Best powder/boolit combinations for accuracy

[GL49]

I wish I was capable of the accuracy you are able to achieve with handguns. I do the best I can with what I have. My poor eyesight and shaky hold simply do not allow me to shoot 4 inch groups or smaller with a handgun at 25 yards, even when using a rest. I don't have a Ransom rest available to use for testing.
I have seen others do it with my handguns and ammo. I am not capable.

A lot depends on your definition of good accuracy.
In this thread I am talking about handgun accuracy. With a rifle, I can hold steady enough to shoot 1/2 MOA or better at 200 yards from a bench and expect to do so any time the wind isn't blowing a gale. I custom load ammunition for those rifles to get the best out of them. That hasn't been difficult or expensive to do.
Handguns are a whole different world for me. I have been forced to learn my limitations and live with them. I could test loads from now until I die and still not be able to shoot the groups you describe.
The loads I described work well for me in my handguns. That is all I will ask of them from now on.

About that arrow reference. I used to be a state champion level archer. I could shoot significantly smaller groups with my bow and arrows than I could with any handgun or offhand with a rifle. Just something about that clicked for me.

I gotta agree, most of the time loads are loads with handguns at short ranges, it isn't worth the effort. I had to grin when you mentioned the bow and arrow part.
A few years back a fellow I worked with was shooting every weekend at the gun club in whatever competition was going on with handguns. Did it for years, revolvers and semi-auto. Thought he was pretty good. One day he got a little mouthy with one of the bowhunters at the job.
Do not....never....shoot against a skilled archer at ping-pong balls at 20 yards. You're gonna lose. Watched and grinned while Mel got his come-uppance. His excuse was the "pressure wave ahead of the boolit" was pushing the ping-pong balls out of the way. That story worked until we taped them down instead of hanging them from a string.

[Bigslug]

I agree that for most of us, pistols aren't worth a lot of work. They are, however, worth a little.

It really isn't that hard if you have a chronograph, and you really don't even need a target.

A few ten shot strings of a few different powder charges will tell you where the tight extreme spreads and low standard deviations are for a given propellant. A real competition shooter may need further testing on paper, but a milk jug at 100 yards will not.

My Dad & I differ in outlook, but have found some common ground on this. Before he retired, his last assignment was heavy on statistical analysis and process improvement, and as such he tends to go deeper down these accuracy-quest rabbit holes. I'm more about purpose, and while I'll chase a half-minute rifle load for 600 yard matches, I see no reason to do so for making a deer die inside of 200 yards. That said, if I can get a half-minute deer rifle without a lot of work, I'll certainly take it. The above loading process (a little less stringent than we do for rifles) is fairly simple, a one-time R&D deal for any powder and bullet combo, and reliably gives good product that "exceeds the need" for any recreational, screwing around pistol work.

I figure it's worth that little bit of initial effort because someday you might put that handgun load into a carbine and quadruple the distance, get invited to a match you want to lose gracefully in, or find yourself sharing ammo with someone who's better than you are. Once you've figured out where "pretty darn good" is, the amount of effort needed to mass produce it on the Dillon afterwards is the same.

I agree totally that working across half a dozen different powder types isn't necessary for pistol play. I'll reject one if the results suck, but like you say, if you stick with the flavors offered in the manuals, it shouldn't take more than a couple.

[Forrest r]

Looks like I'm the opposite of most posters in this thread. It's caveman simple to do a little ladder testing with different "known" bullet/powder combo's that have proven accuracy.

Bullseye and 180gr to 200gr cast/lead swc's in the 45acps has been used for decades by bullseye shooters. I guess I could of just stuffed 5000/6000 cases with 4.0gr of bullseye and slapped h&g #68 swc's on top and called it good. Instead, I took 10 minutes out of my busy day and made up 10 rounds of 3.6gr/3.8gr/4.0gr of bullseye and that 200gr h&g #68 bullet. Took another +/- 15 minutes at the range to run the test loads. Turned out the 3.8gr load was the best, I guess results like these are worth 25 minutes of my time along with 20 extra bullets and 70+gr's of powder.
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Used to burn a lot of clays and 180gr/200gr cast bullets myself and others found that 4.0gr to 4.3gr of clays was a decent gp +/- 850fps load for the 1911/45acp's. Same 1911/45acp used for the target above testing 2 different clays loads with 3 different bullets. Could of just picked 1 load and called it good. But I decided to take +/- 15 minutes out of my busy day to make 4.0gr and 4.3gr test loads using 3 different bullets. Glad I took the time to do the 2 different test loads. 5-shot groups @ 50ft along with a 1 handed (nra bullseye/standing 5 shots in 25/30 seconds) 5-shot group on the 4.3gr target.
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Same with bullseye in the 38spl cases, 3.5gr and most 150gr/160gr lead bullets are known as accurate loads. A lot of people don't use international clays but the same 3.5gr load is extremely accurate. 148gr wc's loaded long take more powder. So I did test loads with 3.3gr and 3.5gr of both bullseye and international clays using a 158gr fn bullet. And used 3.5gr and 3.8gr of bullseye and a H&G #50 148gr wc seated long for test loads. Ya it took an extra +/- 20 minutes and burned 18 bullets and +/- 20gr of powder to do the test loads. Can't forget the extra 10 minutes to do the test loads. Could of simply said 3.5gr of any powder and both bullets is good enough. But I'd rather find out what truly is good enough.
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Clays and the 44mags, for some odd reason 6.0gr or 6.5gr of clays and 180gr to 250gr bullets. Simple enough to save powder and just go with 6.0gr and any bullet. But I'd rather take the time to make up 6 test loads using 6.0gr and 6 test loads using 6.5gr. While I wasted time setting the powder throw up for 6.0gr might as well stomp 4 or 5 different bullets on top of it for test loads. Same thing with the 6.5gr load. It's only a 50/50 chance but I'd rather waste 1/2 hour making and testing the loads to find out. Playing around on the 25yd line/6-shot groups.
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5.5gr to 6.0gr of bullseye in the 357mag cases and 150gr/160gr bullets are another combo that's known for its accuracy. Ya took the time to make up 24 of each 5.5gr/6.0gr loads using 2 different 158gr cast fn hp's. Did testing @ 25yds then moved out to 50yds and did 6-shot test groups. Turns out both load/bullet combo is good enough for general plinking (all 4 loads did 2" to 2 3/16" outside to outside measurement groups @ 50yds).
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Do I make up 50 test loads using .1gr increments when making test loads??? Of course not!!! But it never hurts to make 2 or 3 different test loads and after the initial testing make up 100/200 more of the best load and really see what's going on.

As far as not being able to shoot accurately/hold tight groups. It all starts with the ammo and accurate loads. If you don't have an accurate load you'll never know if you pushed/pulled/flinched/etc.

Myself I started shooting pistols when I was 9 using a ruger mkI. At age 10 1911/45acps & revolvers like the colt trooper and model 14's were shot weekly. Heck I never touched a rifle until I was 13/14? and that rifle was a Belgium assault rifle chambered in 30-36. My eyes are gone and I'm starting to get arthritis in my hands but I can still hold 2" 10-shot groups @ 50ft.

Anyway it's a good thing to have an accurate load to begin with. What you do with it is another thing. Heck when I was playing around with the 5 extra 4.3gr/200gr bullet combo and shot that 5-shot sting @ 50ft rapid fire. I pushed 1 shot pulled another shot and 3 shots looked just like the bench rested test load. If that load wasn't accurate I'd of never known if I pushed or pulled anything.