Triangle Tactical Podcast and Blog on Guns, Gear, and Competition Shooting
When I first started reloading about a year ago, it seemed like everyone told me that I NEEDED to have a Dillon 550 or 650, and I needed to load 147gr bullets over Titegroup or Clays powder to be competitive in competition.
When I purchased a couple pounds of Unique, people told me that I wouldn’t like it, but I ran through about 3 pounds of it without a single issue. When I started using CCI primers, and everyone said that I NEEDED to have Federal primers. 5000 CCI’s later and I haven’t had an issue.
Then I bought a jug of Bullseye powder and you would have thought that I talked bad about someone’s grandmother or something with the way people reacted to it.
“Ohhh boy, Bullseye, that stuff is so dirty, you’ll have to clean your gun all the time!”
“You’re going to get carbon deposits so thick your gun will malfunction!”
I could go on, but you get the point. Since buying the Bullseye, I’ve loaded and shot a little more than 2000 rounds using it, and during all that shooting, I haven’t cleaned my gun, just to see how dirty this stuff really is.
So, here’s a few pictures of my Glock 34 after approx. 2000 rounds of ammo loaded with Bullseye shot through it:
Is it dirty? Of course it is, it hasn’t been cleaned in 2000 rounds. Is it really any dirtier than I’d expect it to be after having been shot 2000 times? Not really. There’s some carbon on the underside of the slide, and the grease I put on the locking block, slide rails, and connector is filthy, but there is a distinct lack of the super thick carbon deposits that everyone warned me about.
Don’t get too caught up on what you read on the internet. Any idiot can post on a forum, or start a blog and write whatever they want (ahem) and a lot of times they are wrong.
At this point I’ve loaded about 7000 rounds on my Lee Turret Press using the components that have been available to me, not what everybody told me I needed to have, and all of them have been just fine. Experiment with different stuff, and learn what works best for you.
The old classic powders worked back in the day, and they still work today.
Yep! You still need a Dillon though. LOL!
Dillion was the best thing I did for my pistol reloading.
I have herd all those talks also. Lots of people drink the “cool aid” CCI, powder type, ext…. I have been reloading on a Hornady Lock & Load and everyone said I should start with a single stage. Well 2 years and 10,000 rounds later I’m still shooting all fingers present :). You load what’s in the store at the time and that’s about how picky I get on what I load. 🙂 Great blog and podcast I’m up to Episode 80 y’all are getting better lol.
Felix
Rushmore Action Shooters
“You can’t win with a Glock.”
“You have to buy a Dillon.”
“You need to shoot with both eyes open.”
“IDPA is for old men.”
If I believed all the wisdom available on the Internet, I’d be poorer, less happy, more neurotic, and too frozen by indecision to actually shoot.
I’d also probably be single. Maybe dead.
Free advice is something I can live without.
Well, thanks a lot for letting the cat out of the bag. I have been using the “holy trinity” of powders for 35+ years. That would be Bullseye, Unique and 2400. These three powders covered 99% of my needs. I only bought other powders to experiment with when I couldn’t find these.
When I hear guys say that Unique won’t meter or Bullseye is dirty or you need magnum primers for 2400 I just nod my head in agreement. That means there are less people buying up the powders that I use. More for me!