Dr. Phil

I started with 231 in the mid 80s because a cop friend suggested it because he loaded it in his 45. I used it in 9mm and 38. I believe it was $7 or 8 a pound. We shot Almax hard lead bullets in 125 9mm and 160 in 38. Not much smoke. Times change! I looked at 244 after reading this thread and it's around $30/lb more now! O.P. I think you are right in the ballpark. My 147s run 1.080 OAL. Good luck with the new bullets.

There probably is no 'ideal' stage. Once you shoot it so many times, it doesn't really benefit you anymore. My range has a short berm (16ish yards) on the left in kind of a set apart spot. It was the original small 'square' range. The rest is 25 yd x 50 yd. I have my 2 round plate racks, bowling pin rack, stars and a static 'check sights' plate in there. That side stays as is for drills and such. Lines can be paint. The bigger side is used for setting stages which I leave up for maybe a week and live fire most every day. Then I change it to something else. BTW mine is set for ICORE stages usually. You can make carboard targets for yours and they move/store easily. I use 1/2 size ICORE and full size in my basement for dry fire stages. When not in use, I put them all in a corner. Have fun and maybe even make a Texas Star for yours. Time and practice will make you a better shooter and (if you are like me) maybe keep you out of trouble.

Dang it! It was just getting good!! LOL keep shooting. Someday you will be as bad as me!

At the bell, they come out of their corners like crazed Spartans! ysrracer lands a glancing blow to open the round! The blow doesn't seem to faze 4n210, however and he responds with a solid... I mean devastating body blow! ysrracer is backing up, looking to regroup! And that's the bell, ending round 1 of this slugfest. More after this... Hey, O.P. I use that same load of 231 (3.2 gr) under my 147s, and I have some coated 155gr which I shoot the same charge. Nice load. Remember (if it hasn't come up yet) that you may have to change your O.A.L. depending on the bullet you are shooting (profile, ogive, etc) and it will feel different in your gun than lighter projectiles in regard to muzzle rise and recoil. And now, we're back for an exciting round 2!! Sorry, guys, just messing with ya...

I started my dry fire routine this last fall switching over to weak hand. (I am right hand shooting, right eye dominant but left handed) to see if it was faster, exactly to what you said; less steps maybe. After a couple months, I switched back, mainly because of the stories I hear about how much the gun gets beat and the bent crane stuff I have read. The auto shooters want to be below 1.5 sec. I will be happy to get to 2.5 for standing reloads. Every day 3 or 4 times I go down and work on it. Getting faster but it really ain't my jam! I saw a video of Jerry doing a 1.57 standing! Yeesh. Makes a guy sick!

Well, no. The cylinder isn't 'flopping everywhere.' I strong hand load as stated so the cylinder is actually being held by thumb plus 2 fingers (through the frame.) The clip goes in whenever and wherever I want it to. I usually don't do much running with my cylinder flopping.

I was thinking, while reading through this thread, 'now try it with a revolver!' I have to decide which reload to use (strong hand or weak hand) depending on the direction I am running. (much the same with an auto) to keep from breaking the 180. I am working now on standing reloads with the revo. There is so much movement that is hard to be fast. Really fast. I think cs's comments are spot on; break it down and do it till your hands bleed! FWIW, with a revo, I try to dump the moon clip as soon as done firing and run like heck till about 2 steps from the next box and drop in the clip just before I stop to shoot, getting the gun up as I stop. Seems to be the fastest for me from my testing. Better that than tripping over my feet! Of course, shooting against mostly autos it doesn't really matter, but it is nice to know...

LOL. Welcome aboard.

Ahhh... premature epostination.

I am using a regular expander/powder through die before the powder station. I removed the powder section and adjusted the die to minimum flare. The powder drop/expander caused an extra vibration when I tried it. I am using a .355 9mm expander whether loading .355 9mm or .358 diameter bullets. I taper crimp everything.

I use the flare die separate from the powder measure. I seat and taper crimp with the Lee die. I leave the last station empty. Set it up for a powder cop but instead I lean forward and check powder every 10 rounds or so. The powder drop always works and I can hear it if it doesn't.

I'm right there with you Cuz! I tell people all the time that knock down steel is the most fun you can have with your clothes on! I have had a few dozen people at my range shooting knock down. As stated there are now 3 or 4 clubs in southern Pa doing it and all of the squads are usually full. Most do a Lewis class payback so everybody has a chance to win something.

My 38 Mid loads are @ .900. Why? Why not? I cut down 2K with a trimmer cutter on a drill. Cut to .925 and power trimmed them to .900 on the trimmer. Those cases do get thicker as you cut toward the rim. I could never get under about .850. I was trying for 38 Super length so i could use that data. They shoot great and 2K will last almost forever using moon clips. (Which I realize the O.P. doesn't use) Never quite got how some whining is always posted about certain kinds of experimentation. But never toward the "big name" people who have experimented with everything under the sun! That is where a lot of discoveries have been made and always will. O.P. shoot what you want! Have fun! Experiment! When you think about reloading Blazer aluminum cases, just ask. I got that covered too! Oh and BTW, I use a standard .357 sizing die, a cut down powder through flare die and a 9mm Lee FC die. My 38 loads are all taper crimped because some of my coated bullets don't have grooves. My magnum loads are roll crimped.

It depends on your events. USPSA is a lot different in necessity than Steel Challenge. SC can't be shot diagonally on some stages due to the width. (Speed Option being 1) Ours run about 25 yards wide by 35 or 50 yards long, depending on the location. 25 wide is almost no enough once the side berms start to sag. (new construction) PPC events (depending on the course chosen) needs 50 yards.

Blue Ridge lists "ICORE Plus". What is the plus? I read that the IRC is at Ontelaunee this October. Is that where the warmup match is also? We do have some great matches. Most are 2 hrs. or so for me. Way worse for you!

And don't forget the Blue Mountain Steel match in October at Ontelaunee! Loads of fun! These last 4 weeks will go by quickly!

The 147s can be problematic. The length can inhibit function in tight chambers and short chambers. They can raise pressures and (as mentioned) can be hard to make accurate sometimes. That is the reason I went to 135s. They are a good blend of function and accuracy and recoil/flip. If i am out of 135 I load 125, same charge and COAL, I also shoot .357 or .358 in the guns which allow it. Revolver mostly but I have a couple autos that like that diameter. My PCC wants only .355 but I just switch to them at loading. I use the same charge/crimp whether .358 or .355.

A friend has the M&P CORE in 9mm and 40. Very nice. He improved significantly when he converted to comped!

A long time ago I discovered that different powders yield different muzzle rise arcs. I called it 'recoil arc' because back then ('83ish) there was no information aside from waiting 1 or 2 months for the magazine to come. I found that certain powders gave a quick snap of rise and others gave a slower more rhythmic arc. Recoil (to me anyway) is not crucial because that's what pushes back into the hand. The muzzle rise (or jump, flip, whatever) is what slows down the 2nd shot. Nowadays with all of the metrics on shooting it's easy to forget the 2 things that really matter; are you sights on the target when you press the trigger and did your trigger press disturb the sights? The muzzle should come back on target (or on the next target) on it's own. FWIW my testing (and many others) says that the same PF with a heavier bullet yields less muzzle flip or a longer, slower recoil arc. In the case of my revolver in SC I have found that a 96gr bullet and a light load of Win 231 yields very little recoil. I think that's due to a 50ish oz gun more than the explosion within. That's not science, probably, but that's what 40 years has shown me. I can usually tell when somebody is shooting 115s in their 9mm. The report is sharper. When you watch the muzzle flip you can usually see the quick rise. Kind of like a compensated gun compared to non-compensated. My load is actually the same in my 929, autos and PCC for 125 and 135 bullets. Makes PF. Works for my guns, loads, purposes. YMMV.

I thought so too at first but the part he seemed to think was more strange the velocities didn't do that. Probably is time for yhe marker. Good reason to use coated bullets.

Federal (FC) brass with Revolver Supply .035 or TK .040 moon clips

Are you wondering why the Blue bullets show more velocity with the same charge than the jacketed?

I just had TK cut my 686Plus for 9mm. I use the same loads. About the same length/weight but only 7. The 686 moons are only .022 or .025 so they are weak. The TK moons are .035. Nice. I use it for practice to keep from wearing out the old fella. Or the 929!

LOL! Shoulda known!

But on the other hand, my 929 was just like any other S&W revolver. A little work and a lot of testing. I tried about 4 different loads I had for various 9mm and the 'hotter' ones stuck cases. My normal load was fine from the start. Never shot factory through it. My crimp doesn't let the bullets creep. FC brass and Federal primers. It has never shot a factory load. I reload so why bother. 25K the first year and 23,500 the 2nd. BossHoss has done most of the work (trigger, tune, bore the end cap) and the gun now has something around 75K and still going. Wish I had 2 or 3. BTW a S&W former factory shooter told me a couple years ago that he has 11!