Donor brass - .45 ACP

[Bladeshark]

I plan on buying a 1911 this month. It's long overdue.

In anticipation I picked up the dies, 230gr. RN bullets, LP primers, powder recipes (I'll start with 5.0gr of Bullseye), etc. Now, the brass.

I figure I would buy 500 off-the-shelf loaded rounds to target-shoot/plink with. Gives me a good feel for factory ammo in this caliber and donor brass when I roll my own.

I searched through old posts for relevant info and saw that Federal may be using SP primers instead of LP. Not a fan of Federal brass after a .223 reloading issue (loose primer pockets) anyways. I'm ok with skipping it even if it is cheap.

I generally like Winchester brass and get it when I can. How is their brass in .45 ACP? Their white box wont be hard to find.

Any preferences to donor brass?

Thanks all for your collective wisdom.

[XDRoX]

I have seen Win and Fed with SPP, so watch out for those unless you're wanting to load SPP in 45. That's what I load and it works fine. The only thing that really irks me is that the Fed SPP is crimped

[bruceflinch]

If you were closer I'd give you a couple hundred. For my .45, I've never shot anything but Range Brass.

[Southpaw45]

Most of my supply of reloadable .45ACP brass started life living inside a white box from Winchester. Its all LP and no issues to report.

[BigBronco]

Come to think about it I have never bought a box of factory .45ACP I have loaded from the get go with found and scrounged brass and I have thousands. HMMM Never thought about it until now.

[bumpo628]

Here's a good deal on some LPP 45acp brass, $100 for 1800 pcs.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=127950

[Lead Waster]

I'm a range rat. I'll go shoot a box of ammo and come home with 3 boxes worth of brass (of assorted calibers!)

My suggestion is, yes, go buy some loaded ammo. If in doubt, open the box and see what primer size it is. Then pick up the brass and then some!

[LexLuther]

Cant say enough good about Starline Brass.

[Triple R Munitions]

R-P brass is a DREAM to load...cant say enough about them. starline is very good too. i dont like CCI, ARMSCOR, as much...there primer pockets are very tight and hve to run those cases through a reamer to get constant seating depth.

but mixed 1x range brass is just as good! you will save loading your own and dont have to buy new ammo! but running a box or two of new rounds cant hurt....it makes sure everything is up to snuff...

R

[gottarollwithit]

Not a bad idea to buy some factory stuff to start with.

Retain a few rounds for down the road when you want to compare them against your reloads.

Nothin wrong with using WWB brass that use large pistol primers. Just stay away from Amerc brass.

[Bladeshark]

For those that use scrounged range brass, do you load both the SP & LP? Any preference or noticeable difference? I may have been too inflexible only wanting to do LP.

[Bladeshark]

Thanks all for your input. I bought 2 1911's today (thanks to my C&R & COA), a Kimber TLE II and a RIA Tactical. I also ordered 500 rounds of Winchester white box from Cheaper than dirt ($38.95 per 100). The ammo should get here just before they get out of jail.

Next step: picking out spare magazines for both guns.

[Bill Steele]

For magazines, my favorite are Wilson Combat (I have a lot of the 47D's, my default for full sized frames, but have recently started buying the 500's and like them). Brian Enos has them.

As far as LPP, SPP I use whatever I have clean. If you go to indoor ranges later in the day, leaving with more brass than you came with usually is not a challenge.