Evaluating pistol reloads

[MAshooter1]

Gents,

Is it common practice to shoot ~15 yards off a bench and bags to evaluate the accuracy of pistol reloads? I'm by no means a world-class pistol marksman (goal for 2016) but I have a recipe that cycles my M&P9 well (5.0gr Unique over a 115gr Berry's/Rainier plated RN); just wondering if there's a common practice out there to evaluate how well different powder charges affect accuracy.

Thanks!

 

[Gammon]

I test my reloads for accuracy at 25 yds minimum.

 

[highscore]

Depends on what you are going to do with them. 7 yards is a common distance and if you can get a really small group (like touching together), it will probably do anything you want them to do. Shooting at the plate at my club at 100 yards is fun and you get a lot of WTF looks when your doing it (I've hit it 6 shots in a row), but I know that my 9 (and yours) isn't a target gun.

 

[NavelOfficer]

Bear in mind that reloads, even factory ammo, with different charges/bullet weights may have different points of impact. You may find each load groups well, but one load might be a few inches higher or lower than the other. If you end up with one pet load and have adjusted your sights for that, you won't have any variations to speak of.
Unless you have specific power factors or velocities to achieve, any load that functions your firearm reliably and that you find pleasing to shoot should do the trick.

 

[xtry51]

I bench my pistol loads at 25 and 50 yards. 10 rds each.

I wouldn't use less than 25 yards. If you can't group at 25 yards from a bench, well there's zero reason to be testing loads because it won't matter.

 

[MAshooter1]

Depends on what you are going to do with them. 7 yards is a common distance and if you can get a really small group (like touching together), it will probably do anything you want them to do. Shooting at the plate at my club at 100 yards is fun and you get a lot of WTF looks when your doing it (I've hit it 6 shots in a row), but I know that my 9 (and yours) isn't a target gun.

Right. I guess my goal is to develop a load that's accurate for my gun. 5.0gr functioned right the first time out of the gate, so I guess I stuck with it. I can't make the claim, however, that it's the most accurate load without testing others, which leads me to the question aforementioned.

Bear in mind that reloads, even factory ammo, with different charges/bullet weights may have different points of impact. You may find each load groups well, but one load might be a few inches higher or lower than the other. If you end up with one pet load and have adjusted your sights for that, you won't have any variations to speak of.
Unless you have specific power factors or velocities to achieve, any load that functions your firearm reliably and that you find pleasing to shoot should do the trick.

In terms of 3-gun, I guess I'm going for the most accurate load I can get. It's not like Unique is a terribly expensive powder to run, and I'm not discounting using other powders, as I might move again depending on what's available (CFE pistol seems to be fairly popular nowadays). I guess I'm looking for a methodology in terms of how to evaluate a certain ladder or branch of reloads for accuracy.

I bench my pistol loads at 25 and 50 yards. 10 rds each.

I wouldn't use less than 25 yards. If you can't group at 25 yards from a bench, well there's zero reason to be testing loads because it won't matter.

For 3-gun, I could potentially see 15-25 yard shots although it seems like a rarity. If that seems to be the basis on when different loads spread out, maybe I should be shooting that far.