Bullseye, .45ACP and Rainier 185gr. FP

[treebeard]

I am going to try some Bullseye in my .45ACP loads tonight so I did a search on the forums and came back with alot of info. However, I seem to be getting some mixed opinions. According to the Hornaday book 5.3 grains of Bullseye and a 185 grain FMJ SWC will get me 850fps. I am loading a Rainier 185 grain FP so I loaded up 5.0 grains of Bullseye. I am not interested in HOT loads, and I think 800-850fps is fine out of a 1911 style semi-auto (I could be wrong?) Do you think 5.0 grains is enough or not enough. I could not find much load data for this type of bullet. Thanks for the help!

 

[Walkalong]

Never shot Bullseye. Many do and I'm sure they'll share thier experience.

I shoot 6.3 Grs. AA #2 and Berry's 185 Gr. SWC's@ 1.190 O.A.L. for about 881FPS (Avg. over Chrono@ 70 Degrees). It is very accurate with nice recoil, burns clean and leaves brass clean.

(Reduce by 10% to start)

 

[treebeard]

Thanks for the info on AA#2. I might be picking some of that up too as I have heard that it is good stuff.

 

[rchernandez]

Really depends on what you're going to be shooting it for. Paper punching 50/25 yard NRA Conventional Pistol aka Bullseye, then 5.0 grains of Bullseye powder (BE) is not out of line. I try to keep my rounds around 770 fps. I'd start at 4.6gr and work my way up to 5.0gr to find what combination works best with the specific pistol you're using. Hope that helps. Good luck!

 

[treebeard]

Thanks for the info and it is just for putting holes in paper, or cans, or water jugs, or whatever just happens to be down range!

 

[nicadflyer]

I use 5.0 Bullseye with the 230 GR TCJ Xtreme bullet with great results. The lighter bullet will exit the muzzle quicker so you might have more muzzle flash. I have noted this when switching to a 135 GR from a 155 GR in the .40SW that I load for.

 

[MCgunner]

5.0 grains Bullseye/200 grain Lee tumble lube SWC 900 fps/360 ft lbs

Gun-- 4.5" Ruger P90

Accuracy for normal group, 1.5" five shots at 25 yards


This is my stand by load, what I punch holes with and do 99 percent of my .45 shooting with. I also have shot a good many matches with this load. It feeds well, too. It even fed in my Auto Ordinance which didn't like anything, but ball normally. Also fed in my AMT Hardballer. That right there is a feat, let me tell ya, LOL! The Ruger will feed anything, don't care, just eats 'em up.

 

[treebeard]

I shot some 185gr. Rainier FP's with 5.0 grains of Bullseye and I think I need to either go up in the load, or just go to 200gr. bullets. The rounds were fairly accurate, but I just did not think I was getting the UMPH that I should have got. Thanks for the load data.

 

[rchernandez]

As long as the bullets keep landing at or near the spot your aiming for...more "umph" will only make getting the sights back to target a little harder.

For "bullseye" type shooting, try shooting 185/200 gr LSWC. See http://www.precisiondelta.com/products_new.htm for their 185gr LHPSWC (based on Star bullet design).

 

[treebeard]

I have some Meister 200gr. LSWC's coming this week and some Meister 230gr. LRN as well. I also have some 200gr. plated SWC's that I want to try. The 185gr. stuff I shot today was okay, but I think I need to go up about .5 grain if I am going to shoot any more 185 gr. stuff. Thanks for the link, they have some good stuff online.

 

[Khornet]

For target in my Series 70 Gold Cup

I use 185 or 200 gr LSWC with 3.4-3.7 gr Bullseye, and have fired thousands of them with excellent accuracy and very comfy shooting. For such a soft load you need a reduced recoil spring to function. This is a trick I learned from reading Col. Askins years ago.