My3KidsFather’s Best Ammo Ever.. For Your Purpose and Need.

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I have been handloading for a number of years, first for a 3006 and other then rifles, and now for a Blackhawk 44 Special as well. After doing a bit of a search I did not find a recent best ammo thread on the forum and thought with all the changes in quality bullets today we might like an informative thread on your best choice ammo for your purpose.

For target and possible home-defense i am using Keith-style lead bullets at a moderate speed of 950 fps because they will take down even bears around here. After talking with others here on the forum I may be slowing these down to 650-750 fps to reduce penetration within the house for defense. After all, most ACP 45’s are moving at around 750 or so..

What’s your best find, what’s your purpose, and why?

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I don’t have a single best. I shoot and reload for multiple calibers and use a couple different calibers for SD/HD purposes. Here’s a brief rundown…

357 Plinking – Reload 158 LSWC over 6.3gr of Unique. Or pretty much any factory load of any weight.
357 HD/SD – 135gr 38spl Gold Dot HP or 125gr Nyclads

9mm Plinking – Pretty much any factory load in any weight
9mm HD/SD – 124gr +p JHP (either HST’s or Gold Dots)

38 spl Plinking – Reload 158 LSWC over 5gr Unique. Or any factory load of any weight.
38 spl HD/SD – 135gr 38spl Gold Dot HP or 125gr Nyclads

44 mag Plinking – Reload a bunch of different weights but seem to get best results with 240 gr LSWC
44 mag Hunting- Underwoods 240 XTP load. Holy crap does this load have some serious getupandgo

I have an itch for 10mm. I’m not even sure why. I plan on reloading for that when (and if) I ever buy one.

For reloads, I’ve been using coated bullets. Seems they can be driven a bit faster without having to worry about leading.

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I’m set up for 9mm pretty much exclusively… I shoot factory 124 Gold Dots in 9mm and Hornady XTP/FTX in the .380 carry pistols… my game gun load is 147grain Precision Delta with Winchester Super Field (WSF) at about 900 fps

My3kidsfather… try Winchester Super Target (WST) for a .45 load… if you can find some 452AA, it was the most accurate .45 load I found.. I shot a lot of Clays, but it was a little pressure sensitive for anything but 12ga and .45 and would not recommend it for any other load… the WST is to me like a modern Unique

for any that may be new to reloading… stand up to help prevent tendonitis, and add a light to see powder level in the case… if you are loading auto calibers, a Lee sizing die heads off chambering problems

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Wishoot said: ↑
I don’t have a single best. I shoot and reload for multiple calibers and use a couple different calibers for SD/HD purposes. Here’s a brief rundown…

357 Plinking – Reload 158 LSWC over 6.3gr of Unique. Or pretty much any factory load of any weight.
357 HD/SD – 135gr 38spl Gold Dot HP or 125gr Nyclads

9mm Plinking – Pretty much any factory load in any weight
9mm HD/SD – 124gr +p JHP (either HST’s or Gold Dots)

38 spl Plinking – Reload 158 LSWC over 5gr Unique. Or any factory load of any weight.
38 spl HD/SD – 135gr 38spl Gold Dot HP or 125gr Nyclads

44 mag Plinking – Reload a bunch of different weights but seem to get best results with 240 gr LSWC
44 mag Hunting- Underwoods 240 XTP load. Holy crap does this load have some serious getupandgo

I have an itch for 10mm. I’m not even sure why. I plan on reloading for that when (and if) I ever buy one.

For reloads, I’ve been using coated bullets. Seems they can be driven a bit faster without having to worry about leading.
Click to expand…
A 10mm is a bit of a man’s caliber isn’t it? When it is a workin’ right it may unsettle the girls. I appreciate you have much more experience than I with handguns. Gold dot has been around for a few years now and seems to be proven even in 38’s.

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les snyder said: ↑
I’m set up for 9mm pretty much exclusively… I shoot factory 124 Gold Dots in 9mm and Hornady XTP/FTX in the .380 carry pistols… my game gun load is 147grain Precision Delta with Winchester Super Field (WSF) at about 900 fps

My3kidsfather… try Winchester Super Target (WST) for a .45 load… if you can find some 452AA, it was the most accurate .45 load I found.. I shot a lot of Clays, but it was a little pressure sensitive for anything but 12ga and .45 and would not recommend it for any other load… the WST is to me like a modern Unique

for any that may be new to reloading… stand up to help prevent tendonitis, and add a light to see powder level in the case… if you are loading auto calibers, a Lee sizing die heads off chambering problems

Click to expand…
Doesn’t that Lee sizing die size from the top down?

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For .45ACP, I really like a good 200 grain bullet on exactly 10 grains of blue dot with magnum primers. Any more than ten grains, or non-magnum primers, and I find unburned powder flakes on the shooting bench. My3kidsfather, what is your preferred 44 special bear load? I just acquired a S&W 629 Backpacker, and I don’t think I’m going to want to practice much with Magnums.

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For 9mm I do like the speer gold dot. Apparently the FBI is moving to Speer Gold Dot G2, which I don’t like for the same reason they do: it’s more barrier blind. I might be wrong, but I really don’t think I need or want a self defense round that can go through drywall and glass and be just as effective on the other side. If that means the origainal stuff is cheaper, I’m more than happy. Still hard to find though.

For practice, I actually really like the worst reloads I can get. More fail to fire practice that way.

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Tru7h said: ↑
For 9mm I do like the speer gold dot. Apparently the FBI is moving to Speer Gold Dot G2, which I don’t like for the same reason they do: it’s more barrier blind. I might be wrong, but I really don’t think I need or want a self defense round that can go through drywall and glass and be just as effective on the other side. If that means the origainal stuff is cheaper, I’m more than happy. Still hard to find though.

For practice, I actually really like the worst reloads I can get. More fail to fire practice that way.
I’ll have to check out the G2. I carry Hornady Critical Duty in my 9mm and .45ACP CCWs. Where I live, I’m likely have to punch through hide, fur, and denser-than-human muscle tissue if I have to shoot defensively. Or maybe a heavy Carhartt coat. Or sage brush. Or a car door. One just doesn’t know. If I’m out and about, I want penetration.

At home I switch to conventional hollow point to try to reduce penetration. I don’t think home invasion is a likely enough scenario to make me want to pay for frangibles, though.

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the carbide insert in the Lee die is located physically closer to the mouth of the die… that and the tighter radius of the insert itself, allow the die to go further down the case, reaching metal closer to the web area…it is a traditional die that sizes from the top down… it just lessens the chance for a bulge in the web area that may hinder correct chambering of a reloaded piece of brass… especially if you use found on range brass that may have been shot in a sub gun or a major power factor competition pistol

there are machines designed to roll brass between a pair of slightly non parallel rails to reform extremely deformed brass… typically from higher pressure major power factor loads..

when I started shooting in competition in the early 80’s, there were not that many competitors at a match… typically less than 30… today with 60 or more, as a courtesy to the squad to move through quicker, a lot of shooters do not pick up their brass, or wait until the end of the match to do so, and don’t necessarily retrieve their own brass

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MTFatboy said: ↑
For .45ACP, I really like a good 200 grain bullet on exactly 10 grains of blue dot with magnum primers. Any more than ten grains, or non-magnum primers, and I find unburned powder flakes on the shooting bench. My3kidsfather, what is your preferred 44 special bear load? I just acquired a S&W 629 Backpacker, and I don’t think I’m going to want to practice much with Magnums.
Canadians are not allowed to hunt with a handgun, so no experience here with 44’s and bears. However I am rereading myHandloader mags back from 2007 and newer and found that Brian Pierce, a writer from Idaho often hunts with his saa Colt and Ruger 44’s and 45’s. I went and looked up his writings for you and he took his son Ben on a bear hunt with a Ruger 45 using Keith-style lead bullets handloaded to 1025 fps. He used 11.1 grains of Hodgdon Longshot with Winchester large pistol primers, a 285 grain Keith cast lead bullet at 1048 a gallon. fps. Very accurate, 7 shots into .75″ at 25 yards. Dead and slumped in the tree in three shots, the guide amazed saying he had never seen a bear die so quick while still in the tree.

Having read everything Mr. Pierce has written over the last ten years I believe he suggests running a 44 special with Keith-style 246-255 grain cast lead bullets at 16 to one lead-tin at 1050 to 1200 fps for hunting. He reports the same results as his sons first hunt. Men have put down horses, cougars, and varmints of both two and four legged persuasions with these moderate loads. Hope this is encouraging. You can buy Keith-style cast bullets all over the USA.

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My3kidsfather said: ↑
Canadians are not allowed to hunt with a handgun, so no experience here with 44’s and bears. However I am rereading myHandloader mags back from 2007 and newer and found that Brian Pierce, a writer from Idaho often hunts with his saa Colt and Ruger 44’s and 45’s. I went and looked up his writings for you and he took his son Ben on a bear hunt with a Ruger 45 using Keith-style lead bullets handloaded to 1025 fps. He used 11.1 grains of Hodgdon Longshot with Winchester large pistol primers, a 285 grain Keith cast lead bullet at 1048 a gallon. fps. Very accurate, 7 shots into .75″ at 25 yards. Dead and slumped in the tree in three shots, the guide amazed saying he had never seen a bear die so quick while still in the tree.

Having read everything Mr. Pierce has written over the last ten years I believe he suggests running a 44 special with Keith-style 246-255 grain cast lead bullets at 16 to one lead-tin at 1050 to 1200 fps for hunting. He reports the same results as his sons first hunt. Men have put down horses, cougars, and varmints of both two and four legged persuasions with these moderate loads. Hope this is encouraging. You can buy Keith-style cast bullets all over the USA.
Click to expand…
As far as .45 LC, I coax a little over 1000 fps out of a 4 inch Colt Anaconda using 21.7 grains of H110 and a 300 gr. Hornady XTP MAG. I’ll have to do some research and see what charge guys are using for Keith-style 44 special loads. What are you using to push yours to 950?

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It’s been a while since I loaded a few for the Blackhawk, I think I was using 2400 at about 12 grains for a reported 950 fps. Mr. Pierce says that works on bears very well down his way, a bear is a bear wherever they are, even up here.

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