Biting the bullets
Since it's my policy to test fire
every gun I work on (and, it would seem, I'm the only gunsmith who
does), I reload huge amounts of ammunition. This is not new for me,
because for many years I've reloaded everything except my
self-defense ("carry") ammunition. Competing on a regular basis, as
I used to do, burns up a lot of ammo - which means I'm no stranger
to pulling the reloading press handle!
As you might imagine, all of those lovingly reloaded rounds have left me with some strong opinions on such things as bullets, powder, primers, and brass. Let's start with bullets.
Many folks cast their own slugs; personally, I could never get excited about that activity. Aside from the health hazards, the amount of lead I go through would make getting the proper constituents to make consistent bullets a bit difficult. (Come on - just how much Linotype is being produced these days?)
So I buy my bullets. For a long time I used lead bullets exclusively, and the best I found were the "LaserCast" line from Oregon Trail Bullets. They're hard, consistent, reasonably priced, and quite accurate. (At one time they'd even custom size them, though I don't know if they do any longer.) Of course, being a lubricated lead bullet they produce a lot of smoke, and even though very hard - and very resistant to leading - they will leave a bit of lead in the bore at higher velocities. If you've ever read through the main site, you know I hate cleaning guns!
My inherent laziness and the increasing number of ranges (particularly indoor ranges) that won't allow exposed lead bullets pushed me to make some changes in components. The solution, I reasoned, was some sort of encapsulated bullet, and my search began.
Star Bullets made a very nice jacketed bullet of superb accuracy; sadly, Star is no more and I don't know if anyone has taken their place. I tried the Montana Gold bullets, and though happy with the quality I deemed them too expensive for the quantity I use.
This cost consciousness lead me to Rainier Ballistics plated bullets. Their price is certainly right, but I have never been able to get sterling accuracy out of them. This is a common complaint with plated bullets, not just Rainier, and constant experimentation has failed to solve the problem. I've relegated them to testing guns when the utmost accuracy isn't required, and they fill that niche quite nicely.
Most recently, I've been playing around with the polymer coated bullets from MasterBlasters. I'm not yet sure about them, as I haven't been able to shoot enough to determine how they'll perform. The USPSA crowd seems to love them, but shooting fast "A" zone hits at 10 yards is a very different thing than hitting 200 rams in IHMSA competition, and I tend to favor the demands of the latter. (Hey, I did the run-n-gun thing at one time, but the harsh reality is that I just don't run as fast as I used to!)
So for now, I've settled on the Rainier bullets for test ammo where accuracy isn't paramount, the LaserCast bullets for best accuracy when I'm allowed to use them, and in the meantime I'll be testing the MasterBlasters to take the place of one (or both) of those.
-=[ Grant ]=-
As you might imagine, all of those lovingly reloaded rounds have left me with some strong opinions on such things as bullets, powder, primers, and brass. Let's start with bullets.
Many folks cast their own slugs; personally, I could never get excited about that activity. Aside from the health hazards, the amount of lead I go through would make getting the proper constituents to make consistent bullets a bit difficult. (Come on - just how much Linotype is being produced these days?)
So I buy my bullets. For a long time I used lead bullets exclusively, and the best I found were the "LaserCast" line from Oregon Trail Bullets. They're hard, consistent, reasonably priced, and quite accurate. (At one time they'd even custom size them, though I don't know if they do any longer.) Of course, being a lubricated lead bullet they produce a lot of smoke, and even though very hard - and very resistant to leading - they will leave a bit of lead in the bore at higher velocities. If you've ever read through the main site, you know I hate cleaning guns!
My inherent laziness and the increasing number of ranges (particularly indoor ranges) that won't allow exposed lead bullets pushed me to make some changes in components. The solution, I reasoned, was some sort of encapsulated bullet, and my search began.
Star Bullets made a very nice jacketed bullet of superb accuracy; sadly, Star is no more and I don't know if anyone has taken their place. I tried the Montana Gold bullets, and though happy with the quality I deemed them too expensive for the quantity I use.
This cost consciousness lead me to Rainier Ballistics plated bullets. Their price is certainly right, but I have never been able to get sterling accuracy out of them. This is a common complaint with plated bullets, not just Rainier, and constant experimentation has failed to solve the problem. I've relegated them to testing guns when the utmost accuracy isn't required, and they fill that niche quite nicely.
Most recently, I've been playing around with the polymer coated bullets from MasterBlasters. I'm not yet sure about them, as I haven't been able to shoot enough to determine how they'll perform. The USPSA crowd seems to love them, but shooting fast "A" zone hits at 10 yards is a very different thing than hitting 200 rams in IHMSA competition, and I tend to favor the demands of the latter. (Hey, I did the run-n-gun thing at one time, but the harsh reality is that I just don't run as fast as I used to!)
So for now, I've settled on the Rainier bullets for test ammo where accuracy isn't paramount, the LaserCast bullets for best accuracy when I'm allowed to use them, and in the meantime I'll be testing the MasterBlasters to take the place of one (or both) of those.
-=[ Grant ]=-
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