.45ACP SWC question

[mikeyr]

not a newbie at reloading, but newbie at .45ACP. I bought a Springfield Loaded a week ago and still have a few days with it in jail, so I am trying to load up some ammo without the gun to function test.

So, I have lots of Win231 and some 200gr SWC, the very old looking box says "Coles Bullets" and the address is in Los Angeles but that place is long gone, its what the gun store had in stock that I bought the gun from, they are .452 diameter. It looks like the LGS has had that box in stock a few years and the price was right

Checking my books and online, it looks 4.4 to 5.6 gr. of 231 is the load for this bullet, but the book says a OAL of 1.225 for SWC, I am afraid if I go to 1.225 there will be no bullet left to crimp. I see where many people here and other forums say 1.25 is good to go. In this picture, I am at 1.245. I have not crimped it yet, just a range pickup brass and bullet seating, trying to set up my press.

Does that look good ? I am used to having the gun around to do a plunk test and feeding test. It does fit in my go/nogo gauge.

[Dark Hunt]

It looks fine.

5 grains of W231 is the standard starting load.

[xMAC1x]

Looks good.

[mikeyr]

cool, I was more worried about the OAL since the books say 1.225 and if I go that deep there will be nothing to crimp onto. I am at 1.24 and I will buy proper bullets later. Some people say you need to shoot 500 to break in a 1911 so I have 500 of these

I will make a ladder with 4.8, 5.0 and 5.2 of powder but from what I read, 5.0 is all I need.

I just wish I had the gun so I could function test the darned things before making a lot of ammo.

[bruce381]

5 gr 231 @ 1.250 is what I shoot tapper crimp to .471-.472

[Fatcat]

5 gr 231 @ 1.250 is what I shoot tapper crimp to .471-.472

+1 on using a taper crimp die. When I used 231 back in the day, I ran 5.5grn but then I was shooting at bowling pins , lol

[DougMurray]

Mike:

That depth will probably work but don't be surprised if you need to drop it down just a hair. My full size RO needed the shoulder of the SWC (also 200 gns) to be just proud of the case mouth before it would reliably feed. As you've already heard, a load of W231 (or HP-38) between 5.0 and 5.5 gns will suit you just fine. In my case, 5.5 gns of HP-38 got my lead SWCs up to about 900 fps.

[rsrocket1]

My suggestion:
Don't load anything until you get the gun unless it's a bunch of dummy rounds seated at different lengths. Depending on the gun, and yours might be happy with anything, SWC's and 1911's can be very finicky.

Now with my 1980's vintage Thompson Auto Ordnance 1911, it can shoot SWC's if they are seated at the perfect depth but change to a different SWC and I had to start all over again. I finally gave up and shot only RN bullets until I bought a Lee TL452-230-TC and have been happy ever since.

If you wait until you get your gun out of jail, you'll only have to experiment with a couple of dummy rounds and experiment with different seating depths. If that works, load up 3-4 round and see if they all cycle from the magazine.

Having to disassemble a bunch of loaded round because you "jumped the gun" isn't fun and wasting time at the range dealing with 3 point jams isn't fun either.

[tonyjr]

1st , buy a few magazines . Setting at range reloading a magazine
will feel stupid and slow .
The only thing I learned about wad cutters is you need to clean the gun
more often / better . After quite a few years , the guns are cleaned with
in a day or 2 .
All my pistols are semi's except a 357 and they go into the sonic .
They go in with WD - 40 [ the W D stands for water displacement ] Anyway
the lead is harder to get out than copper and now I only use jacketed in everything except the 22 LR and they are plated .
Building up a load for pills you can no longer buy is not really smart .
In my case , like you I buy 500 at a time and do the ladder on each box . Copper changes from run to run , but I really have not found a difference between pills with same weight .

[mikeyr]

its a tradition for me...buy a gun and go shoot it same day. I even plan the day to buy it so I have the day off to go shooting . No safe queens for me.

I have tweaked my load a tiny bit on the OAL to 1.235-1.240 and now working on the crimp and then will build a small sampling of ammo to go up to the range with on Wednesday when I pick it up at noon, I have that afternoon off.

I still have not decided what I am going to load regularly in this gun, I have some copper plated 200 and 230 gr. round nose and HP coming in the mail, bought 500 of each to try. I like the idea of shooting SWC however, just not this brand. Heck, I only have 100 pieces of brass right now, 50 of them are SIG Sauer HP's that I bought to try out and get some brass, the other 50 or so are range pickups so not going to load a lot YET.

[rsrocket1]

You'll be successful with plated or jacketed round nose. If you're determined to shoot it the day you get it, load some rounds you know will be successful with. Personally, if that was my bent, I'd buy a box of plain old hardball and shoot it.

It ain't fun to come out with a new gun and have to deal with jams. Now maybe you'll go out with your SWC's and shoot nicely cut holes in the target with all rounds feeding and ejecting perfectly. That would feel great.

Your gun, your ammo, your choice.

[Lead Waster]

The tried and true SWC profile for .45 ACP is called the H&G #68. H&G (Hemsley & Gibbs or something) don't exist anymore, but many bullet casters use a clone. I think the OAL is typically 1.250, but all guns are different. I'd recommend seating long at first, because if it doesn't feed well, you can shove the bullets in a touch more with the seating die. (Or of course, load up some rounds with each target OAL.

I've heard some people say load until the shoulder is "a fingernail" above the case mouth, but of course range pickup brass will vary in case length.

It's a tricky one, and I've found that my 1911 feeds it better than my Glocks, just due to profile and feeding method. I think Glocks feed rounds in straighter so the shoulder can cram up against the barrel mouth, but 1911's sort of tilt in the round and the H&G 68's nose is right at the place you need it to be to tilt into a 1911 chamber properly.

For simplicity of course, just buy round nose bullets. I actually prefer 200 gn over 230 gn, but that's just me because I want to use the same charge for 200gn SWC.

I think I use 4.7gn of WST with 200 gn SWC.

[robert101]

It isn't the charge as much as the seating depth and crimp width. I'd sure be using a Wilson case gauge or similar to try to keep the rounds in SAAMI spec. Pay close attention to the crimp. Usually .470 or .471 will work fine. Some people want to go down to .469. I just can't get that low as most lead bullets are to wide for a small crimp width like .469. Some guns feed SWC others have more trouble with the specific profile. I'd be testing that first before loading 1,000 rounds.

[DueceMcGurk]

Too many variables for a new gun. Buy a box of 230 hardball and shoot, then start your load development and pistol tuning. If your reloads don't shoot, what is the problem? ..... odd bullet, reload, pistol, grip, etc.

Don't reload more than 10 until you have the pistol to test them and a 230 hardball performance baseline. IMHO

Enjoy your new 1911! Enjoy 45ACP reloading (my personal favorite).

[mikeyr]

I did buy a box of SIG ammo (the only thing he had in the shop) and I have loaded 50 rounds, some 4.8,5.0,5.2gr's of powder, I plan on shooting the factory loads first to function test, but I have also been told that a 1911 often needs a break-in of a few hundred rounds. I am ready to get out of jail