that my wife made for our kid's Super Mario Bros birthday party this summer. She also made this cake for them.


Thanks for the target suggestion. Another option would to just make it bigger and call everything "OK."