What ammo in .45 ACP?

[LHB1]

What ammo do you use in .45 ACP? Since I have been a dedicated pistol, rifle, and shotgun ammo reloader for about 44 years (since 1964), my choice is as follows:
5.1 gr Win231 behind 200 gr H&G #68 hard cast lead bullet in Win brass with Win LP primer, crimped to .469-.471" and seated to 1.240-1.250" OAL. The determining seating factor with this style bullet is to seat it with about 1/32" of the bullet shoulder protruding in front of the case. This usually gives an OAL in the range quoted. Accuracy of this load is within X ring at 25 yds (1.75") if the pistol and shooter are up to the job. This is a popular load with some shooters using 5.2 or 5.3 gr instead for a little more velocity and snap.

CAUTION: DO NOT USE THIS OR ANY OTHER SUGGESTED LOAD UNLESS YOU CAN VERIFY IT AS SAFE IN AT LEAST ONE AND PREFERABLY TWO COMMERCIALLY PUBLISHED RELOADING MANUALS.

Good shooting and be safe.
LB

 

[Peter M. Eick]

I shoot 4.9 grns of bullseye with a 230 grn Rem FMJ normally. I load to 1.272 with starline brass, cci300 primers and have not had any problems.

I found that 231 gave a slightly sharper recoil pulse then bullseye. Have you seen that before?

 

[LHB1]

I found that 231 gave a slightly sharper recoil pulse then bullseye. Have you seen that before?

Pete,
Must confess that I haven't loaded Bullseye powder in .45 ACP since I stopped competing in NRA Bullseye matches back in the mid '70s. I moved on to other powders and just never tried old faithful again. W231 works so well in my guns that I just can't bring myself to try anything else right now. Guess it is part of the old rule: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Seems a number of folks are using TiteGroup and/or one of the multi-Clays powders now and I haven't tried them either.

 

[RangeMasterTX]

200gr rnfp over 9gr bluedot.

 

[mac79912]

Hornady Tap,Or Corbons for carry and Magtech for plinking.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

I concur on the "dont fix it if it aint broke rule". That is why I am still banging away with bullseye and unique. I tried 231 but it never did as well for me as 230 so I stayed with bullseye. I tried titegroup but it left a nasty stain.

 

[rrtex1]

200 RN over 3.9 grains of Clays

 

[txpete]

my cast 200 gr swc sized .452
4.5 grs bullseye
win brass (my fav)
win lp primer

just a good accurate load.
pete

 

[DoubleAction]

Winchester Ranger T-Series or Bonded (deeper penetration)

 

[DEFKON99]

id say monarch but i dont think im going to be messing wit that stuff ever again, Im for certain it screwed up my firing pin in my ruger p345. The guy who sold me the gun said the primers were pretty hard thius making my pin do more work than it should. anyone disagree or did i buy a lemon?

 

[Pappy]

CAUTION: DO NOT USE THIS OR ANY OTHER SUGGESTED LOAD UNLESS YOU CAN VERIFY IT AS SAFE IN AT LEAST ONE AND PREFERABLY TWO COMMERCIALLY PUBLISHED RELOADING MANUALS.

I use 6.0 gr Unique under any 230 gr bullet.

This is about equivalent to the original GI load, about 850fps.

Once again, this is what I use. Start low and work up looking for pressure issues......

 

[JDKRIEK]

CARRY
.45 ACP 230 GR Federal Premium Hydra-Shok JHP

I really like Speer too
.45 ACP 230 GR Speer Gold Dot JHP

 

[Bullseye Shooter]

For my Bullseye wad guns, I load 3.5 grains of Bullseye with a 185 SWC (either KEAD or Bulletworks) for the short line and 3.5 BE with a 200 grain SWC for the 50 yard slow fire.
For my EIC hardball gun, I load 4.5 grains of BE with a 230 grain FMJ (mandatory bullet) for the long line and 4.0 grains of BE for the 25 yard line. For practice with the hardball gun, I load 4.0 grains of BE with a 230 grain lead RN bullet.
Some will say Bullseye is a dirty powder, but more than likely, most of the goop comes from the lube on the lead bullet. With FMJs, Bullseye is not dirty. Also, I've noticed in my .38 Special 1911 Clark conversion with either Hornady, Zero, or Remington swaged bullets, there is very little build-up of gunk. I use 2.7 grains of BE with those bullets (148 HBWCs) which the old std Bullseye load for the .38.

 

[sbb]

4.6 gr of IMR 700X and 230 gr. plated rn. Works for me with not hiccups and a clean burn.

 

[baboon]

6.3 grains of Unique over 230 grain Laser Cast for practice. Same powder setup but with Speer Gold Dots or remington Golden Saber's both in 230 grain.

 

[ForneyRider]

Shot these for practice:
Sellier & Bellot 230gr FMJ
Winchester White Box 230gr FMJ
Remington UMC 230gr MC
Wolfe 230gr FMJ
CCI Blazer 230gr FMJ

I like the WWB the best.

Remington Golden Sabre 185gr +P

Reloading:

230gr Hornady FMJ
230gr Hornady JHP with 5.3W231(800fps) or 7.5gr Power Pistol(950fps)
200gr self-cast RN with 5.0gr, very light.

If I see a deal on the Golden Sabres, I will stock up on those.

 

[Amistad]

id say monarch but i dont think im going to be messing wit that stuff ever again, Im for certain it screwed up my firing pin in my ruger p345. The guy who sold me the gun said the primers were pretty hard thius making my pin do more work than it should. anyone disagree or did i buy a lemon?

DEFKON, it sounds like you may be referring to Monarch ammo (sold here locally at Academy) that you have had a bad experience with, no? I have a P345 that I bought new about a year ago. I've pumped just over 2,000 rounds through it (about 3/4 of them have been my reloads) and thus far I've had no problems at all with the gun. I regret to hear you say that your Ruger experience has not been as good...

Back to what this thread started out as:
My favorite load for my P345 is a 200 grain LRNFP bullet powered by either 5.1 grains of Unique, or 8.4 grains of HS-6. OAL is set at 1.210 for these loads. These really run well for me...

Amistad

 

[rick458]

200 gr Oregon Trails Laser cast LSWC, CCI 300 large Pistol Primers, 5.2 grains W231, Very accurate in my Kimber and Colts, plus 2 other Kimbers, and 1 other Commander.
230 Ball Remington or Winchester, CCI 300 5.4 grains W231 good accuracy
230 JHP Remington or Winchester, CCI 300, 5.6 grains W231 Very accurate in most pistols

 

[jodevilgod1]

I used Speer Gold Dots for the longerst time, but I recently switched over to Hornady TAP. Far less recoil, and less muzzle flash at night. Still very accurate.

 

[rick458]

I shot 1 mag of my old carry ammo, 230gr Federal Hydrashoks, at 21' and put 6 rds through 1 hole an inch above the bull 1 in the bull, and a 7:00, and 4:00.
this was standing unsupported first shots of the day.
Hydrashoks may not be the new whiz bangiest round out these days but they are very reliable and accurate