Shadowfax

Thanks for all the information -- it is hard to determine which are the important details and which are superfluous. I am now thinking of getting a barrel from Black Hole Weaponry <http://www.blackholeweaponry.com> -- 18", Stainless steel, standard profile, 3 groove rifling with 1:8 twist and rifle length gas port -- there is a group buy going on one of the other forums for $165. I was planning on trying to get a complete upper, but this way I can order exactly what I want -- and if I get stuck, I'm sure I can find some excellent advice on this forum.

I am confused about what twist rate would be best to buy for my first AR-15 in .223. I have read, from people who sound like they know what they are talking about, that a twist rate of 1:9 would be optimum for bullets in the 52 to 69 grain range. That sounds perfect and would allow me to start with some commercial grade 55 grain off-the-shelf loads with the possibility of moving to some slightly heavier hand-loads in the future. The problem is that many of the popular uppers that I see, for example at Bravo Company, etc, have twist rates of 1:7, yet most of the reviewers that I have read are impressed with how accurate their guns are. Is this a case of comparing apples and oranges? Are all 3-gunners hand loading and using heavier bullets with the slower twist rate to hit targets at 300-400 yards, where the average shooter is happy to hit a target with commercial ammo at 100 yards? As I said, this is my first AR-15 -- actually my first rifle of any kind larger than a .22. I have been shooting pistol for about a year and go to local USPSA style matches 3-4 time a month. There are a few local (Southern California) 3-gun matches that look like fun. I would like to get a gun good enough that I would be able to compete given enough practice, however I am not expecting to win the Nationals or anything like that any time soon. If it matters, I was planning on getting a 16" mid-length, or an 18" or 20" rifle-length gas system.

I am leaning toward getting the 550. It is a stretch to the budget, but it seems to me like the perfect compromise between the square deal and the 650. I like the idea of being able to easily add a rifle caliber to my arsenal in my future, but is not as complex or expensive as the 650. Maybe some day, once I know what I am doing, I will upgrade -- but I think that the 550 will fit the bill for today. Thanks.

Yea, maybe that is the answer I was looking for. Moly bullets may just work in some guns better than others. I can imagine that the rifling and barrel architecture in your STI may be just enough different from the Sig226 to make the difference. I certainly don't want to be cleaning my gun any more than I have to. Thanks for the advice, this forum is the best.

Bayouman, Good advice, thanks -- 5000 sounded like a lot to me at first, but maybe 10,000 would be better. I am trying to get used to these numbers. It wasn't that many months ago that buying 100 bullets at a time sounded like a lot to me I don't know which weight is better myself, but the un-scientific survey that I did, I counted the number of times each weight for 9mm was mentioned positively in this forum across a number of posts, and I got the following results: 115 grain bullets were mentioned positively only 3 times; 124 grains mentioned 30 times, and 147 grain bullets were mentioned 12 times. The only thing really clear about this is that nobody seems to like 115's very much, which is pretty much all that I have ever shot since that is what most of the cheaper commercial ammo is. I am looking forward to loading my own ammo and getting to try them both to see what works best for me.

Jack, Thanks for the excellent advice, but I am confused on the whole "moly vs. fmj" thing. I am not wanting to start a debate here, and I don't know myself, but reading some threads, it seems as if there are people who are quite happy with using poly/moly coated bullets such as from Black Bullet Int., and they say, that if they use the right kind of powder, such as Solo1000 or WST that they do not get much smoke or excessive lead in their barrel. On the other hand there are some who believe you will get fouling with coated bullets no matter what you do. I guess the point is that, other than a small cost difference, that most people have no problems with shooting FMJ, so that is the "safe" bet.

I am new and have not been to a match yet. Is it likely that there will be vendors like Target Barn at the Nationals in Las Vegas who have primers in stock? I'm thinking of making the drive out from Southern California anyway, but if I can buy primers at the same time, then I am definitely making the trip.

Hello, I am the newest member of this forum and also one of the newest USPSA members. I have been shooting local club matches for ~ 3 months and decided that it is time to "bite the bullet", so to speak, and start reloading my own ammo. I thought I could get by just buying ammo at Wally world, but as you all know, that is a hit-or-miss operation -- usually miss. My daughter shoots with me as well, so I need twice the amount of ammo as I would need by myself. I have stockpiled ~2000 rounds of factory ammo, but I find myself wanting to conserve it rather than getting out to a match or to practice more. After reading these forums for information, I came up with a few plans and options. If anyone could help me out and point me in the right direction, I would appreciate it. My guns -- Sig 226 and Sig P6 -- both 9mm. Will be shooting production class. I plan to order primers and powder first, then wait till those back-orders arrive before I order a Dillon 550B. Primers - 5000 Winchester Small Pistol. (most people seemed to prefer this brand, at least in 9mm anyway) Two choices for bullets and powder: 1) 130 grain Black Bullets Int – 9mm 130 TC .3555 with VN330 or Solo 1000 (preferred) 2) 124 grain Montana Gold CMJ with N320 or Titegroup (preferred) Would appreciate opinions on which powder/ bullets will give me the least trouble reloading, but will be accurate enough for USPSA and will not cause excessive fouling in my guns.