.45 ACP +P, .45 Super and .45-08 Heavy Boolit Load Data?

[dougader]

Beartooth 265 WFNGC over 9 grains Blue Dot gets me right at 1,000 fps in 45 Super brass and a 6" ported barrel.

[Big Boomer]

Have been following this thread closely. I have a couple of .45 ACPs (an old SS Chas Daly and a Dan Wesson PointeMan II) and got the bright (or dim?) idea of using a .45 Colt boolit (RNFP) that weighs 251 grs. of my fairly soft alloy. A reduced load of 3.5 grs. Red Dot with both pistols stock from factory seems to provide an authoritative round that feeds slick as grease. Recoil is not at all an issue and penetration in wood is impressive. Accuracy is better than with any boolit or jacketed thingy so far. Am thinking of using this as a carry round around the farm and elsewhere. Just have to use suspenders with an IWB holster because I'm kinda' skinny, 6' 3" and 200 lbs. Hard to hide a full-size 1911 on my frame. Big Boomer

[robertbank]

Have been following this thread closely. I have a couple of .45 ACPs (an old SS Chas Daly and a Dan Wesson PointeMan II) and got the bright (or dim?) idea of using a .45 Colt boolit (RNFP) that weighs 251 grs. of my fairly soft alloy. A reduced load of 3.5 grs. Red Dot with both pistols stock from factory seems to provide an authoritative round that feeds slick as grease. Recoil is not at all an issue and penetration in wood is impressive. Accuracy is better than with any boolit or jacketed thingy so far. Am thinking of using this as a carry round around the farm and elsewhere. Just have to use suspenders with an IWB holster because I'm kinda' skinny, 6' 3" and 200 lbs. Hard to hide a full-size 1911 on my frame. Big Boomer

If you get the sun behind you with that load you likely will be able to see the bullets on it's way to the target. I shot some of those bullets at an IPSC match and you could see them streak to the target.

Take Care

Bob

[Big Boomer]

You don't have to be shooting relatively "slow" bullets or boolits to see them streaking toward the target if the sun is behind you. An old friend had a .454 Casull and one day years ago we were shooting at 25 yds. I was sitting beside him at the shooting bench and watching with binoculars to see where the bullets would impact. After the first shot, I said, "Hey, you've got to watch while I shoot your Casull one time and tell me what you see!" When I fired the Casull, he said: "I saw the bullet streak through the air!" And those were full power loads, too. I've seen that a number of times with handguns, never with a rifle, though. Big Boomer

[scattershot]

Big Boomer, any idea of the velocity of those rounds?

[Groo]

Groo here
Just order some Doubletap 450 SMC 250gr loads , add a shokbuff, and shoot a few for function.
Then carry the rest.

[Big Boomer]

We were not shooting over a chronograph so I can only guess around 1,500 fps. However, I remember the recoil vividly. My old buddy always liked top end loads, like with heaping amounts of H110 or W296. Big Boomer

[scattershot]

Sorry, I meant the 45 ACP load, ith 3.5 RD and the 251 grain boolit.

[IllinoisCoyoteHunter]

I have loaded hot 45 acps in my G21 with a 24# recoil spring and Jarvis barrel. I comfortably shoot 230 grain XTPs right at 1150 FPS. That load was 9.5 grains of Longshot. Cases show zero signs of pressure and I feel I could go a tad heavier but we don't have bear in central Illinois LOL!

No special compensators or special mags.

[Big Boomer]

scattershot: Do not know the fps of my 251 gr. boolit out of my 1911s over 3.5 gr. RD. I'm thinking it has to be less that 800 fps. But the penetration ... I use 6"X6" treated posts (with 2"X6"s & 2"X8"s on front and back) to catch as much of my lead as possible and a few of those 251s are making my posts bulge. Hard to stop a train. Big Boomer

[makicjf]

I'll shoot , maybe to often, a lee 252 swc over 6.0-6.3 of unique seated to 1.204 from a Rock Island 1911. I have an EGW flat bottom pin stop, an 18.5 wolf spring and a 23 LBS main spring in it. No feed issues, case ejection is 6 feet ( with the 23 lbs main spring a bit over 8 feet with the factory, which I think was 19 lbs) and the group well. I loaded a mountain of these for my 625 which it loved. Ended up with a SRH in 454, moon clipped it and figured, eh, I don"t need two DA revolvers that can shoot 45 ACP and I want a GP100... So I traded the 625 for a GP100 and cash in my pocket. I love the GP100... but the 454 SRH will not shoot 45 acp worth a hoot ( long cylinder , twist rate... little details I did not think of in my brilliance). The load is within pressure specs according to speer, and the oal leaves more case capacity than the speer 260 bullet listed in #12. I guess the FPS at 850ish.... which makes my 1911 a semi auto 8+1 45 colt.... I would not add any more umph, but these seem to work well in my 1911 as it is set up.
Jason

[skiddyfisk]

I have a well-overbuilt 45 carbine, my deer load out of it is 14.5 grains of blue dot with a 230 grain XTP at 1.25", they hover around 1600 FPS at the muzzle. I could probably play higher with super brass and rifle primers but I don't feel that I need to. I wouldn't attempt this out of a pistol in any case.

[taco650]

Longbow,

After reading this whole thread, I can't help but think your friend would've saved $$$ in the long run by just buying G20, a Lonewolf barrel and some Buffalo Bore 10mm loads. I know Glocks aren't nearly as sexy as any 1911 but they just plain work and if I needed bear repellant in a semi-auto form, the G20 is the way I'd go. The G20 also holds twice as many rounds as the 1911. Food for thought.

[frank505]

After reading this whole thread, I'm gratified to see of other experiences with heavy loads in a 1911 such as a 250 NOE running 925 from my Commander. 230s are at 950. In an aluminum frame SIG c3.

[longbow]

I don't think it is just any old semi auto he wants to use, it is his favourite and familiar 1911. My suggestion was to get a .44 mag or bigger for bear protection. His response was that he is proficient and comfortable with his 1911 so want to use that.

Me. I would be looking at a 12 ga. with solid slugs or round ball or something like a .45-70. However, as has been said, the handgun you have at your side is better than the rifle or shotgun leaning against the tree.

His choice is his 1911.

I will call him this weekend to see where he got to with his gun.

Also, thanks for all the responses. This is great stuff!

Longbow

[robertbank]

I have loaded hot 45 acps in my G21 with a 24# recoil spring and Jarvis barrel. I comfortably shoot 230 grain XTPs right at 1150 FPS. That load was 9.5 grains of Longshot. Cases show zero signs of pressure and I feel I could go a tad heavier but we don't have bear in central Illinois LOL!

No special compensators or special mags.

Remember my friend you want penetration for bears. Solids with a flat meplat are ideal. One reason why the guides in Pr. George went with 200 gr LSWC was for penetration. Drive them fast enough and they aren't likely going to stop at the first rib they hit. As a good friend says down in Kitimat, break a bears hip and they stop quick, a spine they stop quick. Pretty much anywhere else and you just get bit. Remember we aren't hunting them in this thread we are trying to stop an attack, not the same thing.

Up here a good defense is making lots of noise. No health care in the bush and unless a bear is hungry they usually don't want anything to do with us two legged predictors.

Take Care

Bob

[warboar_21]

I would think by buying a .460 Roland barrel for his favorite 1911 he would have his cake and be able to eat it too. I think the kits are in the $250-$300 price range.

[NavyVet1959]

I would think by buying a .460 Roland barrel for his favorite 1911 he would have his cake and be able to eat it too. I think the kits are in the $250-$300 price range.

Not all 1911s can be converted to .460 Rowland though. Plus, according to the designer of the .460 Rowland, you must have a compensator. I've built a G21 in .460 Rowland, but with the barrel length and compensator that I went with, I cannot use any of my existing holsters for it. The compensator hangs up on the kydex holsters. I'm thinking that a holster styled like the old 1911 flap type holster might be more appropriate for it.

[NavyVet1959]

Tried 11.0 gr of Longshot in my G21 .460 Rowland-ish conversion utilizing magnum primers, a 230 gr powdercoated cast TC Lee bullet, and regular .45 ACP brass. Brass ejected very well. Still trying to find one piece of it. I've narrowed it down to a 20x20 area -- in other words, it's somewhere in my garage.

Loading the rounds at max OAL of 1.275" resulted in extreme difficulty cycling a round out of the chamber manually.

Since I'm using regular length brass and I don't want to chance loading it in a .45 ACP handgun that has not been converted, I am using red powdercoat on all the bullets for the hot loads.

So far, my bullet trap in my garage is holding up to everything that I've thrown at it.

[jwp475]

i am pretty sure that a heavier spring just beats hell out of your gun going into battery.
the bullet should be out of the barrel before the action ever begins to move so spring strength really does very little except slap your slide forward much harder.

Interesting thesis but a bit misdirected. The spring absorbs the rearward energy created when the boolit is moving down the barrel. More mass to move, at the same velocity yields more energy to absorb. The recoil spring for the 185 gr SWC I use is about 12# but the one for the 230gr RN is 22#. You are correct that the force has to go somewhere when the slide returns to battery, so there is more forward force in the heavier spring. The trade off being 'felt recoil' (lighter spring yields more felt recoil) and the battering your gun receives by not absorbing the rearward force in the spring.

Either way, the energy has to go somewhere. Those darned physics guys, any way.

Acctualy 300 Savage is correct and that is the way my 45 Super is set up. The lug engagement was increased so that the pressure is lower when the pistol unlocks. I run an 18.5 pound spring. I shoot Buffalo Bore and Underwood 255 grain flat point 45 Super and get around 1080 FPS a very good hard hitting load from a 1911.