Skyhawk

Oh wow, thanks ebg3! Those pressures look nice and low for that heavy a bullet. I find it surprising that all the Lyman books list the OAL at 1.058" when I've fitted the rounds to 1.100 that still readily drop free from my Shadow's (removed) barrel. And CZs have such a short, picky chamber that normally I'm forced to loading shorter than they call for. It should be interesting to see what a bit slower powder does with this heavy bullet. Speaking of which, why is it that many folks in IPSC use comparatively fast powders with heavy bullets? It sounds counter-intuitive to me.

That reminds me! I forgot to mention I was getting the occasional keyholes with that load and bullet too - perhaps one per 30. And that was with the bullets put through the same .357 sizer. I think it has something to do with the lack of driving surface to engage the grooves in the CZ along with the fast groove twist rate and relatively high velocity to safely make PF with that weight. I was also getting a tiny bit of leading, but more so when I was first sizing them to .356". Needless to say, that bullet didn't work for me. This is why my IPSC instructor suggested to try a heavier cast bullet like the Lyman 356637 to improve accuracy, prevent key-holing, and to experience a softer perceived recoil.

Thanks guys, 98sr20ve: Sadly Solo 1000 isn't readily available in my local (understatement). By speed, what other powder might it be compared to? horseman: We use 3.5ish grains of N320 with plated 147 Frontier bullets in Shadows and get close to 135 PF, and still find them pretty soft shooting. It's a favorite Production IPSC load around here. I'm looking for a similar feeling load in cast lead. It takes me 3.8 gr of N320 with the Lee TL356-124-TC to reach similar PF, and it feels like my gun may blow up at any moment with that load. I stopped using that combination.

Well I finally received this mold and managed to cast a few hundred bullets yesterday with it. They are dropping consistently in the 154 to 156 grain range with water quenched WW alloy, with a near exact .357" diameter. All I need to do is make minor power factor with a bit of safety margin - around 130 PF (between 835 to 840 fps) . The round will be used in IPSC Production in a CZ Shadow and CZ 75B. I have Lyman's 49th where they list the 356637 Mold specifically (last 9mm table) and a OAL of only 1.058" is specified. That seems terribly short to me for a 155 grain bullet squeezed into a 9mm case... but anyway... they don't mention any of the powders I currently have which are Unique, 231, and N320. Would using a very fast powder like N320 be dangerous or unlikely to give me the velocity I'm looking for without too much pressure? 49th lists 3.4 grains of N340 - a much slower powder. The manual also lists velocities for minimum loads that all exceed the PF I'm looking for too, even if I used one of the listed powders. Any load suggestions for this bullet? The closest guess I've come to a starting load to chrono is 3.0 grains of 231. Thanks!

I often (but not always) blink with my first cold shot such as from a draw. I don't blink on my second shot, nor usually later shots on other targets, as long as not too much time has passed between targets and I haven't radically change positions, like getting up and running from prone. Otherwise it's like my first shot all over again and I will sometimes blink again. It's driving me nuts. I'm shooting a CZ Shadow in Production and shoot with both my eyes open in case that matters. I should mention I blink less if I draw my gun already cocked in single action as in Standard Minor. But that might be my imagination too...

I just bought another CZ Ghost Holster to go with my new CZ 75B Matte Stainless. I already have the same model for my Shadow, and the Shadow fits perfectly. I can get the CZ Stainless trigger to "click" into the holster, but I have to do it with a bit of carefully applied force. It's very easy to miss, and think the gun is secure when in actuality, releasing it would make it hit the ground. It's rather dangerous. I noticed with my calipers that the CZ Stainless trigger was a bit wider in parts than the Shadow. The Shadow slides into both holsters much easier. Does anyone think that adjusting those mysterious white screws will help with making the CZ Stainless easier to holster? Or perhaps it just needs a bit a breaking in with its slightly different trigger profile?