# My first batch of ammo tested(long)



## Atroxus (Nov 7, 2008)

Well I just got back from the range, and I think it was a pretty productive visit. I brought pictures too, though I cropped the targets to only show the areas that have bullet holes to reduce the size of the pictures. Sadly my camera doesn't do close up work well so my pictures of the case heads/primers aren't detailed enough to show anything useful. I tested 3 loads today at 25yds, shooting from a rest. Nothing I was overly proud of but hopefully enough to tell me which load to use while I refine my accuracy. Before I put any live ammo in my gun I put in a snap cap and did soem dry firing from the rest to make sure I wasn't flinching or moving during my trigger pull. Bellow is a a picture of the three targets, each followed by a summary that test batch. All rounds fired and cycled in my gun fine with no failures of any kind.(unless you count my failure to aim better) Please feel free to give _constructive_ criticism. "Your groups suck" doesn't tell me anything that I don't already know.:smt023



My first batch was 115gr Missouri Bullets cast round nose, over 4.3gr W-231 powder, winchester WSP small pistol primer in unfired winchester brass. I fired my first shot then checked for signs of over-pressure. There seemed to be very slight primer cratering, but did not seem to be any other signs of stress or excessive expansion on the case, or case head. So since it was the starting load according to Hodgdon data center I proceeded firing. My first 10 rounds were all on paper though with only 3 in the black and the rest well off to the right. I then asked the range officer to come over and he put 5 rounds down range. The lowest 4 holes in the black and one of the nearest holes below and to the right of the black are his. This told me that yes a lot of the problem was me, not the ammo, but the RO was still to the right just not to the extreme that I was so I noted that and fired the remaining rounds and continued to hit well right of my point of aim and scattered all over. Originally I had planned to test 10 round groups, then check barrel for leading, and change target. However the range I was at seemed to be going a long time between cease fires, and I got impatient and put 19/20(I fired all 20, just 19 made it through the paper) of the rounds from my first batch of target loads into the same target. I did keep an eye on my barrel for leading though, and did not see any. Am not sure how far off the paper that missing 20th round went.



My second batch was same as first except the powder charge was 4.5gr(up .2gr from starting) When I fired the first round I checked for high pressure signs and again noticed slight cratering of the primer but nothing else worrisome. When I compared this to the primers from my starting load batch the degree of cratering seemed identical, so I am thinking maybe just soft primers. So I continued on. As you can see I still can't shoot worth beans, but my "group"(I use the term very loosely) seems alot better with this load, at least a much larger percentage of rounds are in the black(12/20), and all 20 were on the paper at least. So far I am liking this middle load for target shooting while I try to improve my aim. Still no leading in my barrel. yay



My third and final batch for the day was at 4.8gr of powder. The max charge as listed in the load data I got from Hodgdon. I fired a single round then checked for over-pressure again. Again the only "overpressure" sign I found was slightly cratered primer. When comparing to the other batches the primers from all 3 batches looked identical. So at this point I am still thinking I just have some soft primers. At first glance this seems like the best group yet. I have 12 in the black again, and 2 in the 10 ring. The fliers are a lot farther out than they were in my mid range load though,(like the one at the very bottom edge of the paper) and 2 missed the paper entirely. 60 rounds of cast ammo and still no leading in my barrel, it was pretty easy to clean when I got home too.

At this point I am thinking of sticking with my second load as my target load. Then maybe when I can hold a decent sized group I will refine the load further for better accuracy. Please let me know if there are any glaring flaws in my methodology, and again please give "constructive" criticism.

TIA,
Joe


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## TOF (Sep 7, 2006)

Congratulations, you are now a fully fledged reloader.
Your approach sounds good to me. Shooting mid range loads till you feel your gun handling abilities have improved will allow you to become a bit more comfortable with the whole scenario.

I don't know how you are aiming but I find it difficult to shoot at the center of relatively large bullseyes. I typicaly print my own bulls and then rather than aim at the center of a black blob, I visualy set the bull on top of my front sight, with rear even with top of front of course. The larger the area you are aiming at the more scattered shots tend to be.

You may be young and have good eyesight so what I do might not help but you might try it. Also shooting at small but visible black dots might help tighten your groups.

Re. the primers: Winchesters are normaly not soft. Federal, Remington, Winchester and then CCI is the sequence of soft to hard that I am aware of. I am not to certain what you mean by cratering but you might want to compare the width of the flat area surrounding the pin strike point. Expect to see a wider flat and less roundness to edges as powder charge (pressure) goes up. High pressure can also reduce the size/depth of the pin strike cavity.

Overall you are doing fine. It doesn't normaly happen overnight.

Enjoy

tumbleweed


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## Atroxus (Nov 7, 2008)

My eyesight is not as good as it used to be either, so for the first target I put a small orange dot sticker in the middle of the target, the second two had "Shoot n c" target stickers on which also has a red dot in the middle. At 25 yards I could see the dots but they were only *barely* usable for aiming. It was still way better than the plain black "blob" targets I normal shoot at. I think I just need a slightly larger splash of color to use as a point of aim at 25 yards. Before I go shooting again I think I am gonna buy a big roll of larger round dot stickers to put in the middle of all my targets. To aim I focused first on the little red dot on the target, then as the front sight aligned under it I would shift my focus to the front sight and make sure it was centered in the rear sight notch and that the top ede of the front/rear sights were level. After my first shot from each magazine I hold the trigger depressed until I have my sights lined up again then slowly release just enough to reset the trigger before squeezing the trigger again.

I would have taken self printed targets last night except my printer isn't big enough to print anything I could consistently at 25 yards, and the range I went to last night only allows you to use their targets. They let you add stickers to them if you want, but you have to buy the paper from them. The only reason I went there is because they have all kinds of stands/rests that are available for anyone that wants to use them.

What you said about the primers got me thinking though, so I did some more research and found pictures on the internet of cratered primers to compare. It seems my initial assessment was off and the indents on my primers were fairly "normal" looking. Oh well better over-cautious than under-cautious.


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## gmaske (Jan 7, 2008)

That ain't bad shooting for 25 yards! You are dealing with a really short barrel and the slightest movement makes a big diffrence. I wouldn't feel to bad at all about my shooting! It takes a lot of practice to hit and have a tight group at that distance. If you can half the distance it won't be such a struggle and you'll enjoy it more. Grats on the reloads too! :smt023
Hey! Midway has a free target download that I like a lot.
http://www.midwayusa.com/General.mvc/Index/freedownloads


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## HogMan87 (Nov 20, 2009)

*Looks like your on the right track, practice makes perfect.:mrgreen:*


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## jimmy (Feb 3, 2009)

Atroxus, are left handed?


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## Atroxus (Nov 7, 2008)

I am right handed, left eye dominant. I shoot with my left eye closed though, cause I just can't seem to get the 2 eyed aim thing to work for me.


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## Bill Spider (Dec 2, 2007)

*What pistol did you use?*

What you see as slight cratering is a common firing pin strike in most Beretta pistols.
What pistol were you firing?


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## Atroxus (Nov 7, 2008)

Fired through Beretta 92FS. I saw some pictures of other primers from Berettas and they looked exactly like what I saw on mine.


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