.45acp and .45LC

Yes, and no.

Diameter is the same.

But revolver bullets have a crimp cannulure or crimp groove to roll-crimp them in the case so recoil doesn't yank them out.

Auto Pistol bullets are slick sided, so there is no place to crimp them.

But, you can load them for revolvers by using good neck tension and a taper crimp die.

Just not in full power magnum loads using slow burning powder that takes a tight crimp to get a good powder burn started.

rc

As rc mentioned, they typically crimp differently, but you can always taper crimp a revolver bullet. For instance .45 Colt bullets often come in the 225gr weight and the bullets will usually feature a crimp groove or cannelure. Those bullets would work fine taper crimped for a .45 Auto as well.

You can seat .45 auto bullets deep and roll crimp on the nose for heavier loads in .45 Colt as recommended in the Speer manual, otherwise as RC said, good neck tension and a taper crimp works for light loads.
I use a lot of 200 grain SWC's in .45 Colt with very good results. I use my .45 acp seating die and taper crimp die with the .45 Colt.

I use 200gr LRNFP bullets sized to .452 for both. Roll crimp the LC and taper the ACP.
Lafitte

You can always use 45ACP bullets in a 45 Colt, but the converse is not usually possible. 45 Colt bullets will not feed thru a semi auto pistol.

I'm another one who uses the 200 gr. RNFP bullet for both .45 acp and .45 Colt. It works great in both of them.

I also shoot 200 gr. SWC (H&G 68) in both calibers with great results. Mine are all sized .452" for pistols, revolvers and rifles.

Hope this helps.

Fred

loadedround said:

You can always use 45ACP bullets in a 45 Colt, but the converse is not usually possible. $5 Colt bullets will not feed thru a semi auto pistol.

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In a semi auto yes. But if you have a Ruger Blackhawk convertible or a smith 625 45 ACP revolver, they can work well.

Western powders has 45 ACP data for Bullets as heavy as 250 grains in both their Accurate and Ramshot powder lines.

Like said above, yes and no. You could buy a 200gr bullet with a crimp groove and ignore the crimp groove when loading in the 45 Auto.

I load 45acp bullets in 45LC all the time, but other way around has a lot less options.

^^ This works for me, as TimSr stated.
For the crimp step, I use the Lee FCD labeled 45 ACP for that caliber, and a different FCD labeled 45 Colt when loading those.

I've done this a lot. It works better with cast bullets, since most of them will have a groove or edge somewhere that you can use as a cannelure, or are alternatively soft enough to allow a firm roll crimp right into the alloy.

For example, I perform a roll crimp over the leading edge of the shank (where it steps down to the shoulder/ogive) of the MBC 230gr softball bullet when loading them in 45 LC. This has proven adequate for most range loads.

+1. I load 230LRN in ACP and LC, and crimp them the same way in LC. Haven't tried 250 LSWC in the ACP yet.

I've been using the same 200 grain RNFP bullet in both for over 20 years now

If your are using .452 diameter bullets up to around 225 grains, yes you can. Bullets larger in diameter and heavier may not work so hot in the acp.
Unique and 231 are good powders to use in both the cartridges.

Another vote for the 200 gr. LRNFP. Shot thousands out of both calibers.

Also like to use 200 gr. LSWC.