Terminal Ballistics as Viewed in a Morgue (an oldie but goodie)

Mouseguns.com ^ | 7/13/06 | Deadmeat2

[LibWhacker]

I remember that scene. Very funny... and very true, I think.

[taxcontrol]

9 x 23

Pros
Capacity of the 9 mm
Stopping power of the .357 mag

Cons
Not much in the way of commercial ammo (mostly reload)
Not much in the way of standard guns (mostly custom builds)

[MHGinTN]

Lots of practice rounds is a good idea. Burning a couple of mags of what you will load for self defense as the last of the day is an even better idea. Finish off your practice with what you will load for defense, in whatever caliber. If you load 147 gr 9mm as your defensive rounds, knowing what that round does to your sight picture following each shot is important to competency.

[Melas]

I take these things with a grain of salt. The man who taught me how to really shoot was a Viet Nam vet, and longtime member of the army rifle team. What did he carry as his personal sidearm in the civilian world? A Ruger Mark III.

[jboot]

Lee equipment costs 1/2 what RCBS does and probably 1/4 what Dillon charges. I've used Lee equipment for 30+ years and never had a single peice of it fail (which is more than I can say for any of the others, and I've used them all). It's not pretty, elegant or feature-rich, but it is solidly reliable and does the job just fine.

The only thing on my bench that isn't Lee is a big honking Hornady scale. The Lee scales are twee little things made of plastic. They might work great, but I don't trust them.

[LibWhacker]

Thank you very much. I’m going to check it out now and see what it costs to get started. I just dropped a thousand bucks for ammo for my .40 Browning HP and I have another three pistols and two rifles to make purchases for. So if I can get started reloading for a thousand bucks, that’s a pretty good deal I think... Not to mention that, when and if the balloon goes up people will be crying for reloading equipment. Thank you again. Very useful info.

[Pollster1]

One thought for shotgun guys. My 12 ga. is loaded with the last two rounds in 3-1/2 inch magnum buckshot, a whole lot more kick than the Federal Reduced Recoil 2-3/4 inch rounds loaded for home defense. In the event that I lose count, and if I end up needing that many shots, (1) I want a reminder that I’m almost empty, and (2) I’m a whole lot more interested in hitting hard and a whole lot less concerned about over-penetration.

[PubliusMM]

Reloading can be a hobby in itself. My son and I have been reloading for over 25 years.

Started out with a single stage press, and graduated to a multi-stage, auto advance press when the ammo count needed to be higher (cause and effect?). I really like Dillon presses, but I’ve had great luck with a Forster five-stage auto advancing manual press, too.

First set of dies was .38/.357. Next, added 9mm (for his habit), and followed that up with .45ACP dies. Then got into rifle reloading and settled on .223 as the caliber of choice.

He has since added a couple of larger rifle calibers to his menu. I’ve pretty much settled on the .45 and .223 for my needs. Between us we reload probably 5000 - 6000 rounds a year.

Good setup will include a good solid press, good brand dies (carbide sizers, IMO), a decent hi-cap tumbler for case cleaning, and several really good reloading manuals (Sierra, Hornady, etc.).

If you add in shotgun (lighter press), you would be complete.

Powder, primers, bullets, and you are off to the races.

Have FUN! It’s a great hobby. Quick Internet search will get you started. Or a visit to a large sporting goods shop.

[Dead Corpse]

Dillon's warranty cannot be matched. Easy set-up allows me to switch calibers in about 30 seconds. I have 3 different reloading blocks set up that I only have to make minor adjustments to in between loading for that caliber. I got my Dillon off of GunBroker. Picked up their maintenance kit and it runs like new.

I've heard good things about Lee loaders, I just haven't ever used one.

[jdsteel]

I like the Dillon ads. Always a lovely lady in the ads. Hey, sue me, I’m a red-blooded American!!!!

[LibWhacker]

I’ve got a .308, but it’s a hunting rifle. I absolutely NEED an AR-15, or two, or three. But I refuse to buy one as configured and approved by those traitorous scum in Sacramento. I should’ve bought one years ago, but I was too busy buying handguns. Now I can’t legally buy what I want. Have to get out of this effed-up state.

[Joe 6-pack]

"The .357 in a semi-auto problem has been solved."

You need not even get as exotic as the Coonan. The .357 Sig, which is essentially a .40 S&W case bottle-necked to .357 has ballistics that compare favorably with full horsepower .357 magnum rounds. Here are a list of LE agencies who have chosen the .357 Sig as their round of choice:

Alameda County
Delaware State Police (First to adopt the 357 SIG)
Dallas, Texas Police
Federal Air Marshals
Federal Protective Services (FPS) Special Agents for General Services Administration (GSA) - P229
Keizer Police Department, Oregon
La Porte County Indiana Sheriff's Department
Laurence County Sheriff's Office, Tennessee
Las Vegas Metro Police (allowed use of)
Liberty Twp Police Dept, Ohio
Maine Aroostook County Sheriff's Office
Maine Game Wardens (P226)
Maricopa County [Phoenix] Arizona Sheriff's Office/MCSO
Montcalm County (Michigan) Sheriff's Office
New Jersey Division of Fish & Game
New Mexico State Police
Niles Police Dept, Ohio
Northwood Police Dept, ND
NC Highway Patrol
NC Wake County Sheriff's Department
NC Wildlife Enforcement Officers
Nueces County Sheriff Department, Texas (Sigpro)
Oakland County Sheriff's Dept, Michigan
Orange Police Dept, CT (sig pro, SP2340 .357)
Orlando PD (plainclothes officers)
Oxford, Mississippi
Richmond, Virginia
Rocky Mount Police Dept, Rocky Mount, NC
Springfield, IL
Tennessee Highway Patrol
Union County Sheriff's Office, Marysville, Ohio (Glock 31)
Texas, DPS
United States (GSA) - Office of Inspector General (OIG)
Special Agents - P229
United States Secret Service
Virginia State Police

[fella]

Single stage? Is that one pull of the lever equals one finished bullet or just one step in the process?

[Dead Corpse]

$1k on .40 S&W ammo? Please tell me you at least bought from some place like ammoman.com and not from Cabela's or Dick's...

http://ammoman.com/p/347/40-sw-prvi-partizan-180-grain-total-metal-jacket

$299 shipped per 1000.

Exact same ammo from Cabela's would run you $360 before s&h.

[jboot]

It depends what your goals are. I am not a high-volume loader, so the Lee turret press is all I need. If I were going to turn out 10K+ rounds a year, I’d need a Dillon progressive setup.

[jboot]

LOL, I do get their catalog. It’s not too popular with the Better Half, but I need to keep up with industry trends! ;-)

[DuncanWaring]

...how many calibers will one reloading rig (is that the correct terminology?) handle?

A typical press will handle just about any rifle/pistol cartridge except for the very largest rifle cartridges (.50 BMG, for example).

Each different cartridge will require its own set of dies, which run about $30 "or so" per set.

[Dead Corpse]

One step.

There are progressive loaders that do multiple operations per pull of the handle. Some are manual indexing, others are automatic. The Dillon RL550b is a manual index with 4 stages. Some of the larger loaders can have 5 or even 6 stages to incorporate trimming accessories or having separate seating and crimping dies. I've even seen it where some folks will use a sizing die as a final stage just to ensure the case didn't bulge during one of the other operations.

Attention to detail pays off big.

[Dead Corpse]

I load about 500 a month between 10mm and .223. A few .357, .45-70, and some .30-30 as well.

I buy my 12ga, .410, and 7mm factory as it just doesn't make sense to reload for 'em. Either because the ammo is cheap or I don't shoot it very often.

[jboot]

Cali is a mess. I gave up on any California dreams many years ago. That said, the AR isn't a battle rifle. Last I heard, you can still legally buy an M1 Garand in Cali. I'd feel better armed with one of them than I would with an AR-15, even without the big banana mag. Stuff you shoot with an M1 goes down and stays down.

This little beastie is probably still Cali legal and would be VERY good protection from almost anything on God's green earth: