Practicing with reloaded ammo

Options

Go ahead and flame me if you like. Here are some options to consider.

Shooting at such close range, focusing on proper sight picture and trigger pull is key. I'm also thrifty. So, why not practice with an airsoft; or glue gun bullets if you have a revolver or want to take one shot at a time for practice. I made 50 glue gun loads for my nephew using a Lee mold, Q-tip, olive oil, and a glue gun. I separated the worse brass I had and drilled out the primer pockets and the glue gun bullets were good to go. At 15', the bullets can go through one side of a cardboard box.. Replace the primer and push the bullet back into the case by hand and you're ready to shoot again. The sound of the primer is like a cap gun. You can look it up but one of the primer makers makes lead-free primers.
 
So in that thinking your best SD practice would be done with quality target loads that may well be much less powerful than your carry loads.
Which again reinforces my thought that what you practice with isn't nearly as important as how much you practice. A lot of shooting with more affordable range ammo, with some additional shooting with your expensive carry ammo is much better than a little practice with the high priced ammo.
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No, by optimal load I'm not necessarily talking about the practice rounds, but the carry round you approximate your practice rounds upon. For example, I have in front of me a cool Christmas gift, a box of "NOVX Engagement : Extreme Self Defense, 9mm luger ARX 65 grain/ 1575 fps / 358 ft-lbs" A 65 grain bullet. I've mentioned this example several times. It patterns poorly in my actual carry pistol, hence it is NOT an optimal load for my pistol. And I'm not able to get cheap practice ammo anywhere near this. So I choose a carry load more accurate in my carry pistol, one which the point of impact matches my point of aim, and cheap practice ammo that roughly impacts in the same place is available. Except I reload so I find cheap projectiles with similar weight or point of impact, rather than match actual pulled gold dots for every practice session..

I made 50 glue gun loads for my nephew using a Lee mold, Q-tip, olive oil, and a glue gun.
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Nice! My brother did something similar with wax pullets in a 44 mag casing. I think he just got a block of wax and melted it in a pyrex dish, put a primed case face down in it, and waited for it to cool. But it was a while ago, process may be different.... accuracy wasn't as nice as your rounds, but it was fun for 5 yards and in.
 
Glue gun brass

I like saving Winchester, Remington, and Federal brass for my pistol reloads.

But, there's the IMI brass. It's said to have the thickest case walls and the weight SD is high. But, when resized, the case holds the glue gun bullets nice and snug so the glue gun bullets don't fall into the case. That's for a .38, but I'd expect the same for a 9mm cases
 
Roland Thunder,

In revolvers, bullet weight difference has a significant effect on short-range POI because the same pressure pushing a heavier weight bullet produces the same recoil force, but applies it for a longer barrel time, giving recoil more time to elevate the muzzle before the bullet clears it. That effect depends on the revolver conveying recoil to your hand(s) simultaneously with its creation. In most semi-autos, though, the mass of the slide absorbs the recoil and only transfers it to your hand(s) while the slide is being brought to a stop in counterbattery. That happens through the recoil springs being compressed and the slide striking the frame in counterbattery. That transfer delays the recoil reaching your hands. As a result, the recoil that flips the semi-auto muzzle up is also delayed, and that flip mainly occurs after the bullet has left home. The result is that different levels of recoil and different levels of bullet weight don't produce nearly as much change in semi-auto pistol short-range POI as they do in a revolver.

I would take some samples of several of your loads and a few rounds of your defense loads to the range and see if the change in POI is significant at the longest target range you intend to use them to score points with. Only if it becomes an issue do you need to worry about it.
 
TunnelRat,

It happened because of brain gas. I've been staring at the computer all day and transposed your name with Roland's. I have corrected the post.:D
 
No problem. I was actually more concerned I had said something about revolvers and didn’t remember it. My memory hasn’t been great as of late.


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The result is that different levels of recoil and different levels of bullet weight don't produce nearly as much change in semi-auto pistol short-range POI as they do in a revolver.
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I have often wondered about that difference between revolver and auto pistol POI changes; heavy bullet vs. lighter bullet. 60+ years of short gun shooting and I'm still learning...thanx for the explanation Unclenick. Best regards, Rod
 
Over the years the majority of rounds I have shot in practice and matches have been reloads. I have a Dillon 450 setup in .45acp and a 1050 setup in .38Super. Those have been my most shot calibers.
 
I Shoot what I have at the present time .I Practice with my 3 carry guns Ruger sp101 357 mag ,SW MP 40C or SIG 365 9MM.
If i can hit a 3x5 in target at 21 feet i am good to go
 
Best bang for your buck right now is armscore bullets. Hornady XTPs have gone up so much and before that I would use Remington and Winchester a lot till the prices outpaced hornady.
 
If your point of impact between both your reloads and hollowpoints matches and they both function reliably I think using reloads for primarily is fine.


^^This^^

Don't over-think simple things.
 
If you are concerned that reloaded ammo is slightly different than the ammo you normally carry for SD, thats silly in my estimation. A gunfight is not likely to be lost over this difference or variance.

I say this assuming that you are not altering the guns recoil spring and firing ultra low power exhibition loads for your training purposes.

If your intent is to be accurate enough to shoot a jelly bean off of a golf tee at 25 yards, it might matter. Personally, that is not my mission and a slight difference in POI is not something I have ever cared about. I am a guy who carries for self defense, not bullseye shooting.

In my humble opinion, there are plenty of things that a fight might hinge upon but this aint likely to be it. Your footwear is probably more of a factor than any minor difference in POI regarding handloads/reloads and factory ammo, bullet weight or bullet profile. That is so long as we are not talking about shooting a target at exceedingly long distances. The longer the distance, the more such things matter.
 
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All I shoot any more is my handloads. I try to mimic the feel of factory ammo recoil so I can learn to control it. I tried bunny fart loads for a short time, but quickly changed that.

My feeling is that if a person is using handloads and practicing for self defense, the ammo used should provide as close to the same recoil impulse as factory as you can get. Otherwise you are going to get lazy and sloppy, and when the chips are down, you won't be able to put rounds on target for multiple shots because your grip will quickly become compromised.

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I'll stir this a little further, practice with a 642 and max .38 w/158 gr bullets. Then everything else will be easy for you. I can't even imagine a J frame Airweight in .357 Mag.
 
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