Best .45 ACP boolit for bowling pins?

[igolfat8]

Didn't find much info in the archives. Just getting ready to dip my toe into casting. What is the best bullet weight and shape for consistent reliable feeding for competitive bowling pin shooting in 1911 pistol? Any particular ones to stay away from? I've been target shooting with 200 grain Xtreme lead and copper plated SWC but have erratic feeding issues. FWIW, I shoot a stock Springfield Range Officer.

[geargnasher]

I really don't have a good answer for you, but I do have a lot of experience with a couple different SA 1911A1s and they don't like to feed much more than round-nose, "ball" profile boolits like the Lyman 452374. There are plenty of other good, round-nose designs, that's just one example. Stick with 230-grain boolits unless you just HAVE to have 250 or heavier for the pins.

Most of the "pin" boolits I've seen are wadcutter or blunt-nose styles which, in my experience, won't feed well in an un-modified, Gov't model 1911. Not sure about the RO model, but I assume the feed ramp is similar to the long slide versions.

Hope this helps somewhat.

Gear

[starreloader]

I don't think you can go wrong using the 230 gr TC bullet... My Springfield GI Milspec feeds the TC's flawlessly, have never had a failure to feed with that bullet... AND they sure make a bowling pin dance ( has a lot to do with that big flat nose )

[knifemaker]

I have heard that for bowling pins it is best to use a flat point type boolit as it does not glance off as much as a roundnose does on the hard round surface of the pins. If you stay with X-treme bullets, try the 225 gr. plated flat nose bullet. If you start casting, try the Lee 6 cavity 230 gr. truncated nose bullet. You will find that both of these boolits will feed far better in a 1911 then your SWC you have been using. I have the 6 cavity Lee mold and the boolits feed just as well as round nose does in all three of my 1911
pistols.

[Char-Gar]

I shoot bowling pin matches with the 45 ACP but in a Smith and Wesson 625 revolver. I used 240 grain Lyman 453423 bullet and it does clear them off the table with no problem. This bullet may or may not feed well in your auto pistol, but I am convinced that the best bowling pin bullet is the one with the biggest meplat and the most weight your pistol can tolerate. Velocity does not seem to matter, but weight and a flat surface on the nose will carry the day.

I use the above mentioned bullet over 4.7/Bullseye and any pin fairly hit won't stay on the table.

[pal82]

My Springfield Range Officer is also fussy with 200gr SWC. My Clackamus Kimber has digested tens of thousands of 200SWC (H&G68) at 1.235 oal. Never had a feeding problem. I picked up a RO this summer and found my old standby load would not feed reliably. I changed the OAL to 1.250 and the feeding problems stopped.

As for a pin boolit. If you are just getting ready to dip your toe in casting, I would get a Lee 6 cavity TL452-230-2R (230 round nose), Lee .452 sizing die and lube with Lee LLA. The price is right and its easy to make lots to boolits.

[pal82]

try the Lee 6 cavity 230 gr. truncated nose bullet. You will find that both of these boolits will feed far better in a 1911 then your SWC you have been using. I have the 6 cavity Lee mold and the boolits feed just as well as round nose does in all three of my 1911
pistols.
My RO is also fussy with the Lee TL452-230TC (truncated cone nose). I agree this would be a better choice for pins, but you may have to work with the OAL to get it 100% reliable.

[robpete]

I second the good old HG68 with the 1911...and pins. I load with 5 grains of GD or BE @ 1.24" OAL w/ a .470" crimp. 100% reliable and knocks the pins down with regularity.

[MtGun44]

I won a few guns in the old days with a 255 truncated cone boolit in my Gold Cup.

They would move straight back with a good hit.

Bill

[bhn22]

I shoot pins when time permits. Stay away from round nose bullets. If you don't make your hit in the basic center of the pin you can often have a pin lay down on you, requiring more shooting. More shooting involves more time. A 230 gr flat point will give you an edge with peripheral hits. The flat point is less likely to allow the bullet to glance off. Since we only shoot pins set at the front of a 4 ft wide table, and have to drive them back 4 feet, I won't use 200 gr bullets either, or fast burning powder either. HS6, WSF, Unique, AA #7, or Blue Dot seem to rule in our little world. Spring the gun appropriately, I use 18 lb recoil springs for pins. I only have one bullet mold for 45 ACP anymore, the 230 gr LBT LFN. Pins are impressed...
91392

[bobthenailer]

I have shot bowling pins for the past 25 odd years , im using the Saeco 058 215gr swc made for the 45 acp & bowling pins . between my BIL and me we have used over 40,000 with no problems knocking over pins.
feeds well from most 45 acp handguns

[Jupiter7]

My range officer doesn't like 200gr SWC either. For pins, I'd go with weight and a flat nose. The rcbs 230cm boolit would be the easiest to get commercially. I run a modified version from recent miha group buy. The large HP drops 205grs, over 5grs bullseye it is easily most accurate handgun load I've loaded. Does need short OAL (1.18) because of short leade of range officer. It also runs very reliably for me in 3gun and IDPA. As of now, it's the only boolit I'm casting for the 45 auto. Sold all my lee molds.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/651749/rcbs-2-cavity-cowboy-bullet-mold-45-230-cm-45-
caliber-452-454-diameter-230-grain-flat-nose

[BD]

That LBT design has a familiar look to it. Should be great for pins, as is the 230 BDacp. I used the Saeco 058 as well, and it worked well, but was not as accurate in my pistols.
BD

[bhn22]

I have shot bowling pins for the past 25 odd years , im using the Saeco 058 215gr swc made for the 45 acp & bowling pins . between my BIL and me we have used over 40,000 with no problems knocking over pins.
feeds well from most 45 acp handguns

I had that mold, but foolishly sold it a few years back. I really wanted a little more weight. I probably have several hundred of them left. You're right, it feeds in almost any guns without issue.

[44MAG#1]

Saeco 058 215gr SWC also know as the bowling pin bullet. The meplat is .325" and should live up to its name.

[fredj338]

A flat point definitely smacks the pin harder. I like the 200gr Lee RNFP for a pin bullet. It will feed in all my 1911s & my XDTAC, my preferred pin gun.

[zomby woof]

I've been shooting pin seriously the past few years. The HG68 works for me on real pins. We also have steel pins that just rotate over when hit. I like the LEE 160 for speed with steel.

[BNE]

I shoot pins when time permits. Stay away from round nose bullets. If you don't make your hit in the basic center of the pin you can often have a pin lay down on you, requiring more shooting. More shooting involves more time. A 230 gr flat point will give you an edge with peripheral hits. The flat point is less likely to allow the bullet to glance off. Since we only shoot pins set at the front of a 4 ft wide table, and have to drive them back 4 feet, I won't use 200 gr bullets either, or fast burning powder either. HS6, WSF, Unique, AA #7, or Blue Dot seem to rule in our little world. Spring the gun appropriately, I use 18 lb recoil springs for pins. I only have one bullet mold for 45 ACP anymore, the 230 gr LBT LFN. Pins are impressed...
91392

What mold are these made from?

[truckboss]

I shoot pins when time permits. Stay away from round nose bullets. If you don't make your hit in the basic center of the pin you can often have a pin lay down on you, requiring more shooting. More shooting involves more time. A 230 gr flat point will give you an edge with peripheral hits. The flat point is less likely to allow the bullet to glance off. Since we only shoot pins set at the front of a 4 ft wide table, and have to drive them back 4 feet, I won't use 200 gr bullets either, or fast burning powder either. HS6, WSF, Unique, AA #7, or Blue Dot seem to rule in our little world. Spring the gun appropriately, I use 18 lb recoil springs for pins. I only have one bullet mold for 45 ACP anymore, the 230 gr LBT LFN. Pins are impressed...
91392

Today I bought myself a LBT mould just like that one,hope it gets here quick.Please stop showing us stuff like that, it's getting expensive.:Fire:

[Kraschenbirn]

While I'm no longer a regular competitor, I still shoot the same 225 gr TC boolit, I started loading for IPSC 'major' in the mid-1980s. Still shooting the same 'frankengun' too...stainless Caspian frame, Colt slide, Bar-Sto barrel, Bomar sights, and a mix of milsurp and McCormick innards...that I built for myself around the same time.

Bill

[TXGunNut]

Truncated cone boolits seem to "smack" and "grab" pins when properly hit. I think the driving band does the grabbing, the meplat does the smacking. Look at a well-used pin sometime. The covering stretches to allow a RN bullet to pass thru with hardly a hole. TC boolits cut a hole in the cover. Look to the history of the game, you'll find it was designed to put the guys shooting light & fast projectiles at a disadvantage. Momentum and energy transfer are the keys here. I've gotten by with 200 gr target loads but if I were to get serious about it I think a 220 gr TC boolit would be pretty awesome as I tend to prefer decisive hits over speed.

[Hang Fire]

Rn hb.

[Forrest r]

Shot tons of the h&g 68's for a lite bullet & lymans 454190 250gr rnfp for heave bullets.

[dave_g]

I have had success using the Lee 230TC bullet on pins.

[DougGuy]

I last shot pins with a 255gr LSWC! I had no feeding issues with a Para-Ordnance lower and a WWI era 1911 upper which the only mod to the barrel was a nicely polished throat. Choose the spring rate by double tapping paper @ 7yds, until your pairs are 1" and you are ready. If the second shot is low, decrease the spring. If it is high, increase.

[jaysouth]

This is the Saeco 058 style made by Magnus Bullets. It is my defensive round and hits with authority at 850 fps.

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l222/jwsoutherland/bowlingpinbullet_zps273b56b2.jpg (http://s97.photobucket.com/user/jwsoutherland/media/bowlingpinbullet_zps273b56b2.jpg.html)

It feeds in all my 1911s.

[44MAG#1]

That Saeco 058 bullet is the bullet I like best right now with a heavy like the 454424 my second pick.
Cast hard it should be the berries for just about anything. Right now I am working on a load for self defense using it.
It feeds well in all 3 of my 45 autos.

[JMax]

As an old Second Chance Master Blaster a 255 SWC and about 5 gr of WW 231 was the right ticket. I switched to a 230 gr H&G wad cutter loaded in 38 spl cases with about 7 gr of Blue Dot and got my MB patch shooting that combo through my 686s. While shooting the ACP load I won numerous firearms shooting it in team events. Enjoy :-)

[dnotarianni]

You can not go wrong with plain hardball @ center of mass. Best choice is a 230gr HP so the HP grabs if your off center. With pins big and slow vs light and fast and big and slow wins from a physics standpoint. Don't take this wrong, 200gr with 4gr of bullseye will take them off the table, but to absolutly remove them you want something thats going to drive them off the table before they even think about falling down. A pin on it's side usually means your going to lose that run. The 255 swc is a great choice in a revolver for the first 6rounds but your back to RN on a reload with the moon clips

[bhn22]

Any load you use needs to have enough energy & momentum to drive the pins straight back about 4 feet. Then all you have to do is hit them in the center of the big white part.

[Artful]

I liked the 230 grn Truncated Cone myself. I tried the 255 Keith SWC but too hard on the gun IMHO. Can you use a lighter boolit - yep but you have less room for error.