1911 bullet recommendation

[bigboredad]

I'm looking for a good bullet style that feeds well in a 1911 .45. I would prefer a hardball style with the traditional lube grooves I've had it with the tumble lube design. I know lyman makes a pretty good copy but with the the problems of been hearing about lyman throwing small bullets I hesitate to get lyman

[docone31]

Lee 200gn flat nose. My ACPs love it.

[bigboredad]

I've looked at that and wondered how well it would feed. it looks like the meplat is very wide and flat or is that just the way the picture came out

[HeavyMetal]

I've read several posts that say the Lee RF 200 works real well.

Enough that I may consider adding one to my mold collection as money permits. Have also heard good things on the 125 RF in 9mm so that my come first.

About a year and a half ago a group buy was run on a RNL that was a copy of the GI Ball round, ordered 2 and am real happy with it!

Maybe you can do a search and get a re run going.

The Lyman is a touch off GI as is the stock Lee but both work. AS does Lee's stock copy of the H&G 68.

All of these are standard lube groove designs.

[MtGun44]

If feeding and accuracy is your requirement, 452374 is the answer, absolutely without any
doubt.

However, if you want gilt edge accy and a clean hole in the target, try the 452460. The
H&G 68 is the feeding champ of all the SWC, accept no substitutes. Seating depth is to be
set using the dismounted barrel as the gage. Light taper crimp is mandatory for proper
seating of the cartridge in the chamber - altho a roll crimp can work if all your brass is
the same length - something that almost never happens to me with .45 ACP - most of the
time I am shooting wildly mixed brass.

It is an absolute fact that a properly set up 1911 will absolutely reliably feed the H&G 68
if it is seated to around 1.25 and has a light taper crimp, as long as it is verfieded by hand
checking a test round into the dismounted barrel. Some guns will take 1.260 or 1.270
or even more no problem, but 1.250 usually works in even the tightest throats. This is
just maybe .010-.020 of shoulder out of the case.

There are lots of 'kinda H&G 68' designs out there, so watch out. Your feeding results will vary
unless the nose is almost exactly the same as the H&G 68. In my guns the 452460 will
outshoot it SLIGHTLY. Only REAL military barrels need to be throated for SWCs, but the
military barrels will NOT feed SWCs, almost 100% jams until throated. Any commercial bbl
that I have seen in the last 30+ yrs is throated for SWCs - doesn't mean that ANY SWC or
any length or any crimp will be sure to work, tho.

Bill

[462]

Lyman 452374.

[bigboredad]

I guess I should also say that reliable feeding is number one and accuracy a close number 2 but at this point i just want it to feed reliable

[Glen]

+1 for everything Mtgun44 said.

[OBXPilgrim]

Not sure what you think about some of the group buy molds, or how much you are interested in spending, but you could look a long time & not find a mold with the quality, options, & usability of this mold:


http://mp-molds.com/shopping/pgm-more_information.php?id=2&=SID

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=76032
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=81547

After the 2nd run or it (or is it 3rd?), it's going to be ran again. Great boolit.

[fredj338]

I've looked at that and wondered how well it would feed. it looks like the meplat is very wide and flat or is that just the way the picture came out
IT will be hit or miss depending on the gun. Mine all feed it but OAL has to be watched as some chambers have shorter throats than others. For a all purpose 1911, hard to beat 230grRN. The Lee 6cav 228gr shoots great, obviously feeds well. The Lyman 225gr is another good choice. Nothing wrong w/ the various 230grTC either. If you want a slick 200gr that will feed in anything, Magma makes a 200grTC that casts a great bullet for target or SD.
http://www.pennbullets.com/45/45-caliber.html
http://www.magmaengineering.com/

[MGySgt]

Lee makes a 230 Truncated nose that shoots real good and feeds real weill. I have not had any problems in 3 autos with it.

Plus it is a 6 cavity.

They make it in 2 flavors - tumble lube and standard lube groove. I have the standard lube grove.

Drew

[geargnasher]

I agree with Glen, go back and read MtGun's post carefully and let in sink in.

The only thing I can add is the Lee 230TC with traditional groove works well in some, but is finicky in both Kimbers I've had due to the slide lock nib sticking out too far, and you couldn't give me a new Lyman mould unless it was first sent to Erik Ohlen for driving band enlargement. I have two 452374s, one factory hp and one regular, they would both be more accurately called "450-1 elliptical 374 ***".

Gear

[Char-Gar]

A well set up 1911 will feed a wide variety of bullet shapes, even some with a mega-meplat. The qualification is "well set up". It takes good magazines and proper throating of the barrel. Here is a pic of my brush pistol with a magazine of cartridge. The load is 452423/4.7/Bullseye. This load is 100 percent in this pistol as well as my other two 1911s. I am not recommending this as a bullet for you, but just as an example of the range of stuff that will feed in a 1911. It would not feed in the stock barrel of this pistol (Norinco 1911A1) but does after throating. It doesn't just feed sometimes, but all the time.

Good old H&G 68 and Lyman 452460 are tried and proven bullet designs in the 1911 pistol. I guess what I am saying is pick the bullet you like and then conform the pistol to your wants. It can be done. Sometimes it is a war, between the hunk of steel and the human, but the human will win if he persists and does not surrender. All within reason of course, always within reason.

[bigboredad]

thanks for all the help guys. All the post have got me wondering if overall length is one of the most important parts of feeding reliably and it seems I may be wrong that most of the lee designs you have to load yo a very short oal and that would seem to hamper the feeding reliability. I'm not against lee at all just want o make sure I learn as much as I can I have been reading all I can find doing a search and after about 4 hours I'm more confused than ever.
I know it really comes to trial and error for each individual gun as they are all as different as people. my biggest concern is I have some pretty bad problems with my hands and racking the slide on my 1911 has become so painful I'm not sure how much longer I'll have the gun or be able to work it so I'm not crazy about waiting a long time for a group buy and or spending that much. I have no doubt the custom molds are worth it and if I can get my hand issue worked out I'll jump on the group buy

[johnlaw484]

I shoot the Lee RN Lee 6-Cavity Bullet Mold 452-228-1R in my Kimber, Taurus, Remington Rand, and a parts gun I built. I have had no problems at all in an of my 45's. I have an old Lachmiller lubsizer with a .452 sizer.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=313971

[gray wolf]

You shouldn't have to rack that slide to much. Insert the clip rack the slide and shoot to slide stop. Load another mag and release the slide with the slide stop, no racking.
Shoot all day that way, when your done take out the mag and ease the slide to the front and go home.
The Lyman ball round copy should feed in your pistol and any other 1911, or the other
RN bullets that were recommended.
Don't get all worked up about seating depth--it is a simple trial and error thing.
If you were considering the Lyman mold then go an extra buck or two and get the round nose RCBS, I think it has a little shoulder on it but it should be fine and the mold should be OK from RCBS.

Sam

[NHlever]

I've gotten a few good boolits out of my Lee 45-200 RF mold, but the mold has problems. It is bowed so you can see daylight between the cavities when you look towards a light, and I have a really hard time getting that boolit to fill out right. I have cast a few thousand boolits from other molds this past winter so I'm familiar with at least some of the things to try. The boolit does seem to shoot, feed, and function well when I get good ones. I've tried it in both my Blackhawk ACP cylinder, and my High Standard Crusader...... The latter is no top of the line gun so if it feeds in that it probably should work in most others.

[Wayne Smith]

Dad,

Take a look at BRP's website. Bruce has a copy of the H&G 68 available to buy, no waiting for a group buy. I believe that boolit has gotten some good reviews here, too.

[DLCTEX]

I cast the Lee 228 1r for our 1911s and have no problems with feed in any of several brands of guns. I also cast the Lee 200 SWC and it feeds well in 4 guns, but not a fifth. I suspect the mags with that problem. My Auto Ord. shoots even the 255 gr. boolits ok, haven't tried them in others.

[dudel]

Lee 200gn flat nose. My ACPs love it.

+1 I tried then with a 2 banger; now need to get it as a 6er for more production.

[C1PNR]

I really like the H&G 68 and the 452460 Lyman for standard loads in most of my 1911s. And the 452423 shoots well in them, too. But my Camp Perry accurized 1911 REALLY likes the SAECO 130 which is a 185 grain SWC for the "softball" target loads.

[MtGun44]

If racking the slide is an issue, make sure you manually cock the hammer before you
rack the slide. This reduces the force required dramatically. Also, the comment that you
should shoot to slide lock is a good point.

You MUST set your OAL by using your dismounted barrel as the gage.

Depending on where in the feeding cycle you are having problems it can be either no taper
crimp or too long an OAL. A dummy round must fully seat in the chamber with no more than
a pound or so fingertip pressure. Look for rifling ( 6 marks) or throat (full diam) marks on
the boolit and seat deeper until this stops and the force required is very low. A light to moderate
taper crimp is necessary, too.

Bill

[bigboredad]

I did a little test today. I had found a couple of lee rn tl boolits laying around so I took the gun apart ans using the barrel for a overall length gauge I loaded the tl rn nose about 8 of the lee 230 grain tc tl about 8 of a 200 grain rn commercial load and some 255 lee rnfp. the lee 230rn rl fed great not a problem, the lee 230 grain tc tl jammed on almost every round the commercially local 200 grain lrn fed super no problems at all, an the lee 255 grain rnfp was the big surprise it fed all 8 without issue. soo I 'm thinking the lee 230 rn moulds should be the way to go at their price I can get both tl and the conventional and see what works the best

[StarMetal]

A well set up 1911 will feed a wide variety of bullet shapes, even some with a mega-meplat. The qualification is "well set up". It takes good magazines and proper throating of the barrel. Here is a pic of my brush pistol with a magazine of cartridge. The load is 452423/4.7/Bullseye. This load is 100 percent in this pistol as well as my other two 1911s. I am not recommending this as a bullet for you, but just as an example of the range of stuff that will feed in a 1911. It would not feed in the stock barrel of this pistol (Norinco 1911A1) but does after throating. It doesn't just feed sometimes, but all the time.

Good old H&G 68 and Lyman 452460 are tried and proven bullet designs in the 1911 pistol. I guess what I am saying is pick the bullet you like and then conform the pistol to your wants. It can be done. Sometimes it is a war, between the hunk of steel and the human, but the human will win if he persists and does not surrender. All within reason of course, always within reason.

My 1911's feed empty cases.

[MtGun44]

Mine, too.

Stay away from the TL designs, save yourself the trouble.

Did you try cocking the hammer before racking the slide?

Bill

[NHlever]

My 1911's feed empty cases.

Of course they do Joe, but you know what you are doing! What kind of groups do you get with those loads? :D

[bigboredad]

MtGun44
yes I did That"s how I 've always done and even this being one of the smoothest 1911"s I've ever owned its still painful to rack the slide. But my little helpers that the doc prescribed for me make it possible. However ms is very unpredictable and tomorrow I could wake up and my hands could be be fine. So I just keep hoping. and thanks for the suggestion I do appreciate it and all the others that have come in

[Lonestar22]

Of all the 45cal/1911 molds I have tried, the following are easy to cast, feed flawlessly, and are accurate out to 50 yards.
Lyman #452374 225gr RN
RCBS 080247 201gr SWC
Hope this helps.
Tim

[StarMetal]

Of course they do Joe, but you know what you are doing! What kind of groups do you get with those loads? :D

These are highly tuned 1911's so as not to get piled on I'm not going to describe the groups. Let's just say I'll put them up against any top 1911 builder in the country.

[StarMetal]

Mine, too.

Stay away from the TL designs, save yourself the trouble.

Did you try cocking the hammer before racking the slide?

Bill

That's part of the planned recoil system MtGun. The original 1911's didn't have a rounded bottom edge on the firing pin slide stop thus making camming the hammer back harder. I don't particularly find racking a 1911 slide back that difficult. Now if you want difficult try a Tokarev without first cocking the hammer back.

[A J]

Any boolit with a shoulder should be seated so that only a thumbnail thickness of the shoulder is exposed and should be taper crimped. Start off loading below maximum charge and work your way up. Boolits without a shoulder can be seated out as long as the throat permits without pressing against the lands of the barrel. Watch out to make sure that they will fit into your mags. Seating long will slightly increase your accuracy and reduce chamber pressure.
I cast and shoot at least 500 Lyman 452460's a week every week and more during PPC competition in the winter months using just range scrap and homemade lube.
A J

[mpmarty]

Hey Starmetal the question was how did the empty cases your 1911 feeds group on paper at 25 yards.:kidding:

[Char-Gar]

Well, I never tried seeing if my pistols will feed empty cases, not seeing much point in doing so. I tried it and yep they feed empty cases. I still don't see the point, but now I know.

[StarMetal]

Well, I never tried seeing if my pistols will feed empty cases, not seeing much point in doing so. I tried it and yep they feed empty cases. I still don't see the point, but now I know.

Point is if it will feed empty cases MORE then likely it will feed any bullet style.

[excess650]

I've shot many thousands of Lyman 452460s, but think the RCBS 45-201 to be a better feeding design. I just got a Lee 230TC to feed my Colt Officer's Model and my S&W 625, but haven't cast with it yet.

Many of the 452460s that I shot were lubed with LLA unsized and worked fine.

I've also shot several thousand of the really light 155-160gr, and they can work very well, particuarly in a compensated barrel.

A properly throated and tuned 1911 .45 will feed an empty case and still support the case well enough to not have issues.

[MtGun44]

Starmetal,

Neither do I find racking a 1911 hard, but I have taught enough students to know that
there are a VERY wide range of hand strengths out there in fully normal hands. Our
questioner has hand problems and needs every possible aid to help him be able to keep
his 1911. Many students with hand strength issues (mostly women, but some are
kids, too) have found that the hammer cocking helps them enough that they keep
doing it. I have seen different bottom radii on various firing pin stops and some
gunsmiths are using smaller radii to help keep the gun locked a tad longer in the cycle.

Another option is to put in a weaker recoil spring (maybe about 12 lb) and a shock buff to
protect the frame, if you want to shoot normal loads. A possibly better way is to shoot
3.5 Bullseye or TiteGroup loads. A 12 lb spring will help cocking effort A LOT, esp with the
hammer back already. Light loads are often the most accurate and with hand problems,
no need to be causing extra unnecessary recoil, either.

[mpmarty]

I only used one boolit in 45acp for twenty years, the Lyman copy of the HG68. Then I got an XD45 and had nothing but trouble. I now use a lee 230gr TC in a tumble lube design and with 50/50 LLA / JPW they shoot fine in everything, 1911, Taurus MilPro and the XD. I hear gripes about tumble lube but with my Lyman lubrisizer and Star the tumble lube system is quicker and easier. I even get away with tumble lubing boolits for my 308.

[bigboredad]

the lighter recoil spring is one that I have not thought of but definitely a consideration.
thanks for the idea Mtngun44

[bigboredad]

and for what its worth my gun can feed empties to

[jleneave]

I'm looking for a good bullet style that feeds well in a 1911 .45. I would prefer a hardball style with the traditional lube grooves I've had it with the tumble lube design. I know lyman makes a pretty good copy but with the the problems of been hearing about lyman throwing small bullets I hesitate to get lyman

I just posted this in another thread but thought that it might help out here too...

I also use the RCBS 45-230-RN and I love that mold for the .45 ACP. I also use Bullseye some, but I mostly use Unique. My favorite load consists of 5.9grs of Unique, CCI#300 Lg Pistol primer, seated to a COAL of 1.240". My bullets are cast with water dropped range scrap and sized to .452" and lubed with Lars Carnuba Red lube. I also use a Lee factory taper crimp die. This load will tear the center out of a target @ 25yds out of my Kimber 1911s and my Colt 1911s. I have no leading what so ever out of any of the pistols that I shoot this load out of (a total of four 1911s). I hope this info helps you out a little. Take care.

Jody

[bigboredad]

jleneave

that's the mould I decided on last night. i have one other rcbs mold and really like it so i am hoping to have the same success with the 45-230-rn as i do with my other mold. You say you use the factory crimp die, do you size your bullets or do you do as some do and just let that die do the sizing.
thanks for your hep