HG68/Bullseye load

[brewer12345]

I tested a few 45 ACP loads today based on the Lee copy of HG68 and bullseye. 4.5, 4.8 and 5.0 grains all grouped well and cycled the action. Out of these three, I would pick the 4.5 grain load because this is for target and it had the least recoil and muzzle blast. Before I load up a bunch, should I have tried an even lower charge?

[bullseye67]

Good evening,
I shoot 3.8 or 4grs for slow fire and 4.2grs for rapid and timed. In slow fire I don’t worry if the slide doesn’t always cycle. 10 minutes is a long time for 10 shots. One of the guys I used to shoot with would only shoot low charge loads for slow fire and load each one separately. He used to set his gun down and watch them hit the target..!!
Both of the following targets are at 20 yards with a Ransom Rest.
238994

238995

[Loudenboomer]

5 gr was the old IPSC std. load. 4.5 gr bullseye was a common practice load. You can go lower but I usually re sprung for the real lite loads.

[tazman]

I have been working with 4.0 grains of Bullseye and 4.1 of WST with that boolit. They both function my pistols perfectly and give great accuracy.
I haven't chronographed either load yet and I haven't shot them beyond 25 yards but they work well so far.

[Alstep]

4.0 grains of Bullseye pushing the H&G 68 is my load as well. Functions in all my 1911's without fail, and they're all sprung with issue springs, 16# I believe.

[Forrest r]

https://i.imgur.com/lxO5I66.jpg

[ioon44]

I load the 200 gr H&G 68 to reach the 165000 power factor for IDPA with Bullseye or what other powder I happen to be using. It is hard to find a powder that doesn't work well for a 1911.

[Burnt Fingers]

I have been working with 4.0 grains of Bullseye and 4.1 of WST with that boolit. They both function my pistols perfectly and give great accuracy.
I haven't chronographed either load yet and I haven't shot them beyond 25 yards but they work well so far.

Have you changed the springs?

I've been loading 4.4 gr of WST and would really like to go a bit lower. I have a feeling there's some room under that 4.4 gr as I have W231 and Vectan A1 loads that are slower than the WST load.

[anothernewb]

4 grains BE under the 68 runs every 1911 I have, even the ultra compact ones flawlessly. none of the guns have had any spring changes.

[tazman]

Have you changed the springs?

I've been loading 4.4 gr of WST and would really like to go a bit lower. I have a feeling there's some room under that 4.4 gr as I have W231 and Vectan A1 loads that are slower than the WST load.

I have not changed any springs. This works in 2 different 1911 pistols and 2 XDm pistols.
My 1911 pistols have about 2000 and 3000 rounds through them respectively. The XDm pistols have about 500-600 rounds through them.
I have been using this load since the pistols were new. The 1911 pistols are Springfield and Sig.

[mdi]

I tested a few 45 ACP loads today based on the Lee copy of HG68 and bullseye. 4.5, 4.8 and 5.0 grains all grouped well and cycled the action. Out of these three, I would pick the 4.5 grain load because this is for target and it had the least recoil and muzzle blast. Before I load up a bunch, should I have tried an even lower charge?
Is this load the most accurate? Your goal is a good shooting target round for accuracy. Your gun will certainly handle that load, as long as you get reliable cycling. Low book is 3.5 grains of BE so if you wanna go lower, try a few, no harm no foul...

[brewer12345]

Is this load the most accurate? Your goal is a good shooting target round for accuracy. Your gun will certainly handle that load, as long as you get reliable cycling. Low book is 3.5 grains of BE so if you wanna go lower, try a few, no harm no foul...

All three loads I tested were very accurate, with little difference between them.

[243winxb]

The Lyman #452630 and 3.8 Grs Bullseye* in Starline brass, WLP work for me. 50 & 25 yds . I found the BB more accurate.

[bobthenailer]

Start at 3.5 gr BE up to 5.5 BE all are accurate, I usually use 4.5 gr BE

[Outpost75]

My experience has been that if you go lighter than about 4.2 grains of Bullseye with the H&G68 you may have to change out the standard 16-pound recoil spring with a 14-lb. Gold Cup spring, but alot depends up how tightly your slide fits, how smoothly the gun works and how many rounds you have on the gun since the recoil spring was replaced. A service recoil spring which has been run several thousand rounds will probably cycle with 4 grains of Bullseye, 700-X, WST or 452AA.

We routinely replaced recoil springs in leg match hardball guns every 1000 rounds to reduce wear and tear. Many of the IPSC shooters replaced the standard 16-pound spring with an 18-pound one. With the 18 pound spring 4.5 grains is the lightest which will reliably cycle most guns.

[Burnt Fingers]

I have not changed any springs. This works in 2 different 1911 pistols and 2 XDm pistols.
My 1911 pistols have about 2000 and 3000 rounds through them respectively. The XDm pistols have about 500-600 rounds through them.
I have been using this load since the pistols were new. The 1911 pistols are Springfield and Sig.

Thanks. I'll load some up starting at 4.0 grains and see how they work.

[Rich/WIS]

I load the Lee 452-200 SWC with 3.1 grs of BE. I use a 10# recoil spring and a 19# hammer spring. I modded my mold by milling it down to remove the bevel and eliminate the lube that collected in the bevel when sized. Bullet now is a 190 gr flat base when cast from range lead. The 3.1 load is because that is what the 3.0 rotor on my old Bonanza powder measure drops. On pistols with factory springs loads as low as 4.0 work fine, and depending on the gun 3.5 gr may or may not work.

[scattershot]

I usually load 4.0 Red Dot, but tried some 4.2 Bullseye with that bullet the other day. Accurate, and cycled my pistols just fine.

[Echo]

Well - 3.5 grs BE was standard for many moons, but I needed 3.6 to reliably function my Lew-Willing-prepared wad gun, w/Lyman 452460 SWC ~ 205 grs. Use the lowest amount that will function the gun, and realize accuracy has to be built into the gun - the ammo, not so much. Just make sure the ammo is well-made, boolits dang near equal in wt and diameter, &cetera, and function the gun.

[Greg]

Tazman

I just bought a new XDs...started breaking it in with factory hardball.

I have a 6 cavity from Catshooters group buy, but I'm not sure what OAL to use. I loaded a dozen at 1.225 which seem short. this is my first 45 acp reloading adventure

thanks for any input

[tazman]

Greg----I don't know what boolit you are using, but if the cartridge will chamber ok, it should work at that length. If you could supply a link to the boolit in question I might be able to make a better suggestion.
I would suggest you start at the lowest suggested powder charge listed or that you intend to use, and work your way up to where everything functions well and shoots accurately.

Burnt Fingers----- I ran a few magazines of H&G68 clones over 4.1 of WST through my 1911 and XDm over my chrono today. The averages were 774fps for the 1911 and 784fps for the XDm(5.25 inch barrel). If I remember correctly, 4.0 of Bullseye gave nearly identical speed and the same accuracy for me.

[slughammer]

..... I ran a few magazines of H&G68 clones over 4.1 of WST through my 1911 and XDm over my chrono today. The averages were 774fps for the 1911 and 784fps for the XDm(5.25 inch barrel). If I remember correctly, 4.0 of Bullseye gave nearly identical speed and the same accuracy for me.

What kind of extreme spread did you get? I'm asking because I ran 4.2gr of WST many years ago for some plate matches. I then switched to 4.5gr of W231 and found lower ES.
I've now moved over to 3.6gr of Clays. (No chrono data, but 50yard accuracy was excellent).

[megasupermagnum]

This won't help directly, but I've settled on 4.5 grains of American Select with an H&G #68 clone. I believe 4.8 grains is the starting load in a couple books. On recommendation of another member, I tried 4.5, which shoots an average of 4" at 50 yards through my Sig P220. At 5 grains, groups open up to a little over 5". I seem to remember about 30 fps ES. I would say yes, it's worth loading under starting in this instance.

[tazman]

What kind of extreme spread did you get? I'm asking because I ran 4.2gr of WST many years ago for some plate matches. I then switched to 4.5gr of W231 and found lower ES.
I've now moved over to 3.6gr of Clays. (No chrono data, but 50yard accuracy was excellent).

Extreme spreads were 33 fps. I was using mixed brass so the testing won't be as good as if I was using the same headstamp.

[Greg]

Tazman

the boolit is a Lee group by ran by Catshooter, it's a H&G 68 flat base, at 198 grains in ww alloy. I loaded a few with 4.5grs WST at an estimated 840 fps. probably less in the 3.3" XDS barrel. shoulder is about even with case mouth at 1.225" OAL

[tazman]

Tazman

the boolit is a Lee group by ran by Catshooter, it's a H&G 68 flat base, at 198 grains in ww alloy. I loaded a few with 4.5grs WST at an estimated 840 fps. probably less in the 3.3" XDS barrel. shoulder is about even with case mouth at 1.225" OAL

Ok. The boolit should have just a few thousandths of the front drive band showing in front of the case mouth. Any further out and you may have trouble with it hitting the rifling.
I have no way to check what that particular OAL would be.

[slughammer]

1.250 has worked very well for me with HG68 (tens of thousands). I have run longer, but loaded rounds would hang up in the ejection port.

45acp mixed brass lengths are all over the place. The shoulder on HG68 provides headspace.

Check your barrel in the slide with the barrel bushing (no springs or frame). Check for fwd-aft play and see how much space there is to your barrel hood.

Plunk test some rounds into your barrel and see if they are flush with your hood. You can even take up a little of that fwd-aft play sometimes.

[tazman]

1.250 has worked very well for me with HG68 (tens of thousands). I have run longer, but loaded rounds would hang up in the ejection port.

45acp mixed brass lengths are all over the place. The shoulder on HG68 provides headspace.

Check your barrel in the slide with the barrel bushing (no springs or frame). Check for fwd-aft play and see how much space there is to your barrel hood.

Plunk test some rounds into your barrel and see if they are flush with your hood. You can even take up a little of that fwd-aft play sometimes.

Now that is a concept that had never entered my mind before. It should work just fine if a person's reloading process is precise enough.

[randyrat]

4 Grains of Bullseye for several thousand rounds, more accurate than I am on most days. So far 2 new 1911s with that load worked with no FTE or FTF...I had problems once when my die loosened, but found the problem when doing my quality testing/ Plunk test

I always PLUNK test my ammo with a barrel that is out of the gun, kinda of a quality check. Check about 10% every 100-200 rounds, this saves me from fixing hundreds of rounds if I find a problem or a die loosened on me. QA check is worth the time it takes.

[DonH]

In a dedicated bullseye 1911 w/12# spring I shot H&G 68s over 3.8gr Bullseye at all distances from 50 feet to 50 yards. When vision issues called for red dot sight (slide-mounted) I switched to a 14# spring and 4.3gr Bullseye. Reliable functioning is as important as accuracy. Both loads will clean targets in my gun if I do my part.

[sharpshooter3040]

I tested a few 45 ACP loads today based on the Lee copy of HG68 and bullseye. 4.5, 4.8 and 5.0 grains all grouped well and cycled the action. Out of these three, I would pick the 4.5 grain load because this is for target and it had the least recoil and muzzle blast. Before I load up a bunch, should I have tried an even lower charge?

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190408/ea57edcc3555b52383905f5cf72bdbd5.jpg

This is 4 gr wst in my sig super target timed fire



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[trixter]

I have been shooting an XDm with 200gr (H&G 68 clone). I was taught 5gr of Bullseye, but have gone down to 4.2gr and did not notice much of a change, I am cheap and if less does the same job, (killing paper) then I am all for it.

[sharpshooter3040]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190408/ea57edcc3555b52383905f5cf72bdbd5.jpg

This is 4 gr wst in my sig super target timed fire



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It has cycled every standard 1911 from my gold cup. Springfield armory and my sig super target match gun. That load shot awesome in very gun I’ve tried whether it be an auto or revolver. I moved away from bullseye because it’s a dirty burner. The 231 and wst are virtually identical and burn a lot cleaner


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