Bullet dia. question (45 ACP)

[Steve H]

Is there any thing that need to be considered when reloading .452 dia. bullets vs. .451 dia/ bullets? I just found out that Berrys Bullets sells to the public and I drive by there at least once a week. Their 230 gr. plated RN 45 has a dia. of .452 vs: the Hornady's that I have here that are .451.

 

[sigman4rt]

IIRC tolerances range from .451 to .453 for .45 acp. The reason that they are .452 is probably because they are plated instead of jacketed. They should work fine. Later.

 

[mete]

You may need a different expander plug so the bullet is gripped properly.

 

[Canuck-IL]

You may need a different expander plug so the bullet is gripped properly.

Different? I assume you mean just dial it in and flare a slight bit more.
/Bryan

 

[alucard0822]

lead or plated bullets are usually a thousandth or two larger than the jacketed versions, this is a small enough difference that you don't have to change your seup much, but be carefull about crimping too tight, it can split the plating and can leave bits of plating behind, and negates the cleaner benefits of plating, just make sure you follow lead load data to avoid overpressure, because the tighter fit and better seal cause higher pressures with the same charge weight, I usually load 45acp with 5gr of bullseye for jacketed .451 jacketed bullets, and 4gr for lead or plated .452 dia bullets, both are very accurate and reliable in my kimber 1911 and sig 220, plated are a lot cheaper though

 

[Walkalong]

The difference in hardness of the lead and the difference in friction between the two account for the different pressures with plated bullets. You can load them almost as hot as most jacketed as long as the bullet can stand the velocity and still shoot well. Stop just short of max with jacketed bullets of the same wieght and you will be fine. Lead bullet loads don't usually stop at max pressure, they stop where accuracy is good with no leading.
Lead and most plated bullets are usually .001 over jacketed sizes becuse they are soft and swage down easily.

 

[ReloaderFred]

I've loaded and fired about 60,000 of the Berry's bullets in different calibers. I shoot so many of them, I've got a wholesale account with them.

They work very well, as long as you don't over crimp them, as mentioned. You also don't want to drive them more than about 1,250 fps, which isn't going to be a problem in your .45.

While you're there, you may want to consider their 185 grain hollow base round nose bullet for the .45. It's the exact same configuration as the 230 grain round nose, but costs less and is very accurate. I put about 400 of them downrange yesterday from my .45 acp Springfield XD.

Hope this helps.

Fred