May have went to hot? - Bullseye 230 gr.

[dandean316]

I loaded up some .45's using 5.5 Bullseye, 230 gr Hornady FMJ-RN #45177.

Is this too hot? I was trying to get some loads going for my Para Carry (Colt Defender 3" barrel sized) gun.

The data from my Lyman's book says for a 230 gr jacketed MC, 3.8-5.3 of Bullseye is ok. Will an extra .2 gr hurt?

I loaded some Hornady 185 gr HP/XTP's. Some at 5.0 gr and some at 5.5 gr. According to the Lyman book, I can go 3.5-6.0 Bullseye.

And of course, the reason I "overloaded" the 230's was, I forgot to reduce the powder charge a bit after loading the 185's at one in the morning. Yup, never do that again.

Any comments are appreciated. Or should I invest in a bullet puller?

 

[GeneS]

Speer # 13 lists 5.7 gr. of Bullseye as max for 230 gr. FMJ. Overall length was 1.260.

 

[Johnny Guest]

Uhmmmm - - -

dandean316 - - It sounds a bit warmish to me. 5.0 gr. of Bullseye was long considered the military standard loading for the 230 FMJ, bakc in the pre-WWII days when about 860 was considered standard.

I really dunno if the BE formulation changed or what, but a fairly current Alliant powder booklet shows max for the 230 FMJRN at 5.0 gr, for 810 fps at 16,200 psi. They show the 230 JHP at up to 5.4 for 865 fps at 19,200 psi.

The Alliant figures show 19,500 as max pressure for the std .45 ACP.

Their Plus-P loads indicate 22,000 as max pressure, BUT- - - There is no +P load shown for Bullseye I really believe there are pressure curve factors hereof which I am unaware.

GeneS - - My Speer #12 shows the same 5.7 as max for the 230 FMJRN, at 840 fps. What worries me is that they only show 5.0 as max for their 230 Gold Dot plated HP bullet, at 812 fps. I wonder if they had two different lab teams working on loads for these two bullets.

My other sources all either show 5.0 max for the 230 FMJRN, or don't show BE as suitable . . . .



Remember, the true jacketed bullet, as opposed to the plated or lead bullets, usually develop more pressure, for a given powder charge.

dandean316, I really don't know your pistol, how it's sprung, if you use a buffer, etc. But, since it is a good deal lighter than a full-size 1911 type, I'd be leery of using the 5.5 load in it. You might want to await addiitonal input from other members . . . .

Best,
Johnny

 

[JoeHatley]

My Hornady manual lists 5.5 grains Bullseye as the max load for their 230 grain FMJ, with a speed of 850. Probably intended as a Ball duplicate.

Good Luck...

Joe

 

[GeneS]

Yeah, the 5.7 gr. max in the Speer manual does sound pretty high. I'm guessing the difference between the FMJ max and the Gold Dot max is the .060 shorter overall length of the GD. At any rate, the 5.5 gr. of Bullseye is at or very near max and should be worked up to carefully.

 

[Mike Irwin]

I'm also guessing that the Gold Dot may be designed for optimal expansion and penetration inside of a very narrow velocity curve. Anything faster and it might be detrimental to performance.

I'm kind of shocked that my Hornady 4th edition doesn't even show Bullseye for 230-gr. jacketed bullets.

 

[Delmar]

Midway's LoadMap is the only direct reference I have to Hornady's FMJ 230 grain, but they list the STOP charge for Bullseye at 5.8grs. and 21000 PSI, using Remington brass and primers at 1.275 overall length.

From what I hear and have read here, R-P cases are thinner and can safely hold a bit more powder, but I think all of the above posts apply.

Made the mistake of loading near max charge on my 1911 one time right off the bat and not using the components listed and boy-howdy, what a party favor. That will never happen again on my reloading bench without properly working up a load.

The neighbors must have thought I was building a house with all the hammering coming out of my garage, courtesy of an impact bullet puller.

 

[dandean316]

Just to be safe

I got a bullet puller and will pull them. I shot the ones at 5.0 and they fed fine, and gave me enough oomph. The reason I used the round 230 gr was I thought I was having feeding problems with my new gun with lead SWC's. I tried the 185 gr JHP's and they fed fine - so no need to keep the 5.5's until I WORK UP the load. Then again, I think I will keep a couple and let my buddy shoot them in his Glock - after he signs a waiver!

 

[M2HMGHB]

I have noticed that the load maps i got from midway USA have had hotter load data then when i compared it to my manuals. The difference was sometimes one or more grains.

 

[P95Carry]

Pulling does sound to me like better bet ... i have a ''thing'' about max Bullseye loads. It is such a very fast powder and can I am sure produce some horrific over-pressure peaks when pushed.

Seen more than one double charged 38 spl trash a revo!!

In fairness to any gun of mine (one I value ... and that's all of em!) ..... I'd resist the urge to shoot em off!

 

[Mike Irwin]

WARNING: The following described procedure can potentially lead to rounds that are loaded to an overpressure condition, and could, under certain circumstances, lead to damage to a firearm and/or possible injury.

PROCEED AT YOUR OWN COMFORT LEVEL AND RISK.


There's an alternative to pulling them all...

Use the EXACT SAME components, and work your way up from a known OK load.

When you get to the book max, work your way up in .1 grain increments, watching VERY carefully for any signs of excessive pressure, such as flattened primers or bulges around the case head where it is unsupported by the barrel.

A maximum strength recoil spring is probably also a good idea.