JKF159

All of the info about compressed powder charges is accurate but with Bullseye you wont have compressed loads with normal charge weights and seating depths so that wont be an issue with your load. To specifically address the original question about the .040 difference OAL I would refer to my Speer manual for the 38 Spl. The loads for a 158 lead bullet are listed as one set of loads for a SWC and a LSWC and a LRN. These each have a different OAL from 1.440 to 1.510 giving a difference of .070 inch but yet they use the same data. The point is that all bullets don't result in the same OAL even though they weigh the same so there is nothing unusual about your bullet resulting in the OAL that you are seeing. Your OAL of 1.45 falls in the range of OAL,s in the Speer book for a lead 158 grain bullet so it sounds perfectly normal and I would feel comfortable in using the Speer data for your bullet, however the Speer book and the Alliant website lists 3.9 grains of Bullseye as max for a 38 +P load with the 158 gr lead bullet. As others have suggested it depends on the gun. I'm pretty sure that your load will not generate destructive pressures but I would say that you are at or probably past +P pressures for a 38.

Full frame readers are what I use. I first tried 1.25 and that will work but it does make the targets slightly fuzzy. That is what I used until I found a pair of 1.00 full frames at Walmart. That is what I shoot with now and the fuzziness at distance is barely detectable. A friend of mine that wears glasses tried the 1.00's and bought himself a pair. I've noticed that my eyes are worse in the morning and get better as the day goes on. 1.25's in the morning are just about perfect and have little fuzziness at distance but in the afternoon the fuzziness is noticeable but useable.

I think it's important to be a little more systematic than just try to shoot stuff as fast as you can. Pro football players don't just go out and play football. They break down the skills needed to play their position and drill those skills in isolation, and then string together multiple skills before ever trying to do it in a simulated play. In shooting, it's probably a good idea for newer shooters to spend some time just working on trigger pull while looking at the sights, without any targets to distract you (white wall fundamentals). Single pulls, (in SA and DA if you shoot that type of gun), double pulls, and bill drills, all with the same intensity of grip you use while shooting. So imho, ONE of the things you should tell a new shooter is 'align the sights, and pull the trigger as fast as you can without disturbing the sights'. For sure, at the same time, the new shooter needs to develop the skill to shoot tight groups, and hit what he is aiming at, but most people should probably be working on both. Mr. Moto, I agree with you 100%. Breaking down any endeavor into the basic skills is how all things are taught and learned. You start with the most basic skills and master those before attempting more difficult skills that require the basic skills to accomplish.That is what I am currently trying to do for myself to improve the speed of my shooting. I am slow but getting faster or maybe I should say I'm getting less slow. Thanks for your response.

What Mat said. Being a beginning competition shooter myself I am particularly interested in threads like this. I have a lot of experience at slow and accurate fire but that does not mean that I can merely go as fast as I can and I will get better. When I tried this I quickly lost my trigger pull and was jerking shots really low and left. To continue jerking the trigger for many shots would just ingrain poor trigger control into my shooting. I have since backed off and I'm learning to go at a speed that I can get hits and pushing that speed a little at a time. This has improved my times quite a bit. I think if a brand new shooter were given the advice to go fast from the get go he would never learn the proper fundamentals therefore he would never progress past a certain point. After all, you would not ever teach someone to shoot by saying here, align the sights and pull the trigger as fast as you can. I think the advice given to a new competition shooter should depend on where their skills are at to begin with. If they are an accomplished shot then start going faster. If they are brand new then go slow and accurate before speed is introduced. If they cannot hit the target slowly they certainly cant hit it fast. I know this does not pertain exactly to the original post but I agreed with Mat and just had to say so.

Hi, I've been lurking here for a few weeks and since I just received my USPSA membership packet in the mail today I thought it might be time to introduce myself. I'm Jeff and my New Years Resolution this year was to get started in USPSA. I've wanted to start for quite awhile but something always delays it. I was going to start with the January match in Little Rock but it was rained out and it looks like the match next weekend might get some rain also. In other words I haven't shot any matches yet but I have been practicing with my single stack for about 4 weeks. I have been surfing the web and have found many websites and videos and a ton of info but I always wind up here on BE's site. Seems like some really nice folks with some good info for shooters of all levels and no arguing. Anyway, Hi to all.