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blazin.45acp
10-30-2009, 07:18 PM
Let me start by saying, I'm new at reloading.

I want to shoot more and want to try cast bullets in my 1911. Just how terrible is the leading out of a .45 barrel? 1000 bullets made of lead is a whole lot less expensive than the jacketed, which means I could spend a lot more time shooting. I almost always clean my guns a few hours after I shoot, is there a said amount of lead that I should shoot, stop and clean and then resume shooting?

I'm looking to try 200gr swc for my first reloads. Is this a good choice for a starter? (For now, this is just for practice and then eventually will be used for IDPA.)

Thanks for any/all help.

Blazin.45acp

stubshaft
10-30-2009, 07:34 PM
If you clean ALL of the copper fouling out of your bore.
If you shoot boolits that Fit the bore and have decent loob.
If your barrel is free of machining marks and smooth.
If the boolits are cast hard enough.

THEN - You should never have to clean it ever!

Ricochet
10-30-2009, 07:47 PM
Even if only the second of the four conditions above is met, you won't likely have trouble.

RobS
10-30-2009, 08:07 PM
There are few worries as long as you have good bullet fit with a decently lubed bullet. I have never shot any copper through my 45 ACP and very few through any of my other guns (rifles included). 200 SWC is a standard for what you are looking at doing.

You may even consider casting one day too.[smilie=w:

Cherokee
10-30-2009, 08:11 PM
Tell you what I do for my several 45 ACP's.
Cast the bullets from wheel weights + some tin
Size them to .452 (most barrels are .451)
Use Lars 45 carmuba lube or thompsons carnuba lube
Shoot target or ball equivelant loads (no hot rodding)
When I clean my guns, I may have a few flecks of lead.
If you do have leading, try sizing bullets to 453 if they will chamber in your gun.

bohokii
10-30-2009, 08:25 PM
i cast with unknown lead its steel plate backstop range lead and lube with that lee juice that came with the .452 push through sizer

i only shoot about 200 at a time and when i get back home the barrel cleans out fairly easy i get little chunks of lead glitter and the tough little lumps i scrape out with an aluminum cleaning rod edge its worth the tradeoff of paying for fmj

its odd i have some bear creek bullets and they are softer than my cast but leave less leadidue in the bore i dont know if its the moly type coating they use or the alloy

Dale53
10-30-2009, 08:46 PM
I shot IPSC for five years. That amounted to 75,000 rounds of my cast bullets. The power factor was 180 (I shot 200 gr SWC's at 1000 fps). I cleaned my gun every 350-500 rounds whether it needed it or not:roll:. I NEVER had any leading, NEVER!

Bullet fit is important - I size my .45 ACP's at .452". My alloy today, is WW's +2%tin. I lube with Lars White Label Carnauba Red.

Good luck and join the club.

Dale53

mooman76
10-30-2009, 11:22 PM
The 45 1911 is probubly one of the easier ones to shoot lead out of without leading due to the slower speads it shoots. You should have no problems with leading with a proper size bullet. One question though. Does your gun feed SWC bullets ok. Some 1911s are a little fussy and mine was one of them. If you don't know you should try shooting some first before ordering a bunch of them and finding out the hard way or go with a round nosed bullet.

dubber123
10-30-2009, 11:46 PM
I shot my Springfield 1911 for almost 4,000 rounds with nothing but a wipedown, using WW boolits. I finally had a jam. The malfunction was a buildup in the chamber. The bore was still spotless. A 10 second scraping of the chamber with a small screwdriver, and it went another 2,500 rounds until I cleaned it. As stated, fit the boolits big enough, and use a decent lube, and forget about fouling.

blazin.45acp
10-31-2009, 06:16 AM
I shot my Springfield 1911 for almost 4,000 rounds with nothing but a wipedown, using WW boolits. I finally had a jam.

Is this Winchester White Box?


mooman76,
Thanks for the tip on the SWC, never thought about that. I'll have to buy some expensive small quantity lead bullets before ordering a couple thousand.

If I buy lead bullets, should the bullets already have a lube on them? Or, is this another process of reloading?

Again, thanks for any/all help.

Blazin.45acp

HollandNut
10-31-2009, 08:56 AM
No Sir he is casting his boolits from Wheel Weights

mooman76
10-31-2009, 10:05 AM
Lead bullets already come lubed. If you want to try some you can ask here in the WTB section and someone can probubly help. The only ones I tried is from a Lee SWC TL bullet and they aren't the best for SWC design and allot of people have jamming problems. There are some things you can do to help if you rally want to shoot SWC bullets. Polish the feed ramp is one.

Dale53
10-31-2009, 01:17 PM
This may sound a bit "rough" but I wouldn't want a 1911 platform (and I have several) that wouldn't feed SWC's 100%.

Even my Kimber CDP Ultra II will feed SWC's flawlessly. The Kimber hasn't had anything done to it (but is WAS a bit pricy)...

It is correctable by a GOOD gunsmith that is familiar with 1911's. I wouldn't suggest you try it yourself. There are MANY "bubba'ed" 1911's out there where "tuning" was attempted by someone who hadn't a clue...

FWIW
Dale53

blazin.45acp
10-31-2009, 04:35 PM
My 1911 pistols will feed live ammo and then empties with no problems, so I am hoping the switch to lead is not troublesome.

None of mine are ramped barrels, will this lead to problems (no pun intented)?

Thanks

Blazin.45acp

Kskybroom
10-31-2009, 05:11 PM
I Shoot 200 SWC @ 980 Size 452 (Outdoor Range Scrap) In My 1911. Once I got the cooper cleaned out, No leading, Now Its Lead Only

Storydude
10-31-2009, 05:39 PM
I shoot only Lee 230G TC TL boolits out of my .45 nary a trace of leading, cheap and fun.

Bret4207
10-31-2009, 06:21 PM
i cast with unknown lead its steel plate backstop range lead and lube with that lee juice that came with the .452 push through sizer

i only shoot about 200 at a time and when i get back home the barrel cleans out fairly easy i get little chunks of lead glitter and the tough little lumps i scrape out with an aluminum cleaning rod edge its worth the tradeoff of paying for fmj

its odd i have some bear creek bullets and they are softer than my cast but leave less leadidue in the bore i dont know if its the moly type coating they use or the alloy

Chances are they just plain fit better.

Dale53
10-31-2009, 08:00 PM
blazin.45ACP;
Chances are, if your auto feeds empties it will feed SWC.

Good luck!
Dale53

MtGun44
10-31-2009, 09:12 PM
The first comment about "if the boolits are cast hard enough" is pretty much
wrong. The 1911 platform will shoot just fine with very soft lead boolits if they
are large enough diam (.452 usually is fine) and decently lubed. I am not a huge fan
of commercial cast boolits for max accuracy but I have fired somewhere in the
200,000 rounds range in the last 30 years through 1911s in mostly .45 ACP, about
70,000 were .38 Super. They will work very well in this platform most of the time,
minimal leading, decent if not sterling accuracy.

Try 4.7 of Titegroup or 5.7 W231 under a commercial cast .452 diameter 200 gr SWC,
loaded to a LOA of 1.250. Use a separate taper crimp die to apply a crimp which has
(by eyeball) about 1/2 the thickness of the case brass pushed into the lead of the
boolit - judged by looking at the front of two rounds, one crimped and one uncrimped in good
light, maybe with magnification depending on your eyes. Do not use a Lee
Factory Crimp die in this caliber since it may cause a loss of neck tension. I have
recently had a new loader in this caliber blow a case head due to using Clays (too
high pressure for 45 ACP full power loads) and then pushing in the boolit due
to the Lee FC die resizing the round and losing neck tension because the brass springs
back and the lead does not. Do not use Clays in .45 ACP if you intend to load
to normal full velocites with 200 or 230 gr boolits. Max vel is about 730 with
the 200 and 720 with the 230 at 17000 psi, very hot pressure for this old girl.
No margin left for a pushed in boolit - which decreases powder combustion chamber
volume and thereby dramatically increases pressures. The two loads recommended
above will run between 900 and 950 depending on your bbl dimensions.

If you do the above, you are 95% probable of having good to excellent results an
typically produce near zero leading.

For max target accy, cast up some 452460 Lyman 200 SWCs, lube with Alox 50-50
and size to .452 or .453 and put into matching headstamp brass over 3.5 Titegroup.

Nothing else is required.

Bill

TAWILDCATT
10-31-2009, 09:38 PM
I have three 1911s and all shot 200 gr SWC.I use 3.6 of 700X.I crimp in the top band with a roll crimp.and shot compitition for 30 yrs never had a FTF.my long slide feed empties too.if the gun wont feed SWC it was not finished right.and I use the lee swc not the TL.I have a lyman 4 cavity same as lees and H&G.