Preferred bullet weight for USPSA?

[Hi-Power Jack]

9 minutes ago, IDescribe said:

 

  
There are no score bonuses for soft recoil, so if your goal is to improve your scores, the only relevant way to evaluate recoil is with a shot timer.  

^^^^    Yup     ^^^^^

Lots of people cannot tell the difference - some can't tell the difference between 115's and 147's ...???   

From talking to lots of shooters, it seems to me (granted there are exceptions), that newbies and real

cheap people feel the 115's are just fine, or heavier bullets don't deliver any perceived value; once

you get started to knowing what you're doing, we prefer the heavier 147's because they're soft;

and if you get better, you go back to the 124's because the gun reacts more quickly and you're

back on target faster.

I'd suggest that, if you're a newbie, that you start out with heavier (147) bullets and try them for  a while  

[470nitro]

For me, 124/125 shot better in my gun and were cheaper.

[fbzero]

I personally like 135's, seems like a good balance of the push/flip in recoil to me.  Then again, I don't have any huge complaints about the other bullet weights either...they all work "good enough" for me.

[Expflier]

16 hours ago, 470nitro said:

For me, 124/125 shot better in my gun and were cheaper.

That's what everyone in my group shoots both for steel and uspsa

[Darrell]

I shoot mostly 124's in my guns both open and minor. My CZ Accushadow however prefers Bayou 135's and I shoot that best in that gun. 

[Hi-Power Jack]

13 hours ago, Darrell said:

I shoot mostly 124's in my guns both open and minor.

Welcome back, Darrell

I've missed your knowledge base - hope you're back for good ....   

I usually use different looking bullets for my Open and Minor loads - easier to tell them apart ...    

[IDescribe]

14 hours ago, Darrell said:

 My CZ Accushadow however prefers Bayou 135's and I shoot that best in that gun. 

Listen to Darrell.  This is important.  Develop and shoot the load your pistol shoots best.  We're talking about 9mm minor.  If you're having trouble with recoil, bullet weight is not your problem.

[BBQRibs]

On 11/10/2016 at 2:48 PM, ncjustin said:

I'm getting ready to get into USPSA.  I've only been reloading for 6 months now and have only loaded Bayou 147's.  I've seen people shooting 124's, 147's and everything in between.  What's everyone's personal preference to load for quick/fast shooting?

I prefer 135s or 124s.  But my gun shoots 147s more accurately enough to matter, so that's what I use.

[zzt]

If I could only pick one bullet weight it would be in the 121~125gr range.  If you are shooting a game that does not require a minimum PF, such as Steel Challenge, use the lightest bullet your gun will shoot accurately.  If your game requires actually knocking over steel with Minor PF, I've always found the 147 gr to be superior.  My custom P226 did not care for light bullets, but did fine with 124s and 147s.

I personally find that I am back on target faster with lighter bullets, and feel best with the mid-range weights.  I prefer 124s in 9mm, 165 and 180 in 40 (preferring the 165) and 185 or 200 in 45.  When I go lighter I have to use more powder, it hits the hand harder, and I don't get the SDs I'm looking for unless I go way up the PF scale.  I prefer to stay in the 132~144PF range for Minor, and 172PF for Major.

[Dr Mitch]

124/125.  Work on your grip.

[SWprotected]

In the testing that I have done I could not really tell much difference between 124 and 147's. To me the most important things are to make PF, and be accurate, soft does not really factor in. I try to get between 133-135 PF for 9mm loads, this gives plenty of cushion for chrono and works well on large poppers. When loading both bullet weights to equal PF I find the feel to be similar, the 124 has a little more snap but to me it just isn't a lot of difference and 124's are more accurate for my guns.