Sharps Shooter
Member
Is HS-6 powder not a good choice for the .45ACP? I’ve used it for years in .38 Special and .357 Magnum loads, but just recently bought myself a 1911 .45ACP and started loading for it. HS-6 and Unique are the only two handgun powders I have on hand that are listed in my loading manuals as suitable for my new .45ACP. So I put 7.8 grains of HS-6 behind 230 grain Hornady FMJ bullets in 10 cases and 7.9 grains of Unique behind the same 230 grain Hornady bullets in another 10 cases. With the HS-6 loads, velocities were all over the place. The velocities averaged 800fps, but they varied from 757fps to 860fps giving me a SD of 39.8. On the other hand, the Unique loads produced somewhat lower velocities, averaging only 772fps, but the SD was only 12.1.
I was using mixed brass – Winchester, Lellier & Bellot and Speer. So I’m pretty sure that would account for some velocity variations. But I used the same mixed brands of brass for both the HS-6 and Unique loads. I taper crimped all the cases the same, just barely removing the bells. And I used CCI Large Pistol Primers in all the loads.
The truth is, I’ve never shot any of my HS-6 .38 Special or .357 Magnum loads across a chronograph, so maybe I’ve been getting 100fps velocity swings with HS-6 powder all along. It just seems like a lot to me seeing as how those HS-6 .45ACP loads only averaged 800fps. Am I being too finicky? Do you think the fact that with the .45ACP I used only a light, taper crimp on the cases could cause velocity swings with HS-6 powder? I mean the .45ACP bullets are not held as firmly as say .38 Special bullets where I put a good, firm roll crimp on the cases when using HS-6 powder. That’s just a guess, so please tell me if I'm all wet.
Thanks for your help.
I was using mixed brass – Winchester, Lellier & Bellot and Speer. So I’m pretty sure that would account for some velocity variations. But I used the same mixed brands of brass for both the HS-6 and Unique loads. I taper crimped all the cases the same, just barely removing the bells. And I used CCI Large Pistol Primers in all the loads.
The truth is, I’ve never shot any of my HS-6 .38 Special or .357 Magnum loads across a chronograph, so maybe I’ve been getting 100fps velocity swings with HS-6 powder all along. It just seems like a lot to me seeing as how those HS-6 .45ACP loads only averaged 800fps. Am I being too finicky? Do you think the fact that with the .45ACP I used only a light, taper crimp on the cases could cause velocity swings with HS-6 powder? I mean the .45ACP bullets are not held as firmly as say .38 Special bullets where I put a good, firm roll crimp on the cases when using HS-6 powder. That’s just a guess, so please tell me if I'm all wet.
Thanks for your help.