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Re: Free pistol match ammo
Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2015 6:16 pm
by spektr
Watching the FP contests on You Tube shows an interesting trend in FP ammo choices by top shooters. I didnt see anyone shooting anything besides Tenex.....
Being an Engineer of modest means, I went down the bunny trail of doing ammo testing, like many here have. After many pointless sessions, I have decided that virtually ANYTHING I shoot out of my FP's outperforms me. I will not shoot common craap ammo thru my guns because I honestly think its a disgrace to shoot golden bullets thru a target weapon. So if it is decent stuff and available, shoot it. My bottom feeder ammo is CCI std velocity.
Re: Free pistol match ammo
Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2015 9:14 pm
by Rover
"My bottom feeder ammo is CCI std velocity."
Just slummin', eh?
Re: Free pistol match ammo
Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 12:00 pm
by Mike M.
When I got my Toz-35 from Don Nygord, he recommended RWS Target - and specifically said that the highest-grade ammunition was a waste in a target pistol.
On the other hand, when your national federation or Eley themselves give you a case of Tenex....no sense in plinking with it.
Re: Free pistol match ammo
Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 7:19 pm
by flolo
one thing to keep in mind about pistol-specific ammo: they're all designed to cycle a semi-auto, so there's most of the time a harder kick compared to rifle ammo.(and this means even on the rws sr). on the other hand, rifle ammo may be too slow, as i learnt the hard way by testing & getting some really good grouping eley team (9x11mm on 10 shots at 50m), with which i never got decent scores... my best scores were shot with eley sport(european, not mexican) and federal gold medal, and for training it's always the cheap std-velocity stuff like cci or sk. as there's no free-pistol specific ammo anymore, i think we should see it as a small rifle...
oh, and seeing the little red box on the shooting line doesnt neccessarily give you a clue about its contents... ;-)
Re: Free pistol match ammo
Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2015 2:15 am
by Muffo
Westporter wrote:Thanks for everyone's comments. I have shot pistol, rifle and shotgun all my life, but am new to the free pistol game, although with no intentions of becoming an Olympic contender. This is strictly for fun and personal challenge. I am fortunate to belong to a local club that has ideal facilities for both indoor and outdoor pistol shooting, albeit not strictly free pistol. The reason for my original post was curiosity for what people were typically shooting. I will say this, that based on 50+ years of experience, the right ammunition does matter. For example, that is why serious big bore rifle shooters load there own and work up a load for a particular rifle. Granted, that is not possible for .22LR, but even if one can't shoot a 550 as one respondent suggested, and I doubt many out there can, it still pays to try eliminate all the variables possible. Consequently, I have ordered from my local shop a selection of match ammo from various makers and intend to test using a rest, though not an actual vice. I will post my results in the future. Again, thanks for all your responses.
I would say the right ammo physically doesnt matter a damn if you are shooting under 550. Not one tiny little bit. Mentally it may have some baring but physically it doesnt. Comparing it to big bore or any rifle event for that matter is completely irrelevant. I also shoot smallbore fullbore service rifle air pistol and free pistol. With a rifle the ammo is crucial. With a free pistol it doesnt change anything. I shoot around 520 and have a pb of 546 which was a one off. My 546 was shot with 2 dollar a. Federal. I have shot 510 with tenex. It makes no difference. Unless you can hold the 10 ring for every good shot and when you make a mistake its still a good 9 it doesnt matter whether the ammo will shoot a 6mm group or a 15mm group