200 gr vs 230 gr 45acp

[Pauliedad]

Besides experimenting with loads and what you and your gun likes, shopping around and learning about all the different vendors has been a big part of this hobby. When you find a bullet you like buy as many as possible for a fall back. This time last year I would just get what I could and make it work. Kind of forced a lot of experimentation. I still prefer plated and jacketed to lead. I would find a load with lead I liked only to find it was a pain to clean the barrel.
Precision Bullets out of Texas has some moly coated lead that cost in between lead and jacketed.
With powder being to most difficult of the components to find, I'd do the homework
(minimum of three reloading books) find powder(s) first then play with bullet weights.

[rcschummers]

+1 for 230, but lately I have been loading up 155 grain lswc and its like shooting a .22!

[deac777]

I shoot 200 grain LSWC out of my 1911s, as they feed well, are accurate and inexpensive. My Glock 36 will not reliably feed 200 grain LSWC, so I feed the Glock 230 grain FMJ

[ptmn]

You can buy Berry's 230gr plated round nose factory direct at www.berrysmfg.com or you can order them from www.grafs.com. If you go to www.tjconevera.com, you can buy plated bullets made by Berrys, Xtreme and sometimes Powerbond. Sometimes you can get a real bargain on plated or jacketed from Doug Anderson, his site us www.upammosupply.com.

Of course the most inexpensive way is to jump in on a "group buy " set up by a Calguns member

[stilly]

Im new to reloading and am curious for purposes of getting range time in is there really a difference in bullet wt? Granted you may want something heavier for self defense (230) if you're going to just go plinking is it better to get the lighter weight rounds to cut costs or should you stick with heavier rounds?

I have started buying 200gr SWC for the .45 now because They are cheaper and you get to shoot them a tad faster. Also, because I do not like that 8lb bottle of 800-x, lighter bullets will use more of the powder... Once it is all used up (8k rounds...) then I can go back to using normal 230gr. BUT since that costs a lot too, I might just start casting my own lead bullets... AND if I gotta cast my own, then I will be casting at 200gr SWC...

They are hella fun to shoot outta good 1911...

Different strokes for different folks. (that is my pistol-selling close line...)

For self defence, they have some NASTY rounds I saw, 78gr I think and they shoot at 1900FPS AND they are .45 cal frangibles... Gotta hurt like a bizzitch...

[noylj]

For self-defense, I want 185-200gn.
For target shooting, I want 185-200gn.
For plinking, I want 185-200gn.
All things equal, all I shoot in .45 are 200gn L-SWCs designed after the H&G #68. These have been the single most accurate bullet in .45 I have found out to 50 yards.
I don't know if I have loaded a 230gn bullet in 30 years.

[Cowboy T]

For defense loads, I use factory rounds with 230gr JHP's.

For range practice loads, I use a 200gr LRNFP. Specifically, this one.

http://www.sanfranciscoliberalwithagun.com/images/45ColtBoolits-WW-200grLRNFP-SideView1.jpg

Yes, I run +P loads for practice; yes, it works great with cast "boolits"; and yes, the gun is rated for a steady diet of them. That's why I bought that model.

Either bullet mass is "correct", because the original military standard load used the 200gr bullet. Later on, it got changed to 230gr. I wouldn't want to get hit with either one, frankly.

[Che762x39]

Im new to reloading ...

Welcome to the sport. For 45 ACP start with 230 grain FMJ or LRN (Lead Round Nose) and after putting 500 or 1000 down range then see where you should go.

[area51]

I use Cowboy 200gr Lead RN-FP's in my 45ACP, 45 Auto Rim, and 45 Colt. The are not as pricey and shoot as well as 230gr or 255gr bullets. My favorite powders for 45 are Bullseye and Unique.

Same here. Both are a little dirty but great powders. No wonder they've been around for such a long time. I like 200 grains rn or swc... Currently I am running some Xtreme 185 fp with great success.

[John Browning]

5.7 gr W231 with a 200gr swc @ 1.255 is a joy to shoot and accurate as all get out.

230gr loads are proven self defense loads.


I love the .45.

[rm1911]

I've been shooting 200 SWC for gotta be 20 years. 5.5-5.8gr bullseye. With that I've found the perfect sweet spot. Moderate recoil, very accurate, and super reliable. Sometimes I'll shoot the plated as well. Either way I really like 200gr in the 45.

The thing with 45 is that for anything other than pretty much 230 ball you've either got to reload or get reloaded ammo.

hella fun

You do realize it's 2014