Favorite .45ACP powders

Never tried WST but during the great Obama shortage I managed to get a can of WSF and a can of Autocomp. Both worked well but I can't say that they showed any improvement over my stand byes.
Unique was always one of my favorite powders for just about everything but I've switched to Universal because it meters better and you get the same performance with slightly less powder.
Really like tightgroup, especially in 38 Super. Only problem I've found with it is it sure burns awfully hot.
Thanks for all the replies. ;)
 
Win 231 for 15 years or so...Bullseye before that...and lately WST, just 'cause I got bored with the other two and wanted to work up some new loads. But...doing a shop cleanup this past wkend, I found an 8# caddy of Bullseye I'd forgotten. At age 73, this oughta last me till I'm lookin' at grass from the wrong side of the turf.

For the most part, I load 200 gr. LSWC's of my own casting, or Missouri Bullet Co.'s excellent equivalent. For molds I've had great luck with H&G's #68, or the Lyman equivalent #452460 IIRC. Another good one is Lyman's #452374 IIRC (the lead alloy match up with the military 230 gr FMJ Ball bullet). The 3 powders listed above will work to perfection with any standard pressure load you can concoct. My best efforts for accuracy and function with a 200 gr. LSWC are 5.2 gr of 231, or 4.9 gr of Bullseye.

These all in 1911's, a Colt SAA with .45 ACP cylinder in place, and a Smith Model of 1955 in .45 ACP. YMMv, Rod
 
Win 231 for 15 years or so...Bullseye before that...and lately WST, just 'cause I got bored with the other two and wanted to work up some new loads. But...doing a shop cleanup this past wkend, I found an 8# caddy of Bullseye I'd forgotten. At age 73, this oughta last me till I'm lookin' at grass from the wrong side of the turf.
Click to expand...

Keep cleaning Rod, and perhaps you will find a Bullseye Competition 1911 that you'd forgotten you had.:)

Don
 
I'm not sure I've ever loaded .45 ACP with anything except W231. Well, there might have been one can labeled HP38 once.

Sent from my SM-A102U using Tapatalk
 
Any powder that will cycle the action and shoot close to the average fps, i have found dozens of powder that works good for me. Love loading for 45acp!
 
5.2 grains Unique and a 200 grain cast SWC (Lyman #452460) in a 1911 AMT Hardballer Has won me more than one first place trophy in match shooting .
I'm looking at them now sitting on top my book case !
Don't poo-pooh Unique ...it's a good powder .
Gary
 
Is yours one of the long slide versions? I wanted one of those for a time, but never got around to getting one.

The Hodgdon Universal mentioned earlier is between Bullseye and Unique in charge weight and seems to burn a little cleaner than either one for me. But I've only shot practical with it. When I shot bullseye matches, I was petty much feeding a steady diet of Bullseye to my Goldcup.
 
Most used to least used: W231, Unique, Bullseye, Universal Clays, and Power Pistol. That said, I bought 8 pounds of Universal Clays during the last shortage and like it a lot.
 
Far and away W231 (or HP-38 - same stuff). My 200gn LSWC's have sat atop 5.0 grains of W231 since early 1985. I have a dedicated 45 ACP seat die that does nothing else but load these. 840 f/s through my 1911's. And all other range ammo except the truly hot ones are with W231. These are usually plated 230's, turned up rather warm.

Bullseye gets honorable mention here without doubt. I phased Bullseye out of my inventory years ago; but it sure made great 45 ACP ammo. The combination is a natural; plain and simple.

I use N310 for my super light 200 LSWC loads. I have a Colt 'Series 80' 1911 I bought in 1984. It must have 30k rounds through it (maybe 40k). Anyway, it's in a well-deserved state of semi-retirement and only feeds on mild ammo cycling a 12Lb recoil spring these days.

For the hot stuff, Power Pistol is my go-to. Power Pistol is amazing stuff and it really shines in 45 ACP. I've taken 230's to over 950 f/s with a 10-round sample, yielding a Standard Deviation under 5. I won't ever drive 230's that hard again, but I did it without trouble. These were hand-weighed load work up rounds; and not my regular production charge weight. Please don't chase these velocities. My point is that Power Pistol was my velocity champ with heavy slugs in 45 ACP. If you wanna go fast, use Power Pistol.
 
For high performance with 185 and 200 grain jacketed bullets, I’ve had great success with both 800X and AA-7, particularly in longer barrels.



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I agree with Nick when it comes to Power Pistol. I've been working with it to duplicate Speer's 230 gr. Gold Dot load... I was trying for 900 fps and ended up exceeding that. I'll probably try those in my S&W 625-8 next time, I don't like beating up my 1911!

Gun: Springfield Armory Trophy Match (Wilson 16 lb. recoil spring, Dawson Alumna Buffer Pad and Wilson Full Length Guide Rod)

Bullet: Speer 230 gr. Gold Dot HP
Powder: Alliant Power Pistol 7.4 grs.
Primer: Federal 150
Case: Winchester
OAL: 1.200 – 1.205
Velocity: 959.04 fps
ES: 21.55
SD: 7.54

065918-DC-662-A-445-D-B845-777-BE9-D1-BCEF.jpg
 
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