Tinkering vs Steady

[holmes168]

Once you develop a solid pistol load that is shot a few hundred times, do you find yourself tinkering with other powders or bullets? Or do you the set up the same because you have something that works?
I've got a good round developed for me and was going to make a mass supply purchase next month.
My thought is why mess with what works? Anyone have any other thoughts?

[BehindBlueI's]

Both.

I've got 'go to' loads for practice, and they didn't vary for a LONG time until the post-Sandy Hook shortages made me branch out and try new powders.

I do tinker with various revolver loads for funsies.

[Jared]

I like to have two or three known good loads, just in case of shortages or whatnot. Once I have those, I'll just mass produce them. I also keep detailed notes on what they are so if I don't make one for several months I dont forget it.

[jeep45238]

I like to have two or three known good loads, just in case of shortages or whatnot. Once I have those, I'll just mass produce them. I also keep detailed notes on what they are so if I don't make one for several months I dont forget it.

That, exactly. I do try a bit to find one load that works well in all of them, but rarely succeed.

The modifier I'll make is if I have a few firearms in the same caliber that like bullet weight/charges at opposite ends of the spectrum. In this case, my seating die has a micrometer in it, and my powder drop has a click adjust wheel. In my notes and on a card on the press are the settings for each load and what pistol they're for.

Then I'll crank out mass ones and store them in marked 30s.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[LittleLebowski]

Nope. I wish to tinker as little as possible. I've got a good 124gr load and a good 147gr load, both work well in my Glocks to the point that I know it's me if the groups look bad or a shot is shanked. Unfortunately, my new love (Scorpion Evo) prefers only the 124s.

[FPS]

Tinker as little as possible since my rounds are mostly for practice. One exception is 10mm, an ongoing work in progress.

[mtnbkr]

Depends on the gun. In handguns, I don't tinker much anymore, though I should. In rifles, I love tinkering. I have my "go to" loads for hunting and such, but I like to try unusual things. For example, I cast my own 120gr 32cal bullets for my 32SWL and 32-20. I take those same bullets, size them to .309, and shoot them out of my 308Win with 8gr of Trail Boss. I've also experimented with 200gr bullets in that gun, or 300+gr cast bullets in my 35Whelen (as well as 200gr full wadcutters). Once upon a time, I tried 240gr bullets in my 300WinMag (ouchie). Shooting and reloading doesn't have to be so serious all the time. :)

Chris

[Odin Bravo One]

I reload solely for the economy of it, not because I think I'm smarter than the hundred pound heads employed by ammo companies. I've seen very few mad scientist loads actually perform anywhere other than on paper. If that's someone else's hobby, who am I to judge? But tinkering defeats the purpose of shooting more bullets for less money. And I still rely on factory ammunition for my high performance loads.

[Clusterfrack]

I'm in the bulk-production camp for pistol reloading. But I also prefer my minor power factor loads to anything commercial for practice and gaming.

[Trooper224]

I tinker as little as possible. The shortages of the last few years forced me to experiment and develop several acceptable loads, but that's it. I actually dislike reloading. I like to shoot and it's a necessary evil, but it's not a science experiment for me.

[holmes168]

Good feedback- I pretty much have round down pat and produced around 500 so far. I enjoy reloading especially since I had plenty of leftover powder, bullets and caps from last year. I keep very little factory rounds on hand anymore...easier to justify the Dillon purchase to the boss when I reload vs order 1000 rounds from SG ammo.

[LSP552]

Both.

I've got 'go to' loads for practice, and they didn't vary for a LONG time until the post-Sandy Hook shortages made me branch out and try new powders.

I do tinker with various revolver loads for funsies.

I'm like this. Almost never chnage my practice loads unless supply gets in the way. Revolver stuff is just fun to play with.

[ranger]

For pistol I load in bulk and do not tinker. When components get scarce, I tinker just enough to get another standard load. I tinker some with long range rifle ammo for 308, 6.5G, and 6.5CM but even then I try to find a classic load and just copy it - for example a 308 FGGM clone load.

[JCS]

I wish I could find a load that worked well in my g19 and g34. However it seems one like 124s and the other like 147s, at least with Titegroup. If I could find a load that worked in all my glocks I'd just stop there but I do tinker because I'm still searching for that perfect load.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BehindBlueI's]

Revolver stuff is just fun to play with.

Right? Particularly with .45 Colt. There's so much versatility with some of the big bores. I'm not doing anything other than punching paper or ringing steels with them, but it's fun.

[ER_STL]

I load for economy and availability. I've standardized on 5.0gr of WSF under a 124gr bullet and have been running that load for years. I switched from Montana Gold to Bayou Bullets to save $$$ and have been happy with them so far.

[Jim Watson]

Seems like every time I get standardized on loads, something interferes; availability/unavailability and curiosity, mostly.
Right now I have two 9mm loads for IDPA. They differ only in the bullet; powder charge and seating die setting are the same for 135 gr BBI coated and 147 gr Xtreme plated. My Colt ESP pretty well demands the plated, I may not restock on coated when I run out, they are all being shot in the SA.
I also have a 115 gr JHP reload for practice with something close to my carry factory load.
So right now that is three 9mms, eventually just two.

.45 ACP is kind of a mess. I have multiple loads for different niche applications, although I am not experimenting much.

[ranger]

I load for economy and availability. I've standardized on 5.0gr of WSF under a 124gr bullet and have been running that load for years. I switched from Montana Gold to Bayou Bullets to save $$$ and have been happy with them so far.

That is my load too - Bayou 124 and WSF.

[Hambo]

For practice ammo (9mm, .45, and a few other) I do not tinker. That's what rifles and TC Contenders and Encores are for. ;)

[deputyG23]

I tend to find a combination of components that meets my needs and stick to it. I started loading practice .38 ammo for work thirty-five years ago with Bullseye and inexpensive swaged.38 SWC bullets that shot decently enough but leaded some. Moved on to WW 231 when I bought myself a Pacific powder measure soon afterwards.
Stopped reloading when work went to 9mm and dumped the sixguns for Austrian Tupperware.
Started again in 2013 when factory ammo availability and expense was nonexistent and significant, respectively.
My small stash of 231 was soon gone and there was no more.
I lucked into a four pound keg of WST that worked OK for .38, 9mm, .40 and .45 auto, but not optimal for my purposes.
I wanted to develop a service equivalent load in each caliber with one standard bullet weight per caliber.
BE-86 powder has exceeded my expectations with all four service rounds with equal or slightly higher velocity than service ammo and good to excellent accuracy for the type of shooting I do.
The only new reloading project on the horizon is to get some 2400 and work up a 38-44 equivalent handload for my .38 GP-100.

[Lost River]

OP,

Put it this way. Rob Leatham gave me a recipe of 4.3 grains of Clays and a 200 grain SWC for my .45 ACP back around 1994 (rough guess). It is still what I run. No need to change, and while every now and then I mess with something else, like a heavy "animal defense" type load, better than 99% of my paper and steel loads are the same old 4.3 grains of Clays load.

For 44 magnum I run a light, medium and heavy load. 3 basic loads that cover everything. It makes both loading and logistics quite easy.

Logistically, buying powder by the 8 pound keg helps a bunch too.

I like to shoot.

I would rather be shooting than reloading.

[ranger]

I use 4.3 grains Clays with 200 SWC also. Nice to know that TGO recommends it!

[mmc45414]

Part of my tinkering is to try and get cross-pollination between shotgun and pistol. You are constantly churning through eight pounders with shotgun loading so using something there that can load 45 and 9 (and probably 38) makes sense. Primarily I load 12g and 20g both with 3/4oz for skeet, and I have yet to find something that will do both, and probably will not. Hodgdon only lists International for 20g-3/4, so that probably has to stand on its own. Been using 700-X for 12g-3/4 because Clays was unavailable. Now Clays is available again but during the shortage I ended up with a metric buttload of TiteGroup, a great powder but lots of smoke with cast bullets. So, I ASPIRE to NOT tinket at ALL with loads for things like 9/45/38, but am still using up what I got and then will either switch to Clays for 12/9/45/38, or maybe stick with 700-X, because it will probably always be easier to get than Clays (it is very popular).

ETA: I probably should do some drop charge tests with 700-X before I use it all up in 12g and am forced to make a decision...

[richiecotite]

Only time I change is when one of my components changes, I.e new bullet or different powder.

I just killed my 8 lb jug of WSF (4.2 under a 147 gr) and bought another lb just to finish up these 147 gr bullets I have. Next up is a 124 gr power pistol load, as I have a bunch of PP and just ordered 2500 124 gr bullets.

I find myself handloading (and enjoying!) for my 41 mag more. Turn the Lee turret into a single stage, hand weigh each charge, and take a couple of hours to load a box. FWIW I do not enjoy reloading 9mm, it's just another chore so I can shoot as much as I want


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Wobblie]

I confess to being a tinkerer, believing it's possible to eventually have the perfectly tailored load for each gun.