Practice/training ammo with 230 LRN cast

I have been struggling with Rapid fire particularly recoil recovery with the 45.  The usual advice is train yourself to accept the recoil and use your brain/muscle memory to control your grip and recover your aim and stance.  This method is perhaps only one method, but is a common one.

This requires a good supply of ammo.  I could just buy/load more 185 LSWC but I have a couple thousand 230 LRN cast sitting around.  So I attempted to find a way to use these bullets rather than just remelting them.   My two criteria for this load was to not overdrive the existing springs and have a point of impact that was within a handful of clicks of my 185 LSWC zero.  If it held the 9 ring at 25 yards was good enough.

A 230 gr load typically has a velocity of 850fps whereas my 185 target load is about 790fps.  Since recoil drives the function of a Browning pistol, obviously the velocity of the 230 grain would have to drop a lot.   Recoil is calculated by momentum and momentum is defined as mass times velocity.  So it boiled down to the velocity of the 230 (V230) had to be 790 x (185 / 230) which is 637; round up to 640-660.  I had WST and Titegroup as candidate powders so I loaded some up and went to the range.  I loaded test ammo at minimum load minus .2 grains and lower by .2 grains per step looking for a try minimum load that gave that velocity.  The best powder was Titegroup.  After a couple of sessions it was determined that 3.4 grains gave the desired velocity and good function.  Velocity was 650-670, function was normal and recoil felt very similar to my untrained wrist.  

So the only thing to determine was to see how and where they shot on the target.  Took them out last weekend and had a chance to shoot some and rezero if necessary.  The results are on this target.  I noticed the group was building at the low portion of the black so I came up 2 clicks at the mag change.  I’m satisfied at the grouping.  The low one is a called shot.  This target was shot with a wadgun with an Aimpoint dot from a rested forearm.


Please note that THIS METHOD NOR DATA MAY NOT WORK FOR JACKETED 230gr Ball. Note that this was sparked by Chase Turners thread on using 230 grain bullets in bullseye competition.  That thread is now deceased, so this topic may give a restart to that.

It looks like you have a good new practice load.

Darrell

What is holding you back from using this ammo in a match?

chiz1180 wrote:What is holding you back from using this ammo in a match?

the match ammo all goes thru the same hole

chiz1180 wrote:What is holding you back from using this ammo in a match?

Not a lot…really.  I’m not sure it shoots “better” than match ammo and it’s certainly capable of holding its own in a “club” Match.

Cmysix wrote:

chiz1180 wrote:What is holding you back from using this ammo in a match?

the match ammo all goes thru the same hole

This is a typical “match” ammo test.

If you are working on recoil recovery then most anything works, and if you already have the components might as well use them.

In the recent shortage times I put my limited primers towards the best jhp ammo I could make.  However if I had a match before I could diagnose and repair a feeding problem with other bullet types I would shoot cast or jacket ball without hesitation.

ok here is my nickels worth of thoughts on having separate match vs practice/training ammo. 

For both match and training purposes, you want the the same thing, ammo that will allow you to shoot a 10. If you have different types of ammo for training/matches, what if you have a malfunction with your "match" ammo but in the training sessions you had no issues? Is it the ammo or the gun? Not easy to trouble shoot in the middle of a match. 

It would be my recommendation to load/acquire and train with the same quality of ammo you plan to shoot in a match, as it keeps things simpler. What happens to your confidence if you show up to the match and realize you grabbed training ammo instead of match ammo? I also don't think separate longline/shortline ammo is a good idea for the same reason. The more you can keep equipment things simple, the less you have to worry about equipment wise and you can focus on shooting.

In this case, you worked up a load that seems to be close enough to par with your established "match" load, why not utilize it. It is good to have options, but at some point you need to make a choice and stick with it. Making lots of changes in ammo (or gun configuration) masks learning potential for improvement.

My purpose here was to create a workable load that would allow me to train without expending “match” ammo.  I already have the 230LRN bullets and I have no specific plans to buy more.  I was genuinely surprised how well these shot, actually.  Because they do shoot so well has opened these up to shooting in at least club-level matches.  I consider club matches as an extension of training anyway.

training for recoil. Never fear your 45acp again. I posted this about 3 years ago just for fun. Notice I never flinched. Well, not in that 1/4000 of a second. I like your match load.

Ashley, one thing to play around with is your recoil spring. It's one of the variables in recoil recovery. Outside of 100% functioning the spring can help or hurt how the pistol recovers. The worst thing is over springing, which will leave the pistol pointed  downward.

The downward thrust of the pistol in recoil as a result of "over-springing" is an important but seldom recognized effect. I have seen a video on the subject but don't remember where. Thanks Jimmie.