I chrono’d some 22 ammunition in two guns today. Specifically, I wanted to understand why one gun likes CCI Standard Velocity but jams on Federal Gold Medal Match 711B, and the second gun does the opposite.

My usual quota is 300 rounds in an evening, but starting about 2:00PM today and with two television breaks and another for dinner, I finished 1,000 rounds about 7:00PM. That includes:

If you reload 45 ACP for automatics (but not necessarily for revolvers), you need one of Bruce Martindale’s gauges.

Primers and powder need to be stored in their original containers, but locked well away from grasping and naive hands. If you have the space and a place to get them from, many reloaders use lockers harvested from a local school. These are about a foot wide and five feet tall, and can be had as singles, pairs and so forth up to just about any width you might want. Each “locker” can be padlocked – and MasterLocks, probably among others, sells them in pairs set to a common key. (Try WalMart, for example.)

Step 1: Check the local laws for where you are going and make sure you are 100% in compliance.

When we do anything dangerous such as shooting guns, reloading ammunition or jumping out of airplanes, it is very helpful to have *several* overlapping things that, any one of which, will prevent or catch an otherwise fatal mistake. For example, the NRA has three safety rules for shooting, each one of which will keep you from shooting yourself or anyone around you. Indeed, to hurt someone, you have to fail at all three rules simultaneously.

I sent 1,000 empty pieces of 45 ACP brass to Neil at NSK Sales along with a check for $155.35 to reload them as “wad” (Bullseye) ammunition. My total cost per round will be at $0.16 per round after adding in the postage for the empty brass. (The check consisted of $121.25 for the reloads and $34.10 for the return shipping.) The cheapest ammunition I had been able to find is the 100 round white box of Remington from Walmart and, at $19.95 (plus tax), that ammunition works out to be $0.22 per round. Neil’s reloads are seven cents a round cheaper.

Background

I tried a wide variety of 22LR ammunition when I first purchased my Smith & Wesson Model 41. Some ammunition worked reliably for hundreds of rounds whereas others suffered stove-pipes, jams, feeding problems, and misfires.