Steel plate competition

woodchuckjohn

I am taking up steel plate shooting at my club. I plan to start with my Browning 9mm since I have five clips, a ton of empty brass and 9mm loads easily. I am looking for a load light enough to cycle the action and easy recoil. I am not looking to be a great shooter but to be in competition for the fun of it. Also enjoy working up loads. I'm starting with 125 grain lead round nose ahead of 4 grains of Win 231. I have made up some loads with 3.o grains of 231 which need to be tested as yet. Sierra loading manual say to keep lead bullet velocity under 1000 fps. Also thinking about 115 grain jacketed hollow point to avoid leading the barrel and reduce recoil. Any thought welcome.

bpost

Well cast, properly lubed lead bullets will not lead to over 2,000 FPS if sized to fit the bore about .001 over. If you have to knock the plates over it is best to use full power loads so even a poor hit will cause it to fall, the 9MM has almost no recoil to begin with. Swaged bullets will lead but it is best to avoid them.

Perry Shooter has proven that a light load USUALLY sacrifices accuracy with many thousand of rounds off of a ransom rest.

Find a load you are sure is as accurate as you can load, if that is full power, so much the better to topple plates.

Seek knowledge from the top shooters in the club, they know what works and most are very willing to help.

Good luck!

Justjump

I'm with Bpost on this. Hit em as hard as you can with a quality cast bullet. The 9mm shouldn't be a recoil problem. Just remember, practice practice practice...

Pistollero1050

I use a 124 gr cast bullet with 3.8gr of tite group. 1) you want to use enough powder to bump the base of the bullet to seal in the barrel or you will get leading. 2) velocity equals accuracy. 3) shooting steel you want to use a 124gr bullet so you have enough poop to knock down reactive steel targets i.e. plate racks and poppers. I shoot Tuesday night steel at Rio Salado gun club in Mesa Az and we have a very competitive organization that is nationally ranked. We have the best shooters in the world here and they have helped me be competitive with these loads. So let power help you be the best you can be and its true 9mm is light on the recoil and cheap to shoot.[:D][8D][;)].

woodchuckjohn

Good reports, thank you. I have some loads made up with titegroup powder. I also like the clean burning 231 which also meters well and consistantly.



The type of steel plate shooting we do is five targets spaced randomly 16 to 35 yards away, requirement is to hit not knock over and time is the criteria. I knew I'd get some good input from this group. Thanks again.