Taurus Accuracy Testing

I managed to get out this morning before the wind kicked up and do a little accuracy testing on some handloads for my Taurus.
First, the equipment I was using. The pistol is a Taurus 24/7 Pro with the 4” barrel and stainless duotone slide in .45 ACP. The magazines hold twelve rounds each but I find loading ten rounds stresses my poor old thumb sufficiently.
I was carrying the pistol in my Comp-Tac Kydex FBI cant belt holster on a Wilderness 5 stitch nylon belt. My spare magazines were being carried in a Comp-Tac dual magazine carrier. This setup is remarkably comfortable- even when sitting in a car- and eminently practical for field use. The holster and carrier are fast and secure.
For hearing protection I have an old Silencio flight deck model hearing protector. It works well and is very comfortable to wear for extended periods. My eye glasses are Lexan so provide sufficient protection by my standards.
I got to use one of my homemade target stands for the first time. The base is made out of 1 ½” PVC and the uprights are easily replaceable 1X2” furring strips. I stapled some cardboard to the strips as a backer and used a Redfield sight-in target stapled to that. I like the Redfield target as it’s highly visible and works well with iron sights or scope reticles. The Redfield also has a 1” grid that makes sight adjustments easier. I found the plans for the target stand online and made three of them for a few bucks. The stand is heavy enough to withstand a fair amount of wind but sandbags on top of, or weight (sand or rebar) added inside, the tubing would make it as stable as a steel stand.
The loads were moderate loads of Accurate Arms #2 in Remington brass with CCI 300 standard pistol primers. #2 is a fast powder so I’m hoping to cut down on muzzle blast with the lighter loads out of the short barrel. I switched to #2 as it burns cleaner than Bullseye powder. This current load is driving all bullets right at 800 feet per second. I’m going to bump it a couple of grains to get 850 FPS which is still well below maximum making it light recoiling and easy on both the pistol and my joints.
I used three different bullets, all 200 grains and loaded to right at 1.200” overall length. The first is a Lee tumble lube semi-wadcutter hard cast out of straight wheelweight alloy and water dropped. The second is Ranier’s plated flat point. The third is Speer’s Gold Dot hollow point. I wanted to use the Hornaday XTP as they’re cheaper than the Gold Dot but they were out of stock.
It was a bit chilly and the wind was blowing. I set up to shoot prone at a measured 50 yards. I think I threw the first shot but even so, the combined group size with all three loads was right at 10 inches. Without the flyer the combined group is only 7 ¾”. The groups were all well centered and about 5” below center.
The Speer turned in the tightest group at 2 ½” center to center (CTC). The Raniers were at 6 ½” but mostly strung out horizontally so it may have been the wind. The lead rounds minus the flyer were 2 ¾”. Since virtually all defensive shootings occur and conversational distances (“Gimme yer money!”) this accuracy is more than acceptable.
As I increase the velocity I expect the groups to tighten up a bit and the point of impact to come up. With use, the trigger is smoothing out but I’m also getting used to it. I’ve had zero malfunctions to date. Recoil is still totally manageable. The pistol is light and compact and rides in the Comp-Tac almost unnoticeably.