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Has anyone ever loaded their own "outdoors defense" .45's?
I'm planning on a trip to a friend's in Monterey/Los Padres NF area (hike/camp, possibly hunt). (Any hunters here from the area?) Obviously, being bear/cat country there'll be .308's and/or shotguns, but I was thinking hey, why not prep the 1911 as well. Even if I don't end up using it on the trip it's still a good exercise in specialized loading.
I want to load up a batch of defensive .45ACP (probably to +P pressures), with penetration and only penetration in mind. Which is why I call it the "outdoors defense" .45 load, since with any non-human target, the shallow-big-hole principle of 12"-depth, .70"-expansion would definitely not be optimal. You want as much penetration as possible to reach any vitals, and as heavy a bullet as possible for minimal brush deflection.
I'm thinking of starting with +P brass, then working up slowly from safe pressures on the slowest powder possible for .45, which I believe is AA#5 or AA#7 (correct me if I'm wrong). I think that's pretty straightforward.
The non-straightforward part is obviously the bullet. In this case I want the heaviest, FMJ/LRN/LFN .451/.452 that ACP can reasonably push. A few question then, in that regard:
Anyway, I'm looking at the following bullet choices:
Then, there's the issue of the area being a lead-free zone. For lead-free bullet considerations
Thoughts? Comments? Opinions? Give up and cast my own out of bismuth?
I'm planning on a trip to a friend's in Monterey/Los Padres NF area (hike/camp, possibly hunt). (Any hunters here from the area?) Obviously, being bear/cat country there'll be .308's and/or shotguns, but I was thinking hey, why not prep the 1911 as well. Even if I don't end up using it on the trip it's still a good exercise in specialized loading.
I want to load up a batch of defensive .45ACP (probably to +P pressures), with penetration and only penetration in mind. Which is why I call it the "outdoors defense" .45 load, since with any non-human target, the shallow-big-hole principle of 12"-depth, .70"-expansion would definitely not be optimal. You want as much penetration as possible to reach any vitals, and as heavy a bullet as possible for minimal brush deflection.
I'm thinking of starting with +P brass, then working up slowly from safe pressures on the slowest powder possible for .45, which I believe is AA#5 or AA#7 (correct me if I'm wrong). I think that's pretty straightforward.
The non-straightforward part is obviously the bullet. In this case I want the heaviest, FMJ/LRN/LFN .451/.452 that ACP can reasonably push. A few question then, in that regard:
- I know ACP is nominally .4515. But jacketed bullets for ACP is usually .451. I know .452 lead is safe, but can I fire .452 jacketed safely?
- My Lee manual has data up to 250gr on .45ACP. Is that the highest grain level the .45 should reasonably push? Or has anyone tried higher? Like 255?
- I suppose the requirements for this is pretty similar to 1911 bowling pin competition loading requirements. Has anyone any experience with that?
Anyway, I'm looking at the following bullet choices:
- 452 Diameter 250 Grain Lead Flat Nose
- 452 Diameter 255 Grain Lead Semi-Wadcutter (Yeah I know, I also see a problem with these feeding at all)
- Speer Bullets 45 Caliber (452 Diameter) 250 Grain Lead Semi-Wadcutter (pretty much what I'm leading toward atm).
Then, there's the issue of the area being a lead-free zone. For lead-free bullet considerations
- Barnes XPB Handgun Bullets 460 S&W (451 Diameter) 200 Grain Solid Copper (How likely is this to feed?)
- Magtech Solid Copper Bullets 454 Casull (452 Diameter) 225 Grain (Getting more ridiculous)
- Barnes XPB Handgun Bullets 454 Casull (451 Diameter) 250 Grain (Ok, I'm pretty sure this one is just too big)
Thoughts? Comments? Opinions? Give up and cast my own out of bismuth?
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