curious to what combo's work best for you in your 1911 .45's. i've loaded rifle for years but am new to .45. i have a kimber custom and have been playing with some old wap1 and mfg 185 grain bullets. results arent to bad. i know the pistol shoots better than i do. i'd like to put it on a rest and really see what it can do. i'd appreciate any info. thanks
I use 5 grains of Red Dot and a 200 grain cast lead bullet. I taper crimp the case. I shoot them out of a Colt lightweight Commander and a Springfield Government model. kwg
I used to load 200 gr LSWC's with W230 for years. Since Unique has a "new, cleaner burning formula" I use 230 gr LRN or FMJ's with up to 6.0 on the leads and up to 6.9 on the FMJ's. (Book loads, by the way. I don't fool around with creative reloading).
You can go lighter on the powder charges than I do for economy but these have worked very well for me for some time and I've stuck with them almost exclusively for my reloads now. Much cheaper for the powder too.
I run these through my two 1911's and more recently the MAC-10 semi. The MAC likes the lower pressure rounds better because the 6.9's tend to jam empties in the action. Too much blowback action I guess, but no signs of over pressure in either load. I never used to try bumping with any of my weapons but this MAC is pure enjoyment and sounds like its running about the same speed as a F/A Thompson (800 RPM or more). Excellent performance out of those loads too.
I cast my own bullets, LEE 200gr SWC and Lyman Devastator HP's for my Sig P220.
It's amazingly accurate with any type of powder I choose as long as I start low and work up. I use Dupont #6, SR7625, Blue Dot, Red Dot, Win 231, Bullseye and Power Pistol.
thanks guys, mine hated blue dot bad. i gave it to a friend with a basturd g.i. 1911 and it works great in it as loose as it is.it was too dirty for mine i guess. another few questions, how short is too short for your brass? as your brass shortens do you change your seating depth? do you guy have trouble with leading using cast bullets?
I used mag primers with Blue Dot. Make my own bullet lube from (new) toilet ring wax, powdered graphite and a little candle wax. Bullets are as cast, no sizing. Never had any leading.
I've never trimmed my brass and shoot a good deal of range pickup without any problems.
I wouldn't seat deeper if you happened to have shorter brass, might cause dangerous pressures. Take a look at your reloading manual, should give proper brass dimensions.
I've been using 8.6 grains of BlueDot behind a 230 grain FMJ round-nose, and regular large pistol primers, and it really brought the groupings together. Firing a Colt series 80.
Much of my brass is recycled from me firing it first, but the range lets me pick up as much as I can find. As long as it looks ok after the tumbler, I load it. Just picked up an F1, so I'll be able to see what kind of fps I'm getting at that charge.
After that, there's a lot of other brands of powder to try!
thanks guys, mine hated blue dot bad. i gave it to a friend with a basturd g.i. 1911 and it works great in it as loose as it is.it was too dirty for mine i guess. another few questions, how short is too short for your brass? as your brass shortens do you change your seating depth? do you guy have trouble with leading using cast bullets?
Must be a rifle shooter. Pistol reloaders don't ever measured case length, as far as I can tell. The cases just don't walk all that much. Usually cases simply wear out. You can get 5-6 reloads to a case, before you run the risk of splitting a case, although YMMV.
I generally shoot either plated or coated bullets. Don't cast as I don't want to get involved with ventilation issues with lead. When I load lead bullets (CAS) I usually clean out any lead in the barrels with some Chore Boy pad wrapped around a soft brush. It does an absolutely fantastic job of getting the lead out. Be careful to ONLY use Chore Boy, as it is the only stuff that's copper; the rest are steel, and they'll tear up your barrel/chambers.
Be careful to ONLY use Chore Boy, as it is the only stuff that's copper; the rest are steel, and they'll tear up your barrel/chambers.
Your concern over using the wrong bore cleaner is well founded. However, Midway has a product (called "Bore Wool" or something) that is made of an alloy that's harder than anything you will shoot down the bore but softer than the steels in barrels. It won't even scratch the blueing on the gun. I've used it for 20 years and it works really slick, leaving the bore nice and clean of all metal fouling.
I guess a product made of copper would do OK too, but the other will remove even copper fouling.
I started with red dot lite load 4.7ga and 200ga hard lead. I did not like the crip. Found that 230ga gave me a better crip. Because of the lube on the lead there is alot of smoke. Red dot was a little fast for me. So now I am reloading with w234. Using 5ga with 230ga fmj. I do like the feel. I would go with the 185 ga bullets if the gun is compact. Kahr works good with 185ga bullets and not so well with 230ga bullets.
To run IPSC majors I load them with 4.8gr of Bullseye, (840 fps) which is good for a 168 power factor (165 is needed to make major).
My range loads are 4.0gr Bullseye (703 fps) with the same bullet.
The smoothest, most accurate load is 3.6gr Bullseye but you must run a lighter 14lb spring in a 1911, and with that spring you DON'T run factory loads.
All measurements were taken with a Beta Chrony, rounds fired from a full size Kimber Custom Target. If you are not trying to make major for competition and are running 200gr bullets, I HIGHLY recommend the 4.0gr loads. 230 loads will require a bit more powder.
I use a load shared by a friend that shoots several major amatuer classes. She's won at Ft. Bragg 3 times, so I trust her recommendations.
It's a 180 grn copper plated LSWC from Ranier, propelled by 4.1 grains of VV N310. I've never clocked it, but it should be in the 950 fps range. I use it primarily for pinshooting and it's proven very reliable. I can only blame accuracy issues on the shooter.
.....a little dirty though!FULL HOUSE LOAD!
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