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Thread: .45acp powder for big ball of flame.

  1. #1
    Boolit Man
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    .45acp powder for big ball of flame.

    Hi guys, I have a dumb question for you all. Here goes: I have a friend who has a 1911, and he would like a few cartridges that will throw a big, dramatic, ball of flame when fired. Not high velocity or high recoil, just a big ball of flame for laughs. I have 230 grain lead round nose projectiles, and I'm looking for some advice on what powder to use for this silliness, while still being safe. So, something that I could find published data for. Hodgdon's online data says I can go up to 8.2 grains of HS-6, would HS-6 be a slow enough powder to get what I'm looking for? I use quite a lot of HS-6 in .357 Magnum with 8.5 grains under a 158 grain LSWC Boolit, and it doesn't seem to throw much fire, although it's still just enough to let you know you're shooting a Magnum. I absolutely love it. Any thoughts?

    Scotty
    Last edited by scottyp99; 04-22-2023 at 10:24 PM.

  2. #2
    Boolit Master Recycled bullet's Avatar
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    Try power pistol if you can get data for it.

    It makes a thunderous boom and a huge fireball and is certainly accurate and powerful in 9mm, 38 special and 357 magnum.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master fastdadio's Avatar
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    Chamber a primed but empty case in it, then load it from the muzzle with about 40grs black powder and a paper wad. That outta do it.
    Deplorable infidel

  4. #4
    Boolit Master
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    296 will usually make a big fireball but I don’t know if there are any published loads for 45 acp.

  5. #5
    Boolit Grand Master Nobade's Avatar
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    I load my 1911 with 3f black powder sometimes. It is accurate, cycles well, and generates a lot of smoke and fire. And 1911 is easy to clean up afterward since the fouling all stays in the barrel.

  6. #6
    Boolit Grand Master Outpost75's Avatar
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    +1 on the BP.

    Will cycle an M1A1 Thompson and leave a large enough smoke cloud to cover your escape!
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  7. #7
    Boolit Master
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    Oh man, I really miss Winchester 630. What an actual flame thrower that was. In my 1911 it would create a muzzle flash that you could see from the Moon. You could use it to signal to a battleship that was over the horizon. Are you at a gun range and the Noobie beside you is giving you a brass shower with their AR? You could just light off some 230 grain hardball with 630 and before you were through half the magazine he would have moved. Need to start a campfire in the rain? No problem: 630 is your friend. Need to suck all the air out of a Taliban cave, you don't need a thermobaric bomb, you've got 630! Worried that the muzzle flash might upset your night vision: no problem, light off a round after dark and all the bad guys would be blind. Yes, I miss 630.

  8. #8
    Boolit Master
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    ANYTHING slower-burning than Unique (it, too, will work), without flame retardants. Power Pistol is probably a superb choice, and I would expect Herco or Blue Dot to put on a good show.
    Filling a case with 3f gunpowder and no projectile sounds like it might work, though I might use 0.5 gr. of something fast burning like Bullseye or RedDot under it, to be sure it fully ignites. Or would that be counter-productive?
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  9. #9
    Boolit Buddy
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    Hs-6 might get what you want, i loaded some into 230gr 45+p terrirory but it comes with recoil too. But the boom is awesome, but no noticable fireball. Havent tried any at dusk.

  10. #10
    Boolit Buddy HumptyDumpty's Avatar
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    I can confirm, a case stuffed full of 3f black will run your buddies 1911, and will having you grinning from ear-to-ear, if you ever feed it through a submachine gun. I use Power Pistol extensively, and can' say that I can't say that I've seen any spectacular fireballs. But then I've always noticed such things less, when actually firing a gun.

  11. #11
    Boolit Buddy
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nobade View Post
    I load my 1911 with 3f black powder sometimes. It is accurate, cycles well, and generates a lot of smoke and fire. And 1911 is easy to clean up afterward since the fouling all stays in the barrel.
    How many black powder rounds do you shoot in the 1911 in a session?

  12. #12
    Boolit Buddy
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    I have a crazy thought (keep that in mind when you read this). How about a duplex load of some bullseye first, then a v-e-r-y slow rifle powder on top of it. Seat the boolit with enough total powder to compress and be held in place. Or some COW as a filler.

    The bullseye shoves everything out the barrel and that slow burning rifle powder creates a fireball. Using something like reloder 22 or a magnum round powder can't add much to the chamber pressure. But it sure would put on a show as it exited the barrel...

    45_Colt

  13. #13
    Boolit Buddy HumptyDumpty's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 45_Colt View Post
    I have a crazy thought (keep that in mind when you read this). How about a duplex load of some bullseye first, then a v-e-r-y slow rifle powder on top of it. Seat the boolit with enough total powder to compress and be held in place. Or some COW as a filler.

    The bullseye shoves everything out the barrel and that slow burning rifle powder creates a fireball. Using something like reloder 22 or a magnum round powder can't add much to the chamber pressure. But it sure would put on a show as it exited the barrel...

    45_Colt
    I acutally tried that with 44 Magnum, utilizing 1 grain of Red Dot and 25 grains of WC-860 (50 BMG powder). The result is an unbelievably accurate load both rifles and revolvers, with no recoil, but sadly, no fireball either.

  14. #14
    Boolit Grand Master Nobade's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by openbook View Post
    How many black powder rounds do you shoot in the 1911 in a session?
    I don't know, at least 75 or so. I used to shoot IDPA with it sometimes. Never had it gum up and stop working.

  15. #15
    Boolit Master
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    Power Pistol for the win. It's a very 'flashy' powder, and widely used in .45 ACP.
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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