I don't own any pistol in this caliber (would love to, though, it's a caliber I'm pretty fond of), therefore I don't reload, but I have a question you .45 ACP reloaders are surely able and will be willing to answer .
Are faster powders suitable for this caliber?. Over here there's no access to American or Vihtavuori powders (plain and simple, they're not imported ) and all we have are the French Vectans and the locally manufactured Optima (two flavors, A and R, being R slower), which, luckily enough, are good quality, versatile powders. 45 ACP shooters that I know use Optima A for it. This is a medium burn rate powder that is suitable for shotgun, 9 mm, .45 ACP, shotgun and even some rifle reduced loads. Between 5'2 and 5'5 grains under a 230 grain bullet make major PF. For me, 4'7 under a 125 grain make 132 PF in my 9 mm pistols.
Now the odd (for me) thing. Some guys over here are using Vectan BA-10 for the .45 ACP. This is a very fast powder, commonly used for calibers such as the .32ACP or .38 Special. They claim 4'2-4'5 grains are enough to make major, with a clean, low residue shot. There's a bit of an argument about this. Some say that it's just too fast for it, some others that it works pretty well and that, in fact, it's the best one within the Vectan range for this caliber. People of this opinion say the Optima A is much better suited, or even other Vectans such as the BA-9 (as the name indicates, originally formulated for the 9 mm), or the much slower, double based SP-2 (used for those who reload .38 Super to make major PF in Open division guns). As a reference, BA-9 used to be a bit faster than Optima A but no longer. They have changed the formulation and now it's much weaker, needing 5'4 grains under a 125 grains bullet to achieve 132 PF in a 9 mm.
What does THR think about this?. I'm interested in the matter and would appreciate your inputs.
Are faster powders suitable for this caliber?. Over here there's no access to American or Vihtavuori powders (plain and simple, they're not imported ) and all we have are the French Vectans and the locally manufactured Optima (two flavors, A and R, being R slower), which, luckily enough, are good quality, versatile powders. 45 ACP shooters that I know use Optima A for it. This is a medium burn rate powder that is suitable for shotgun, 9 mm, .45 ACP, shotgun and even some rifle reduced loads. Between 5'2 and 5'5 grains under a 230 grain bullet make major PF. For me, 4'7 under a 125 grain make 132 PF in my 9 mm pistols.
Now the odd (for me) thing. Some guys over here are using Vectan BA-10 for the .45 ACP. This is a very fast powder, commonly used for calibers such as the .32ACP or .38 Special. They claim 4'2-4'5 grains are enough to make major, with a clean, low residue shot. There's a bit of an argument about this. Some say that it's just too fast for it, some others that it works pretty well and that, in fact, it's the best one within the Vectan range for this caliber. People of this opinion say the Optima A is much better suited, or even other Vectans such as the BA-9 (as the name indicates, originally formulated for the 9 mm), or the much slower, double based SP-2 (used for those who reload .38 Super to make major PF in Open division guns). As a reference, BA-9 used to be a bit faster than Optima A but no longer. They have changed the formulation and now it's much weaker, needing 5'4 grains under a 125 grains bullet to achieve 132 PF in a 9 mm.
What does THR think about this?. I'm interested in the matter and would appreciate your inputs.