Ideal boolit weights for the .45 acp

[Animal]

I'm understanding that the classic boolit for the .45acp is 230gr. However I know many people use the 200gr for practice or exclusively. Is there a great deal of accuracy variation when swtiching from 230 to 200? I'm just getting into this cartridge for the first time and have practiced with 230 factory ammo and a few of my own 230 handloads. I'd like to use 200gr for practice to save as much lead as possible, but not if it comes at the expense of the accuracy and weapon functioning substantially different. Thanks,

Austin

[45-70 Chevroner]

I am a firm beliver that Colt (Browning) got it right, 230 for me.

[codgerville@zianet.com]

I use both weights with good results, but I favor the 200 grain (452460) over the 230 (452374). More accurate.

[scattershot]

The most accurate load I have shot to date is the 200 rain SWC boolit over 4.0 Red Dot.

[oldpapps]

The .45 ACP began life as an up grade from a .41 caliber. It was loaded with a 200 grain round nose bullet that was pushed to 900 FPS. The Cavalry up the stakes to a 230 grain pointed round nose (the same profile as we generally see today) and was not overly interested in setting velocities (at first) and evolved to around 850 FPS. They still had a bad taste in their collective mouths from the Moros during the Philippines Insurrection.

If good old John liked the 200 grain, I will go with that. I do use a lead SWC over jacketed for my loads.

Load with care,

OSOK

[fredj338]

As noted the original design was a 200gr bullet, & most 45acp pistols will happily run this bullet wt. Bullet style is another matter. Some guns will not be 100% with a 200gr LSWC. This is the case for my XD45s, so I run a 200grLTC for all my 45acp loads. Accuracy is not affected, maybe even slightly enhanced using a 200gr bullet.

[zomby woof]

HG68 200 is a standard for me. I have played with a 160 for speed shooting that works well.

[w5pv]

I have 200 swc's loaded but have shot them, my mainstay is the 230 it shoot fine for me.

[BD]

There is very little practical difference in accuracy, or point of aim for that matter, in a .45acp autoloader using cast boolits between 180 and 230 grains. There are many, many designs in this weight range. Pick the one that functions well with good accuracy in your particular pistol.
However, There are some significant differences in terminal performance based on design, weight and velocity if your targets include things other than paper, or the range gets longer than 25 yards.
BD

[HATCH]

I cast two different 45 auto boolits

#130
90959


standard 225/230 rn
90960

I only do the #130 because it saves on lead.
I have loaded and shot a few and they function just fine in my bone stock Colt series 70 1911
On my next run of loading 45acp I will load up 500 to play with.
If they don't run in my 1911, I am sure they will work fine in my 625's

My brother ray prefers the standard GI round ball 230 grain.

Just find something that works for you and stick with it.

[Outpost75]

If I were going to pick only one cast bullet to load in .45 ACP it would be the H&G68, 200-grain SWC. This design is more accurate than the 230s out to 50 yards, feeds well in almost any gun which will feed hardball and saves a little on lead. I have settled on 4.5 grains of Bullseye with this bullet, for about 830 fps from a 1911 pistol and 1000 from my converted Marlin 1894 levergun, by John Taylor. Two inch groups at 50 yards from the carbine or accurized pistol are the expectation.

[rintinglen]

H&G 68 for me, it shoots better than the 452-374 in my guns and is just as reliable. Funny thing--my SIL bought a PARA P-12--it was hanging up on Hardball PMC, but ran like a top with my H&G handloads. 4.7 Bullseye or Red Dot, 5.7 WW-231--it is harder to find a load that won't shoot than it is to find one that will. Titegroup has been getting some positive reviews at the gun club, so I may try that one or these days, but I'm in no hurry.

[bhn22]

I'm more of a heavy bullet man. I especially appreciate the .452 LBT 230 gr. They feed in every 45 ACP I've put them in.

90968

[waco]

I have two .45 molds. A 225gr RN and a 228gr RN

[btroj]

I'm more of a heavy bullet man. I especially appreciate the .452 LBT 230 gr. They feed in every 45 ACP I've put them in.

90968


That is one fine looking round. I like that bullet.

[bhn22]

This design warms my mean little Ebenezer Scrooge heart for some reason. It just looks right. Veral Smith said it's really popular in the 250-275 gr range with the high pressure 45 ACP crazies. He told me how they make them really scream out of the barrel. Accurate #9 in a fully supported barrel... Not me, man!

[Shiloh]

Really like my H&G #68 clone. 200 gr. SWC. 4.2 gr. of Bullseye is a lite accurate load.

Shiloh

[country gent]

I shoot alot of 200 grn semi wadcutters in my diffrent 45s (Semi auto and revolver), all around they shoot the best overal ( 2 smith semis 3 1911s 2 para ldas 2 revolvers). More important than just blindly picking a bullet is finding one that works and is accurate first then buying the mold. Give 185 grn swc, 200 grn swc, 200 tc, 200 grn fps. 225 grn wc 225 rn and 230 tc and rn all a try see what the gun likes. The swc is desighned for accuracy and to cut clean holes in paper targets to attain the highest scores. Also test diffrent hardnesses of bullets. Buy order 100 of diffrent wieghts styles to test and see what works best.

[David2011]

The 200 gr SWC works well for me, too. I like the H&G 68/ Saeco #068. It's accurate, feeds well and casts easily.

David

[hermans]

I shoot both the 200gr H&G and 230gr RN in both my two pistols, a MK IV Series 70 Colt, and a Para P14, mostly in IPSC competitions. The 200gr get pushed about 870 f/sec, and the 230gr about 780 f/sec to make the required power factor for the sport. For some reason the 230gr boolits just feels "softer", but the 200gr swc makes very nice holes in the targets, visible out to 35 meters, so after 30 years of casting and shooting both.......I still cannot decide which is my favourite 45acp boolit!
So my advice would be..........shoot both!

[Echo]

I generally shoot the 452460 SWC @ 200 grs, or thereabout, but I also cast the H&G 130, nominally 185 grs - both sweet. My -374 mold throws undersize boolits, and I will sell it on eBay soon - Lyman refused to recut the cavities, and they are the ones who cut them too small in the first place.

[RobS]

I'm a heavier 45 ACP shooter myself. Around 230 grains for both my solids and my HP's and both have good sized meplats on them.

http://i795.photobucket.com/albums/yy233/rjspies/IMG_8941_zps8daf97bc.jpg (http://s795.photobucket.com/user/rjspies/media/IMG_8941_zps8daf97bc.jpg.html)

http://i795.photobucket.com/albums/yy233/rjspies/IMG_8942_zps180c95de.jpg (http://s795.photobucket.com/user/rjspies/media/IMG_8942_zps180c95de.jpg.html)

[Swede44mag]

I'm more of a heavy bullet man. I especially appreciate the .452 LBT 230 gr. They feed in every 45 ACP I've put them in.

90968

What manufacture of boolit mold are you using? What the heck is a LBT?
I have a .45 Sig P220 that I am looking for a good boolit to shoot in.
I have tried the #68 with 5 out of 7 catching on the brass on the end of the casing and jamming.
I may have loaded them 2 short.
It will shoot a Lyman 230 rn without any problems.
I also have a .452 Wide Flat Nose boolit mold but it weighs in at 250grs(?) if I am correct.
I put some of these in empty sized brass and pushed them in just enough so the will fit in the magazine.
I cycled them through the Sig 220 with no feeding problems but can’t find any 45acp load data for a boolit of that weight.
Do you think it would be safe being that heavy?
Hope I havent strayed from the origonal question of Ideal boolit weights for the .45 ACP

[btroj]

LBT is Lead Bullet Technologies, the very company that coined the term wife flat nose.

Google them. Veral makes some very nice moulds.

[RobS]

What manufacture of boolit mold are you using? What the heck is a LBT?
I have a .45 Sig P220 that I am looking for a good boolit to shoot in.
I have tried the #68 with 5 out of 7 catching on the brass on the end of the casing and jamming.
I may have loaded them 2 short.
It will shoot a Lyman 230 rn without any problems.
I also have a .452 Wide Flat Nose boolit mold but it weighs in at 250grs(?) if I am correct.
I put some of these in empty sized brass and pushed them in just enough so the will fit in the magazine.
I cycled them through the Sig 220 with no feeding problems but can’t find any 45acp load data for a boolit of that weight.
Do you think it would be safe being that heavy?
Hope I havent strayed from the origonal question of Ideal boolit weights for the .45 ACP

LBT = http://www.lbtmoulds.com/moulds.shtml Veral Smith a custom mold maker.

I'm guessing the LBT designed meplat on that particular design is .300"or so.

I designed the solid with a bit smaller of a meplat and put a draft to the meplat edges to assist in feeding in the autos.

A 250 grainer is a bit much for a standard 45auto pistol but that range is often times used in revolvers with nice success.

[myg30]

230g er. I did my best to copy the poi of factory ammo I shot in 230g.RN. I have since cast the swc because I heard of their accuracy but not loaded them yet. I also like shooting some of the factory ammo in 185g +P. Its almost like shooting a 10mm.

Mike

[NoZombies]

I prefer the 185-200 grain designs myself. It saves a little lead, and the designs I have are accurate.

[edadmartin]

I just shot my very first reload batch of 150 lswc 200gr with 4.3 gr of AA#2. Thru my Springfield 1911. recoil was alot lighter than rem 230gr FMJ rounds. I was amazed I shot 2" groups through out, which I never did with the factory 230gr bullet. Out of the 150 I had 4 that failed to fire. Ill disassemble them to see whats up. Im pleased big time. Wish I could find more AA#2 powder .

[Bigslug]

230 RNFP's for me as the primary. The notion of saving lead with a .45 just seems . . .wrong somehow.

While most folks playing the Bullseye game are using 200 grain SWC's, if I DO get into that sport, it'll be for EIC matches, where 230 grain FMJ is mandated. . .plus I teach with 230's at work. No sense getting used to the feel of something lighter.

[MtGun44]

H&G 68 (200 SWC) is THE boolit for 1911 and for most other .45 ACP. Mihec's 200 HP and
Lyman 452460 are very close behind - both 200 gr. 452374 is a good one, 230 RN, I use it
for 1-2% of my .45 ACP.

Why waste the lead on cardboard? Waste not, want not.

Bill

[glockky]

I'm more of a heavy bullet man. I especially appreciate the .452 LBT 230 gr. They feed in every 45 ACP I've put them in.

90968

I am having trouble finding this mold in LBT's catalog. All I see is the 250gr

[Dave C.]

The H&G#68 or a copy of it and 4.2 grains of BE will run your 1911 with the stock springs and hit what you aiming at up to the ability of the shooter/caster/gun.

Good health and good shooting.
Dave C.

[tygar]

I'm understanding that the classic boolit for the .45acp is 230gr. However I know many people use the 200gr for practice or exclusively. Is there a great deal of accuracy variation when swtiching from 230 to 200? I'm just getting into this cartridge for the first time and have practiced with 230 factory ammo and a few of my own 230 handloads. I'd like to use 200gr for practice to save as much lead as possible, but not if it comes at the expense of the accuracy and weapon functioning substantially different. Thanks,

Austin

I like & use both. The 200swc was my mainstay for bullseye with just enough Unique to punch a hole in the paper at 50yds & fall out on the other side.

Everything else I shoot at has hot 230s from Win Black Talons (still have a bunch) to the other PD loads & cast. For combat practice it is with 230s full pop in everything from 3" Kimber to 7"comped Para & 625s, 25s, 325pds.

230s kick az.
Tom

[Freischütz]

I like 452423. It weighs about 240 gr. All my 45 ACP shooting is with a revolver.

[Bullshop Junior]

230 grain has been the ball load weight for a long time...seems to work pretty good.

[MtGun44]

And waste lead, when used on targets.

Bill

[Bullshop Junior]

30 grains? big deal.

[MtGun44]

If you shoot a few thousand a year, and I shoot more, you are talking about pounds of
extra alloy down range. Seems a waste not to get the extra shot out of every 1911 mag
full for free, as far as lead is concerned.

Bill

[waco]

That is one fine looking round. I like that bullet.

I think Brad is just infatuated with shiny objects....They do look good though.....

[DougGuy]

230gr RNFP for my handloads. I shoot the same weight and power level as the ammo I carry.

Very nice work there RobS!

[tygar]

I like & use both. The 200swc was my mainstay for bullseye with just enough Unique to punch a hole in the paper at 50yds & fall out on the other side.

Everything else I shoot at has hot 230s from Win Black Talons (still have a bunch) to the other PD loads & cast. For combat practice it is with 230s full pop in everything from 3" Kimber to 7"comped Para & 625s, 25s, 325pds.

230s kick az.
Tom

Guess saving lead is not a hi priority to me since I have my own ranges - but "train how you fight" was a mantra in everything I was taught.

If your carrying 185s, 200s, or 230s for PP, that is what you train with.

[Bullshop Junior]

If you shoot a few thousand a year, and I shoot more, you are talking about pounds of
extra alloy down range. Seems a waste not to get the extra shot out of every 1911 mag
full for free, as far as lead is concerned.

Bill

that's never really been a issue for me, since I used to have unlimited amounts of lead.

[btroj]

This is why "best" is always relative. If you have an abundant supply of something then using lots of it is no problem, of anothe guy is in short supply of the same time then he will see you are wasteful.

Yep, best is always relative.