TonyT

I winter in the phoenix area. Three good places to shoot.: Rio Salado Sportsmans Club in Mesa , AZ - trap[. sporting clays, numerous pistol, rifle , air gun, machine gun etc matches going on every week. check their website. Ben Avery Shooting Facilty - just north of Phoenix on Dept of ish and Game property, a huge complex with numerpous skeet, trap fiellds, 1000 yd rifle range, numerous rifle and pistol ranges spread over ca a mile in length. Phoenix Rod & Gun Club.on the south side of Phoenix, IDPA, USPSA, ICORE, bullseye pistol, ranges for rifle and pistol in somewhat cramped quarters. The long ranhg rifle backdrop ios the South Mtn range. I am a member of Rio Salado Gun Club and shoot here at least one aweek. But I also shoot ca once aweek at the other two ranges. I don't kmnow about Tucson shooting but Phoenix atrea is a shooters paradise. Within 20 to 35 miles from my unit in Fountain Hills I can shoot in competition seven days a week.

The w-W 14th Edition reloading manual listed 3.5 gr. W-231 as a maximum load with 147 gr. cast lead bulllets. They never` recommended W-231 with jacketed bullets of 147 gr. weight.

I owned a Springfield 9mm Target loaded and was very disappointed with it's accuracy. After two trips to the factory it would not do any better than 4 to 6 inch "shotgun patterns" at50 ft. I sold it and purchased a Dan Wesson PM-9 which provided nice tight ca. 1 inch ten shot groups at that same distance. Spare yourself the grief and get the Dan Wesson PM-9.

It's an excellent powder for 9mm. Smell it and if it is not acrid then use it. The ball powders have a very long shelf life.

Alliant E3 is much too fast for 9mm. If you can only find "shotgun powders" then I would opt for Green Dot, Red Dot/Promo or HX-700X. Also the more expensive single base IMR SR-7625 would be an excellent choice.

All of the 40 S&W once fired brass I obtain has been fired in Glocks. I use a Dillon 550 with a normal Lee carbide die set and shoot the resulting cartridges in Dan Wesson & STI 1911's, PO16-40, CZ-40B, and a S&W610. As a matter of policy I scrap brass from high pressure reloads after four reloads.

I have used 3.5 gr. Bullseye wth all my 147 gr. FMJ loads - ca 900 fps.

Cannot understand what you consider a problem. Upon examining the poor qualityphotos I cannot see any problem. Perhap's it's in the eyes of the beholder.

I shoot a lot of lead` bullets in my 45ACP and also shoot plated and jacketed bullets. I have used the following powders over the years - HS-700X, Bullseye, Red Dot, E3, WST, WSL, VV N-310, W-231, Clays & Trail Boss for powder puff loads..

In 45ACP I have used 3.5 gr. WSL with WLP and a 185 gr LSWC for 790 fps and excellent accuracy equivalent to my old load of 3.8 gr. VV N-310 withthe same components. Generally I use the so called shotgun powders in both my shotgun and pistol loads - WSL, WSF, WST, PROMO, HS-700X. I have never used WSL in 9mm. My favorite 9mm powder is WSF.

I see you found the magic formula 3.3 gr WST. That is my favorite load.

I have only experimented with E3 with 185 gr. LSWC. 3.4 gr. with WLP gave me 750 fps with excellent accuracy.

Nothing magical. Just start on the low side and chrono until you obtain the same velocities. I use a lot of Aliant's PROMO starting with their RED DOT data.

I do not have a Sig 1911 but my favorite 25 yard bullseye pistol load is 3.8 gr. HS-700X, RLP, behind a 185 gr. LSWC for 710 fps - a very mild and accurate load.

I have never seen any pressure tested data for WST in 9mm by the powders manufacturer so I tend to stick with WSF in 9mm.

In my limited experience CCI has been the hardest and Winchester in between Federal and CCI.

I use either Bullseye or WSF in my 9mm loads. With either Bullseye or WSF it is very easy to see a double charge.

I own a S&W327PC model with alloy frame, titanium cylinder and barrel shroud. Great gun, comes back on target faster than my 627. It has a Lothar Walther barrel and has a preference for plated or jacketed bullets.

A nice light and very accurate load is 3.8 gr. HS-700X, Rem LP behind a 185 gr. LSWC seated 0.937" base to shoulder. Ca 710 fps with bullseye level accuracy out to 25 yards. You will need a lighter recoil spring in the 12 to 14 lb range depending on the gun.

There is an old adage about beauty being in the eyes of the beholder. It applies a lot to chice of firearm. Both the STI and DW PM-9 are excellent pistols. I personally prefer the DW PM-9.

The combination of Wolf reduced power mainspring and 13 lb. recoil spring seem to work well in most of my revolvers - 100% reliability with Federal primers fully seated and an Apex firing pin.

With the high pressure cartridges such as 9mm and 40S&W I discard brass after 4 reloads. With the low pressure cartridges such as 38 Special and 45 ACP I tend to use the brass until it starts to fray at the case mouth.

I use plain old Bullseye for both 147 gr. plated and jacketed bullets - 3.5 gr. with the WSP gives me 890-910 fps depending on bullet.

Here in SW Michigan we have a distributor of Alliant and he has a limited but adequate supply of Alliant as well as Hodgdon distributed powders. In the past his shelves were bulging and had every powder made by Alliant as well as those powders distributed by Hlodgdon in stock.

I have not noted any issues with WST in my Dillon 550.