Rainier 45 ACP 200 gr FP COL ?

[Larryect]

I have been reloading the Rainier plated 200 gr Flat Point for .45 ACP at a COL of 1.268 over 5.0 gr of some very old Red Dot powder. The combination seemed to work fine with my Glock 36 and my Glock 21.

Well, I ran out of the old Red Dot so I thought I would try some W231. I loaded a few with 4.7gr and some at 5.0 gr and some at 5.3 gr and took them to the indoor range to try out. All three seemed to function in the G36. With the 4.7 load the bullets seemed to be tumbling when they hit the target and the 5.3 gr load gave better ejection. I could not see any indication of excessive pressure So far so good.

Well, I got a Lone Wolf barrel for my Glock 21 for Christmas. So this was the initial trip to see how it works as well.

Oops, the Lone Wolf barrel does not like the reloads. They would not chamber completely. I tried some factory Winchester 230 gr FMJ (white box) and that worked fine.

I came home and double checked my reloads in a chamber gauge - they fit fine. I pulled the barrel and sure enough the rounds would not drop all the way in the chamber. With some experimentation on the press, I found the problem is the shoulder of the bullet seems to be causing the conflict.

If I load them at a COL of 1.215 they look like they will work. This length just barely leaves some shoulder exposed.

Any thoughts on 5.3 gr. of W231 with a Rainier 200 gr FP at a COL of 1.215?
Because of the decreased COL should I start with a reduced powder load again?


Thanks


.

 

[Steve C]

I use 5.5grs of W231 with 200gr bullets and load the 200gr FP Rainiers to just below the taper usually at 1.210" OAL.

OAL

 

[Walkalong]

You might try some Ranier 200 Gr SWC's @ 1.260 O.A.L. I gave up on the Ranier 200 Gr FP & HP. The 200 SWC just shot so much better. They were more accurate, cleaner, and gave better ES & SD numbers. I think you will like it. I shot the Ranier 200 gr FP's @ 1.235 O.A.L., by the way.

If your guns don't like the SWC style bullets, which some don't, try the Berry's 200 Gr HP @ 1.200 O.A.L.. It will feed very well and is very accurate. I have 3 or 4 recipes which will shoot very well with this bullet.

If you are in the mood to experiment with some different powders, I would suggest WST, Competition, AA #2, N310, or N320 for medium plinking loads. They will all do very well.

Steve C's suggestion of 5.5 Grs of W-231 with the 200 Gr plated bullets is a good one.

 

[Larryect]

Thanks guys. I wanted to double check that loading them so short wasn't going to cause a problem. It looks like Steve has loaded them a tad shorter yet without trouble. So, I will try it out.

Thanks for the alternative bullet suggestions as well. I was using West Coast flat points and then had trouble finding them so I went to Rainiers. I try to find something I can use consistently and load up 1,000 or so at a time. Then it seems like a run out or can't get the same components the next time and I have to start over.

In this case a new barrel is requiring a change. Anyway, thanks for the input.

Larry

 

[rcmodel]

Hornady gives a COL of 1.200" for the 230 grain TC-FMJ bullet of theirs.
I think it is a very similar profile as the Berry Truncated Cone bullet.

They show 5.7 grains W-231 as a max load.


rcmodel

 

[Larryect]

Interesting. They show more powder and shorter COL for a heavier bullet. I guess I should be a safe territory anyway....

 

[Larryect]

Follow up report.

I went ahead and loaded about 130 ronds at the COL of 1.215 with the recommended 5.5 of W231.

They worked great with the Lone Wolf barrel in the Glock 21.

Thanks for the help.