It was Starting to Scare me by Making Sense

Today I’m going to drag my behind to Bass Pro Shop and see if they have any reloading stuff I can use. Their online catalog is sad, but they may have better stuff at the actual store. I’ll also see if there’s anything in the Miami phone book, but my hopes are very low. I truly do not want to pay $40 in hazmat fees to get powder and primers, but I suspect I have little choice.

I’m still confused about what I want to do. My original plan was to simulate the feel of defensive loads. However, a lot of people say lower-powered loads are more accurate. And you can learn more about shooting from accurate loads than crazy ones.

Complicating the issue still further, it occurs to me that most people can’t shoot. That applies to reloaders as well as the rest of us. Suddenly, I have no faith in forum posts saying one load is more accurate than another. Judging from what I’ve seen at the range, over 95% of shooters–even regular shooters with tactical accessories and camo pajamas–can’t keep their shots in a four-inch circle at 7 yards. You have to shoot better than that–or use something like a Ransom rest–before you have any right to say what is or is not accurate. Maybe when they say lower powered loads are more accurate, what they really mean is, they just aren’t good enough to shoot loads that are loud or produce a lot of recoil.

I shoot pistols pretty well, and I wouldn’t claim to know which loads are most accurate. In fact, now that I think about it, I don’t think anyone shoots a pistol that well.

Yesterday I was reading up on the Glock 26’s accuracy, after the fantastic results I got with it at the range. And I saw people on the web, talking about how the Glock and the comparable Kel-Tec were equally accurate, and that was when it hit me: they may mean they shoot pie-sized patterns with both. “Accurate” may mean “suitable for hitting fat burglars at close range.” For a person who shoots like that, any difference in inherent accuracy would get lost in the noise.

I’m going to stick with my plan. Around 1200 fps for .38 Super, 800-900 for the .45, and 1300-1400 for the .357. Maybe 1000-1100 for the 9mm. My best wild guess is that ammunition consistency will mean a hell of a lot more than muzzle velocity.

The goal here isn’t tiny groups by any means possible. If that was the point, I’d buy a .22 target pistol and use match ammunition. The goal is to learn to shoot, so I can do well with whatever happens to be available at the time. My assumption is that you don’t learn to shoot by pampering yourself.

I may also get an airgun, if I can find a pistol that shoots really well at 7 yards and costs almost nothing.