Does reloading for a pistol caliber carbine require different powder?

[Berg]

I've been reloading rifle calibers for years but I now want to start loading .45ACP for a 16" carbine. Can I use data from pistol shooters or do I need to tailor my powder choice to a rifle barrel?

Currently I have Hornady 185 gr XTP bullets but no powder or primers yet.

 

[Reloadron]

The rifle is designed for a pistol caliber so load, for example, 45 ACP as you normally would for a pistol. I load the same loads for my S&W Model 29 and Ruger 44 Carbine.

Ron

 

[Sunray]

"...need to tailor my powder choice..." Nope. You will get higher velocities out of a 16" barrel, but the ammo's the same.

 

[ColoradoShooter77]

I run Longshot in both my 40 handgun loads and my 40 carbine loads. With 7.3 grains Longshot, 180 grain Rainer HP, I chrono'd 1300 fps out of the Carbine. That's impressive.

Bottom line, same powder, same loads.

 

[Walkalong]

No, load as usual. That said, slow powders will take advantage of the longer barrel better than fast ones, but neither will have huge gains. I posted some 9MM data I recorded in 3" to 16" barrels here not long ago. Somewhere.

Here it is:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showpost.php?p=10074892&postcount=4

 

[number1wrench]

What Walkalong said, as a reloader you may find some powder, bullet combinations your carbine "LIKES" better than what works well in your handgun.

 

[HOWARD J]

I use the same load for my 30 M1 carbine as my Ruger 30 carbine pistol.
Some manuals show a little larger charge for the pistol

 

[CraigC]

No, you load for the cartridge, not the barrel length.

 

[Dave P]

I would find a load in Quickload that kept the pressre correct, but gave me max velocity (with a 100 percent burn). Ought to get a nice improvement in power with a longer bbl.

 

[Reefinmike]

load as normal. Slower burning powders may give you a slight advantage out of the longer barrel but you generally dont see more than a 100fps gain going from 5"-16" barrel in 45acp.

Magnum pistol caliber carbines are another story. Lil gun really shines in a 16" 357mag and gets a 164gr pclswc up to 2,000fps. Max h110 loads are 220fps slower.

 

[.452]

Is the carbine a straight blowback, 1911, gas or other type action?

The reason I ask is those blowback designs tend to like the more powerful loads.

 

[WessonOil]

I recently asked and researched this same question for .45ACP carbine.
As it turns out there's not a significant difference.

However, my Hi Point carbine seems to like hotter loads, particularly with 231/HP38.

 

[.452]

Not to mention that Hi-Points are rated +P.

A good stout regular pressure load will run and run, but +P is more fun.

 

[ColoradoShooter77]

My 180 grain pistol loads in 40 S&W from a 4" barrel run around 1000 fps. The Carbine with its 17" barrel is giving me 1300 fps. That's a major improvement, gives me a 10mm power level.

With 155 grain XTP's and 8.8 grains of Longshot, I was getting 1500 fps....smokin'.

Now if the only made a carbine in 10mm.....that would be sweet!

 

[oldpapps]

Lots of good stuff above.

At one time I had the same ideas you are having now. Over the years, I came to the conclusion that loading several specialty loads for differing weapons is a logistics nightmare.

I currently load for 5 weapons chambered in .45 ACP. Three 1911 types, 5 inchers, an old 1917 S&W revolver, 5 1/2 inch barrel and a Marlin Campgun with a 16 1/2 inch barrel. Shooting the same loads, with a statistically valid number of samples, this is what I get:

45 L 204 231 5.6 867.2 1911 - HE
45 L 204 231 5.6 894.4 1911 - TT
45 L 204 231 5.6 869.0 1911 - TE
45 L 204 231 5.6 879.6 S&W 1917
45 L 204 231 5.6 1045.5 Marlin

These velocities samples were at 10 feet, on the same day. Yes, the lot of bullets did weigh in at 204 grains.

Now directly to your question. Yes, it would be possible to move to a different powder to make better use of the longer barrel. Further if you are only loading for that one weapon, that is what I would do. Load for the weapon. However, if you end up with what I will call 'plus P' loadings, be very careful not to let any slip into the hands of others. Back when I was a Deputy, I loaded up some, what I called 'barn burners' for a S&W Model 28. I kept them in my breif case until someone snached 6 from the box. My fear was what would happen if any of those were fired in a Model 19 or other 'K' frame or lesser revolver.

What ever you determine to do, load with care.

 

[tcj]

I load for the lowest common denominator in each caliber so that I can run the same load and bullet, coal without worrying about which forearm.

 

[hdwhit]

Pistol Calibers

One of the advantages of handloading is that you can (theoretically at least) tailor a load to a firearm, such as loading (always in accord with published data) for the rifle with slower powder to get the best overall performance out of the longer barrel of the rifle.

The downside of that is that when you start making special loads for the rifle, you need to keep track of them and segregate them from what you load for the pistol. Now, I'm a forensic engineer (as well as an accountant) and that's more sorting, bean-counting and organizing hassle than I'd be willing to put up with, so I'd just work up a load you like for the gun you shoot more and use it in both.

 

[ColoradoShooter77]

For my carbine loads, I just label the box "carbine" with the load data. Easy to seperate from the pistol loads.

However, my 40 load of 7.3 grains Longshot with a 180 grain bullet, is perfectly safe in my pistols as well.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

My whole point in having a .357/.38 Spl Puma carbine and Ruger revolver, .45 ACP AutoOrdnance TM1 carbine and 1911A1 clone pistol, and .22lr Marlin M60 and Ruger MkII pistol, is complete cartridge compatibilty between carbine and side arm, exactly like the old meme of having a Winchester carbine and Colt revolver both in .38-40 or .44-40.

 

[345 DeSoto]

What HE said^^^^^

 

[Don McDowell]

Aside from the accuracy issues, that you sometimes run into from one gun to the other, no there's no reason to change powder choices.
It won't matter in the 45 acp as much, as it doesn't use the slower burning powders, but in the larger cases such as the 45 colt and 44 magnum, you will see an increase of 200-300 fps more in the rifle/carbine with the same load used in the handgun.

 

[cwall64]

Not disagreeing with what has been said already, but a couple of the reloading manuals I have do have different listings for rifle vs pistol. I doubt it is too much for 45 ACP, but with 44 Mag there is some. I remember 20 - 30 years ago you used to be able to buy 44 Mag ammo designed for a rifle (they might still, but I haven't seen it in a while). I still love that old Ruger model 44, I have killed more deer with it in the brush than any other rifle i have!

 

[Walkalong]

Speer #13 shows .44 Mag in both pistol and rifle sections. Whether the loads are different or not I don't remember. It was useful for showing velocities with different powders in the longer barrel.

 

[.452]

I load for the lowest common denominator in each caliber so that I can run the same load and bullet, coal without worrying about which forearm.

not a Ruger owner I take it?

 

[joneb]

For a Marlin camp 45 I have good results with Accurate #5, VV-N340, Unique, WSF and Blue Dot using 185, 200 and 230gr plated and jacked. The load data I use is for pistol.
The velocity gain is greater with lighter bullets.