Is 12 BHN too soft?

[MikeACP]

Is 12 too soft for .45 ACP?

[williamwaco]

No. It is fine.
Any where from 10 to 15 will work great.

I have used 18 and see no advantage.
Linotype at 22 is too hard.
(Too hard doesn't mean "causes problems", it means significant waste of expensive tin and antimony.)

[MikeACP]

Good, Thank you.

[R.M.]

Just a FYI, I use 230gr RN @850 that are 8-!0 BHN. No lead what-so-ever. The 45 ACP is very forgiving.

[MtGun44]

Most guns will shot soft alloys in .45 ACP well. Some revolvers have extremely shallow
rifling and may have issues with soft alloys, but it is woth a try.

Bill

[Bret4207]

DO yourself a favor and forget the stupid Bhn. Work with what you have and you'll be happy. Bhn is mostly an advertising sales gimmick.

[white eagle]

DO yourself a favor and forget the stupid Bhn. Work with what you have and you'll be happy. Bhn is mostly an advertising sales gimmick.

Like Bret said
its nice to know the bhn of your alloy but
is one number better than another
I doubt it .............

[noylj]

Fit is number one.
Lube is number two.
BHN may be number 8 or 9, not sure.

[gray wolf]

I can't add any more wisdom other than what's been said.
So I will just take a post count on this one.
Well shoot I got to add some-thin, >>>>>>>> FIT, FIT, FIT<<<<<<<<<<

[stubshaft]

I shoot alot of 45 ACP that runs 8 - 9 bhn. Fit IS important but so is barrel condition. You can't get good accuracy with a [edit] barrel.

[cbrick]

Is 12 too soft for .45 ACP?

12 BHN is as hard as I shoot the 45, mostly 8-10 but for HP's 10 is max and a bit softer is even better.

Don't get caught up in the "hardcast" hype, it's not needed and if bullet fit isn't perfect can and will cause it's own problems.

Rick

[Lloyd Smale]

what are you doing with it. If its for plinking and just general shooting 12 bhn is just fine but my comp loads are usually done out of 18-20 bhn. The 12s will work fine and probalby wont lead or have any other major problems but ive owned many 1911s through the years and all of them have given there best accuracy with properly fitted and lubed bullets of between 18-20. My prefered alloy is a minimun of #2 and perferably 5050 ww/lyno if i have enough linotype. Problem is its getting hard to find and i may have to use water dropped ww in its place.

[PacMan]

As has been mentioned fit is very important but not the bottom line. If fit was was every thing everyone would be shooting is pure lead in all their guns and loads.

Hardness does matter and BHN is a very usefull way of measuring it.

[Potsy]

I've used straight WW and water dropped WW (actually heated to 450deg. in a toaster oven and quenched) in my Kimber and couldn't tell much difference with me shooting it.
Molds involved were a Lee 200grn, Miha's 200grn H&G 68, and a Lee 230TC. All were sized .452.
I will continue to quench the 230's as they may need to break a little bone (unfortunately, they haven't had to yet) on a hog, deer, etc. Even that may be a moot point. I just like knowing they're up to the task.
A .45ACP doesn't build enough pressure to really justify real hard bullets.
I used to worry about noses being beat up on the feed ramp, but I've never noticed that being and issue. Somebody that knows more about a 1911 than I do might elaborate on that.

[MikeACP]

These are plinking rounds,maybe an IDPA shoot on occasion. Great info guys thanks. This place is such a good education.

[JIMinPHX]

12 is plenty hard for a .45ACP. In fact I would not want to go much harder than that. A few points softer would not be a bad thing in most cases.

[Bret4207]

As has been mentioned fit is very important but not the bottom line. If fit was was every thing everyone would be shooting is pure lead in all their guns and loads.

Hardness does matter and BHN is a very usefull way of measuring it.

Fit is #1, it's King. That doesn't mean you can shoot pure lead at 2800FPS (although some here do using a PP IIRC!). It means no matter how hard your alloy the boolit still has to fit or you go nowhere fast. Those that believe Bhn will cure all their problems are always disappointed in the end if the boolit doens't fit in the first place.

[PacMan]

Fit is #1, it's King. That doesn't mean you can shoot pure lead at 2800FPS (although some here do using a PP IIRC!). It means no matter how hard your alloy the boolit still has to fit or you go nowhere fast. Those that believe Bhn will cure all their problems are always disappointed in the end if the boolit doens't fit in the first place.

Once again i agree that fit is important and if you want to use #1 King or what ever that is fine with me.
I understand that the bullet has to fit the gun but i also contend that different alloys/hardness of bullets react differently using the same gun and load.

I will agree that fit is king but not that fit is the complete package.And somtimes it seems that is what you imply when you completely toss bullet hardness out the door.

[Lloyd Smale]

my buddy and i once did a test. We shot 7 differnt 1911s and two model 25 smiths. We used both 3.8 grains of bullseye and 4.6 grains of aa2 all with fed primers. We shot 4 different swc designs and shot them all with 5050 pure ww, ww, #2 and 5050 ww/lineotype. We shot 2 six shot groups with each combination. We had only one load in one gun that didnt do its best with either #2 or 5050 ww/lino. My 4 inch commander sized kimber shot one bullet cast out of ww better then anything. None of the guns shot near as well with the 5050 ww/pure alloy. All bullets were sized to 452 and lubed with felix lube. I know this test doest put anything written in stone to the argument but it sure shows that they have a tendency to shoot harder bullets better. Like i said if a 1/4 inch reduction in group size doesnt mean anything to you shoot them with whatever but when i shoot in compitition just knowing my guns are shoot the best they possibly can no doubt adds to my scores. A 1/4 inch in group sizes means many hits on the lines are now a lower score. Ill go so far as to say its a rare instance when a softer alloy does better then a hard one in any gun if all the tolarances are what they should be and the bullet is sized properly for the gun. This opinion comes from thosands of hours on the bench not from some internet chatter or some article wrote 3o years ago about how bullets have to bump up to work. I think if doubters would take a GOOD gun and try the test themselves theyd come up with the same opinion.

[cbrick]

I dunno Lloyd, 9 different guns and .452" sizing was just the ticket for every single one of them?
I have trouble finding two different firearms that like the same size bullet.

Perhaps this test would have turned out a bit different if each firearm had the bullets sized to it's own preference.

Rick