Need .45ACP load data, please...

[SIRVEYR666]

Hi, everyone. My brother turned me onto this site. I've been lurking for quite some time, but finally decided to log-in. I did a search for 45 loads and didn't come up with much. I only have access to the Lee 2nd edition manual, and I can't find any loads using Unique powder for 185gr. & 200gr. Hornady XTP. Could ya'll help a brother out?

Thanks

 

[Black Snowman]

Probably want to try this one in Gear and Ammunition -> Handloading and Reloading. A moderator will probably be along shortly to move it for you.

I don't have any Unique loads. I've come to prefer Hodgdon Universal and Tite Group for lighter bullet loads. I'm sure someone will chime in with some load info. but I'd start with Alliant Powder's website. They have load data posted there.

 

[happy old sailor]

if you want the old standard for 185 gr semiwadcutters, it is 3.5 or 3.8 gr Bullseye. for stout loads for heavier projectals check more loading manuals. Unique is that - unique. you can load most cartridges with it, however, to get the best performance, you should consider other powders. i know if i tried to make one powder work perfectly in several cartridges, it would run me crazy. keeos me sane to just have a small supply of various powders that are common applications as are listed in several loading manuals. for a new (to me) load, i usually start in the middle and add/drop a graiin, then 1/10th gr until me and the gun are happy. and, make notes. this is the joy of reloading. finding The load for an individual firearm. besr you can hope for is a good starter load and work from there. even if you are shooting all commercial ammo, different lots will give different results. not a lot different, but different. a "Ransom" type rest will confirm this. keep loading, you will learn to love it or hate it. hopefully you will love it. many of us do.

 

[cookiemonster]

W231 is alot better in that situation....

Hello there...

Winchesters 231 has always been my favorite when it comes to a good, solid load out for the ligher boolits...5.5 grains will throw a 185 grain slug around 760 fps. average. with winchester brass and large pistol primers...

5.3 grains with same brass and primer under 230 grain bullets will get you about 740 fps.

Those are both mid-range loads, but never showed extraction problems and were nice and accurate. very solid range loads.

Darrell

 

[Lennyjoe]

Take a look here.

http://recipes.alliantpowder.com/rg...er=.45&cartridgedescr=ACP&bulletdescr=200 JHP

http://recipes.alliantpowder.com/rg...er=.45&cartridgedescr=ACP&bulletdescr=185 JHP

 

[The Bushmaster]

W-231...I have tried other powders for my autos and short barreled pistols and revolvers and you can't beat it with an ugly stick. Some call it a little dirty. But it will get the "boolits" down range in a hurry. My load is 6.1 to 6.7 grains with a 185 grain Remington JHP. Runs about 950 from a Colt .45 ACP Gov. mod. I have other recipes for .38, 9mm and .357 snub nose if you like.

 

[Bandit01]

.45 load

I use 7.0 grains of Herco powder, using a 230 Grain JHP bullet. It fires out nice and smooth without a lot of recoil.

 

[cottontoptexan]

My 45 Load

I do not load light bullets in a 45 . There is no reason to for my purposes. Some people do which shoot the competition etc. and there info is appreciated.
I use the 230 Grain Montanta Gold FMJ
CCI Large Pistol Primers
5.8 grains of WW231 I use the Lee Taper Crimp Die.
Have loaded many thousand rounds and love the WW231 Easy to purchase, reasonable in price and it performs very well. Velocity is around 830 FPS or so.

 

[taliv]

my "complete reloading manual" pamphlet lists the following for 230g XTPs with unique

fps grains
700 5.1
750 5.4
800 5.8
850 6.1 (this is max)

it doesn't give a load for 185g or 200g XTPs

 

[Lennyjoe]

So far I have used Power Pistol and Blue Dot in .45 ACP loads. Blue Dot is a waste of time. Power pistol wasnt bad. Last night I rolled 100 rounds of 230 ball with W231 powder. Gonna take them out this weekend and clock them and see what they do out of the Kimber 4" and the Taurus 24/7.

 

[Mike Kerr]

You might want to try W 231 or HP 38 - pretty wide variety of loads available. Bullseye works well in a variety of loadings for 45ACP, as does AA5 or AA2. I like Clay's for target loads in 45ACP- not Universal Clay's or International Clay's - just plain Clays. I also like VN 320 for target loads in 45ACP.

Unique really isn't. When powder selections were more limited many years ago it was. Now, there are many powders from which to choose. Everyone of the powders listed above give me less residue, soot, ya da ya da ya da than Unique. However in fairness I have not tried the new Unique which is reported to be cleaner burning than the Unique of 10-20 years ago.

Some members may be offended by my comments about Unique but I remember all to well the mess involved with shooting that powder. Of course if you are going to shoot 50 rounds and call it a long shooting session maybe you wouldn't notice the soot and residue so much.

Many loads to choose from by visiting the on line sites.

Regards,

 

[Jim Watson]

Sirveyer

I don't know why everybody is trying so hard to turn you off of Unique. I don't use it myself but that doesn't mean it won't shoot, and there is no sense in ending up with a shelf full of cans with 15 ounces of powder left in each trying to find the magic gunpowder.

I only have the first edition Lee and it shows load data for 185 and 200 grain jacketed bullets and Unique. Bullet brand is not specified. The only way you can be sure of getting load data for Hornady bullets is to buy the Hornady manual. Or you can start learning to handload instead of looking for recipes. Differences in bullets is why they give starting and maximum loads and the recommendation to "work up" your loads.

The Alliant website Black Snowman links has Unique loads for 185 and 200 grain bullets. Since the brand of bullet is not given - it is probably the same data reprinted by Lee - be SURE to start 10% below the maximum loads there.

 

[redneck2]

Everybody here..

should have http://www.stevespages.com in their "favorites". Lists loads for just about everything. Also should spend some time at Varmint Al's site. Lots of good info

Also get the free pamphlets from the powder manufacturers. They all have free ones.

If you're a newbie, NEVER believe what you get here or anywhere else (even the books and pamphlets) until you cross check with a 2nd source. Never. All it takes is one wrong keystroke and you could be wearing pieces of your firearm.

 

[HiWayMan]

SIRVEYR666 -

Hey brother, how's it going? Glad you finally decided to join us. I'll give my loading mentor a call this afternoon and have him check the Hornady manual for you. I'll send it by PM. I know I turned you onto Unique, but I've had really good luck here recently with TITEGROUP. I'm loading 5.9gr under a Hornady 185gr XTP for my S&W 625-10.

 

[RugerOldArmy]

Speer No. 13 lists 185 Gr Gold Dot HP (similar, but start low)...

For unique:

Start 7.3 Gr (904 FPS)
MAX 8.2 Gr (1034 FPS)

with CCI Primers, Speer cases, and a tested OAL of 1.2 (sounds short to me).

 

[alex-v.]

Unique really isn't. When powder selections were more limited many years ago it was. Now, there are many powders from which to choose.

Unique is just that, a very Unique propellant. It is my favorite powder to use, especially with cast bullets. TiteGroup is showing some promise and could end up being #2, maybe even #1 eventually. Unique produces one of the lowest muzzle flashes when compared against other powders when the loading is in the same velocity range. Unique is sootier and smokier than W-231 but 231 is no god-send in this regard. TiteGroup is very smoky, especially with cast bullets and makes Unique seem like the cleanest powder on today's market.

Unique loads produce some of the tightest velocity Standard of Deviations when I tested the loads over a chronograph. It is definately the way to go with light to medium level loads. But, each to his own. Mike seems to like AA powders and I stopped experimenting with them years ago. They do work for some people. He also likes Clays which is on the bench waiting for use one of these days. Lots of good powders and Unique is one of them.

Back to the basic question. Loads using Unique and jacketed bullets in 185, 200, and 230 grain range can easily be found in the Speer #13 manual, the Lyman #48 manual, the Lyman Pistol and Revolver manual, and the now out of print 45ACP LoadMap from Midway.

 

[Gatofeo]

I started with Unique back in 1973, pounding out .45 Colt reloads on a Lee Loader. It's a good powder for cast bullet loads. Some find it dirty but I haven't. A tight crimp helps it burn cleaner. In the .45 Auto, that pretty much dictates a tight taper crimp (except for revolvers using the half-moon rings).
Interestingly, Unique is the only powder I've found to be sensitive in very cold weather. In cavernous cases such as the .45 Colt or .45-70, with mild to light loads, it burns poorly in very cold weather.
Thirty-some years ago, I loaded 6.5 grains of Unique over a 250 gr. lead bullet for a plinking round. Both the pistol and ammo were in the car trunk during a winter camping trip where temperatures reached 0 Fahrenheit during the night.
Both gun and ammo were very cold when fired. The first round went BLAP ... the second BOOM .. then a BANG and back to a BLAP.
Velocities were so inconsistent that I couldn't hit a tin can at 20 yards because the bullets were hitting the bottom of the stump or sailing over the can.
I learned after that to (A) Keep your ammo and pistol warm if possible, (2) Switch to Magnum primers for very cold weather and (3) Avoid Unique as a cold weather powder in large cases, when loading medium to light loads.
Anyway, you shouldn't have that problem in the .45 Auto, where the volume is much less than the .45 Long Colt case. I mention it as a matter of interest, in case you want to use Unique in other calibers.
Back to your original question:

Lyman No. 47 shows:

185 gr. Hornady jacketed hollow point
Start - 4.8 grs. 630 fps 7,800 Copper Units of Pressure (CUP)
MAX - 7.8 gs. 985 fps 17,800 CUP
Overall cartridge length: 1.175"

200 gr. Speer jacketed hollow point
Start - 4.0 grs. 604 fps 7,300 CUP
MAX - 6.5 grs. 927 fps 17,700 CUP
Overall cartridge length: 1.178"

 

[gunbutler]

everything on cd rom

I have lots of good information on my cd set at www.gunbutler.com

 

[alex-v.]

Unique is the only powder I've found to be sensitive in very cold weather.

Never noticed this. Will have to give this some testing to see what happens.

 

[spook]

The most accurate and consistant .45ACP loads I've developed use WST with a 200 gr SWC bullet and WLP primers. My DW Patriot will group under 2" at 50 yds from a ransom rest with 4.8 gr. and a 200 gr lead SWC. A friend has gotten good results from his S&W 625 using this load. I don't have the chrono data since my desktop's motherboard went and I'm having trouble finding a replacement with the same type of memory.

 

[Mike Kerr]

I guess from my previous post on this thread you can tell I am not a Unique fan. Be that as it may be, I was really thinking of the "soot factor" for use in 45ACP per the original thread. It was my understanding the thread was about propellants for a Jacketed XTP bullet in an auto loading cartridge, namely the 45ACP.

However, after reading sections of posts from other members I see I have more testing to do at a later time to find out what alex-v is saying about SD from Unique loadings. I was aware that Unique has low muzzle flash in side by side tests with many other powders. Like alex-v I agree Unique is sootier than W 231 which is sooty enough. Like alex-v I agree there are many good powders from which to choose. We are lucky to have so many good choices.


Regards,

 

[Stevie-Ray]

My two favorite loads for the .45 ACP is a 185 gr LSWC atop 4.8 gr Bullseye, and a Speer 200 gr JSWC (TMJ combat) atop 5.7 gr Bullseye. Both superbly accurate and the 185 is an extremely mild, all day long round. Never could get past Unique's filth.

 

[caz223]

I use 6.0 grains unique, and a 200 grain XTP-HP bullet.
It has less recoil than 230 grain loads, and it shoots extremely accurate.
That's my all-time favorite .45 acp load.
Don't worry about the nay-sayers, unique rocks in the .45 caliber.
/switching topics
Yeah, in that big .45 colt case, unique does not do well.
Blue dot was worse. And I tried it with a light charge, so light to not even get a good gas seal.
That load just covered my shooting bench in unburned powder after just a box of 50. Turned the gun jet black.
What a poopy load!!
Safety glasses were an absolute must.
I use titegroup in .45 colt now.

 

[BigSlick]

I have never used Unique, but have to agree with the others here who have had great results with Titegroup.

5.4 gr
230 ball
1.260 OAL

Very accurate, the cleanest burining powder I have ever used and chrono's about 810 fps.

I use it with 5.3 gr with a 180~gr SWC in front. Light as a bunny fart, cycles every time and no leading prob's.

FWIW

BigSlick

 

[Stainz]

I use 4.6gr Titegroup under a Berry's 230gr FMJ to get 800fps from mixed ACP brass with Federal primers from my 4" 625. Similar results with new .45 AR brass, just tighter SD. Of course, the 'action' works fine with these loads... just have to remember to squeeze each time (DA revolver, of course!).

My previous load was the same bullet over 5.3gr W231, yielding 732 fps with a greadter SD - and using matched revolver-only ACP brass! Additionally, I always had unburned powder on the shooting bench - and the revolver needed more and more frequent cleaning. I like the Titegroup.

Stainz