Home Forums Reloading Shotshells Cause for inconsistent shots?

I need some help! After shooting both my reloads and factory loads I found that my reloads (38sp, 9mm & 45) fired inconsistently when compared to factory loads.

I use the same powder, same primers, same bullets (caliber specific), same dies, loader, etc. The only thing that may differ is the individual crimps (done manually due to various cartridge lengths). Any idea what my problem may be? Any help would be appreciated.

Actually, you're in the shotshell forum. You should be in the handgun forum. However, that's never bothered us in the past, so no use worrying about it now. What do you mean by inconsistancy, accuracy, velocity, are you getting hangfires, what? Do you mean your loads are inconsistant, shot to shot, or that they just feel different compared to factory loads. Crimps can make a difference, but not a big difference, in my experience, and that can be fixed just by trimming them all to the same length.

Sorry for being in the wrong area; will correct that next time. By inconsistency I mean accuracy; a wide dispersal of holes in the target. They tend to be a wid pattern with my reloads vs a close/tighter pattern with the factory loads. I don't notice any recoil difference in any of my reloads. Can a difference in crimp cause this?

In my experience, the biggest factor in handgun acuracy, as far as handloads go is bullet concentricity. Same thing holds for rifles, but seems even more important in pistols. I'd trim the cases all to the same length, for more consistant crimp, it'll help. More important though is starting the bullet straight in the case. The Lyman M die helps. It's an expander die, that gives the case a sort of seat to start a bullet straight. A Redding Competition Seating Die will help too. M dies are fairly cheap, but the Redding die is a little steep, so I'd start with the M die. Now I'm just telling you what has worked for me, some of the other fellows may have different ideas, and they are of course welcome. It'll take some experimentation. Pistols can be fenicky. Most of my time has been spent on 45ACP so let's start with that. No matter what bullet I have used, Unique has always been the most accurate powder for me in the ACP. My gun likes 185 gr. Sierra, or Nosler JHP. My friend's gun likes my cast 200 gr SWC, which my gun never would shoot. Mine does well with 230gr cast RN, but not those 200 gr. jobs. I have rejected brutally while casting, tried heat treating, sorted by weight, everything I could think of, still wont shoot 200's. Maby it's the BarSto barrel. Hope this helps. Let us know how it turns out.

Bill -- Uniformity in handgun ammo is probably even more important than in rifle ammo. Seating as straight as possible -- absolutely. Expanding the case and belling the case mouth properly is critical to seating straight. Bell just enough to allow the bullet to start uncanted into the case and see if that improves things.

Having a consistent bullet pull is another factor, and I don't see how you can have a consistent bullet pull with different length cases. Most three-die handgun sets work well, but I've found it is better to crimp in an operation separate from seating.

The primer can also have a good or bad effect on the accuracy of your handgun ammo -- even more so than with most rifle cartridges. If you are using a fairly hot primer like the Win LP (standard and magnum loads), try a somewhat milder primer like the standard Federal 150. If you are using a magnum primer in your 38 and 9mm, try a standard SP primer.

These are just a couple of suggestions which, by necessity, are generic and may not help much, but I doubt if they will hurt.