.45 acp 240 grain recipe

[acemedic13]

I had put together several rounds of .45 acp in 240 grain. with 4.3 grains of bullseye. I wanted to work up or down from there. Does anyone have any proven recipes for this loading? The ones I put together were shoddy at best. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[acemedic13]

Feeling pretty stupid........have been searching for all sorts of data, surprisingly , I found some. Even though it is really a non exsitent bullet....or so I thought. I checked my hardness on my metal. It was way too soft. After some input from a few of you guys, I made a new melt added some more tin...... LOW AND BEHOLD !!!!! They came out at the right weight!! Thanks again.

[Will]

According to my manuals you are at the minimum starting load with 4.3gr. Most show a max of near 5gr.

[copdills]

my boolits drop at 234 gr and I use 4.7 grs of bulleyes works great

[fishhawk]

no reason to feel stupid ace! the answer to questions is easer to fix that a wrecked gun! stupid would be not asking. steve k

[38 Super Auto]

I had put together several rounds of .45 acp in 240 grain. with 4.3 grains of bullseye. I wanted to work up or down from there.

Take the load you have now and work up in 0.2 grain increments. Check for reliable cycling of your action, the case ejection pattern, and accuracy. Work up slowly. I'd suggest loading up 10 or 12 with each charge weight. Don't change anything but the charge weight - keep bullet weight, seating depth, crimp, primer, case and anything else unchanged.

Watch for sighs of high pressure. Remember, the 45ACP is a relatively low pressure (~19,000 PSI) cartridge compared to 9mm, or other modern cartridges.

If you find a good charge weight, you can use a bullet puller and disassemble any remaining loads that you don't want to shoot.

You are fine tuning this load for your gun and components.

Cheers,

:drinks:

[ddeaton]

That is about what I shoot myself. I like them on the light side. I am going to tinker a little when I can get down the steps, knee surgery. I shoot about 4.3 bullseye with 200 SWC also. Seems to run great through my Glocks. I need to get some lighter springs though.

[jhalcott]

I have some 230 grain D&J round nose plain base bullets. They appear to be a 452374 or copy mold. Im trying 4.0 and 4.5 grains of bulls eye /CCI LP. I want a load that cycles the action and is decently accurate. I shot some .44 round nose bullets to day after shooting my .22 at the target. The RN's do NOT make large holes in paper!!

[GabbyM]

OP didn't say what mold?
I've an RCBS 45-230-RN that cast a bit over 240 with BHN #12 50/50 alloy.
That bullet has a long base band with some to spare So. In an RCBS mold you can pull the spur plate stop pin out with a pair of pliers. Not so on other molds. I removed .025” of metal off the top and it cast 232 grains now.

[Ricochet]

My Lee 230 grain boolits cast at 240 grains with my soft alloy. I load them as 230 grainers. The weight difference is trivial.

[Boomer Mikey]

Don't get carried away worrying about a difference of 10 grains bullet weight. Cast boolit loads are very forgiving... you can use 230 grain data with 240 grain bullets as long as you're not at the extremely hot side of recommended load data and bullet styles are similar. I routinely shoot 260 gain 452424 45 Colt bullets in my 45 ACP's without issues... I just don't use max loads listed for 230's.

There's no secret load that works great in everything; you need to work up loads as suggested above to find the load combinations your guns like.

Boomer :Fire:

[acemedic13]

Thanks guys. All great info. I am working and tuning as we speak. I am fortunate to have a range at the house, so its going pretty fast with the test loads. Thanks for the kind words steve. Your a gent.

[fishhawk]

who me? i'm a grumpy old sort! every one knows that! have worked hard and long to get my grumpyness right........ruin a guys reputation with remarks like that joel