Conflicting load data for W231 and .45ACP

[1stsergeantretired]

w231

I watched the Bianchi many years ago. A gunsmith, from the cylinder & slide shop did some work for me on my Colt. AT the time he told me almost all the competitors used 5.6 gr. of w231 behind a hard cast 200gr. swc. Works for me.

 

[BigBob3006]

I always seem to get things backwards. While the 230gr round nose bullet has several wars to prove itself as a serious working load. being some thing of a wimp I prefer the 200gr or 185gr bullets. These weights leave something to be desired in round nose bullets. The .45 ACP as originally offered to the military was a 200gr bullet at 900 fps. The government said "no thanks!" and opted for the 230gr bullet at 820 fps. That cartridge and pistol was proved in the Philippines WWI and half a dozen banana republics long before WWII.

Still I'm a wimp. Hornady's 185gr and 200gr HP-XTP are serious working bullets. I used The 185gr HP-XTP in front of 6.1gr Of W-231. After additional testing I switched to the 200gr Hornady HP-XTP and 6.0gr of W-231. CCI #300 primers pushes both loads quite nicely out of my Combat Commander. These loads are book max of Lymans 48th Edition of Reloading Handbook.

Have a nice day.