xxclaro
05-09-2009, 01:39 AM
I finally went out to the range today with my Norinco 1911 and 213. This was my first time shooting my own cast bullets. I loaded up both sized and unsized bullets for both guns,to see which shot best. I ran into some trouble loading for the 9mm,ass it seems my belling die only bells one side of the case. This resulted in some rather odd ammo,with some rather crooked ammo being loaded. I finally ended up turning the case 180 degree's and running it into the die again. This resulted in good,straight ammo.
I started off with the 9mm at 25 yards,shooting the unsized,crooked ammo. Accuracy was terrible,with only 2 rounds hitting the 8x11 target. Now in all fairness,I'm a rather abysmal pistol shot, so I wasn't sure if it was me,the gun or the ammo. I was shooting from the bench,with my hands rested on my pistol case. I loaded up some of the good ammo,and tried again. The tiny military sights are rather difficult to use,particularily since I'm cross-domininant,and have to close my left eye. Still, the group was better than I've ever managed before,with most bullets landing inside about 4 inches.
I loaded up some unsized .45,and again shot from the bench at 25 yards. This group too was about 5 inches. I tried some sized bullets,and shot another group of about 4". Some shots landed outside the group, but I knew they would,as my trigger control leaves something to be desired,and I was able to tell which shots would be wide.
I decided to try some offhand shooting at 10 yds,and was able to keep the groups of 14 rounds mostly within 2 inches, with some going almost into the same hole. I moved back to 25 yards, and shot offhand,leaning on the bench. I was able to again keep most rounds within 4-5 inches with both guns.
I had brought a railroad tie plate of about 8x10 with me,and was able to hit at about 80% from the 25yd line.
All in all,the shooting itself is less than inpressive,but I know now that the guns will definitely shoot,and the bullets too,so I'm very pleased. I will be sending the 1911 to the gunsmith for some trigger work and general smoothing,so hopefully I'll be able to do better. The 213,I'm afraid, is stuck with it's rather poor trigger and sights. For the $99 I paid for it, I'm okay with that.
Upon cleaning the guns, I was happy to find the 1911 showed no signs of leading at all,and the 9mm just a little,and it came out okay. The bullets are 200gr flat point and 125gr round nose, cast form WW and water dropped. Both were shot with just under 5gr of Unique. Pretty mild for the .45, but it's nice to be able to leave the powder measure set.
I'd like to thank all the fine gentlemen here who helped me learn to cast,and figure out the issue with the short OAL needed for this gun. I even shot some of the 185gr GDHP over 8gr of Unique,which had to be set to 1.15 OAl, and they shot fine,though definitely more pop than the cast.
I started off with the 9mm at 25 yards,shooting the unsized,crooked ammo. Accuracy was terrible,with only 2 rounds hitting the 8x11 target. Now in all fairness,I'm a rather abysmal pistol shot, so I wasn't sure if it was me,the gun or the ammo. I was shooting from the bench,with my hands rested on my pistol case. I loaded up some of the good ammo,and tried again. The tiny military sights are rather difficult to use,particularily since I'm cross-domininant,and have to close my left eye. Still, the group was better than I've ever managed before,with most bullets landing inside about 4 inches.
I loaded up some unsized .45,and again shot from the bench at 25 yards. This group too was about 5 inches. I tried some sized bullets,and shot another group of about 4". Some shots landed outside the group, but I knew they would,as my trigger control leaves something to be desired,and I was able to tell which shots would be wide.
I decided to try some offhand shooting at 10 yds,and was able to keep the groups of 14 rounds mostly within 2 inches, with some going almost into the same hole. I moved back to 25 yards, and shot offhand,leaning on the bench. I was able to again keep most rounds within 4-5 inches with both guns.
I had brought a railroad tie plate of about 8x10 with me,and was able to hit at about 80% from the 25yd line.
All in all,the shooting itself is less than inpressive,but I know now that the guns will definitely shoot,and the bullets too,so I'm very pleased. I will be sending the 1911 to the gunsmith for some trigger work and general smoothing,so hopefully I'll be able to do better. The 213,I'm afraid, is stuck with it's rather poor trigger and sights. For the $99 I paid for it, I'm okay with that.
Upon cleaning the guns, I was happy to find the 1911 showed no signs of leading at all,and the 9mm just a little,and it came out okay. The bullets are 200gr flat point and 125gr round nose, cast form WW and water dropped. Both were shot with just under 5gr of Unique. Pretty mild for the .45, but it's nice to be able to leave the powder measure set.
I'd like to thank all the fine gentlemen here who helped me learn to cast,and figure out the issue with the short OAL needed for this gun. I even shot some of the 185gr GDHP over 8gr of Unique,which had to be set to 1.15 OAl, and they shot fine,though definitely more pop than the cast.