Hot rodded 45?

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Sommerled

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We had a fun super bowl party at my house and one guest said he heard that I was into the shooting sports. Well, only about average, I replied, not knowing him very well. He said that he was a reloader and waxed on about how much power he gets out of his 45's and wanted to see my set up. I told him my stuff is secured during parties, especially ones that have beer and wine.

Now, I'm always interested in friendships, but not if this guy is blowing smoke. So I asked him what he loaded for his 45.

His recipe:

Winchester Brass "gotta be cause its the best"
Blue Dot powder 9.2 gr "itsa magnum powder"
230 gr Golden Sabre HP
WLP primers "they are hotter"

I wrote this down as he told me. After he left I went on the Alliant Powder website and found no data using BD in 45acp, nor in any of my books either.

What do you think about this load? Is it +P or even dangerous? I've only loaded for 8 yrs so I've not the experience of some of the members here. Is this an old load? I'd like to have more reloading friends but am wary of this guy. Your thoughts please..
 
Myself...I wont dare use Winchester brass for hot 45acp loads.

I've never used BD either...I like Power Pistol (7.4 grains under a 230 XTP will give Win brass a nice "guppy belly")
 
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Blue Dot sucks for low pressure cartridges with low case capacity

I just got done testing a 158grn +p 38spec load that was supposed to go 900fps from a 6" revolver. At a max load of 6.0grs I was getting less than 550fps with unburnt powder all over the place.

What do you think about this load? Is it +P or even dangerous?
Click to expand...

One word

Chronograph

Possibly dangerous in that it might stick bullets in the barrel. IF he's getting complete burn I'll wager his pressures and velocities are lower than plain ol BALL
 
Like krochus pointed out, that load is prolly not fully burning in a .45 pistol barrel. There would be other powders more eccomonical (less grains of a faster powder), that most likely match or better it in velocity.

But I'm betting that load would give a real good muzzle 'blast' and flame, maybe that counts as a 'power load', I just don't know. ;)
 
Lyman shows top loads of 10+ grains of Blue Dot and 225-230 grain bullets in .45ACP.

My gunsmith used to load 11 grains of Blue Dot and a 185 gr JHP for about 1000 fps, but later changed to AA 5 for better metering.

Your guy's stuff is neither as powerful as he thinks or as weird as the other posters think.
Lots of better choices.
 
About 900 fps from a 5" barrel. Very inefficient, but otherwise not bad. Pressure is just below 20000 psi, depending on how deep he seats the bullets.

6.5 grains of Herco would give better performance with less powder.
 
Your friend is full of "it"...Right up to his brown eyes. I wouldn't let him see my setup sober.

I've looked at using Blue Dot for years and have passed on it. Can't seem to see where it is better then the powders I already use.

Stick with what your manual tells you and only invent a special load after you purchase chamber pressure measuring equipment...Let your buddy screw up his life without you...Or...Set him straight on the subject...
 
ditto ridgerunner. hot-rodding a .45acp is asking for trouble, specially w/o a stiffer recoil spring and Win brass ain't the best by far.
I've loaded some hot loads for my Marlin Camp .45acp with good results useing PP. I have a 21# recoil spring installed. really 'whacks' a steel plate at 100 yds.
 
Alliant USED to list 230 gr JHP loads for Blue Dot . . . 9.8 gr was max at 19,300 cups. I wouldn't call this a Hot Rod.

I agree that Blue Dot is not an efficient powder in small capacity, short barrel loads. I've had similar experiences to the ones posted in this thread with BD. I experimented quite a bit with Blue Dot in 357 mag and 44 mag. It's performance was no where close to what I get from 2400, AA#9, or even Herco. An yes, there is a fireball out the end of my 7.5" Redhawk with Blue Dot.

My best loads in 45 ACP, some hot rods, have come from using 3 dirty powders, Bullseye, Red Dot, and Green Dot. Green dot performs amazingly well with 230 FMJ in reference to felt recoil. Hodgdon Clays is incredible for cleanliness and recoil, but I have trouble making major power factor with 200 gr SWCs without hot rodding.

Vihta Vouri certainly touts their powders for being able to "hot rod" without exceeding cups. Haven't spent the money.
 
Attempts to hot-rod handguns is a mistake and that's especially true for autoloaders. NONE of the "normal" pressure signs will occur until pressures are FAR higher than the weapon can withstand. Quite often, the only "pressure sign" we will get is when it all comes from together in our hand!

It seems your new "friend" is another handloading blow hard. Sadly, he has plenty of company.
 
I don't mean to debate about 10mm's effectivness or anything.
Not that I personally have anything against 10mm's, as long as I'm wearing hearing protection (anyone who has fired a 10mm in an inclosed space/indoors without hearing protection will know what I mean).

But if I can achieve a result without collateral damage to my hearing using a .45, then that would be a benefit.
 
I'm with you Remo-99, that's why I shoot a .45acp and am happy with it's plodding bullet speed.
 
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That "plodding bullet speed" is what makes the 45acp so good to shoot. No need to hotrod it. Never talk guns at a SuperBowl party where there have been 'beverages' available. It would appear that this guy is blowing smoke, but I'll bet that he doesn't know any better. He needs to be informed that you can't make a 45acp into a 44mag. He needs to be introduced to the 45winmag fired at dusk if all he wants is belching muzzle blast to make him feel that he's shooting a hotrodded load.

-Steve
 
His load of 9.2grs of Blue Dot isn't unusually hot. Speer 13 lists 8.1 to 9.0grs of BD behind their 230gr GD bullet with a velocity at 893 fps and Alliant did list a load of 9.8grs. BD does produce the highest velocity listed in the Speer manual for their 230gr GD bullet.

As others have mentioned Blue Dot is a slow powder and a bit dirty in the .45 as the pressures are too low for its optimum performance. The guy certainly wasn't off the wall with his handload. Perhaps a bit optimistic regarding his velocity and power though.
 
The good news is, your friend can't hurt himself or his gun as long as he thinks Blue-Dot is giving him "Magnum" performance in his .45.

It isn't!

Lyman #49 shows 9.2 grains & a 230 TMJ as giving only 806 FPS at 15,100 PSI in a 5" test barrel.

Any number of other powders will give velocity in the high 800's, and Longshot will give 922 FPS at 17,100.

rc
 
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