I've been reloading for .45 ACP for several years now using a Dillon Square Deal B. (I love my SDB and Dillons warranty, but thats not the point of this thread!) I met a guy at my local indoor range who was selling bullets from Bear Creek Supply, and I've been using them for more than a year now. These bullets are 'moly' coated - the quotes indicate that the coating seems to actually be a plastic mixture mixed with moly. My load is WLP, 5.5g W231, and a Bear Creek 200g SWC. I've actually been very happy with this load, and I've probably put 8000 of them down my range. The guy who sells these to me leads me to believe that this load is very popular with the local IPSC crowd. This load is accurate, its clean, and I almost never have to clean my Kimber!. (Well thats probably also a separate discussion).
Recently, I had the opportunity to shoot with a friend at an outdoor range in LA. My friend owns a chronograph, which I do not. My expectations were that the Bear Creek loads would be equivalent to LSWC loads, foor example what you see at http://www.reloadammo.com/45loads. I was expecting to see velocities of around 910 fps. Much to my surprise, my favorite load was consistently running at 830 fps! I guess this just underlines the advice you usually get on this forum about needing a chronograph in order to be serious about this game.
So I'm wondering what experience other people on this list have with Bear Creek bullets, and how to interpret load data for LSWC when using them?
Recently, I had the opportunity to shoot with a friend at an outdoor range in LA. My friend owns a chronograph, which I do not. My expectations were that the Bear Creek loads would be equivalent to LSWC loads, foor example what you see at http://www.reloadammo.com/45loads. I was expecting to see velocities of around 910 fps. Much to my surprise, my favorite load was consistently running at 830 fps! I guess this just underlines the advice you usually get on this forum about needing a chronograph in order to be serious about this game.
So I'm wondering what experience other people on this list have with Bear Creek bullets, and how to interpret load data for LSWC when using them?