I've been reloading for many years, but I haven't loaded .45 before. I bought one of the four die Lee sets and about the only pistol powder on the shelf, some Accurate Power Pistol. My Sierra manual lists the max load as 7.1gr. for 230 jacket bullets, whereas Lee lists 7.1gr. as the min. and 8.1 as the max. Which set of data should I use?
.45 ACP question
- Thread starter ronl
- Start date
jrobin3360
New member
If the Sierra manual only lists the 7.1gr figure, you can reduce that charge by 10% for a starting charge (7.1-.71=6.39).
You said you have Accurate powder but you didn't mention which one.
There are AA2, AA5, etc. Which exact powder do you have? Very important that you distinguish which one.
You might also check the Accurate website for further data.
The Lee manual usually gets their data from powder/bullet manufacturers.
Try this for data from Accurate/Western powders:
http://www.accuratepowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/WP_LoadSpec_1-23-14.pdf
You said you have Accurate powder but you didn't mention which one.
There are AA2, AA5, etc. Which exact powder do you have? Very important that you distinguish which one.
You might also check the Accurate website for further data.
The Lee manual usually gets their data from powder/bullet manufacturers.
Try this for data from Accurate/Western powders:
http://www.accuratepowder.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/WP_LoadSpec_1-23-14.pdf
condor bravo
New member
Well the Popular Lyman 49th Edition shows 7.2 gr Power Pistol with the 230 as max for the .45 ACP. But as they say, Lee borrows their loading data from other sources and you never know from where. So the 7.1from Sierra is probably closer to max than the 8.l from Lee (not saying of course that you should start at max and then work down; should be the other way around). Note to jrobin3360 that he did specifically state Power Pistol which as you pointed out is Alliant rather than Accurate. So I'm assuming he meant Power Pistol and just got his "A"s mixed up.
Last edited:
jrobin3360
New member
I believe that's an Alliant product.
ronl: A little more data please.
Assuming you acquired Powder Pistol, it is an Alliant product - not an Accurate Arms product. I don't want to assume, so please clarify. Thanks.
It also sounds like you're loading a 230gn bullet; but you didn't specifically state so. Please let us know specifically which bullet you're loading.
Once we have good info to work with, we can get you pointed in the right direction.
Edit: you posted the above answers while I was composing this. Thanks.
Assuming you acquired Powder Pistol, it is an Alliant product - not an Accurate Arms product. I don't want to assume, so please clarify. Thanks.
It also sounds like you're loading a 230gn bullet; but you didn't specifically state so. Please let us know specifically which bullet you're loading.
Once we have good info to work with, we can get you pointed in the right direction.
Edit: you posted the above answers while I was composing this. Thanks.
jrobin3360
New member
Didn't know Hornady made HST bullets.
If you meant Federal HST bullets, where'd you get em? I want some
Could be he meant HAP, FTX or XTP.
Either way, 6.8grs is a good load with Power Pistol.
If you meant Federal HST bullets, where'd you get em? I want some
Could be he meant HAP, FTX or XTP.
Either way, 6.8grs is a good load with Power Pistol.
mwells72774
New member
For a 225 cast or 230 fmj I run a mid 6gr weight charge of PP. Nice crisp but not harsh recoil from 1911's.
Ronl,
A couple of things can become confused in all this. One is that blunt shaped bullets often have to be seated deeper than round nose bullets, and because that reduces powder space you have to reduce charges for those to keep pressure the same, even though the bullets have the same weight.
Alliant, which makes the powder, has two 230 grain bullet loads listed:
230 grain Round Nose, Speer TJM, seated to 1.260" COL:
6.9-8.1 grains
230 Grain Speer GDHP (Gold Dot Hollow Point) seated to 1.200":
6.3-7.4 grains.
Note: Alliant only lists the maximum loads on line. It's downloadable version of their manual tells you to knock 10% off those numbers to use as starting loads. I have, however, adopted Western Powder's practice of knocking maximum loads down 10% for rifle, but 15% for pistol to arrive at starting loads. I think they started that because a given metering error in grains is a larger percent of the total charge in a handgun cartridge. Also, with the short powder spaces, undercharging is less of an issue in them, so you can load small powder spaces to a lower percent fill.
A couple of things can become confused in all this. One is that blunt shaped bullets often have to be seated deeper than round nose bullets, and because that reduces powder space you have to reduce charges for those to keep pressure the same, even though the bullets have the same weight.
Alliant, which makes the powder, has two 230 grain bullet loads listed:
230 grain Round Nose, Speer TJM, seated to 1.260" COL:
6.9-8.1 grains
230 Grain Speer GDHP (Gold Dot Hollow Point) seated to 1.200":
6.3-7.4 grains.
Note: Alliant only lists the maximum loads on line. It's downloadable version of their manual tells you to knock 10% off those numbers to use as starting loads. I have, however, adopted Western Powder's practice of knocking maximum loads down 10% for rifle, but 15% for pistol to arrive at starting loads. I think they started that because a given metering error in grains is a larger percent of the total charge in a handgun cartridge. Also, with the short powder spaces, undercharging is less of an issue in them, so you can load small powder spaces to a lower percent fill.
Last edited: