Loading .45 ACP

[Ej3]

My neighbor called me a couple of weeks ago asking if I load .45 ACP. I said no, but I am assuming I need to start. Well, he had just bought a Kimber Team Match II with a 5" barrel. So needless to say I had a Lee Deluxe Carbide 4-Die Set, a box of CCI-300 LP primers, a box of Hornady 230 gr XTP bullets, and a pound of Accurate #5 powder on order from Midway USA. I already have plenty of Titegroup and BE-86 on hand, but my research lead me to also try AA#5. And, I had a large supply of 45 ACP casings that were given to me at some point in the past. I also bought 500 230 gr FMJ RN bullets from Everglades Ammo and a 100 ct. sample pack of Polycoated 230 gr RN bullets from SNS Cast Bullets.

Note – Midway was the only place I could find LP primers and they only charged $11.99 Hazmat with a free shipping promo over $49, which is awesome IMO. After the CCI-300 primers went out of stock, earlier this week I bought some Federal Premium Gold Medal Large Pistol Match Primers #150M to ensure my supply during this current round of panic buying. The WLP primers were also out of stock.

This is a fun cartridge to load. So much so, I convinced my wife to get me Kimber in 45 ACP for Father’s Day! I have a Kimber Stainless TLE II 45 ACP with Night Sights on order.



Below and attached are my results so far:

230 gr. FMJ RN, 8.3 gr. AA#5, COL 1.25”, Win Case, CCI-300 LPP - Avg. 880 fps, ES 26, SD 9


230 gr. PCRN, 4.6 gr. Titegroup, COL 1.25”, Win Case, CCI-300 LPP - Avg. 777 fps, ES 22, SD 8


I will definitely be buying more of the 230 PCRN bullets from SNS Cast Bullets.

When I ordered the additional primers from Midway, I also ordered two pounds of Sport Pistol. I am anxious to see how it does with the polycoated bullets. And, I also plan to try AA#5 and BE-86 with the XTP bullets.

 

[Charlie98]

I've been working with BE-86 and SportPistol in the .45 also... so far, so good. One of the other members here has done some testing with both and found SportPistol to be a bit position sensitive in the .45, however. Not a big fan of TiteGroup, but that's just personal preference. As you might have guessed, I AM a big fan of Unique in the .45, particularly with 230grn bullets.

Nice pistol, BTW!

 

[DanK3Pos]

I learned to load with .45acp. I certainly enjoy loading the larger bullets more than 9mm.

Congrats on the Father's day gift!

 

[flashhole]

Nice pistol.

I've had good success with Berry's plated 230 grain RN bullets and CFE Pistol powder in my Springfield Mil Spec.

 

[748]

You will like aa5 it burns nice and clean at mild acp pressures.

 

[AJC1]

With cast I'm currently using unique. For jacketed power pistol is fun and accurate if you want to draw attention at the range. Makes the 45 sound like a magnum or cannon. Not a good choice for cary ammunition imo.

 

[Charlie98]

Not a good choice for cary ammunition imo.

I call it the 'one shot stop' powder... you better hit them with your first shot, because you will be blind from the muzzle flash after that first shot. I consider most +P ammos the same. JMHO...

 

[Dudedog]

I really like HP38/W231 for anything less that Full power .45 loads.
AA#2, N320 also shoot really well for me in less than full power loads.
I haven't really worked with Sport Pistol in .45 but it is close to the same burn speed as HP38 so should work well.

If you are new to loading .45 one thing to keep in mind is there is small primer brass out there as well.
Attempting to put a LP in a SP case does not work well. (I had heard this but I had to try it for myself, it doesn;t work well....)

SWCs cut nice holes in targets, some guns are easy to load for with them, some are more picky. what mag you are using can make a difference as well with SWCs as can minor adjustments in OAL.
Not saying don't try to load some just a FYI that they can be finicky compared to Round noses.

 

[Toprudder]

I've been working with BE-86 and SportPistol in the .45 also... so far, so good. One of the other members here has done some testing with both and found SportPistol to be a bit position sensitive in the .45, however.

That would be me. Sport Pistol worked well in 9mm in my testing, but based on my experience with it I won't be using it in 45acp as I have other powders that work better. Here is a link to the thread I created regarding my testing of Sport Pistol in 45acp:
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/sport-pistol-powder-in-45acp.860544/

BE86 is good for full power loads, and I think AA#5 is really good for mid-range loads. My wife prefers reduced recoil loads in her gun, and I use Clays for that.

 

[Blue68f100]

WST is my preferred powder for the 45acp. I mainly shoot MBC BE #1or #2 bullets

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I keep it simple with cast .45 ACP. 185 gr, 200 gr and 230 gr. all get 5.0 gr of Unique.

 

[Texas10mm]

3.6 gr Clays under a 200 gr cast SWC.

It's a nice soft shooting load that's been accurate in everything I've tried it in.

 

[Walkalong]

This is a fun cartridge to load.

Yes it is. I would recommend that you keep the 230 Gr stuff to around 830ish or maybe a little more, not to exceed 850 and I would be happy at an 830 average. That will be easier on your Kimber, the 1911 wasn't designed to take much more, plenty of people do it, but the .45 ACP 230 Gr does it with weight and modest velocity, pushing it harder doesn't really add anything you need as far as power.

Nice shooting by the way, that Titegroup load looks very good.

Hard to beat a 200 Gr SWC and a modest charge of something like WST, N-310, etc, etc...

 

[Charlie98]

I keep it simple with cast .45 ACP. 185 gr, 200 gr and 230 gr. all get 5.0 gr of Unique.

What are those 230's traveling at... 700fps?

 

[748]

Use a silencer to hide the flash.

If you use 5gr of unique on 200gr bullets the gun might not cycle reliably.
I loaded pounds of unique in 45acp over the last 20 years and I say stick near the max load with unique in 45acp.
The gun cycles good and it burns clean. Some people complain that unique burns dirty, yeah when you load light shells. Otherwise it's clean, but not quite AA# clean.

 

[kmw1954]

Like many I have loaded plated Berry's 185gr, 200gr FP and 185gr ,200gr RN and some of those hollow base with everything from AA#2, AA#5, HP-38 and Ramshot Silhouette. With the plated bullets I like the AA#2 and the Silhouette best.

I am also no loading 45acp cast with a Lyman 452374 225gr RN mold and a Lee 452-200 200gr. RNFP. Also tried a 200gr Cast SWC but couldn't get it to function in neither the XD Mod2 or the Witness. So far I loaded these cast with the AA#2, HP-38 and the AA #5 but not the Ramshot. The AA #2 needs to be worked up hotter, the HP-38 was OK. The AA#5 was used to finish off about 1/3 lb. I had left the start was 6.8gr and showed promise so I bumped it up to 7.1gr but haven't shot that yet. Next I will load the Ramshot to compare against the AA#5 as I have already replaced the #5 for the Ramshot in everything else..

 

[Alliant Reloading]

I'm surprised nobody has yet mentioned our original 45 Automatic powder, Bullseye(R).
I just loaded a bunch of 230gr plated RN with 4.9gr Bullseye, and they are a joy to shoot.
Shoot well,
Paul

 

[ColtPythonElite]

What are those 230's traveling at... 700fps?

Probably a little faster. I looked at my notes. It looks like I have only chronographed 5.3 gr. I got an average of 814 fps

 

[Ej3]

I would recommend that you keep the 230 Gr stuff to around 830ish or maybe a little more, not to exceed 850 and I would be happy at an 830 average. That will be easier on your Kimber, the 1911 wasn't designed to take much more, plenty of people do it, but the .45 ACP 230 Gr does it with weight and modest velocity, pushing it harder doesn't really add anything you need as far as power.

BE86 is good for full power loads, and I think AA#5 is really good for mid-range loads.

I was thinking that I should actually aim for max 850. I will look to dial the FMJ loads back using the AA#5 (830 to 850 max). PPU factory stuff (Academy’s Monarch brand) averaged 810 (82*F) and was pretty accurate and pleasant to shoot, so I see your point.

Regarding the 230 gr XTPs, it is my understanding that to achieve full expansion you need about 900 fps at the muzzle. That is why I was thinking about using BE-86. But perhaps I should still stick with an 850 fps max. I will see how it shoots.

 

[entropy]

You chose well with AA#5 and Titegroup, both are excellent .45 ACP powders. Don't forget the classic standard: 5.0 of Bullseye and 230 FMJ. I have yet to find a 1911 that shoots it bad-some do really well, but all shoot good with it.

 

[Toprudder]

All of my 45s do well with loads that give me between 700 to 750 fps (from a 4.5” barrel) except for my FNX, which has to be loaded for minimum 800fps. 200gn plated bullets.

 

[drband]

Acme 200gr LSWC (or 200gr LRN) coated over 3.7gr Promo (or Red Dot—same data by weight) yields a soft shooting, ACCURATE load at about 750fps. I also like Bullseye, a lot!

 

[cfullgraf]

My main 45 ACP load is 230 RN bullet over 5.0 grains of 700-X. I have an alternate load with Accurate #5 and Unique should 700-X powder become hard to find.

I've been dabbling with 185 SWC bullets over Accurate #2 in my Gold Cup but have not spent sufficient time with this load as of yet.

 

[TonyAngel]

My goto load for a 1911 in .45 is a 200gr SWC over AA #2. Good accurate load in my 1911s and cuts clean holes in paper.

 

[rabid wombat]

200’s and WST here....works well