To supplement what I posted in post #8, according to Hornady's on-line data 5.3 grains on Winchester 231 is a max load for a 230-grain projectile in .45 ACP. When I started handloading, I started out with the Berry's 230-grain plated bullet, and I started with Win 231 because it was on the shelf at my friendly local gun shop. I was looking for a mid-range load, so I started with 4.8 grains, expecting the muzzle velocity to be around 800 fps.
It wasn't. It was actually around 660 fps. So I went up, in increments, until I hit 5.3 grains, which the Hodgdon site says is the maximum. And my muzzle velocity still wasn't even up to 800 fps.
Discussion of this curious (to me, at that time) phenomenon with a fellow member of the M1911.org forum -- a long-time bullseye shooter who has been reloading for decades -- led to a project on that forum to measure bullets and tabulate the results, to help newbies (like me) figure out appropriate load data for bullets that aren't listed in published data.
What we found was that, despite the weight being the same, Berry's 230-grain bullets are significantly shorter than Winchster's FMJ bullets. I had established my C.O.A.L. by the highly unscientific method of measuring five factory Winchester rounds, and averaging the results. So, load a shorter bullet to the same C.O.A.L. and the result is more residual volume under the bullet. Thus -- lower pressure, and lower velocity.
If anyone wants to compare bullet dimensional data, the project results are posted for anyone to look at:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...uItM0glf7wjhd8/edit?hl=en&hl=en#gid=519572970
"Bullet body" refers to the base, the straight portion of the projectile, below the start of the ogive. "Nose" refers to the curved portion, the ogive.
Here's the link to the full discussion, if anyone is interested:
https://forum.m1911.org/showthread.php?77249-Collecting-Dimensions-Bullet-Data