.45acp

I haven't tried W-231 yet, I have used a lot of Unique, now I'm trying titegroup.

5.5gr of W231 under any 230gr bullet is my favorite 45 Auto load hands down. It's very accurate in every pistol I shoot them from and it's a clean load too. It's hard to go wrong with that load. IMO W231/HP-38 was made to load the 45 Auto even though HP-38 was actually designed to load the .38 Special. Great powder for both and the only handgun powder I buy in 8lb jugs.

W231 was my first powder when I began loading for the 45ACP and I still use it. There is a lot of powders suitable for the 45.
So far, Ive tried Accurate #2, 5 and 7. Bullseye, Unique, Blue Dot and HS-6. All of them have worked pretty good, but I find the faster burning powders to be about as good and economical. AA#7 is good for velocity but a lot of muzzle flash.
But W231 is what I reach for most often. Burn speed is good, meters well, good accuracy in every bullet weight Ive tried from 155 LSWC all the way to 230 grain

That's great, but I have to say that I'm starting to tune out mention of W231 because I either can't buy it or can't rely on more than a random pound found here and there in a gun shop. I'm sticking with Bullseye but believe I need to crank up the load a bit trying to find a cleaner result. I don't load "soft", so going higher in powder charge doesn't bother me. That 5.5 load of W231 sounds about right for FMJ, but I expect the 5.0 would work well behind lead.

I use W231 for my bullseye loads because the recoil is a bit softer than Bullseye powder. chris3

When I started I settled on a load of 5.4 gr. of W231 behind a 230 gr. fmj. W231 really is the bees knees in that cartridge. 5 gr. of Bullseye behind a 230 gr. lrn was my standard for the past several years.

The lack of a steady W231 supply relegated it to my 32acp loads where it dominates all other powders. After continued leading problems with BE I stopped using it even though it shined everywhere else.

Now that I've found WST I don't think I'll ever go back to another powder for lead in 45acp.

I put 5.5 grn of 231 behind a 230grn cast round and chronied the loads at over 1000 fps out my 5" 1911. Way too much velocity for that bullet IMO. I pulled the projectiles to start over.

5.5 grn is max load according to my manual for my 230grn cast.

I like what im hearing from the crowd on this, can I assume the same performance from HP-38? I have never even seen a pound of 231 on local shelves but HP38 does show up in small quantities where I live.

Dave,

W-231 and HP-38 are exactly the same powder since 2006.

It all comes out of the same St Marks Powder shipping containers at Hodgdon's Western Kansas packaging facility.

rc

that's the load i ended up with for my 1911. it chronys at 825 fps out of a norinco 1911 (measured at 12 feet).

murf

RealGun said:

That's great, but I have to say that I'm starting to tune out mention of W231 because I either can't buy it or can't rely on more than a random pound found here and there in a gun shop. I'm sticking with Bullseye but believe I need to crank up the load a bit trying to find a cleaner result. I don't load "soft", so going higher in powder charge doesn't bother me. That 5.5 load of W231 sounds about right for FMJ, but I expect the 5.0 would work well behind lead.

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Although it's very rare that a charge weight would be the same for jacketed and lead bullets for some reason I have found that 5.5gr charge of W231 works well with all 230gr bullets. I use 5.5gr with 230gr FMJ, JHP, LRN and plated bullets.

Pripyat said:

I put 5.5 grn of 231 behind a 230grn cast round and chronied the loads at over 1,000 fps out my 5" 1911. Way too much velocity for that bullet IMO. I pulled the projectiles to start over.

5.5 grn is max load according to my manual for my 230grn cast.

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What OAL are you using? I hover right around 850 fps with a 5.5gr charge of W231/HP-38 and a LRN bullet. My OAL is 1.265". You must be seating the bullet very deep in the case to push that bullet to 1,000 fps. No one I know get's close to 900 fps from that load let alone 1,000 fps!!!

pripyat,

my oal is 1.240" for 825 fps. you sure you are using w231?

murf

I will have to look back at my reloading data to ensure but I am fairly certain it was 1.240".

Could it be that I crimped too much? Also I was only 5 or so feet from my chrony.

Pripyat said:

I will have to look back at my reloading data to ensure but I am fairly certain it was 1.240".

Could it be that I crimped too much? Also I was only 5 or so feet from my chrony.

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The shock wave is probably causing an error in the readings from only 5 feet away. The paperwork usually suggests at least 10 feet and sometimes even 15 feet.

I'm sure you will find lower velocities than 1000 fps if you move the Chrono out to 10-12 feet from the muzzle.