Hi guys, I'm getting ready to order some more ammo as I'm wanting to get back into shooting a bit more regularly.. My carry ammo HST 124 +P - and I've been buying NATO spec ammo as it closely approximates the recoil and ballistics of the HST, but was wondering if it was really worth the cost and wear and tear? I do still have plenty of NATO spec in lockup, but was thinking maybe buying some 115 or standard pressure 124 as it should be a little less spicy and more fun to shoot, especially for any guests that aren't gun savvy. Are there any draw backs or other things to consider? Point of impact shouldn't be drastically different at typical self defense ranges, right?
115 grn vs 124grn for plinking?
- Thread starter The_Eric
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Some regular 115gr range ammo has a little more pop to it and isn't any more expensive. Sellier & Bellot is a favorite. It also seems a smidge more accurate than other cheap range ammo.
I agree.. I have the press and other misc things.. I still need powder, primers and some dies/molds for casting bullets ( I have about 500lbs of lead cast into ingots) Once I get those things, I have a friend who will come over and help me set it up.
in 9mm? Sounds more like .45
OP didn't mention a caliber, just grains, and I like more.
The cost of bullets, primers, powder, have gone up to the point where reloading only makes sense to me if I am looking for some custom load unavailable off the shelf.
Pshaw, once you go 250 you no never go back. 300 for self defense. Of course you gotta get them up to speed.
OP, just shoot everything. I used to really get all hot and happy seeing if I could punch a nice tight group into a soda bottle sized dot drawn into a paper plate. I wasn't always successful, but the 2 mags out of 10 that I could do it on impressed me to no end.
Then I had one of those ephipfany moments.
It went something like this - hey man, you been doing this same thing for 15-20 years. You've got this figured out. Now, speed it up. Bad guy isn't going to let you do slow fire and stand perfectly still. Shoot the plate really fast 3 times. Now I can consistently keep 15/18 rounds on a plate shooting fairly quickly. Any round. It might take me a few shots to figure out where they hit, but I'm not locked into HST mode. I point and shoot. My sights are used, but very briefly. On target - then bang bang bang. So what if it's an 8 inch group. I gotcha now, Mr. Malignant
I ain't hickock45, or IDPA, But I'm confident I can get the job done and that lets me just buy whatever is cheapest just to plink.
I do suggest shooting all 3 popular grains in 9mm. That can take some getting used to. For a while I'd load my mags mixed. I never really excelled at that, but I still think it has its merit. Teaches you compensation imo.
What?
which part, my comeback to the guy who turned a 9mm thread into a .40/10mm/.45 cause that's Gods caliber/beast mode plinking - which I pivoted into a .460 mag is moar better? I actually quite enjoy 10's and .45's, but not so much the .40
or the part where I told OP to shoot everything he could get his hands on and to quit sweating the small stuff? I don't get this "I must match my practice ammo with my carry ammo so I can shoot" stuff.
As most accomplished shooters will probably agree on, it's that ammo (the vast majority of it) can vary quite a bit from round to round even if they come out of the same box. The first round of a 124gr HST might be 10% slower or faster than the second round - so what is there to 'match' - imo nice tight groups are step one. Quick fast center mass hits are step 2, and not so much time needs to spent worrying about step one. 15 years ago I might have stood in an isosceles stance trying to shoot Mr Malignant only in his left nipple, now I train to shoot him 3 times within 8" of his sternum in 2-3 seconds.
I did mean soda bottle lid, not the whole soda bottle.......
or the part where I told OP to shoot everything he could get his hands on and to quit sweating the small stuff? I don't get this "I must match my practice ammo with my carry ammo so I can shoot" stuff.
As most accomplished shooters will probably agree on, it's that ammo (the vast majority of it) can vary quite a bit from round to round even if they come out of the same box. The first round of a 124gr HST might be 10% slower or faster than the second round - so what is there to 'match' - imo nice tight groups are step one. Quick fast center mass hits are step 2, and not so much time needs to spent worrying about step one. 15 years ago I might have stood in an isosceles stance trying to shoot Mr Malignant only in his left nipple, now I train to shoot him 3 times within 8" of his sternum in 2-3 seconds.
I did mean soda bottle lid, not the whole soda bottle.......
Triple_Se7en
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My pistols in 9mm and 380 are micros & can all fit in my non-oversized front pocket. Some pockets are semi-tight for my hand - even without a gun. So not normally are they pleasant to shoot.
My favorite bullet in 9mm would be the 147gr FMJ. Because the bullet exists slower, I feel less recoil and able to shoot more comfortably longer, at the gun ranges.
My favorite bullet in 9mm would be the 147gr FMJ. Because the bullet exists slower, I feel less recoil and able to shoot more comfortably longer, at the gun ranges.
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I'll add the first caveat that I'm not a 9mm shooter. I do shoot 38 Super some, and typically use .355 caliber bullets meant for 9mm in my own loads, but have not owned a 9mm in several years and even though I have a set of dies am not sure I've ever loaded for it.
I use to be pretty adamant about how, absent a good reason, I'd shoot what you might call the "design weight" of a given caliber, or the weight of bullet that a lot of the oldest loads for it use. For 38 Special and 357 Magnum, that means 158gr. I've favored 147gr in 38 Super and 9mm, although the latter is not exactly easy to find. Part of this comes from the fact that for a fixed sight revolver-like say an S&W Model 10-the "standard" weight bullet loaded to standard muzzle velocity will usually be dead-on for fixed sights. Something like a 158gr SWC over 3.0gr Bullseye, for example, normally hits just right for a Model 10.
I've softened on that some, especially as the cost of everything has gone up. My kind of breaking point on 38 special was maybe 10 years ago when I was at a gun show and there were two younger guys there who were getting a bullet casting business up and going. This was the old Lexington, KY Rupp Arena gun show, which happened every other month and I always shared a table with a couple of friends. I got to know these bullet casters fairly well, and bought a bunch from them over various shows. They even kept taunting me with their 160gr Keith-type SWC, which they would always show me but couldn't sell at the show because of a contract with a specific gun store(I did go and buy a few boxes of them).
In any case, at one particular show they had probably 2500 125gr .358 round nose bullets. They had them out for a reasonable price-I don't remember what but in bags of 100, but of course I had zero interest in them-I didn't like that weight, and also preferred an SWC over a round nose. They flag me down and basically say they know it's not a bullet I'd normally be interested in, but they'd made them for a contract order that backed out and were tired of hauling them to shows and basically just wanted their money back. They gave me a deal on those that was honestly not much over the scrap value of the lead, and I couldn't pass it up.
I've shot a lot of those bullets needless to say, and probably still have 1000 of them on-hand plus an ammo can or two of them loaded. They make a really nice plinking round.
As I've started casting my own, although I shoot rarely now(and am not set up to reload at all now) I've come to appreciate lighter bullets. They are less expensive to cast, for a really soft shooting load they can often use the same amount of powder or only slightly more as a heavier bullet(although you should of course watch this carefully and make sure you're not loading light enough for unreliable cycling, or also unreliable ignition with certain powders), and if you loose pack say 1000 rounds in an ammo can it's not an insignificant difference in weight.
I use to be pretty adamant about how, absent a good reason, I'd shoot what you might call the "design weight" of a given caliber, or the weight of bullet that a lot of the oldest loads for it use. For 38 Special and 357 Magnum, that means 158gr. I've favored 147gr in 38 Super and 9mm, although the latter is not exactly easy to find. Part of this comes from the fact that for a fixed sight revolver-like say an S&W Model 10-the "standard" weight bullet loaded to standard muzzle velocity will usually be dead-on for fixed sights. Something like a 158gr SWC over 3.0gr Bullseye, for example, normally hits just right for a Model 10.
I've softened on that some, especially as the cost of everything has gone up. My kind of breaking point on 38 special was maybe 10 years ago when I was at a gun show and there were two younger guys there who were getting a bullet casting business up and going. This was the old Lexington, KY Rupp Arena gun show, which happened every other month and I always shared a table with a couple of friends. I got to know these bullet casters fairly well, and bought a bunch from them over various shows. They even kept taunting me with their 160gr Keith-type SWC, which they would always show me but couldn't sell at the show because of a contract with a specific gun store(I did go and buy a few boxes of them).
In any case, at one particular show they had probably 2500 125gr .358 round nose bullets. They had them out for a reasonable price-I don't remember what but in bags of 100, but of course I had zero interest in them-I didn't like that weight, and also preferred an SWC over a round nose. They flag me down and basically say they know it's not a bullet I'd normally be interested in, but they'd made them for a contract order that backed out and were tired of hauling them to shows and basically just wanted their money back. They gave me a deal on those that was honestly not much over the scrap value of the lead, and I couldn't pass it up.
I've shot a lot of those bullets needless to say, and probably still have 1000 of them on-hand plus an ammo can or two of them loaded. They make a really nice plinking round.
As I've started casting my own, although I shoot rarely now(and am not set up to reload at all now) I've come to appreciate lighter bullets. They are less expensive to cast, for a really soft shooting load they can often use the same amount of powder or only slightly more as a heavier bullet(although you should of course watch this carefully and make sure you're not loading light enough for unreliable cycling, or also unreliable ignition with certain powders), and if you loose pack say 1000 rounds in an ammo can it's not an insignificant difference in weight.
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I practice with same I would use for self defense. 124 gr
124 in general will shoot softer than 115. I used to load 124gn bullets for years but recently switched to 147gn. Still working out powders and charges. My newly acquired Garmin Xero C1 is a pleasure to use compared with my old ProChrono. Not quite used to heavier bullet yet, one guy I shoot with went from 147 to 158...
Last time I was stocking up I was able to buy 147s cheaper than 124s, and I shoot plated bullets only. Working up a load with Ramshot True Blue, cleaned out the store that had it
got a bunch of TiteGroup but it burns dirty (used to load with Clays).
I'm still saving about 40% compared with factory ammo, and my ammo is tuned to my gun.
Last time I was stocking up I was able to buy 147s cheaper than 124s, and I shoot plated bullets only. Working up a load with Ramshot True Blue, cleaned out the store that had it
got a bunch of TiteGroup but it burns dirty (used to load with Clays).I'm still saving about 40% compared with factory ammo, and my ammo is tuned to my gun.
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