45 ACP suggestions needed

[Maineboy]

After about 20 years of not casting/reloading for handguns, I have taken possession of a GI 45 ACP. I've never reloaded for a semi auto before, only wheelguns. This is pistol my son built up from parts but it's a pretty good shooter with various factory 230 grain hardball loads and he says it will digest SWC loads as as well. He has been eyeing a Ruger 10-22 I've had for a few years and has suggested trading for it. I finally gave in. I have reloading dies and brass on the way and need a mould suggestion. I think a hardball profile is probably a safe place to start. Also, should I be hardening boolits for this gun or will air cooled wheel weight boolits suffice? Any other suggestions would be appreciated

[Hi-Performance Bullet Coatings]

I tried a Lee 230 rn and did not like it at all. (Poor acc'y). Their 230 TC worked much better. For a true 230 RN, I like the magma design best.

If your looking for all out accuracy, the swc's will be your best performer. I have had very good success with lee 200 (H&G 68 style) and their 190 (H&G 130 style)
Both produced 3" or less @ 50 yds from accurized 1911's.

Best I've done with a cast 200 @ 50 yds is from an original 200 H&G flat base and 3.9 of BE, which got me 1 3/4".

[Char-Gar]

The 45 ACP is a truly wonderful round,that like a good dog, wants to please you.
They are best when operating within their design range for bullet weight and velocity. That means bullets in the 200 to 230 range and velocities in the 750 to 850 range.

There are RN bullets and there are RN bullets. I have not had good luck with the RCBS and SAECO styles that incorporate a sharp shoulder in the design. On the other hand the Lyman design has done well for me. Others may have different experience.

The 200 grain SWC bullet are always a good choice. Every mold maker manufactures a clone of the famous Hensley & Gibbs 68 and this bullet alway delivers excellent accuracy, but may not feed well though some unaltered GI pistols. The Lyman 452460 will deliver a bullet about 215 grains and will feed well in stock GI 1911s. The accuracy of the Lyman bullets is on par with the H&G design.

Both of the aforementioned SWCs do very well at 850 fps and will shoot close to the sights. This also produces a load that is good for just about any purpose.

There are plenty of powders that can deliver the goods.. Bullseye and 231 in the faster range and Unique and AA5 is the medium burning range. All of these powders have done well for me and I don't really have any reason to prefer on over another. There are other powders that do well also.

My current load is 7.5/AA5 under either of the cast SWCs mentioned above.

Make certain you have a taper crimp die and learn to use it correctly.

I have been loading and shooting the 45 ACP round in the 1911 pistol and others for 45 years and it is habit forming. I have tried to wean myself from them on several occasions, but no luck.

Have fun and keep em in the X-Ring!

[sundog]

Maineboy, the 452374 is a classic RN. It will feed and function in any of them usually will decent accuracy. You just missed out on a group buy for this one. The other one I like is the Lee 45-200-RF. The latter is generally in stock at the normal mail order places.

And, as far as habit forming - yeah. A 4 or 6 banger makes it easier to feed these greedy ammo eating devils. Life without at least one 1911 would be intolerable. sundog

[9.3X62AL]

Dittoes all around, esp. to Chargar's comments. Unaltered GI 1911A1's will usually feed the #452374 at 1.260" OAL regardless of metallurgy--these even fed in a total *** Auto-Ordnance I once owned (little else would). It would be tough to go wrong with this design in 45 ACP.

As an aside--I might finally get to shoot the Glock 45 a little this weekend--Marie takes her last final exam tonight, and graduates with her 3rd Master's Degree (Admin Credential) on Saturday. I promised her the first shots with this critter, and since its acquisition she has been Woman With Hair On Fire--balancing work, degree program, and promotion track rather deftly I'd say. Having a new pistol--ESPECIALLY a 45 ACP--lie fallow for so long after acquisition is a real first for me.

After the 38 Special/357 Magnum, the 45 ACP was the second centerfire handgun round I reloaded for--and there has NEVER been a time since 1979 that at least one handgun in this caliber hasn't been on scene here.

[Dale53]

You've been given good advice here. Air cooled wheel weights (I add 2% tin for better fill-out) will work just fine. I prefer the 200 gr SWC and particularly like the H&G #68. Lee's 200 gr SWC is comparable. I would recommend that you get the six cavity Lee moulds, for obvious reasons. Keep in mind, as stated by others here, that the 200 SWC may not feed in an unaltered .45 ACP. My guns handle them just fine (two of them are especially throated but my third is a new Kimber that handles the bullets just fine). The Lyman 452374 will feed in nearly any .45 "that ain't broke".

My powder of choice is win 231 but most any fairly fast powder will work well (Bullseye, Unique, 7625, etc). Standard large pistol primers work just fine.

Overall length is critical to positive feeding with the .45 ACP. When using the SWC's I typically seat as long as I can and still chamber the round (must stay within length limits of the magazine). In other words, I head space on the bullet. Disassemble the pistol and use the barrel as a gauge. Drop a loaded round into the barrel chamber (holding the barrel vertical). When dropped freely, the base of the cartridge should be even with the barrel hood. That indicates a perfectly headspaced cartridge loaded to the correct overall length.

Good luck and good shooting the best auto cartridge ever made!

Dale53

[mike in co]

i do 230 rn at just over 800 fps....using aa2...in the mid to low 4 gr area.

[Pepe Ray]

Maineboy has a PM

[Hunter]

I like the 200gr LSWC in my Colt 1911 .45 ACP with Unique powder. That set up has been reliable and very accurate for me. Some .45 ACP chambers may require a bit of throating to feed SWC depending on who made the barrel and/or feed ramp polishing. Just remember that 1/32" ledge between the feed ramp and barrel throat needs to be there and never remove metal from the throat where you loose case head support. I imagine most all 1911 barrels should feed SWC well.

[BruceB]

The very first mould I ever bought was a special-order 4-cavity 452389, a HORRIBLE "wadcutter with a (small) round nose". The design was an utter bitch to get feeding in two Colt National Match .45s, and my nearly-complete ignorance of all things concerning handloading at the time didn't help a whole lot.

In the intervening forty years, I too have always had a .45 auto of some description taking up house space, and have tried a large number of cast-boolit designs.

Just in the last few years, I finally bit the bullet and made my decision....the 452374 roundnose IS my .45ACP bullet. I sold off a number of other moulds, and kept my 4-cavity Lyman. For my type of .45 shooting, this is it, numero uno, the one and only. I can cast 'em at about 800-1000 per hour, and it's an extremely feed-friendly design. Loaded at +/- 850fps, with whatever suitable powder I may happen to have, it shoots to the sights and is very accurate out to 100 yards.

The only concession it makes to the lighter SWCs is the ragged holes it makes in paper, compared to the nice clean ones cut by them 'others'. I'd bet I have at least 5000 rounds now loaded with 374s and ready to shoot....guess I'd better get at it!!!