dumb question,

[MacGregor]

could i possibly use the 330 grain gould express bullet (lyman #457122, sized down to .451 to load for a 1911-A1?

or is that just dumb for some reason?

[Buckshot]

could i possibly use the 330 grain gould express bullet (lyman #457122, sized down to .451 to load for a 1911-A1?

or is that just dumb for some reason?

............Well you could, but why? There comes a point when boolit weight, case volumn, allowable pressure, and action battering just doesn't work out to be worthwhile.

Such things have been done in other cartridges where the numbers on paper don't match the benefits in the real world. In the 444 Marlin for example, I believe the optimum bullet weight is supposed to be 265grs. It delivers the most whumpus on paper (trajectory, energy, etc) with optimum pressures. However there is a whole raft of folks shooting 300, 320 and up to 370gr slugs out of the cartridge.

In short range work where the trajectory is one of the last considerations, or at least not so important, the cartridge still delivers enough velocity to give such heavy slugs enhanced penetration. There comes a point in velocity where all an outsized slug will do is piss off whatever it hits by merely raising a welt.

As a side note having to do with heavy slugs in the 45 ACP, several years ago I had a Spanish Destroyer carbine (below):

http://www.fototime.com/4FFDE36264BD077/standard.jpg

re-barreld to 45 ACP.

In the course of some pretty intrepid load generation I had some slugs approching 44 mag ballistics. One of the last things I'd done was to size down the Lee 405gr slug to .452" and began testing. I finally got it going 1075 fps with a charge of Blue Dot. Yes the primers were pretty flat, but at least they weren't falling out :-) What DID happen was one day I happened to notice inside the case, what appeared to be a ring of dirt or something.

What it was, was a crack that ran in a circle around the inside of the cartridge there on the radius when the casewall turns into the floor of the casehead. They'd been fired 3-4 times. What I then did was to switch to Evansville Crysler 1943 headstamped steel cases and had no further problems. I haven't shot that load in a LONG time now. Just not much utility in a 405gr slug at 1075 fps.

...............Buckshot

[MacGregor]

ahh yes... weight..

i found the lyman #452374 mold, that looks like it will fit the bill for the 1911...



shooting 45-70, sometimes i forget that other guns can't shoot as little or as much weight as you can stuff into the bullet..

[cherok9878]

Buckshot, that little Spanish carbine is very interesting. Can you elaborate on it a little more. What made it compatable with the 45 ACP? Do you still have it? If so could you post more photos?...........thanks............larry

[Leftoverdj]

MacGregor, my instinctive reaction is that the Gould bullet is too long to stuff in a .45 ACP case and still get it into the magazine. I suppose you could inside ream the cases and get it to go, but what would be the point?