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Thread: 38-45 ACP chambered 1911 barrels

  1. #21
    Boolit Master




    bruce drake's Avatar
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    so...
    Initial shots today now that the gunclub was open finally after the county finally cleared a COVID restriction.

    I bought a selection of recoil springs (7, 9, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18) and I'm starting with the 7# spring and will work up from there from each desired loading.

    All loads were with 5.0gr of CFE Pistol powder and the 7lb recoil spring:

    90gr RN Berry plated .380 ACP bullet - no recoil, no cycling of the action. heavy smoking of the side of the case signifying not enough pressure to fully seal the case.

    93gr RN Ideal 356242 mold (another .380 ACP bullet) with polymer coating and sized at .356". very short bearing surface of the bullet made for a real pain in ensuring the bullet seated squarely even with a properly set M Die to expand the case neck. - no recoil, no cycling of the action. heavy smoke residue on the side of the case.

    There will be no further testing of these light bullets

    115gr Winchester silvertip hollowpoint 9mm bullet. seated nicely and in a 3 round test fire, it cycled, ejected and fed the next bullet with no recoil. But the two other bullets fired but failed to cycle. (will increase the powder by .2gr to determine potential for more pressure to fully cycle the 1911 govt. length slide with the 7lb recoil spring)

    124gr Lyman 356402, truncated cone mold. polymer coated and sized at .356". two bullets stove-piped after firing and the third cycled the action and ejected. (will increase the powder by .2gr to determine potential for more pressure to fully cycle the 1911 govt. length slide with the 7lb recoil spring) recoil was minimal and will be a bullet that will see further testing.

    The next set of tests will be more of the 356402 bullets along with a 148gr WC from LEE Precision (a mold for a 38 special WC sized to fit at .356" the formerly chambered 38 Super barrel at 5.2gr with that 7lb recoil spring.)

    In addition, I intend to load several cases with Lyman's 358311 mold which is a 158gr Round Nose bullet for the .38 Special. with the ladder test for the CFE Pistol starting at 5.0gr and doing .2gr increments with first 7lb spring and if its is fully functional at the 7lb, I'll swap out the heavier 9lb spring to see if the heavier spring is functional as well.

    Lots of experimenting in the future. lots of fun hopefully and not frustration.
    I Cast my Boolits, Therefore I am Happy.
    Bona Fide member of the Jeff Brown Hunt Club

  2. #22
    Boolit Master




    bruce drake's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave C. View Post
    Why not the 357 Sig ?
    because I didn't want a 357 Sig or a 40S&W/10mm auto case based slide which would also have required replacing the ejector as well.

    the 38-45, 400 CorBon and the 45ACP all share the same case. easier to fit a barrel to a common slide....
    I Cast my Boolits, Therefore I am Happy.
    Bona Fide member of the Jeff Brown Hunt Club

  3. #23
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
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    Bruce,

    I have wanted a 38-45 for a long time, but never will do so because of the effort; however please continue to post your results. A long time ago some magazine had an article on how some folks were loading the 38-45 to get very fast velocities which caught my interest.

    Thanks

  4. #24
    Boolit Master



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    Bruce, I saw your thread on .38-45 in the bullseye forum and made a post there. I have a set of RCBS .38-45 dies and am searching for a 1911 barrel or brass now! Are there any updates on your .38-45 project?

  5. #25
    Boolit Master

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    Just a thought, can a 9mm barrel be chambered to 38-45. Bore and groove would be about .002" smaller. New 9mm barrels are about $70.

  6. #26
    Boolit Master



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    John, most use a .38 Super to re-chamber. I think the bore is closer to a traditional .38, about .357 Vs the 9 that usually runs around .355.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check