old shooter Posted September 30, 2003 Share Posted September 30, 2003 Do you shoot jacketed exclusively, or lead for practice and plated/jacketed for matches. I want to stretch my reloading dollars, and shoot lead for practice and reduced steel matches, and jacketed for matches where the smoke might make a difference. Any problems encountered with this? AND if you shoot lead, do you find the TC better than the RN (.356)? Thanks Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn jones Posted September 30, 2003 Share Posted September 30, 2003 i only shoot jacketed. i shoot in practice what i shoot in matches. K.I.S.S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooterj Posted September 30, 2003 Share Posted September 30, 2003 ever dig lead out of comp chambers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shooter Grrl Posted September 30, 2003 Share Posted September 30, 2003 Yup - what Lynn said. Not only for keeping it "simple", but more importantly for me is keeping it consistent! Find the load that works best for you and your gun and use it, all the time. How can you get good practice when the gun "feels" different every time you pick it up? You'll also open up the "malf" can of worms and that frustration is NOT worth the couple of bucks you'll save by switching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted September 30, 2003 Share Posted September 30, 2003 Not only do I shoot nothing but jacketed through an Open gun, I make sure it's some form of encapsulated base (JHP, TMJ, TMC, IFP, etc.). $185 bucks or so gets you about 4000 clean, accurate bullets for your foo-foo blaster. Why bother with lead? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul B Posted September 30, 2003 Share Posted September 30, 2003 I shoot lead in practice and jackets for matches. When I practice it's 500 rounds per day and at least 2 days per week so I can go through a lot of bullets fast. I found that I can approximate the same "feel" by shooting 145-147 round nose lead bullets over 4 gr of Bullseye. My match load is 115 gr jacket over a lot of V V N105. The heavier lead bullet going slower over a fast powder produces a little more muzzle movement than the 115 and it shoots just a little higher out to about 20 yards. I actually like the "flatter" feeling in the gun with the 115's in a match as it seems to give a more confident feeling in the gun. This is like practicing at 25 yards and shooting at 15 yards. This load produces a lot of smoke, but I always shoot it outside so it is not a big problem. I buy the lead at the cheapest place I can find that produces relatively hard bullets. This load does dirty up the comp some, but I usually shoot a few 115's at the end of a practice session and it pretty much cleans up the comp. If the comp gets extra dirty I just use a dremel with a burr tip to clean out the lead. It takes about 2 minutes when I clean the gun. For me it's cheap practice and more trigger time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sixgun Posted September 30, 2003 Share Posted September 30, 2003 I shoot Rainier plated bullets exclusively. They are just a tad more $ per thousand than lead. They give you the best of both worlds in my opinion. Lower dollar cost per thousand than jacketedand no smoke just like a jacketed. I think breathing the "cloud" after shooting lead is probably detrimental to your health. Also I shoot alot of steel, and plated are soft, so I know they are destroying themselves on impact, less chance of a ricochet. Just my opinion. Ray C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric nielsen Posted September 30, 2003 Share Posted September 30, 2003 Jacketed. Zero and Montana Gold are both good. I like the hollow-base Federal 115gr, Vectan SP2 powder. No smoke. The more you can see, the faster you can shoot. IMHO, shooting lead in practice holds you back, makes you wait, just as much as in a match. For the same reason, I like an Open gun that shoots flat & maybe kicks hard, instead of one that's soft and allows the dot to jump up out of the optic during the recoil. Better to see the dot the whole time, if possible. dvc - eric - a28026 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ankeny Posted October 1, 2003 Share Posted October 1, 2003 I shoot Zero HP jacketed bullets exclusively. For the difference in price between lead and jacket bullets, why bother? On the other hand, I shoot lead exclusively in my single stack because there is a huge price difference in .45 caliber. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old shooter Posted October 1, 2003 Author Share Posted October 1, 2003 Thanks for the imput. The concensus seems to be always the same load, and that load should be jacketed (or plated). FWIW, I am trying to ramp up after a very, very long absence from uspsa (ipsc). My range is about 75 yds outside my reloading room and I anticipate shooting on a daily basis. I don't mind the hastle of 2 different loads, and having 2 different loads doesn't seem to complicated to me. Also, if my "regular" jacketed load runs 100% and my practice loads have an ocasional malfunction, I can live with that. I guess the bottom line is that I have a fixed budget, and want to put as many rounds downrange as I can. The split between cast and jacketed seens to do that for me, as it does for Paul B. I guess sometimes it is quantity instead of quality, but I will try to shoot as many quality shots as possible. Thanks again. Mike (Soon to be a classified open shooter) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now