USPSA - Lead or FMJ when Reloading

T

Tony C

New member
I hope that this is on the correct forum. I am not sure whether this goes here or in reloading but here goes...

If you reload your own rounds and shoot competitively, do you use wad-cutters or FMJ? I have just begun shooting competitively and bought a Hornady LNL Classic this weekend, and it seems like the lead SWC rounds would be better for competing, both cheaper and possibly more accurate.

Give me your opinions please and thanks in advance for your help,
Tony C
Oregon
 
For USPSA, convenience and reliability are more important than accuracy. Certainly, lead is cheaper. Make sure you can shoot a match's worth of lead before cleaning is required. Usually, that is not a problem. Also, division matters. Not sure I would want to shoot major power factor lead through a comp (open) gun, although I have never owned a comp'ed handgun.

FMJ and plated are so much easier to clean up, and usually I am willing to pay more to not have to clean up as much. My next bullet purchase may be lead to save money.

Lee
 
clean?

I mostly use lead round nose bullets in 9x19 and 45 ACP; I have other choices (about 76 other choices).
 
I assume you will be shooting .45acp. Lead bullets are cheaper than plated or FMJ and can be shot quite accurately in most .45acp pistols and revolvers. UPSA shooters have used them successfully for years.

You may have to experiment with the overall length of your semi-wadcutter loads to make sure they feed properly; SWC bullets can be more finicky in this regard than round nose or truncated cone bullets.

Make sure the bullets and hard-cast and are properly sized - .452" usually works best but your gun may be different. You may also have to experiment with the crimp but .470" is a safe bet.

Get a case guage and test all your rounds before a match. An oversize case not seating or ejecting can ruin a stage and there are no alibis in USPSA.

Use single base powders like Vithavouri N-320 or Solo 100, or low nitro-content powders like Winchester Super Target or Alliant American Select to reduce smoke and leading.



Chris
 
When you're trying to pick up the next 10 steel plates through the cloud of lube smoke you'll wish you had loaded plated or FMJ. :D
 
With the recent price reduction and end of the lead surcharge, Berry's plateds are almost as cheap as plain lead and a whole lot less work to deal with. I think .357 158 round-noses are down in the nine-cent range delivered now and .45 230s are about twelve and a half cents.
www.berrysmfg.com
 
For .45 ACP, I have used nothing but poly/moly coated bullets for years. I'm still working through my supply of bullets from the now-defunct Masterblasters, but similar bullets are available from Precision or Bear Creek. Without trying to sound too enthusiastic, they provide the advantages of both cast and jacketed, without the downsides of either. I trend toward round-nose or truncated cone bullet shapes. I've seen enough guns puke on SWCs, and don't see any real upside.
 
I was at a USPSA match this year where a competitor was shooting lead (smokey) rounds thru his Glock and was told to stop shooting and change ammo. I'm not sure if this is a rule in USPSA or what. Maybe the disgression of the Range Officer. Sorry if I'm drifting from the subject, but it has to do with lead and USPSA.
 
Try using Rooster Jacket lube on your cast bullets. It is similar to Lee Liquid Alox, but it smokes a lot less (and I think you cannot push it as hard)

I loaded some .38 Specials with 125 grain truncated cone cast bullets for shooting in a bullseye league. They did really well when loaded near the top end of the load data, and no leading or smoke. Then some other shooters asked me to tone them down a little and the accuracy completely fell apart when I loaded them lighter. (not sure what this means, I think the bullet design just didn't stablized at low velocity, or didn't obterate enough, or maybe I just suck when I use that box of ammo) But anyway, at about 900 fps they were almost like shooting FMJ bullets but a lot cheaper.
 
oddly priced?

I bought a box of 500 230g LRN yesterday to test; $35/500.

(Perhaps the reason the Glock shooter was told to stop shooting his lead-bullet load was due to an under-informed RO stopping him for "unsafe ammo").

Lead bullets offer numerous advantages, but one disadvantage (that may be huge): the 'smoke' that can be present often obscures vision.
Not all lead bullets do so.
 
I bought a box of 500 230g LRN yesterday to test; $35/500.
Click to expand...
I think that is a good price, these days.
(Perhaps the reason the Glock shooter was told to stop shooting his lead-bullet load was due to an under-informed RO stopping him for "unsafe ammo").
Click to expand...
Yes, nowhere does my Glock 17 manual say "no lead bullets". It does say factory only, no reloads.

Lee
 
I bought another box yesterday

To load more ammo.....

$35/500 230g LRN IS (sadly) a good price nowadays.

(They had 125g LRN for the exact same price; ouch).
 
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