Best Auto loading pistol caliber for cast

[P Flados]

Depends on the need/desire.

The 45 ACP with the 200 gr SWC seems to make most guns happy with minimal effort. It can be loaded down to just cycle the action or loaded warm to deliver plenty of punch and/or satisfy the need for some bang / recoil.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, 32 ACP and 380 do very well. As they are much less popular, finding a gun in either of these that you want to shoot a lot is not as easy as for the 9mm.

One of the biggest potential downsides of the 32 ACP is brass. At every range session, some always seem to hide better than your ability to track them down. Routinely loosing and replenishing is likely. Unless you are very lucky, resupply via range pickup is not going to work. If you buy used mixed headstamp brass, you will find significant dimensional variations in the rim such that fit for many in your shell holder may be poor.

For 380, getting a good load that does not lead your barrel is about as easy any. Brass is easy to loose among 9mm at the range. However, I find enough free range pickup to replenish my supply. For "just shooting", the reduced muzzle blast and recoil of the 380 as compared to the 9mm is a plus for me.

[Harter66]

The easiest from 380,9mm,40 , and 45 ACP has been the 45 ACP .
Of course having 6 cartridges in .451/2 cal , another in .458 and 12 bullets from 141 gr RB to 535 gr makes that a prime choice for me . The 340+ gr aren't really suited for ACP so only 6-7 moulds . The lone auto will feed anything that will fit in the mags .

The 380 doesn't offer a lot of flex and basically none in the 10' pocket pistols.

The 9×19 is better and will share to greater or lesser degrees the 38/357 moulds like the 45s , 4 of the 8, 85-250 gr moulds aren't really practical at magazine lengths . Fortunately the lone HP9 doesn't mind my explorations .

Now if I were going to pursue an easy effective auto I like the 40 so I'd step up to a 10mm and maybe get a 165 gr mould to go with the 175 and definitely a 200 gr .

[wilecoyote]

I believe that .380auto and .45acp are to be preferred especially for the low original speeds even with j.bullets, therefore not excessively reduced performances even with cast.
personally I would stick with traditional round noses, cast o.c., to avoid feeding surprises, anyway_

[WRideout]

"Best" or "easiest"?

Would I deliberately choose the fairly intense 7.62x25 Tokarev as a cast bullet platform? No, but I wouldn't shy away from casting for one either.

Basically, I don't own a gun I can't shoot cast boolits in. I have put perhaps two boxes of white box Win factory ammo through my Romanian Tok, and probably several thousand cast loads. I had to learn a few tricks to make it completely reliable, but it is great fun, and with a 100 gr cast lead boolit is fairly hard-hitting.
Wayne

[RyanJames170]

I already have a few 45 colt 6 guns already, one of my more favorite revolver cartridges, as far as sharing molds between 45 acp and 45 colt, it can be done just need to get molds that drop big enough and size them down as needed, I plan on having 200-255gr for my 45 colt all of witch can be used in 45 ACP.

[Jtarm]

My experience with bottom feeders is limited, but I would say .45 ACP, if for no other reason than there’s a much larger body of knowledge for cast bullets in it vs other rounds.

[gwpercle]

The 45 ACP is a lovely walk in the park on a sunny day with your best girl who enjoys kissing you ...

The 9mm Luger is an absolute " Stinker " ... it made me say curse words and I gave up on it twice ... the third Time (and an NOE gas checked boolit mould) was the charm ... that tapered case is a bugger to contend with !

Go with the 45 acp and 200gr. cast SWC or TC or RF design ...
Be Happy-Happy
Gary

[6thtexas]

Go with the .45 ACP if for no other reason the fired brass is easier to find when it is scattered on the ground...

[Low Budget Shooter]

My favorite is 45 auto with a 200 grain SWC like everyone else. 380 casts and reloads cheap and easy. But the kids and I also have shot a bazillion cast bullet 9mm rounds over the past several years. 38 S&W stem in the Lee powder-through expander die, with a bullet that doesn't seat very deeply into the case, WITHOUT the Lee FCD, just a taper crimp die, minimum charge that just works the action, and 9mm reloading has gone very well for me.

[Bigslug]

I already have a few 45 colt 6 guns already, one of my more favorite revolver cartridges, as far as sharing molds between 45 acp and 45 colt, it can be done just need to get molds that drop big enough and size them down as needed, I plan on having 200-255gr for my 45 colt all of witch can be used in 45 ACP.

I guess I can call it one of my lasting contributions to the casting community: I convinced Ranch Dog to design a .45 ACP bullet based on his other WFN concepts which required a group buy at NOE to confirm enough interest. During the group buy discussion phase, one of the participants asked if we'd be alright with converting the front tumble lube groove into a crimp groove for .45 Auto Rim and .45 Colt. None of the other players had a problem with that and the TL452-234-RF was the result.

From a 1911 feeding perspective, I've since landed on the the profile of the Accurate 45-230A or 45-230H (both very similar to the LBT 452-230 LFN) as about the ultimate. Having Accurate add a crimp groove to a custom order that would be concealed in the case of the ACP, but made use of in the revolver would be easily achieved on those or many other ACP bullets in the catalog. Asking for a diameter increase to .453" or .454" would be no problem either - depending on how your wheelguns are set.

If you're after a "one-bullet" solution, those 230 grain LFN profiles would be a great compromise. Cast soft, you can probably get them to pancake a bit on impact. Cast hard, they are capable of penetrating A LOT even at GI hardball speeds. The .30" to .32" meplat is not as spectacularly destructive as the .34" of a WFN profile, but it is still no joke and will feed reliably up a GI feed ramp. Ran at "Redhawk" speeds through a sturdy revolver, there's little on this earth it couldn't deal with.

I wouldn't say this answers your OP question, but it may be "best" for you. I mean, really, if you don't have a 1911 in .45 ACP, you're in danger of having your citizenship revoked, so you better get to shopping.

[RyanJames170]

i decided to go with the 45 ACP, i will be making a new post about bullet molds

[DMC707]

is there any other answer than 45 ACP ?

[beemer]

I have loaded the 45 acp, 9mm, 9mm Makarov 380 and 32 acp. Can't say I am as experienced as most folks here loading autos but I have learned that the smaller the case the more finicky it is. I can make them work, sometimes just takes a bit of tinkering around. Most agree 45 acp is the easiest, especially after Doug had a serious talk with the barrel.

If given a choice of one auto it would probably be a 9mm. I really like the small package, round count and reasonable power in a compact CC pistol. This is not really a fun gun but a tool.

Given a choice of one caliber for a handgun it would not be an semi-auto but a 38 Special and my wheel gun.

[MT Gianni]

Two others to add are the 40 S&W and 10 mm. I am surprised at the groups I get with each. Larger bullets are easier to cast and even with higher pressures and velocities accuracy is good. I rate both ahead of the 9 but behind the 45.

[GONRA]

GONRA's DCM .45 ACP Lyman 230 gn. RN cast boolit, range lead, pickup brass.......

[Four-Sixty]

Years ago, I called Lee Precision to ask about expanding 9MM cases to avoid swaging down the base of cast 9MM. I mentioned this site and the Guy I talked to groaned. His advice was to barely expand the 9MM case so that it just barely accepts your cast bullet. I cast and size to .358 using a NOE mold and follow that Guy's advice. I shoot three 9MMs and get great accuracy following that recommendation.

[bobthenailer]

hands down the 45 acp is # 1

[MT Gianni]

Years ago, I called Lee Precision to ask about expanding 9MM cases to avoid swaging down the base of cast 9MM. I mentioned this site and the Guy I talked to groaned. His advice was to barely expand the 9MM case so that it just barely accepts your cast bullet. I cast and size to .358 using a NOE mold and follow that Guy's advice. I shoot three 9MMs and get great accuracy following that recommendation.

This site cost them a lot of money over the late 90's and early 00's by returning group buys that weren't to the agreed upon specs.

[justindad]

Years ago, I called Lee Precision to ask about expanding 9MM cases to avoid swaging down the base of cast 9MM. I mentioned this site and the Guy I talked to groaned. His advice was to barely expand the 9MM case so that it just barely accepts your cast bullet. I cast and size to .358 using a NOE mold and follow that Guy's advice. I shoot three 9MMs and get great accuracy following that recommendation.

Redding’s premium expander plugs are advertised to work with lead bullets. I found my brass was swaging my bullets, measured the plugs & confirmed they were small, and gave Redding a call. They said their plugs were good for 92-6-2 hardball alloy. What a joke. I suspect Lee has the same impression.

[Barry54]

Serious question. If the brass is strong enough to squeeze the diameter of the lead down, and the burning propellant can expand the brass to seal the chamber, why doesn’t the pressure also expand the lead back to bore diameter?