Free pistol advice

[markwarren]

Hi,

Probably opening myself open to all sorts of ridicule but here goes anyway.

I am just getting in to free pistol and thought about training using SK Pistol ammunition but then shoot matches using Eley Match Pistol. The cost of the Eley could turn out to be prohibitive (I have 2 kids who also shoot!!).

Do I just stick to the SK which is nearly half the price of the Eley.

As I said, I'm just starting out so my scores probably don't warrant the Eley yet.

Cheers

Mark

[Rover]

Nah, just go with cheap CCI Standard Velocity. Your scores won't change a bit, except that you won't cringe at the price when your gun goes "Bang!"

[markwarren]

Thanks for the reply Rover.

I have to say I have noticed the pistol specific ammunition give less recoil and my groups are tighter. The prices in the UK are as follows:

CCI Standard £72.00/1000
SK Pistol £82.00/1000
Eley Match Pistol £140.00/1000

So probably the pistol specific SK is the way to go.

All the best

Mark

[gwsb]

Mark I am a rifle shooter but I have to say we all open ourselves to ridicule every time we step on a range, no matter what the skill level. Also in a rifle I would stay away from CCI and stick with cheap Eley or SK.

[micken]

Hi Mark, I was shooting some CCI through a friend's semi-auto rifle the other week. Grouping was generally OK but got a flier that surprised me. I've got some SK but not tried it yet, will let you know my thoughts.

By the way if you want to shoot tighter groups you need your K22 back, it's shooting well with Eley Club ;-)

Cheers,

Mick

[rmca]

Hi Mark

If you are just starting free pistol, it won't make any difference what kind of ammo you use.
Even if it's cheap ammo, it will still hold the ten ring, and unless you can group below 2 inches, any bad shots aren't the ammo's fault! ;)

As you progress, you can try different types of ammo to see what suits you and your gun better.
As always, barrels have their prefered type of ammo, and you'll need a good vice to find out what ammo it is.
As to recoil, chose a type of ammo that allows you to do a proper follow thru.

It doesn't make any sense to worry about a certain group size being a bit larger than another when you are still shooting 7´s or worst.

Stick with the cheap stuff for now, and as you improve (540+/600) move on to more expensive stuff.

Hope this helps

[David M]

A cheap ammo that works well in the longer Free pistol barrels is the RWS Rifle match.
Unless you are shooting World Cups etc. don't bother with the top ammo's.
Ammo cost is no guide to performance.

[conradin]

Respectively disagree with not buying high grade ammo....for free pistol only.

If you do plan to do a huge amount of dry fire as compare to live fire, then it is not a big deal to purchase high grade ammo.

I always use high grade not because of performance, but because I want to minimize the chance of a cheap round ruining a high dollar pistol. Free pistols are expensive no matter how you look.

[william]

Respectively disagree with not buying high grade ammo....for free pistol only.

If you do plan to do a huge amount of dry fire as compare to live fire, then it is not a big deal to purchase high grade ammo.

I always use high grade not because of performance, but because I want to minimize the chance of a cheap round ruining a high dollar pistol. Free pistols are expensive no matter how you look.

Please explain how inexpensive ammunition can "ruin" a good pistol. Assuming you're not talking about garbage high-velocity promotional ammo (which the OP's choice of SK clearly isn't), I can't imagine how it's possible. I've launched 10s of thousands of CCI standard velocity rounds through several Pardini SPs without so much as a bobble.

Lower cost per round = more practice. That's more important, doncha think?

[jbshooter]

Spend your money and spare time on getting the grip and point right before you launch into expensive ammo.

[gwsb]

Way off topic Mark but I thought they had taken away all your pistols in UK.

[conradin]

Respectively disagree with not buying high grade ammo....for free pistol only.

If you do plan to do a huge amount of dry fire as compare to live fire, then it is not a big deal to purchase high grade ammo.

I always use high grade not because of performance, but because I want to minimize the chance of a cheap round ruining a high dollar pistol. Free pistols are expensive no matter how you look.

Please explain how inexpensive ammunition can "ruin" a good pistol. Assuming you're not talking about garbage high-velocity promotional ammo (which the OP's choice of SK clearly isn't), I can't imagine how it's possible. I've launched 10s of thousands of CCI standard velocity rounds through several Pardini SPs without so much as a bobble.

Lower cost per round = more practice. That's more important, doncha think?

How about Winchester 555 for $32?
Remington Thunderbolt $3?

I use CCI sv for my semi-auto. It is a totally different topic.

This is about FP. Dry fire Dry fire Dry fire. Even a newbie shooter like me knows that. Plus using AP to also train as a substitution. So actual live rounds used for FP, at least for myself, are not that much. So I can afford to feed them Lapua or Eley. Finally it is up to the pistol itself whether it can take a particular brand model in the first place. I remember when I still used the Buehag Zentrum 2 it was happier with something that was not as powerful. It is the most accurate FP that I have ever owned. CCI SV is her favorite.

[Ulrich Eichstädt]

How about Winchester 555 for $32?
Remington Thunderbolt $3?

You're really talking about ammo for FP and not semi-auto rifles?? Some here seem to see no difference between those two kind of guns...

Of course money is the key for more shots and therefore more training success. Which leads to more success in a match. But with Free Pistol a similar important point is to watch the sights during and short after the shot. And if the recoil lets the pistol jump too high you will not exactly see what happens after the shot. And worse, you will tend to grip tighter to fight/counter the recoil. Which is bad for FP. So the SK is an excellent, not so hard recoilling training ammo, and you will soon see, how the groups are placed on the target in comparison to your Eley match-ammo (if they differ at all). And then you simply click the difference before a match and do the fine-tuning within the sighters.

[David M]

Respectively disagree with not buying high grade ammo....for free pistol only.

If you do plan to do a huge amount of dry fire as compare to live fire, then it is not a big deal to purchase high grade ammo.

I always use high grade not because of performance, but because I want to minimize the chance of a cheap round ruining a high dollar pistol. Free pistols are expensive no matter how you look.

All you are doing is just wasting money, but I fear it could take you over twenty to thirty years of shooting Free pistol to realize that fact.
In group testing leading up to major comps, some of the cheapest ammo's gave some of the best groups.
Even with cheap ammo it still took over twenty years to wear out my first free pistol barrel enough to retire it from major comps.

[Tim S]

Way off topic Mark but I thought they had taken away all your pistols in UK.

Mostly; since the Firearms (Amendemtnt) Act 1997 any breech-loading firearm with a bore of .22in or greater, with a barrel of under 12in and a total length oif under 24in is requires a section 5 license. Before this pistols were Section1, this meant the license was issued by the local police force; section 5 requires the permission of the Home Secretary.

Some enterprising folks have manufactured pistols that meet the required dimensions for Section 1 by using long barrels, and non-removeable extension rods at the back.

Low power air pistols, and muzzle loading pistols are not covered. Some historic breechloaders are allowed on a special certificate. Oh and the act doesn't apply to Northern Ireland, and the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands (the later being British, but having their own judicial system).


Oh speaking as a rifle shooter, I wouldn't mix Eley and SK, without giving the barrel a clean first. The bullet wax isn't the same, so go to a competition and you may find the Eley takes a number of shots to settle down as it displaces the SK wax in the bore.

[markwarren]

Way off topic Mark but I thought they had taken away all your pistols in UK.

Hi gwsb,

They have indeed taken away pistols here in the UK but when this happened the manufacturers designed a pistol that falls within the current UK laws. The law states that a Section 1 firearm must have a barrel length of at least 300mm and an overall length of 600mm - so the 'long arm' or 'long barrel' pistol was born. Here is a picture of one the Morini CM84E

We can also still shoot muzzle loading pistols.

All the best

Mark

[markwarren]

Thanks for all of the replies guys, much appreciated.

I am going to give the SK Pistol ammo a go and see what the recoil is like on that. If it's the same or near enough as Eley, that's the way I'll be going. Hopefully, one day I will need to go on to the Eley :)

All the best and good shooting

Mark

[markwarren]

Hi Mark, I was shooting some CCI through a friend's semi-auto rifle the other week. Grouping was generally OK but got a flier that surprised me. I've got some SK but not tried it yet, will let you know my thoughts.

By the way if you want to shoot tighter groups you need your K22 back, it's shooting well with Eley Club ;-)

Cheers,

Mick

Hi Mick,

I think you can safely put that down the shooter not the gun :) - glad it's going well for you.

The issue I told you about regarding using these at our club is making good progress so fingers crossed

Cheers

Mark

[Rover]

So you decided after this whole thread to do what you had already planned to do?

What about Norma Tach and Fiocchi SV...you should be able to get those in Europe since they're made there. Eley Club would be good, too.

[markwarren]

So you decided after this whole thread to do what you had already planned to do?

What about Norma Tach and Fiocchi SV...you should be able to get those in Europe since they're made there. Eley Club would be good, too.

Not quite Rover. If you took time to read the OP properly there is a question of "Do I ..." not "I am going to do .."

So I have actually based my decision on the information given in the replies to my original question and not my original statement which is what you seem to be implying.

Haven't seen Nova Tach in the UK. I have seen Fiocchi but not pistol specific so the recoil may still be higher than the pistol specific ammunition.

All the best

Mark