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Practice Loads?


hump

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I am just getting started in open and have been practicing with minor loads I have for carry optics (130pf) I have a load for major pf of 6.8 WAC with 124 Precision Delta bullets @1.160"  Should I load some practice rounds somewhere between these two or just practice with the major loads. I don't mind leaving the brass after it has been loaded to major PF.

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Powder is cheapest component of reloading.  So, you're not gonna save money doing that. 

 

To me it makes the most sense to practice with what I'm going to shoot in matches. So loading down for practice isn't going to have the same feel. 

 

just my opinion 

 

Edited by B_RAD
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This is what I used to do when I first started loading major. My major load was 7.5g hs-6 with 124g bullet. I’d load up practice rounds at 7 grains. Just felt safer to me at the time when I was just getting Into it. Now I prefer to practice with the same load, so the recoil/impulse/dot tracking is the same. I get once fired brass and I’ll load it 2-3 times before tossing is. But if you like to leave it after the first reload to major, but you’ll shoot minor reloads a few times then you’ll save some money buy not loading practice rounds to major. Probably would be wise to shoot some a few mags worth of true major rounds before a match, as it’s going to be a bit different then your practice load and you wanna be used to it. 

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42 minutes ago, Jfitz427 said:

This is what I used to do when I first started loading major. My major load was 7.5g hs-6 with 124g bullet. I’d load up practice rounds at 7 grains. Just felt safer to me at the time when I was just getting Into it. Now I prefer to practice with the same load, so the recoil/impulse/dot tracking is the same. I get once fired brass and I’ll load it 2-3 times before tossing is. But if you like to leave it after the first reload to major, but you’ll shoot minor reloads a few times then you’ll save some money buy not loading practice rounds to major. Probably would be wise to shoot some a few mags worth of true major rounds before a match, as it’s going to be a bit different then your practice load and you wanna be used to it. 

I also shoot a lot of 3 gun matches.  That is another reason I am considering different loads. I have ran some drills with both loads and really can't see any difference in my times. 

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I’d load major only unless 3gun or steel was the majority of your shooting.  If you occasionally shoot a “minor” game I’d still just shoot major so the gun behaved the same regardless of situation and you don’t have to worry about functioning and springs potentially with a lighter load.

 

You can do what you want with brass but I’ve had no issue shooting brass until it cracks and only load once fired roll sized brass for big matches.

 

use a U die and case gauge all ammo regardless and you’ll have very few if any issues

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9 hours ago, hump said:

I shoot a lot of 3 gun matches.  That is another reason I am considering different loads. 

 

If the two loads hit the same - you don't have to keep resighting the gun in for each load,

it does make sense to have a lighter load (PF145 or so).

 

When I shoot the occasional steel match, my major loads really make the steel ping   :)

 

If you load two different loads, I'd suggest you use two different looking bullets - so you

can easily differentiate the two loads and don't mix them up.    An easy way is to use a

lighter bullet for the lighter load - a 115 gr rather than a 124 gr.

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Thanks for the input. For now I am going to load a bunch of major ammo and concentrate on learning how to shoot with a dot. I shot several different loads and bullets and the dot movement is very similar with all of them. 

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Just load major always and be sure the gun is tuned for it. My Carver Glock17 with the 4 port comp and kkm barrel at 170 of with a non captured rod and 15lb spring shoots softer than a factory glock. I never expected that but now that I fully understand all the aspects with reloading and how everything is working and what's affected by what and by how much, it all makes sense.

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I am shooting 750+ rounds per week in live fire practice and it’s all the same load as my match load. At about 3k in with this open gun I’m starting to see the different dot tracking with HS6 versus N340 versus Silhouette etc. My gun will shoot minor loads but is a totally different feel 

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At some point you body gets "in tune" with your gun. That would be my biggest argument against shooting different loads.  Especially with a comp where different loads means quite a bit with the amount of gas working the comp  

 

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I also wouldn't change loads for three gun.  The monitary gain over major with powder is tiny.  I also don't think I could shoot a minor load as fast as my major load.  Again, I tuned my load to work the comp for the fastest speed possible.  

 

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Only difference in practice / match loads for me is brass. I use mixed headstamps for practice and same headstamps for matches. Match loads are chamber checked while I don't bother with practice loads. Bullets, primers, & powder drop same for both. After practice brass is fired 2-3 times as major it's then used for minor. 

 

Probably a little overkill for some but it works for me. Again, my OCD kicking in. 

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