Best Ammo for Bull Shadow

[harpercz]

Trying different types of ammo for my various CZs. The Ammo that shoots well in my SP-01 Custom Shadow Orange at 25 yrds does not group very well for my 75 Bull Shadow. I am shooting off hand at 25 yards and getting 2" groups ( or better) with the SP-01. The Bull Shadow with same ammo is more like 4-5". I have tried handloads (124gr w/N320), Federal USPSA Match Ammo( 125 and 150), and Lawman 124gr. The Lawman is what my Shadow Orange likes the best followed by the Federal 150gr. The Bull Shadow shoots all of the above very well at 10-15 yrds but the longer yardage is not so great. There must be something out there that the BullShadow likes to eat.

[Wobbly]

If you have the capability to reload, then you may end up developing a load just for that one gun.

You've already tried one reload, but consider that one point on a chart is not enough to draw a graph. If you want a complete picture of what reloads can do, then you need to try various bullets, powders, and velocities.

 

[M1A4ME]

I got lucky with my CZ's.  All the 9s like light bullets (115 grain reloads or Federal 115 grain FMJ for cheap store bought ammo) and the .40's like my 135 grain hollow point reloads or the 140 grain lead bullets from Missouri Bullet Co.

Not so lucky with a couple other pistols.  The M&P 2.0 9MM won't shoot my reloads for beans but like Winchester 124 grain NATO loads.  My FNS .40 doesn't like my CZ .40 loads and does the best it can do with Winchester 180 grain hollow points.

Two things that says:
1.  You're lucky if more than one gun shoots the same ammo well. 
2.  Buy different brands/bullets weights and try them to see what works well in your pistol.

I'm attempting to reload similar bullets/weights for the FNS to see if I can find a good shooting 180 grain load and have plans to try some 124's for the M&P.

Buy different ammo, try it, buy/shoot what your pistol likes (reliable and accurate) or try to work up some reloads that will do the same thing in your pistol.

One more thing, when working up loads, take a known good shooting load with you so you can be sure it's the test ammo and not you that is making less than satisfactory targets (I take my P07 and those 135 grain hollow points to the range and when I want to know if I'm having a bad day or it's the new ammo/loads I shoot a group with the P07 to let me know whether it's me or the new gun/ammo.)

If you're having a bad day, there's no use continuing to shoot poor groups.  You might be passing by a load that will do well in your pistol.

[SoCal]

My bull shadow has the shortest chamber throat of all of my CZ's.  Have you down the plunk test with your BS?

[harpercz]

Interesting about the short chamber. I did have trouble a while back with some 135gr ammo made for 1911's that one of my CZs choked on but I cant remember if it was the BS or another model. At this point none of the ammo I am shooting is giving me signs of being too long. It shoots smoothly with no hiccups with all the regular CZ ammo I have tried. Would one symptom of a tight fit in the chamber be poor grouping at longer distances when it shoots very accurately up close?

I was hoping that someone had similar issues with the BS and could save me from testing so many different ammo options but it looks like that is exactly what I am going to have to do. 

[Wobbly]

At this point none of the ammo I am shooting is giving me signs of being too long. It shoots smoothly with no hiccups with all the regular CZ ammo I have tried.

The first sign of ammo being too long may well be inaccuracy. One thing to sure, it's no good waiting on another sign because that could well be firing OOB. Then you got a blown up polymer gun, or the grips blown off your metal gun.

It's so easy to check ammo fit in the chamber. Why wait on a mishap to trigger the 5 minutes of safety work you should have done up front ?.

I honestly don't know the answer either, but I would go find out before shooting the gun.

[harpercz]

Good advice - I will check it. Thanks

[joedirt199]

If you are going to check for accuracy, you really should be using a stead rest and not just shooting off hand. Eliminates one variable, the shooter. A ransom rest is best but not every one has one.

[Wobbly]

If you are going to check for accuracy, you really should be using a stead rest and not just shooting off hand. Eliminates one variable, the shooter. A ransom rest is best but not every one has one.

Agreed. I test all my 9mm ammo at 30ft (10yds), which is just a number I simply chose. I use some really small targets that are only 3x5" so I can easily keep them and compare groups. Then I rest the base of the grip on a big pad, which rests on a solid table or bench. Using this method, I comparing targets today against those of 15 years ago.



Usually I have an adhesive label on the ammo box. When I finish shooting, I simply transfer the label to the target.