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45ACP Reloading Bullet Weight Preference Question

2K views 16 replies 14 participants last post by  Big Mak 
#1 ·
I'm about ready to order dies and bullets for 45ACP and do you guys that load this round like loading the 230gr.bullets or something lighter?I was thinking of ordering 250 of the 200gr.roundnose bullets and see how those workout.Round nose was the original bullet type meant for the gun.I have lot's of shells and I have already separated the small primer shells out which wasn't many.My son shoots them and I intend to purchase a Remington 1911 enhanced for myself.I have decided a gun collection isn't complete without a 1911.
 
#5 ·
I load and shoot a lot of 45ACP bullets. I cast my own and have two molds 230 gr RN and 200 gr SWC. I have 4 1911's, among them a Gold Cup, which I shoot with the 200 gr SWC. I use the 230 gr RN in the others.

I don't remember when I've had a problem with those bullets in any of my guns.

I use light target loads in the Gold Cup and I approximate factory velocities with the 230 grain bullet.

Honestly, if you shoot 1911's a lot, I don't think you'll notice much difference in recoil as you go from load to load.
 
#12 ·
Righto about the 1911, the .45 ACP originated in the 1905 Colt and was originally designed around a 200 grain bullet. A brief history lesson, it was chosen in it's current form because of the findings of the Thompson-LaGarde commission on battlefield lethality. At the time of it's adoption men were still riding horses into combat. The .45 ACP would not only kill the rider of the horse, but it would kill the horse he was riding also.
 
#10 ·
For a new reloader, or a new cartridge for a reloader I'd suggest tried and true components to start. With a 45 ACP, 17.325 bizillion rounds have been reloaded with 230 gr. LRN or JRN over Bullseye. Every possible problem has been encountered and solved and reported on a forum somewhere, or in your reloading manual. Every 45 ACP I own and have fired will digest a 230 gr RN with ease, and it's a very "forgiving" round. There's also many powders that work well in the 45 ACP, and all you have to do is look in any reloading manual for several.

After you get a handle loading the230 RN then you can branch out. An excellent bullet is a 200 gr. LSWC, an H&G 68 clone, available from commercial casters and plenty of molds availale too....
 
#11 ·
I load and shoot mostly 200 grain LSWC from Oregon Trail. I just like semi-wadcutters.

I agree with the comments that the .45 Automatic Colt Pistol round was originally designed using a 230 grain ball bullet and the 1911 was designed specifically for that bullet. I find 230 gr RN to be pretty flawless in all my 1911's but I've also never really had any problem with well crafted handloads with other bullets.

My pet loads are a 200 grain Oregon Trail LSWC sitting on 5.2 grains of 231 or on 5.0 grains of Titegroup.

Just my personal observation, hot loads recoil more that light loads. Bullet weight certainly plays in but you can load either type bullet hotter or lighter. Part of the benefit of hand loading is tailoring all these factors into your custom load.
 
#13 ·
Over the years I have tried just about all the weights and profiles both lead and jacketed. I don't shoot that many .45acp any more but I have settled on 230gr. RN FMJ in my Ruger 1911 and 185gr. FMJ Semi Wad Cutters in the Colt Gold Cup, these are the only two 1911 I have left. Powder choices have run the gamut. As other have said the .45 acp is a forgiving round.
 
#15 ·
I don't have a lot to add except to confirm what a lot of others have said - the 230gr RN is the best all around bullet for the 1911. I've tried them all and the worst is the 185gr SWC. Don't know why it is such a terrible bullet in my 1911s. I've shot them in a Les Baer premier II, and a Ruger SR1911 and they were far and away less accurate than any 200gr or 230gr I tried.
 
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