I really just see the bigness of it all

This is one of the quotes/sayings of our 45th president and a nice lead into what this thread is about. Me finally adding the big 45acp caliber to my stable.

I have been wanting and planning for a while to include 45acp in my reloading, but have never been able to find the right pistol at the right price. Finally the planets were aligned and my wife told me to by something for myself, but obviously still within a budget. I like my SIGs, but a Legion was definitely not in the price range. This time of the year SIG has some discontinued models, so I was able to find a reasonably priced SIG P220 Scorpion Elite.

Finally I am going to add 45acp to my stable, and will hopefully appreciate the "bigness" of the caliber.

That leads me to the reason for this post. I am starting my planning to reload for 45acp and needs to decide if I should start with 200gr or 230gr bullets. Since developing loads is an investment (time and money), I try not to change the weight of the bullets I buy, primarily because of the load development investment already made.

I would appreciate it if you can give me some insight in why you shoot or prefer a 230gr bullet over 200gr or vise versa. This will be mostly a range gun and running some drills. In 9mm I prefer 124gr over 115gr, and in 40s&w I have preferred 165gr over 180gr. Lately I have started to appreciate the 180gr more, especially when I run my drills since it seems to provide easier follow up shots. I normally like to shoot FP bullets over RN bullets, but that is just a preference for target shooting.

It is interesting what all needs to be done once you add a new caliber. Luckily I already have the dies, trays and powder. All I need now is to decide on the bullet weight and get some large pistol primers. Additional things I had to do was to make space for my 45acp specific containers in my process, setting aside and labeling the 45acp specific ammo can(s), and starting to prep some cases.

I am definitely looking forward to finally join the 45acp reloading and shooting family.

splattergun said:

My SR1911 likes 200 gn LSWC. When I was looking for bullets when I 1st started loading 45acp during the Great Shortage, those were the only ones on the shelf. Turns out I like the way they shoot and I like the recoil, and they feed fine, and I like the nicely punched hole, so I settled in on them. W231 is the powder I use.
Full disclosure, the only 230 gn rounds I've shot were some FMJ I bought just to shoot and save the brass. I wasn't impressed, so I never tried to load that bullet.
I would like to try powder coated 200 LSWC. I'm working on loads with BE86

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bbqreloader said:

200 gr FP plated with BE-86. Was using 185's for awhile but got a hold of the 200's and liked them more.

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bullseye308 said:

For your intended purpose I’d probably go with 200gr. And BE-86 for your powder. I don’t load much 45, but reading thousands of posts here for years, That seems to be the way to go for a range gun and running drills, and it will also generally be a little cheaper. I cast my own 200gr swc for mine with good results.

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Thanks for all the comments. I have been reading up on 200gr vs 230gr and came to the conclusion that it is really going to depend on my gun which one works best. I presonally prefer FN type bullets for wht I do, so when I read your comments and saw the Berry's 200gr round shoulder FN bullets, I decide to give it a try. This will probably the same as 165gr/180gr in 40s&w where I will go with one weight for a while, and then start to dabble in a different weight just see if it is worth while to switch. So for now it seems like it will be 200gr for me.

murf said:

welcome to the grand old big cartridge. i shoot 230 grain lead round nose, but the 200 grain bullets will kick less. i just like the 230 grainer a bit over 800 fps out the muzzle. i don't shoot competition, just long range steel and golf balls at 20 yards. the 45 acp is more than accurate enough for this.

again, welcome. there is really nothing like shooting the 45 acp.

murf

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Thanks murf. My sig should be good with the recoil, so I think I will just have to decide where to start. For now it seems it will be 200gr, but I think I will probably try both out at some time before fully committing to a specific weight.

9mmepiphany said:

I'll be following this thread with great interest as .45ACP is the next caliber I'm interested in reloading for.

Like you I already have plenty of cases and powder. I only have a couple of thousand LPP, but I also have a bunch (1500) of SPP cases, so I'm good either way.

When I got me Hornady LNL AP, it came set up for .45ACP so I have the dies and shell plates. He even gave me bullets from MBC, Delta (both 230gr) and Xtreme (200gr)...less than 1k of each.

I was looking at using either HP-38 or Clays, but I also have BE-86 and WST

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Thanks for the comments. I don't have thousands of cases, but enough to get started. Lately I have been giving away and trading 45acp cases, but this will have to stop now until I have enough again. Based on all the comments it seems that the powders I like will work well in 45acp also. Power Pistol is not mentioned much, but it is definitely one I will try sooner than later.

Walkalong said:

WST is great in .45 ACP. AA #2 is as well. N310 and N320 are easy to find a great load with. W-231 is a classic .45 ACP powder. Green Dot, 700X, Bullseye, .45 ACP is just too easy.

My guns really like the Zero 185 Gr JHP. The Precision 200 Gr coated SWC shoots great. Some guns don't like SWC's. My CZ97 will occasionally jam with them. My 1911s eat them like candy. I have had good luck with the X-Treme 200 Gr RN, Berrys 230 Gr RN, 185 Gr SWC, 200 Gr HP (Feeds great) & 185 Gr HBRN. I still have some Hornady encapsulated 200 Gr SWCs that shoot well. The ACME 175 Gr coated SWC shoots great, but I should have gone with 200 Gr. (Personal choice only) The 200 Gr SWC is hard to beat for pure accuracy, but the 185 or 200 Gr JHP are very good. My CZ97 loves N-310 and a Zero 185 Gr JHP.

I have buckets of LP .45 ACP brass, so even though I am seeing some SP brass at the range now, I leave it.

It is so easy to find a good .45 ACP load.

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Walkalong, thanks for all the information. I am way behind your experience in reloading and especially 45acp reloading. Luckily I have some good reloading experience under the belt, so I will just stick to me methodical way of working up loads, and hopefully at the end be able to identify what my gun likes. Thanks for putting some extra pressure on me by saying "It is so easy to find a good .45 ACP load"

ar-newbie said:

I started loading 45acp back in about 2008, I went with the best bargain I could find at the time, which was precision delta 45 230 gr round nose FMJ for $140 for 1000. I have had decent results with these, yes there are slight variations, but not that bad. accuracy is average at best, from what I have seen shooting them out of my glock 21 and hipoint carbine. They suited my purpose of finding a cheap bullet for range plinking. They feed without issues so that is a plus. Hard to go wrong with 230 grain ball.......

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Thanks for the comments. It seems that id does not matter which weight I go with in the beginning, at some point I need to work up some loads in 230gr ball.

CKweigand said:

I prefer 230 gr. Just seems to me that if I can master the 230 with full power then I can pick up any 45 load and know I can shoot it proficiently. (I can’t back that up with any quantitative data.) I love the “push” of the 45 ACP it’s unlike any other round I shot. Just feels amazing when going through the cycle. Hard to explain, but I’m sure a lot of the people here who favor the 45 like I do, they understand completely what I’m talking about.

I shoot 230 gr Berry’s Preferred Bullets RN under 5.8 gr of unique at 1.250 and they are nail drivers.” In my 1911’s. And the plated bullets are rather economical price wise IMO. I haven’t dove head first yet in the cast lead word, maybe in a year or two. And to boot dudedog has got me really wanting to try RMR bullets FMJ and they recently came out with a plated line in 9 and 45 so I’m going to be making another big order here soon!

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Thanks for the comments. I started experiencing the more of a push (with some powders) when I started loading 180gr in 40s&w. It is a recoil I prefer long term, but sometuhing snappy is nice to shoot occasionally. Having said that, I still like the 357sig recoil over 9mm. Go figure. It is one thing deciding on a bullet weight, the next is deciding on which powder to go first with. Unique is definitely in play at this time, but I still have to make a decision.

dgod said:

I personally like 200gr SWC or 200gr JHP, over Trailboss. A controllable fun shooter. As you gain confidence, HP-38/W-231 or a New Powder I'm starting to try is "Power Pistol", it looks like a good contender for the future. I would suggest you look thru your reloading books and see what loads look promising. Remember, the heavier the bullet and the higher the velocity will create higher recoil.

As you probably know already, Dudedog, BDS and Walkalong are mainstays here, they give good advise, sometimes it is a little over my head, but then I research to see what they mean, but they are a mountain of information.

Good Luck,
dg

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dg, thanks for the comments. I think all the powders I currently load are in play, and especially PowerPistol. There are obviously the old time favorites of Bullseye, Unique and HP38/W231, but I am definitely going to try the newer powders.

mdi said:

I have a poster in my shop that says "45 ACP, The Fist of God". I only have two at this time, but thinking about more (as always). My first was a Ruger P90 and later I got a RIA 1911. I really enjoy reloading for my pistols and haven't purchased factory ammo in 12 years. My Ruger doesn't care for SWC bullets and prefers RN, but my RIA will digest anything I can get in the magazine. My "just in case" stash of 45 ACP ammo (250 rounds so far) is a load of Unique (around 850 fps) under a 230 gr. FMJ. Accurate in both guns...

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Thanks for the comments. Looks like it always gets back to Unique or Bullseye and 230gr FMJ. Even though I have decided to start with 200gr, at some point I will have to work up some 230gr ball loads to figure out where they will fit in my plans.

I like to have a stash of different loads for specific needs. So when I go shooting I will just pick from the stash based on what I want to accomplish the day.

Havok7416 said:

I have found I prefer - or rather my guns prefer - 230 grain. There's less feeding and reliability issues, but then I have several different .45 guns. The ones that feed the 200 grain bullets produce great results, but it's not worth it to me to keep two different bullets on the shelf.

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Thanks for the information. Yes, both should shoot well, but keeping both around means more than double the investment in working up load, since you have different brands and profiles.

Dudedog said:

I liked the old RMR 230 plated round nose, the one with the short nose and the lip one the base.
Sadly they are no longer available.
I also like 200 gr Coated lead SWCs, Acmes worked well for me.
Some guns will feed the SWCs just fine some are picky. No issues with my 1911s don't know if Sigs are picky or not.

Main reason for 200s is a little less recoil, and available as SWcs.
My gun didn't seem to care for 185s as well, but I didn't spend a lot of time trying different 185 combos.

I like HP38 with both 230s and 200s.
N320 also worked well but it is more expensive.
I have some stuff with AA#2 loaded up but haven't had a chance to test it yet.
These I use for light to mid power.
If you want to turn it up a bit CFE-P or BE86 will work with either bullet weight..

Of course you realize this is going to make me do something

PIF with some .45 bullets will get headed your way tomorrow..

.45 is fun, easy to load also.

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Dudedog, thanks for the insight. It is a pity the RMR bullets are not available anymore since there has been a lot of discussion around this bullet on this forum, and it would have helped me get a head start in selecting a load. It seems that the 185's don't always work well, so I am going to stay away from them for a while. They are also close to 180gr 40s&w, so no need for me to try them out yet. I like the different profiles in 200gr, and since I like FP bullets, it seems that is direction I am going in first.

I was concerned that you would feel the urge to send something my way, but all I can say is Thanks You, and please keep it small. I have been in debt to you for a long time, and this is not going to make it easier for me to dig myself out of the hole.