Do you settle or do you experiment?

[rowdyb]

I've tried about 5 different bullets, two powders, 4 primers and various oal in the past year or so loading 9mm for gun games.

I finally decided I like shooting one bullet profile, weight, manufacturer. One primer. One powder. One oal and crimp.

So do you like changing things up or do you like keeping stuff the same in your loads?

I mean, I saved all that data but I've ended up stockpiling what I like and have nothing else but the three things I have chosen to use.

[atbarr]

I started Action Pistol in '08. Back then all the talk was for Solo 1000. Except for the three months I foolishly tried Open, I've never used nothing but Solo. I know that's what's in the powder canister.

As far as bullets, about three years ago, I tried MG 130 RN, they are the only 9mm bullet I use. I use Bayou Bullets 230 gr. for my G21 and G41, and Donnie's 200 gr. SWC for my G36 and G30S. FWIW, I only shoot Production and GSSF.

KISS is my motto.

Edited December 2, 2014 by atbarr

[Resjudicata]

My thought is that experimentation in loads is done so that you can find what works best for you with that equipment. Once you find that then use it unless or until you or the equipment changes. Then another round of experimentation to find what works best at that time.

Chris

[SISIG]

Does economics come to play, but of course we can always justify.

I have some leftover stuff I'm going to use for practice and will standardize everything this coming year. KISS

[mike4045]

I don't experiment much. I choose a powder and run only federal powder if I can help it. I run titegroup with jacketed bullets and clays/n320 with coated bullets. As long as they function and hit a plate at 25 yds I go with it. I run same load in 5 guns.

[Guest]

I develop a "primary" go-to load that I always know works, and then will mess with different powders and bullets partly out of curiosity and partly to know what else works well so I have fallback options.

One thing about the powder shortage - I have tried some powders I would not have otherwise tried. For example, I discovered that American Select is a very good powder and behaves a lot like S1000...which seems to be unobtainable right now until they get a new shipment in from Spain. The only drawback to American Select is that the flakes are large and some people seem to have trouble metering it. So far it has metered well for me.

[mikamarj]

From purely reloading point of view I don't see much need for experimenting, unless there is some kind of change in external conditions. If there is a shortage of your favourite powder, maybe you need to test something else? Or you run into a hot deal of primers that are of different brand than what you are used to. Or there is a new manufacturer for powder in the market.

But from training perspective some changes might be beneficial. Maybe not the really small ones like switching from flat point to round nose bullets, but lets say you have settled on a nice minor load for 9mm with 147gr bullets. At some point it could be a good idea to try loading 125gr and see what the timer tells you then. You know, the 147gr felt softer back then, but maybe after training with it for some time your skills have improved and you can push the more aggressive 125gr faster...

[nwhpfan]

"Set it and forget it" Ron P.

I don't like to load. I only do it to make good ammo I could never afford buying factory.

[ZackJones]

I prefer to get one setup that I know works and stick with that. Given the limited availability of powder/primers, etc this past year I have experimented with different bullets and powders. I know I can make minor with all of the powders I have except 800-X which I need to sell to the club member that shoots .45 ACP. I was luck enough to pick up 10 pounds of E3 at a gun show recently so I'm set as far as powder goes.

I do plan on doing some additional experimentation in the next few weeks. Over the weekend I shot a 105 gr 9mm with 2.8 gr of E3 (it barely cycled the Glock 19) but it was the lightest load I've ever shot from a centerfire pistol. I'm going to bump up the charge weight enough to get it to cycle my guns and then I may start using that steel challenge. I want to do the same thing with 140g .40 load and see how light I can go and still have it cycle the guns 100% of the time.

[rowdyb]

I like experimenting in theory as it's fun for me. But in the practice of loading to shoot and compete, I like just having everything down to one element and not deviating. Standardization.

[2MoreChains]

I experimented until I found something I liked then I settled. But when powder got scarce I had to go back and experiment a little based on what powders I could find... So settling is only as good as the supply of the particular components.

[ToddKS]

I have a 115gr load and a 124 gr load. Unless supply forces me to change powders I have no need to change.

Load development is time consuming. I have put in the work so at this point I would rather spend my time shooting.

Edited December 3, 2014 by ToddKS

[techj]

I prefer a single combo per caliber so that I can buy more in bulk and not have to load develop & chrono all of the time. Unfortunately, the various shortages had kept me moving between different combinations of components. I finally have enough components to last for about 6 months so can settle in once again.

[rtp]

I expect I'm probably like at least some of you - I don't mind, and somewhat enjoy, working up new loads and ladder tests, new powders and new components, but - probably moreso for rifle than for pistol.

Perhaps it's the pistols I shoot, but after a fair amount of load dev, chrono and accuracy testing, I've got some loads that work 'well enough' in my pistols for a few different powder/projectile combos.

After going through a ton of pistol projectiles, I've still got some load comparisons to do yet, but am mostly honing in on:

1. Best bang for the buck combinations - then stock up. My most accurate loads to date are with WSF or Titegroup, 9mm, 124gr MG JHP. One of these days I'll get around to comparing the two of them back to back, but I've got a fair number of 'second place, but not by much/enough to care about' loads w/124gr Xtremes (RN, HP no likey), Bayou 124gr, or SNS 125gr. Of course, now I have a 9mm rifle conversion kit, and am getting the suppressor bug, so I may convert to solely 147gr subsonic at some point..will see..but I have a few 'good enough' 147gr loads, as well.

2. I'm still on the 'lots of testing' phase w/.223, especially at longer distances, and will be moving into longer range .308, so - I've still got a fair amount of working up loads to do w/different projectiles and powders.

Once I'm happy w/the loads, given some comparisons to some others and have a 1st and 2nd choice (+ at different ranges/purposes, where appropriate), I'd be pretty happy to 'lock in' to a minimal powder/projectile combination and buy in quantity as needed.

[Steve RA]

Settle - as long as my Clays holds out !!!

[rowdyb]

well i have it set up now that i only have one bullet at home, only one powder, only one make of primer. so i have no option. everything i make is the same because that's all i have.

[Kaskillo]

Settle until powder is all gone. I stock plenty of bullets and primers.

[DoBell]

I experiment until I find something that works well, then load that until a supply issue makes me start experimenting again. Since I only have one press for 2 calibers I tend to load several thousand rounds at a time before switching dies so I like having one reliable load that I like so I can just crank them out and know they'll shoot exactly how I want them to.

[twowheels]

I have shot an awful lot of precision delta 124 rn over 4.0gr titegroup and cci primers. It seems to work even though I prefer federal primers but they were hard to get for a while.. But I've tried other combinations primarily because of availability. I bought some 7625 when I was running low on titegroup. So far, I've tried 380 with it and it seems to shoot nice. Recently, I just bought some new type of 124 Berry's (I've shot rn in the past and liked them) because I got them for $75/1000. So I experiment a bit and find I am able to work up accurate and reliable loads pretty quickly.

[polizei1]

Little of both...

I've "settled" on a great USPSA 9mm minor load, 4.5gr of Win 231, 124gr MG CMJ, CCI #500 SPP. Problem is, those MG's are nice, but super expensive! I've also used Precision Delta and BBI, I think I'm going to try Ibejihead next. Other than the bullets though, I've left the powder and primers the same.

[EkuJustice]

Both. I have my preferred load that I like to use. That said, with the current powder supply issues I have done some experimenting as I think a lot have and now have several combos I can use if need be. I do have a stock of my preferred loads saved for major matches as I know they work and make pf. When I couldn't find the top 2 powders I had to settle and have one I use for locals which isn't as flat but it runs decent but maxes out at like 168-170 pf so I use it for locals as it's just not enough cushion for majors

[Graham Smith]

I develop a "primary" go-to load that I always know works, and then will mess with different powders and bullets partly out of curiosity and partly to know what else works well so I have fallback options.

For pistol, I've got something that works and can shoot better than I can so there's not much point in experimenting. For long range precision rifle, I will experiment because it's quite surprising how sometimes a small change can have a larger than expected effect, plus there's been a lot of new bullets and powders added to the arsenal in the last 3-4 years.

[rdinga]

Now that i have about 20 pounds of WSF I plan to shoot one simple load that works and makes all of my guns happy. Plan on keeping it simple for a while.

The only variable in my perfect equation is getting the fine folks at Zero to start making the 147 JHP in mass production again soon.

[Joe D]

We have been using a 160 gr Valiant bullet for 12+ years. Solo 1000 works really well with lead as it is a gun cotton based powder. Promo also works well. The one powder that did not work at all was Clays. Bullets tumbled. I never tried Clays with an aftermarket barrel though. I have enough Solo and Promo for the foreseeable future. Not very picky about primers - Winchester, Federal, CCI, Tula.

[tbarker13]

Once I have my competition load picked out, I won't change anything. No tinkering. So much so that I would buy another set of dies if I decided I wanted to make a different load