SocialAnarchist
Moderator
I guess maybe I am unusual in that my very first pistol was a 1911A1 in .45acp. From day 1 I have shot it using full power 230 grain FMJ and JHP. I am not suggesting anyone do what I did, just that this is how I started.
Carry vs. Practice Ammo
- Thread starter DeadEyeJack
- Start date
Uncle Sam's ammunition was the poorest ammunition ever loaded, but the price was right. All you need to do was enlist.
For all around handgun shooting practice, nothing beats a good 22. Smith & Wesson, Ruger, and other brands will provide you with excellent inexpensive trigger time.
It might have been the cheapest, but far from the poorest. A lot of dead enemy soldiers might disagree with you assessment. Now as to being match ammo it is not, but it was never intended for shooting matches but for shooting it works just fine. And after putting 1,000s and 1,000s of rounds of it down range it works and hits what you are shooting at.
Jim
Back In the 60s, I was a member of a pistol team in the 25th Air Div. (USAF). We had three grades of 45 acp. The G.I. ball ammunition which was anything straight out of an ammo can, marked from 1942 to 1952. Good for maybe 16 to 18" groups. Some of the guys would take this ammunition, disassemble and then would reassemble it using standard reloading equipment. The groups from this ammo would be less than 10". The real "Match" from Lackland Small Arms School was marked Match 64. would get maybe 4", depending on how fresh 1911a1 was.
DeadEyeJack
Inactive
I saw a lot of post pertaining to new shooters, which is fine seeing as many new shooters have probably read this and were wondering something along the same lines. I would however like to clarify that I've been shooting for over 15 years and this has been my philosophy right from the beginning. The main reason I decided to post this was, after seeing so many people agree on the contrary, to make sure I wasn't making some horrible mistake that might have come around to bite me in the backside somewhere down the line. 
FireForged
New member
oh for pete's sake people.. you guys are really over thinking this issue.
Even this has turned into a peeing contest. The Operative words are NEW SHOOTER.
A new shooter needs to develop their skillset and .38s in a .357 will help them do that hopefully without developing bad habits. Then they can proceed to practice with full house ammo and carry with what ever they choose.
A new shooter needs to develop their skillset and .38s in a .357 will help them do that hopefully without developing bad habits. Then they can proceed to practice with full house ammo and carry with what ever they choose.
Cheapshooter
New member
At the normal SD distance of 10 yards that I practice at most:
In my 380 LCP I don't notice point of impact, or recoil differences in range ammo and my carry ammo.
In my 9MM Kahr CM9 I don't notice any difference in point of impact, or recoil between standard pressure range ammo, and tye +P ammo I carry
In my 40 S&W caliber Springfield XD40 Subcompact I also notice no differences in WWB range ammo, and tge Speer Gold Dot I carry when this gun is my choice.
The same can be said for38 Spcl. And 38Spcl +P in my 38 LCR.
I do see a significant difference in price per round in all of them!
I can see maybe there would be some amount of diference In the 357 Magnum LCR, but I'm not sure it would be that significant.
In my 380 LCP I don't notice point of impact, or recoil differences in range ammo and my carry ammo.
In my 9MM Kahr CM9 I don't notice any difference in point of impact, or recoil between standard pressure range ammo, and tye +P ammo I carry
In my 40 S&W caliber Springfield XD40 Subcompact I also notice no differences in WWB range ammo, and tge Speer Gold Dot I carry when this gun is my choice.
The same can be said for38 Spcl. And 38Spcl +P in my 38 LCR.
I do see a significant difference in price per round in all of them!
I can see maybe there would be some amount of diference In the 357 Magnum LCR, but I'm not sure it would be that significant.
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hatchettjack
Inactive
I start my session with wwb 180 gr Fmj then always finish with a couple of my carry loads gold dot hp 180 poi is the same for both in my SR40
Stevie-Ray
New member
I don't "punch paper" with my carry guns, except to satisfy myself that I am current with them. Sometimes that's one magazine, the one I'm carrying at the time. I also take carry ammo with me though, as sometimes it's been a while, and one mag won't do it. It CAN take two or three or even up to a box before I'm satisfied, but it's always the same ammo I carry. When I feel like punching paper for fun, I reload my own, and use my range guns. And take several .22s.
Limnophile
New member
This makes the most sense to me. If you don't reload, buy an affordable FMJ round that has equivalent exterior ballistics to your carry JHP round. For example, if you carry Federal Premium 147-gr Hydr-Shok JHP, the Federal American Eagle 147-gr FMJ Flat Point has the identical muzzle velocity and the identical trajectory out to at least 100 yd. Thus, during practice your recoil and POIs will be identical as what you would see with your carry ammo in a real situation.
OldMarksman
Staff
Posted by Stevie-Ray:
....as long as you "feel like punching paper for fun" with a frequency sufficient to keep up your skills, and you do it in a manner that would prove helpful for SD.
I should hope the phrase "the one I'm carrying at the time" does not indicate that your carry pieces are not very similar to one another, at least in terms of function and grip.
If your "range guns" are the same as the gun you carry and you use the same holster, that strategy should suffice....
....as long as you "feel like punching paper for fun" with a frequency sufficient to keep up your skills, and you do it in a manner that would prove helpful for SD.
I should hope the phrase "the one I'm carrying at the time" does not indicate that your carry pieces are not very similar to one another, at least in terms of function and grip.
Stevie-Ray
New member
Punching paper for fun has little to do with my carry guns, it is just that-fun, and I don't consider it practice for SD. My range guns run the gamut of platforms and generally have no resemblance to my primary carries, which are a select few.OldMarksman said:
"The one I'm carrying at the time" denotes the magazine, not the weapon, indicating my ammo is rotated with every range trip. I have only 4 pieces that I carry, for many years, 2 of which are on me 95% of the time.OldMarksman said: