Ammo recommendation

Hi
I shot a match yesterday and my 45 wasn’t very impressive. At 25yd I was happy enough with the group’s for my level. At 50yd it looked like I was using a scatter gun. I am trying very hard not to blame the gun or the ammo for my poor shooting. The guy next to me in master class said let me see your ammo, when he saw it he said it was pretty poor quality. Basically you can shoot that at 25 but you need better stuff for 50.
I looked up the bullets on the company website and they are cast, which really means nothing to me. I’m sure some are very good, it’s just that this guy seemed to think mine weren’t so good.
Can I get a recommendation on just a decent quality bullet to buy, I don’t need the latest and greatest. Just something I can have confidence in . That way my next miss is all me.
Thanks Tom

Here is a recent post that may help improve your bullet confidence.

https://www.bullseyeforum.net/t19549-4-0-bullseye-brazos-200-lswc#170002

LOTS of dry fire to go with them works pretty well too!  

Has your pistol ever been machine rest tested at 50 yards?

No it has not been tested
My thinking is , if someone with way more experience than me tells me my ammo is junk, that’s a good place to start.

Just buy some Zero 185 SWCHP and you're good to go.
Phil

Zero Makes some good Lead Semi Wadcutter bullets.  I personally like their 200 Gr SWC (no hollow point) but they offer a similar 185 Gr SWC with or without the hollow point all of which are good quality bullets for 50 yards.  I don't have a l lot of experience with Brazos bullets but they are highly recommended here on this board so I would have confidence in those too. 
  Once you have a good bullet read up on the recommended loads.  That thread that was linked has a good one and there is a sticky at the top of the page that has several that have proven accurate over the years.  You will find something there that should work for you.  

Good Luck
John

I would like to know how you just look at a firearm cartridge and determine that it is junk.

Bad ammo or an inaccurate gun are very frustrating when you’re trying to learn target shooting. 

If your ammo was purchased rather than you loading it, I recommend that you purchase some quality ammunition from Atlanta Arms, Loader Monkey or Roze Distribution and determine the accuracy potential of your gun.  You can test it at 25 yards and from a bench if you have a good dot on it.  If you do test it, if the gun and ammo 
will keep 15 shots in a group the size of the X ring (1.7 inch) at 25 yards the gun is accurate enough until you get to master.  

If you want to load your own, then I’d get some 200 Cast SWC bullets from Brazos, a pound of Bullseye, WST, Titegroup or N310 and start the process of learning to load accurate ammunition.  We can help with that.  Badly assembled ammunition can cause inconsistency in lockup and that can make otherwise good components not shoot well at all.

You might just start by bench resting your gun with your present ammo and see what it is doing.

You might save some time and money that way as well.

thessler- Do you shoot in a bullseye league or belong to a club with other bullseye shooters? The reason I ask is the easiest way to see if your gun/ammo combination is acceptable is to have a master/high master shoot a 25yd and a 50yd target with your gear. He/she will tell you if it's OK or not. Good luck!

I'm curious! Is you're 45 accurized by a gunsmith? If not I'd recommend you have it done. If it is most people here shoot a zero with @ 3.8 to 4.0 of bullseye or clays. Most just shoot 200 grain swc for both long line and short. Some change between 185 and 200 depending on short or long. If you have a smith work your gun I'd recommend a KKM barrel. A lot like Kart which is also good but I'd have to say KKM has a bit of an edge over the Kart.

Thessler, did you make the cartridges or did you buy them ? If you're a marksman like me shoot fair in practice, but lose points in a match or get large groups, then the fundamentals need work. Trigger pull needs lots of work, know what the trigger feels like, it is your friend, know him. I think of it this way, I dry fire and concentrate on it. Try sitting in a chair and pulling the trigger straight back don't look through the sights, just feel what it takes from start to hammer drop. Learn to do it everyday and that part will help out a lot, then dry fire on a reduced bullseye (about 5/8 inch) round blackened circle at 10 feet is about right. Then see where your dot or sights are when the hammer drops.
 Stan

Thanks for the reply’s 
I don’t want to read to much into this, the guy said my bullets are poor. When I bought them I bought the cheapest one I could find. My thinking was no sense in tossing good bullets down range  if I don’t know how to use the trigger. Now it’s time to step up my game. I ordered some quality bullets, this is a pretty cheap way to figure out if it’s me or the ammo. Yes I am reloading and that’s a whole new can of worms.
Thanks, Tom

We've all been there Tom. Sandbag rest any ammo you're evaluating to see it's potential. Test at 50 yds. Then match your offhand shooting to match the benched groups.
Train for smallest group size- never score.
And, welcome!
John

What's your location, maybe one of us can help...it's a steep learning curve.

As for bullets, Brazos, Magnus, Zero jkt or lead, CJN, Mastercast, lots of good choices out there. 

Jacketed Nosler or Zero hp and or the button nose #130 style jkt from Federal, or Remington IMI or Winchester with 4.6 BE would be the easiest way to be sure of results.

Some of the locals you were shooting with will most likely help you out if you ask for help. Even with an top of the line 45 and factory ammo a new person to this sport may not shoot well at 50 yds.  It takes a while to get the trigger to be smooth.  I still get a wild shot in the white I have trouble explaining.  It was off call but I trust my 45 and ammo so it must be me.

Dry fire every day!!!!