.45 ACP bullets - what are commonly bought brands? (Casting not an option yet)

Bobznew1,

Whatever bullet you wind up with, note that for lead bullets most 45's shoot best headspacing on the bullet. The third image from the left shows how to set up your bullet seating depth to do that, using your barrel as a gauge. As long as it doesn't cause you feed problems, I found it cut group size by almost 40% when I first discovered it.

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74A95 said:
How many other 5-shout groups did you shoot with that ammo? Do you remember what size they were?
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There's a story to it. I had just finished tightening and fitting up the gun for bull's-eye pistol matches and was shooting lead through it off the bench. It was grouping about an inch at 25 yards range with the cast bullets from a bag with iron sights. I was very satisfied with that. Especially since I was having trouble with the bag I brought being a little short for the job, making me put it up on a stack of targets that kept slipping a little.

On the next firing point was a friend with a Hoppe's pistol rest (no longer made) and an Aimpoint sight on one of those left grip panel replacement mounts. He was throwing nearly 3" groups using the load I wrote down. He had actually loaded them on my equipment a week before the range session. My powder and primers; his cases and bullets. He had just put a Colt National Match barrel in his gun, but just as a drop-in that he hadn't fitted to the gun in any way. I explained he needed to do that. Nonetheless, he was questioning the sight and wanted me to try it. So I swapped the grip panel mount and sight onto my gun and shot the five for the group without zeroing the sight. That's why the group is high on the target.

Since I didn't have a spotting scope with me that day, I couldn't see what had happened from the bench. So I swapped the sight back onto the owner's gun while we waited for a cease-fire to go see what the damages were. Not too bad. Obviously, it proved the sight and the load were fine. He decided he needed to fit up his gun after that.

I was tickled with the group but didn't like the weight of the Aimpoint with the cast metal grip panel mount for offhand shooting (as match rules required). So I never got one of those rigs nor had occasion to repeat the feat. I just know what we loaded for him.

Statistically, a five-shot group isn't impressive. If I assume the worst and that it was just lucky on the small side, based on 95% confidence, a five-shot group with an average size of 1 unit of measure (an inch, a centimeter, a foot; whatever) will randomly vary from 0.652 to 1.53 times the average. So I can say with 95% confidence that the average group would be no bigger than 0.567" if that one was on the small side. On the other hand, if it was on the largest side, the average group would be just 0.25". Even though human intuition says it is more likely the former than the latter, the odds are actually equally high in either direction. The odds are 2:1 the average 5-shot group size over many more samples would turn out to be between 0.306" and 0.468", and are only 1:40 that the group was an outlier (outside the range for 95% of all 5-shot groups I might fire with the same ammo and conditions) on the small side.
 
Can remember igniting several heated debates decades ago with this technique and the whole how a 1911 head spaces. It works, and worked very well for me. Especially with the older style swc's and looser fit 1911's i was using.
 
Yep. Better accuracy and less leading because it stops bullets from entering the throat from a cartridge tipped toward the side of the chamber by headspacing on the extractor hook and shearing metal off. That helps accuracy by keeping the bullet balanced and the land contact helps keep start pressure consistent. Without it, many lubricated lead bullets will start slipping out of their cases under primer pressure, which makes for a high spread in velocity.

I've talked a number of folks into trying this and universally got positive feedback. A lot of other experimenters have discovered it at one time or another, too, both before and after me, but you don't see it written up in too many places. I'm not sure why, but suspect fear of increasing pressure by contacting the throat is part of it. Fear of recommending finding COL's that might turn out to be a little outside of SAAMI spec may be another. But with lead bullets you are already dealing with low start pressure and, indeed, lead bullets have lubricants that can cause them to slip out of a case too easily for best ignition.
 
Has anybody used Berry's plated bullets lately? (been about 10 years since I bought any) Not sure if they are still cheaper than jacketed bullets. I know they have some new hollow-points for defensive use, but I'm mainly talking about their plain old 200 and 230 grain round-nosed bullets. I think they also used to have a 185 grain hollow base.
 
Yes I am loading Berry's 185gr FP and 200gr FP along with 200gr RN and Xtreme 200gr RN.

Cheaper than most Jacketed and on par with many cast.
 
Unclenick said:
There's a story to it. I had just finished tightening and fitting up the gun for bull's-eye pistol matches and was shooting lead through it off the bench. It was grouping about an inch at 25 yards range with the cast bullets from a bag with iron sights. I was very satisfied with that. Especially since I was having trouble with the bag I brought being a little short for the job, making me put it up on a stack of targets that kept slipping a little.

On the next firing point was a friend with a Hoppe's pistol rest (no longer made) and an Aimpoint sight on one of those left grip panel replacement mounts. He was throwing nearly 3" groups using the load I wrote down. He had actually loaded them on my equipment a week before the range session. My powder and primers; his cases and bullets. He had just put a Colt National Match barrel in his gun, but just as a drop-in that he hadn't fitted to the gun in any way. I explained he needed to do that. Nonetheless, he was questioning the sight and wanted me to try it. So I swapped the grip panel mount and sight onto my gun and shot the five for the group without zeroing the sight. That's why the group is high on the target.

Since I didn't have a spotting scope with me that day, I couldn't see what had happened from the bench. So I swapped the sight back onto the owner's gun while we waited for a cease-fire to go see what the damages were. Not too bad. Obviously, it proved the sight and the load were fine. He decided he needed to fit up his gun after that.

I was tickled with the group but didn't like the weight of the Aimpoint with the cast metal grip panel mount for offhand shooting (as match rules required). So I never got one of those rigs nor had occasion to repeat the feat. I just know what we loaded for him.

Statistically, a five-shot group isn't impressive. If I assume the worst and that it was just lucky on the small side, based on 95% confidence, a five-shot group with an average size of 1 unit of measure (an inch, a centimeter, a foot; whatever) will randomly vary from 0.652 to 1.53 times the average. So I can say with 95% confidence that the average group would be no bigger than 0.567" if that one was on the small side. On the other hand, if it was on the largest side, the average group would be just 0.25". Even though human intuition says it is more likely the former than the latter, the odds are actually equally high in either direction. The odds are 2:1 the average 5-shot group size over many more samples would turn out to be between 0.306" and 0.468", and are only 1:40 that the group was an outlier (outside the range for 95% of all 5-shot groups I might fire with the same ammo and conditions) on the small side.
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Thanks for the reply. You could have saved yourself some time and just said that you fired only one 5-shot group. That would have answered my question.
 
"...also want a personal defense load..." A cast 230 target load will disrupt anybody's day with no fuss. One must practice regularly with the ammo you intend using for CCW.
 
Thank you everyone for the helpful advice and recommendations. As well as for the info re: headspacing. That's the type of feedback a newbie needs. Thanks again.

On recommendations I ordered some 200gr LSWC (Bullseye#1) from MissouriBullet, and some 230 FMJ MHI from RMR.

Thanks again guys.
 
bobznew1 said:
Thank you everyone for the helpful advice and recommendations. As well as for the info re: headspacing. That's the type of feedback a newbie needs. Thanks again.



On recommendations I ordered some 200gr LSWC (Bullseye#1) from MissouriBullet, and some 230 FMJ MHI from RMR.



Thanks again guys.
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For the LWSC a good starting point is the shoulder of the bullet should be about a finger nail thickness above the rim of the case. Then use the plunk method as shown above to fine tune the COAL. I use the RMR 185 for target practice, never had issues with accuracy.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 
On recommendations I ordered some 200gr LSWC (Bullseye#1) from Missouri Bullet Co.
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You won't be disappointed.

I seat mine to 1.240"; have for over three decades - which puts the shoulder of the bullet about 1/32" or so above the case mouth. I actually have a dedicated seat die for this bullet - it's locked down and loads nothing else. This dimension is not quite to the lands on my guns (per Unclenick's illustration/post); but I've run into feeding problems going longer. Accuracy is excellent in spite of not touching the lands.
 
Nick_C_S said:
You won't be disappointed.

I seat mine to 1.240"; have for over three decades - which puts the shoulder of the bullet about 1/32" or so above the case mouth. I actually have a dedicated seat die for this bullet - it's locked down and loads nothing else. This dimension is not quite to the lands on my guns (per Unclenick's illustration/post); but I've run into feeding problems going longer. Accuracy is excellent in spite of not touching the lands.
Click to expand...
This thread has given me info that I didn't ask for, but which will likely prove indispensable. That's the great thing about this site. People willing to impart information and education so freely. One of the many things that makes this sport/passtime so great.

Thanks so much everyone for helping in the learning process.
 
I buy cast 200 gr RN from thebulletworks.net, use them in 1911 guns and a 625 revolver. I usually order 2000 at a time, good bullets at a fair price. They also sell SWC and plated bullets. I use a 200 SWC cast from Rucker for Bullseye shooting. I get the Ruckers from SW Ammo in Mesquite, TX. I buy 9mm plated and jacketed from RMR, plated from Berrys, bulletworks, Extreme, I can't honestly tell any difference in the plated bullets, I buy from whoever is cheapest and has them in stock. 124 gr RN in the 9mm.
 
ZEKE at post 21:

That is the old Saeco 315 mold. Magnus also sells that bullet in lead and calls it a "bowling pin bullet" Loaded at 850 fps, it knocks pins off the table with authority. I use it for a carry round at just a little bit higher vel. It feeds like a dream in all my 1911s.

However, for general range fun, a 200 gr. SWC clone of the H&G 68 over 4 grs of Bullseye is as sublime and iconic as it gets.
 
jaysouth-Thanks, it's been quite awhile since i used magnus bullets. Am evaluating switch to the coated 215 grainer in the shorter 1911 carry gun. Pretty easy to make a milder recoiling round that has a large meplat out front. This bullet at 800 fps from 3 in seems like a decent alternative to 230 jhp at around 850 fps.

Used to shoot alot of the Magnus 801, they used to call the short 185 swc.
 
Montana Gold is probably the most cost effective when you buy them by the case even compared to plated bullets.
 
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