Shooting falling plates

[joestefano]

Is it better to have a light bullet and hotter load or a heavy bullet and a light load for shooting falling plates? S&w 625 4" barrel

[Toolguy]

Usually on reactive targets a heavy bullet and lighter powder charge gives the best combination of good knockdown and light recoil.

[R112mercer]

Knocking things over is about momentum, not power factor or even energy (ft/lbs). Generally heavy bullets are longer and dwell on the target more, imparting enough energy to push them over. Also make for easier shooting in a non-comped gun as Toolguy said.

A couple of Area 8's ago I was squadded with two production shooters, both shooting the same type of gun (Sig 226 9mm). One guy hit a popper and it went on the first hit, the other guy hit the popper I think twice and it still didn't go. He asked for calibration & lost. First guy was running 147 gr. heads, the second guy was running 115 gr. heads. At chrono they had almost identical pf's.

[Sarge]

Is it better to have a light bullet and hotter load or a heavy bullet and a light load for shooting falling plates? S&w 625 4" barrel

There are a multitude of threads on this age old debate in here somewhere. Opinions vary widely of course.

[joestefano]

Thanks Guys,

[Bwana Six-Gun]

Heavier bullets are always better. A nick with a 230 will equal a solid hit with a 200 or 185. Trust me, I have been there.

[Ross Carter]

When you say falling plates do you mean the standard plate rack? If so it doesn't take much PF to knock those over unless it's a crappy built rack. With poppers and other steel I agree with the heavier bullet camp.

[desmark6]

Most poppers and what not are calibrated for the lightest power factor, such as IDPA, that's a 9mm 115 gr......if you get a good center hit with an legal 45 ACP load you aren't going to have a problem, at least that's what I've found......the tricky part for me is going 6 for 6 to avoid a reload I go too fast sometimes and blow a shot here and there

[Sarge]

But there is more science involved than just saying heavier is better.

I have hit plates dead center with a 9mm 147 at 140 pf. And I have hit them dead center with a 9MAJOR 121 and trust me the 121 did a better job on the steel.

[Ross Carter]

I thought the OP assumed equal power factor, if so I'm still in the heavier bullet camp, if you aren't comparing equal PF's then that's a different question. I wouldn't be too surprised if a 165,000 PF worked better than a 140,000 PF load.

[chirpy]

I've had a minor loaded .38 super (147 gr. jacketed) work better than 165+ pf 200 gr. .45! One hit vs. a mag.+ all good hits.

Go figure.

Richard

PS: FYI It was a non-standard hard set popper at a local match.

[Allgoodhits]

Here is some interesting data to concider. PF is simply a mathematical function of two numbers, whereas ME is a measure or work.

Consider several cartridge combinations. A 40 gr bullet at 1,880 fps (.22magnum) a 125gr bullet at 1,100 fps (9mm or .38 spl), a 180 gr bullet at 1,000 fps (.40 or .45) and a 230 gr bullet at 855 fps.

PF for the 40 gr @ 1,880 fps is 75,200, the ME is 313.89 lb/ft

PF for the 125 gr @ 1,100 fps is 137,500, the ME is 335.8 lb/ft

PF for the 180 gr @ 1,000 is 180,000, the ME is 399.64 lb/ft

PF for the 230 gr @ 855 pfs is 196,650, the ME is only 373.30 lb/ft

It would be interesting to graph a variety of loads with a PF chart, then do the same with ME chart, then overlay them to see what happens. PF appears to go up more rapidly with bullet weight increases, and ME (velocity squared in the equation) really jumps as the velocity is increased.

As someone mentioned it does not require much to topple a properly set up "bianchi falling plate". I have found that if the 8" plates are pitched properly, and assuming the mechanism permits the plate axle to pivot properly and assuming the plates are flat, then it only takes about 25 ounces to cause them to be off balance, then fall. I have set them up, then taken a trigger pull gauge to see how much it takes to get them to fall. I find that it is about a pound and half of pressure at 12 oclock on the plate center to pull it over. I have found that if I replace plates, I can use a trigger gauge to make the resistance repeateable. I think it is the best way to re-calibrate knockover steel. Calibrate first with what your standard is, then measure the amount it takes to topple. Through out the day, simply measure the resistance. If it hasn't changed, then the calibration has not either. Each rack may vary, the measure result should be constant, once it is set, then measured.

MJ

[Skydiver]

Our reigning falling plates champion states it succinctly: "Small bullets, big guns." The basic idea is let the gun help absorb recoil and have the gun sights drop on the next plate while the process of managing the recoil. When he breaks out his revolver, I believe that he is shooting reloads of 85 or 90 grain bullets. For his 9mm guns, he goes for the 115 or 124 grain bullets depending on what's available and cheap to reload.

[Scootertheshooter]

I have been using 147 lead traveling at about 850fps so it doesn't take much

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[LPatterson]

Most poppers and what not are calibrated for the lightest power factor, such as IDPA, that's a 9mm 115 gr......if you get a good center hit with an legal 45 ACP load you aren't going to have a problem, at least that's what I've found......the tricky part for me is going 6 for 6 to avoid a reload I go too fast sometimes and blow a shot here and there

The OP's question was about falling plates and per 4.3.1.6 metal plates are not subject to calibration. Visit a GSSF match and you can have 4 runs of 10 rounds for one fee. Use the same Glock in a different category and do it again.