Starting to reload 45 acp

gunguy30_06

I have been reloading 38 spl, 357, 44mag, and 30-06 for about a year and i just bough a hornady progresive press and i am going to start reloading 45 acp. i was just wondering if there was anything that you guys have learned about reloading for the 45 over the years. i think i am going to reload round nose lead bullets, not sure of the weight but i think i will go with 230 so i don't have to change the recoil spring on my 1911. I am also going to use W231 powder. i think i might experiment with red dot, just to use some of that powder up. What do you guys reload 45 with. i just want an inexpensive round to plink with.

bpost

You have asked some great questions!

A .45 head spaces on the case mouth. Therefore no roll crimp should be used. There needs to be enough case sticking out from the bullet to hit on the chamber lip and hold the case in the chamber. A taper crimp is the easiest way to get that.

A 230 RN bullet is fine for plinking and also feeds well. A 200 gr SWC is better for paper shooting and will be more accurate. The powder charge has more to do with the spring rate than the bullet weight, although they are related.

Red dot is fine in the .45 but VERY smoky compared to WW231. My favorite plinker load is 5.0 gr of WW231 pushing a Lyman 200gr SWC. It shoots very well and is extremely accurate.

Some brass is thicker than others. You may notice a bulge where the bullet is sitting in the case, kind of a coke bottle effect. It is normal and nothing to worry about. Keep the loads in the middle of the range for safety. Most .45 have a LARGE area of un supported case head exposed at the feed ramp and a blown case will wreck a gun real fast.

Happy shooting!

gunguy30_06

i have heard that semi-wad cutters don't always funtion in all guns, is this true? And yes i know that red dot is dirty but i didn't know that 5 lbs will reload alot of handgun rounds when i bought it! you said you used 5.0 gr of 231 with a 200gr swc, how heavy is your spring, and i am curious how far your casing are going, i would like a load that doesn't throw them very far, for obvious reasons from a reloaders view point. thanks for your input pbost1958!

bpost

If the feed ramp is OK then most .45's will feed about any reasonable shape. The Hensley and gibbs #68 SWC the LEE 903101 Bevel Base SWC or the Lyman 452460 all feed well in my .45's.

From my experience the spring is not much of a concern as long as the load is reasonable and the spring is not off a Mack truck. It is a balance between load and spring tension. The reduction in recoil "frame bang" at the end of the slide travel can be reduced by a heavier spring but the slamming into battery can then be excessive. The idea is to slow the slide and have enough energy to return to battery with a new round in the chamber. It seems a 17-18 pound spring worked for me. If you have failures to return to battery or stove pipe jams then changing the spring may help.

If it shoots now then the idea is to duplicate the factory rounds in performance at a reduced cost.

Five pounds of red Dot will load a LOT of 45's. We will be able to call you "Ole Smokey" for sure.

The brass flying all over is a function of extraction and ejection parts more than the load or bullet. Consistent loads with a proper spring always seemed to toss the brass to my 4:00 in about a 5 foot circle. There is always the one or two that bang you in the forehead or land head down in the crook of your arm during a timed or rapid fire string. That is just part of the game.

Have fun be safe!

Grunt2

W/W 231 has been my choice for years...Red Dot my second (but you have to be near max or it will smoke)AA powders meter very well for some progressives but my old C&H's won't handle the fine grained AA powders with out an available modification (in my opinion a much better machine than the Dillon). Get a Wilson gauge. 200gr H&G has been my mainstay loaded to the old major power factor for IPSC shooting.My duty 1911 will feed empty cases so the semi bullet configuration was never a problem. 1911's are easy to work on anyway.
Good luck and have fun....

"No arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.
- Ronald Reagan

1911a1-fan

200 grain Rnl is fine, and will be Smokey regardless of the powder used, it is the lube that burns off and produces the smoke on lead cast bullets, as far as the recoil spring this should not be an issue because you will need to replace it often anyway {suggested 5,000 rounds}so you might as well tune the gun for the 5-8 dollar cost of a spring to fit you , H&G #68 {swc}is my choice as well, but not all guns will feed them if the chamber is to tight, they may feed them for awhile but without throating the barrel you may have a few ftf's

the lighter the load, the lighter the spring, ideally your brass should extract 3 to 6 feet away from the gun, any less to much spring, and may result in a fte, any farther and you are putting to much stress on the gun

230 grain rnl I would start with 5.1 grains of 231, I crono'd 772 fps average
200 grain, max I have done is 5.4 at 833 fps