Posted on 08/10/2012 10:44:12 AM PDT by LibWhacker
BTW, what is it with #1 buck? Have they quit making it? I'm having a heck of a time finding it in any kind of decent quantity (say 500 shells). I'm guessing I'll be able to load it myself if I buy the equipment, no?
Sounds like you need a progressive rig. I haven’t done that kind of volume since the Hillary primer scare back in ‘94.
It's like the V6 vs V8 argument. A bigger block will ALWAYS produce more horsepower. No matter how you try to tart up the smaller motor.
Size and speed count in the ballistics world. More of one at the expense of the other will not have the results of one that has a good balance of BOTH.
Reloading is not difficult if you have the right temperament.
You need to be cautious and methodical in your approach. Following instructions is important.
A medium priced single stage press will reload almost everything except the largest rifle cartridges. You need a heavier press for the large ones.
I’m partial to RCBS, but Lee, Redding, Dillon and others are just as good.
Get a good reloading book & read up on it before buying anything.
I'd love to get into 3-gun once my kids are a bit older. My Daughter has expressed an interest in shooting an AR and I've started picking up various pieces to put one together for her. I had an A2 upper and some other parts laying around that I can use.
Oh, thanks for clarifying that for me. I’ve looked at the M1 Garand program before. It seemed like you had to jump through so many hoops, I figured what the heck. Maybe buy a new one through Springfield? Don’t they have a model called the M1A1? No, I have wanted one for a long, long time, but guns are sooooo darn expensive. Thanks again.
Wise advice. I’ll do that. It’s going to take me a while to decide which brand to go with. It’s not like I can call up my Consumers’ Reports account. It’ll be a tough decision, I can see that. And it’s going to be made more difficult by my utter lack of experience (well, I helped a friend reload some shotgun shells over 40 years ago, but that hardly counts now) and basic knowledge in the subject. Thank you.
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LUV mine, Colt Python 4” loaded with win Super X 145gr Silver tip HP and a speed loader with 6 more of the same. VERY accurate piece and I shoot it well. Traded a fellow a Star model BM, 3 mags and about 1000 rnds of practice hand loads for it. Told the fellow he was screwing himself, he told me the Colt kicked too hard and made too much noise (Pu**y), once in a while you get lucky. The Colt was mint, The star was well fired. “My cold dead fingers, etc.etc.”
The thing I find most intriguing about this round is the big, black, hole you find when you go looking for first hand reports on it's effectiveness.
Lots of hearsay and naysay available from "expert" opinion peddlers, but damn little in the way of After Action Reports, or terminal ballistics out there for a round used by so many LE agencies and foreign military organizations.
It would seem to me the best way to employ this round is to shoot "at" something, as opposed to just trying to score hits on the BG.
CMP is a good program and they still have good guns for (slightly) under $1k. You can clear most of their hoops by joining the Garand Collector's Association, which as far as I can tell exists for the sole purpose of helping folks get guns from CMP.
“... I can tell you that when the chips are down, there’s nothing that beats a 12-gauge...”
Thank you.
A 12Ga. loaded with double-0 buckshot is my preferred means of investigating noises at night.
That's not been my experience with actually owning and firing one.
"Also, .357 sig /= .357 magnum for power. 158gr at over 1400 fps is a lot more energy than the enemic 147gr at 1200 fps. Even at a more comparable 128gr, the .357 Magnum clocks in an extra 250 ft/lbs over the sig."
Keep in mind, the The Sig was designed specifically w/ replicating the performance of a 125 gr. JHP, out of a 4" revolver. It comes very close to doing so. Naturally, the revolver will have the advantage with heavier (i.e. longer bullets) because the autoloading round needs to be seated deeper impacting powder volume. With that said, the .357 magnum has to contend with a barrel/cylinder gap the autoloader doesn't, so with lighter bullets and shorter barrels, the Sig round holds it's own, and it does so with less powder and more efficiency.p> "It's like the V6 vs V8 argument. A bigger block will ALWAYS produce more horsepower. No matter how you try to tart up the smaller motor."
And there are always trade offs - A V-6 is virtually always going to be more fuel efficient, and an autoloader is generally going to hold more rounds.
"Size and speed count in the ballistics world. More of one at the expense of the other will not have the results of one that has a good balance of BOTH."
And when it comes to the broad extremes in handgun ballistics (say from the .25 ACP to the .500 S&W), both the .357 Sig and the .357 magnum are so close as to be virtually negligible.
I agree. FMJ on a 9mm round is for range practice only. Useless as a self defense round. JHP +P is the only way to rock and roll when carrying a 9mm outside amongst the Zombies.
Another great response! Thank you. Very informative. I can see I’ve got my homework cut out for me!
Really confused about which brand to go with now, but I’ll figure it out. Thanks again.
You can nearlyeveyting you need from Midwayusa.com.
Lee Anniversary Breechlog Challenger kit. just about everything you need. 109.95
Shell holders, get a full set
Dies for each individual caliber. 25.00 or so.
empty cartridges or if you have been saving them your empty cartridges, they will work perfectly.
Lead or copper jacketed bullets
Powder (see below)
Primers
You will probably pay back the cost of the equipment in the first loading session. The equipment is then free.
Powder: Go to Hodgdon.com and they have loading data Data Center for all your calibers. Follow it exactly.
As for how to use it, read the directions several times and then load.
1. Leaving my range bag open when I shoot.
2. Having a gun case that is too long.
3. Firing an "homemade" firearm (I was shooting a Mosin Nagant).
4. Making the range officer "nervous." I pressed him on this, and he accused me of waving a pistol around over my head. The problem was, I didn't even have a pistol with me.
5. Picking up my spent brass. I actually got ejected from a range once for picking up my own spent cases.
This didn't happen at podunk ranges...three of these were at the NRA range in Fairfax, VA. So shooting on a farm sounds like bliss. I hope your daughter enjoys her gun. I would have given parts of my body to have had an AR when I was younger.
It is exrtremely easy to reload. I wish that I had started decades before I did.
When I was 12, my dad told me that in lieu of my chores I could prep cases for him a couple nights a week. I jumped at that one! Befoe long he had me doing all the operations. Been reloading ever since.
No flames from me. This article is basically the same "45's rule/9mm's drool" article that we have all seen before, although the perspective of the morgue is a new twist. And to your point, you are exactly right ... 9mm +p or +p+ JHPs by CorBon or Federal are a world away from standard 9mm ball in terms of terminal ballistics.
And as always the moral of the story is, "shoot what you are most comfortable and skilled with."
Tell me about it.
I dropped my previous range membership when the dumbasses told me I couldn't shoot my Thomson Encore on the rifle range because it was a pistol, and I couldn't shoot it on the pistol range because it was a .308.
Thankfully, I found another range run by someone with a functioning brain.
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