I was nosing around over at Brownells for some gun parts, and checked on ammo while I was there. The situation was about what you'd expect; it looked like an Iowa cornfield after the locust swarm passed.
They were all out of Winchester White Box in handgun calibers... except for 9x23 Winchester. (Yes, I immediately went looking to see if they had any ramped 9x23 Commander barrels in stock.)
I can't even got a box of .32 Long for Pete's sake!
ReplyDeleteThe only thing they had in stock at the local store at 10:00 was 454Casull. They had 1600 pounds of powder on order and received 40 today.
ReplyDeleteGerry
I still think you need a 7.62x45 upper. You'll need to widen the ejection port a bit.
ReplyDeleteAround my AO (Central AL) if I were limited to store bought ammo it seems.22-250 would be the way to go. Everyone has plenty of that in stock.
ReplyDelete9x23mm seems to be the way to go for pin shooting around here. Basically a non-semi-rimmed .38 Super, loaded a bit hotter than most .38 Super loads I've seen.
ReplyDeleteYou also get to shoot any old Spanish military ammo that turns up cheap, as it's identical in case dimensions to the Dago stuff, although the Spanish military ball is loaded a lot milder.
As soon as Clymer gets me the reamer, I'm putting one in a 1911 for Rodney Wells. I'd be a tad wary of shooting it in a Commander, if only from fear of the fireball at the muzzle.
Generally, the shorter I go in a barrel, the bigger I try to go in the bore, to get at least some expansion ratio and cut down on the pyrotechnics.
Still ticked at Glock for coming out with the GAP. I wanted to make a Walther PP sized straight blowback in a short .45 with a 185 moving at about 680-700 FPS.
Still, people shoot 9x19's in 3 inch guns (ouch!) so a 4 inch 9x23 shouldn't be any scarier. but that's a lot of unburned powder meeting atmosphere at the muzzle.
I thought we were supposed to own guns in common calibers because, as we all know, the common calibers are more widely unavailable. -- Lyle
ReplyDelete"the common calibers are more widely unavailable. -- Lyle"
ReplyDelete...and that's the internet for today, kids! :D
I own rifles in a variety of semi-oddball calibers, simply because ammo and rifles were cheap and available awhile back - of particular interest are cheap Mosin-Nagants and the requisite 7.62x54R - I have cases of that stuff. Figured if TSHTF I can always dole it out to neighbors and friends. Makaraov and Tokarev ammo used to be plentiful too, not sure about that now.
ReplyDeleteEd, you want to talk fireball you should try full-house .357 Mag out of my SP-101 snubby.
ReplyDeleteScott J,
ReplyDelete"Ed, you want to talk fireball you should try full-house .357 Mag out of my SP-101 snubby."
My 3" 629 mocks your puny SP101! ;)
"My 3" 629 mocks your puny SP101! ;)"
ReplyDelete*hangs head in shame*
I has a sad because I've yet to accomplish my "buy a .44 while I'm 44" mission and the clock runs out on that October 6th.
I have a 6.5" 629 Classic. I want a 4" 29 or 629 so I can load some cast 240s over Trail Boss and still make SSR power factor. Just because I can :-)
Ooh, an Officer's ACP in 9x23! Wonder how many pound recoil spring that would need?
ReplyDeleteI do need 9x23 brass, but just for a M1912 Steyr-Hahn in 9mm Steyr...)
The "logic" behind my 3" round butt 629: if I don't kill the bear, at least his ass is gonna be on fire.
ReplyDeleteroland said...
ReplyDelete"The "logic" behind my 3" round butt 629: if I don't kill the bear, at least his ass is gonna be on fire."
Blind him so you can run.
Hi Tam,
ReplyDeleteI would love to help increase your female readership.
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Tonya
Fireballs are fun. My home defense gun at night when I am sleeping is a Keltec PLR 16 on the bureau. It is surprisingly accurate and the fireball coming out of that short barrel with a full up .223 64 grain soft point round is quite a sight. Oh, and 30 round P-mags work like a charm.
ReplyDeleteEdC
My handloaded 158gr .357 mags out of a 4" 686 throws a cylinder gap flash that makes you think.
ReplyDeleteCommon calibers ain't so common!
ReplyDelete9mm, gone. .45 gone. .40 S&W is still available in almost every store. Why is the cops ammo, supposedly the most common semi-auto caliber after 9mm, still around?
Lots of .44 mag, .357 mag, .454 Casull, .460, and .500 Mag still around too!
Glad I didn't fall for the 9mm meme!
We are getting stuff in, the backorders just eat it up. There were 3 pallets of the 500 round + an ammo box (9mm) back there this A.M.. If you want ammo, get on the list, it will show up eventually. If you wait until we're actually back to an in-stock basis you could be waiting until after the president uses logic as the basis for a decision.
ReplyDeleteWalMart here has a whole bunch of .270 - what, was that never popular?
ReplyDeleteOn-line Graf's is bare too - but my other local shop has powder AND ball. What's a good recipe for .45ACP with 230-gr. JHP's?
NotClauswitz, I run standard Winchester large pistol primers and 6.5 grains of Unique. Also, the Lyman 225 grain cast hard from linotype with a half grain less powder goes nice.
ReplyDeleteIf we're doing something swinging on the subject of fireballs, I have a shot of my friend Ed Sedgewick at just about legal sundown firing a bitty little 8x56mm Mannlicher straight pull carbine with maybe a 16 and a skinch inch barrel, using the original 240 something roundball ammo.
I think they used kapok for powder in those days. The flippin' fireball is longer than the barrel.
NotClauswitz,I run the RCBS 230gr round nose cast, tumble lubed and sized .425 over 5gr HP-38 with a Winchester or CCI primer.
ReplyDeleteAverages 800fps out of my 1911s. I run it in IDPA.
Only downside is it's a bit dirty. After 500 rounds the inside of the action looks like the La Brea tar pit.
Uh, that's sized .452. Dang fat fingers.
DeleteThankyou-Thankyou Ed and Scott J - I don't know nuthin' about loading for pistolero and was looking around at powders!
ReplyDelete