Reloading some 45 ACP - 230 gr HAP - use Silhouette or Longshot?

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I hear talk about herco from a few people and its something I'd be willing to try but I've never seen it for sale in the Memphis area. Curious if certain powders are more regional in their distribution or if people just order it on line. I hear about it more often in 45c over 45acp.
 
I hear talk about herco from a few people and its something I'd be willing to try but I've never seen it for sale in the Memphis area. Curious if certain powders are more regional in their distribution or if people just order it on line. I hear about it more often in 45c over 45acp.
I just loaded 500 rounds of 45ACP 230 FMJ. Really Like this Powder for the 230 gr. 45 acp. Not bad recoil and clean burning. Started Using it a while back when powder was hard to get. Have tried a lot of other powders in 45 but I really haven't found one I like better than Herco.
 
I did load work-up testing today and I learned a few things. This will be long-winded, so the bottom line up front is:

230 grain Hornady HAP, loaded to a COAL of 1.220" with 7.0 grains of Silhouette from a 4.5" storm lake barrel in a Glock got an average of 760 fps at about 20˚F ambient temperature. It was miserable shooting weather, with wind, very light snow and about 20˚F temperature, so I didn't even bother to set up targets.

The Hornady 10th edition called for a COAL of 1.210", but these HAPs are from 2016 or 2017 and at 1.210" the brass extends past the bullet shoulder. This seemed odd, so I loaded them to 1.220", which takes the brass to the edge of the bullet shoulder but not past it.

Here's what I learned:
1. Standing outside in a wind, with light snow and 20˚F temperature, while trying to writing data in a log book... sucks. Bad.
2. Caldwell chronographs don't seem to like a little snow, 20˚F and/or how my shivering affected the bullets after they left the barrel; I got about 25% bad reads or errors. Conversely, in ideal summer conditions (70˚F and overcast skys), I normally have zero errors will this chronograph.
3. The Silhouette loads I made with 7.2 grains and up have a very stout, almost harsh, recoil. It would not be bothersome to someone familiar with shooting, but it was much more pronounced than most factory produced loads.

For comparison, I shot some Federal small primer 230 grain round nose under the same conditions and got an average around 715 fps.

If the weather is better tomorrow, I'll load some Long Shot and let you know what I find.
 
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Also, I might have to try find some Herco.

I plan on reloading most of my .45 ACP; at least at the current prices. I normally don't reload 9mm, 45 ACP and common pistol calibers, but I have enough components and I will probably be reloading 45 ACP for a long time.
 
Don't know what the difference is between the Hornady HAP and the Hornady XTP but Western Powders shows data for the XTP with a loading of 6.2 to 7.3 gr of Silhouette. While the Hornady 10th Edition lists both bullets with Silhouette as 6.4 - 7.6gr

I have loaded a lot of Berry's and Xtreme plated along with cast lead bullets with Silhouette and both the Wife and I have found them to be pleasant to shoot.
 
Don't know what the difference is between the Hornady HAP and the Hornady XTP

My research indicates that the HAP and the XTP are identical except for the cuts in the jacket (which allow the XTP to expand).

I have no experience with Silhouette, but have tried Longshot with 230gr fmj and didn't like it. Out of a 3" 1911 I couldn't seem to get any accuracy. Minute of bad guy at 10 yards, yes, but hitting a can at 25 yards was nearly impossible for me. The same gun with the right bullet/powder combo will hit the same can at 25 yards five times out of seven.

I also have limited experience with N-320 in the 45acp, but only with 185gr swc's. In my limited experience, the powder burned very clean and produced accurate loads (fifty rounds fired at 10 yards, three or four in the ten ring, all others in the x ring) in the same 3" 1911.

chris
 
Right now I'm sitting on 5lbs of Silhouette because I like it that much. The last lb. I just received from my boss because he found a place that had four lbs and he bought all four and then brought one to work for me! Now I have enough primers, powders and my own cast lead bullets to last me about 2 years at my current level of use. Problem is I spend more time at the range working than I do shooting.
 
My research indicates that the HAP and the XTP are identical except for the cuts in the jacket (which allow the XTP to expand).

This is partially true from my observations. I believe it's true for the 185 and 200 grain varieties of HAP and XTP. However, I just measured 230 grain HAP and XTP; they are different, but only at the tip/nose of the bullet. From the base to the shoulder, both bullets are 0.3200". FYI, the XTP has a total length of 0.6560" and the HAP has a total length of 0.6450". The difference is 0.0110".

Here's a pic that shows the slight difference in height between them. The 230 grain HAP is on the left, and the slightly longer XTP is on the right.
. HTX & HAP.jpg

BTW - The 10th Edition of the Hornady Handbook shows the same COL for HAP and HTX in 185 grain and 200 grain bullets. However, the COL for the 230 grain HAP is 1.210" and the COL for the 230 grain HTX is 1.230"; the difference is 0.0200"

I noticed the difference and I loaded my 230 grain HAP rounds to a COL of 1.220".

I also want to note that these bullets were bought in bulk on or about 2016 to 2018.
 
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