What Are you guys shooting in your 1911's?

[JWFilips]

I have been away from my 1911 since 2013.....But recently I had started using it again...hoping to try it with PC bullets.
I only have one mould and that is the Lee TL 452-230 RN
Since I have an Abundance of Large Pistol primers.... a go to thing in this time and place, I'm gravitating to the only pistol I have that uses LPR's
Never shot it a lot when I got it it so I am on a new adventure! The lee bullets shoot really well but my loads of 4.5 BE are very dirty! With normal lube bullets I do get some leading near the 1st part of the barrel....but PC seems to eliminate that!
Just wondering what you guys here are shooting bullet wise and powder wise?

I guess bring out my pistols again is a thing of the times! Don't want to run out of My rifle primers or my SPP's ..... Trying to go to what I have most of!
Thanks
Jim

 

[462]

For my Randall, it's Lyman's 452374 round nose and 452460 semi-wadcutter, and Bullseye, Unique, Trail Boss, Herco, and maybe another powder I can't recall. It didn't care for W231, though.
I don't do powder coat.

 

[oscarflytyer]

Mine don't seem too fond of the 230 RNs. Now, the M&P clone of the H&G #68 I have, can't make it shoot bad with anywhere from 4.2-5 grns of Bullseye. And a cpl other powders, but the BE is my go to. Pretty much standardized on 4.5 grn.

 

[Dusty Bannister]

I like the Lee 452-200-RF, 452-200-SWC and Lee 452-230-TC with Lithi Bee lube and Bullseye powder. These are sized at .452" and I do not have to deal with leading.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

I was in the 1911 game for some time, took a long sabbatical and returned to the 1911.
The first go around I predominantly used 230 grain bullets and a few 200 grain bullets.
When I returned the the 45 ACP I went the 200 gr SWC.
I have to say that I find the 200 gr SWC to be an excellent bullet.
I use the SAECO #069, which is a near clone of the H&G #68

 

[waco]

My Kimber get a NOE copy of the H&G 68 PC and sized to .451”

 

[oscarflytyer]

^^^ and all of the above is why my first mold when I got into this about 12 years ago was the H&G #68 clone!

 

[L Ross]

I have been away from my 1911 since 2013.....But recently I had started using it again...hoping to try it with PC bullets.
I only have one mould and that is the Lee TL 452-230 RN
Since I have an Abundance of Large Pistol primers.... a go to thing in this time and place, I'm gravitating to the only pistol I have that uses LPR's
Never shot it a lot when I got it it so I am on a new adventure! The lee bullets shoot really well but my loads of 4.5 BE are very dirty! With normal lube bullets I do get some leading near the 1st part of the barrel....but PC seems to eliminate that!
Just wondering what you guys here are shooting bullet wise and powder wise?

I guess bring out my pistols again is a thing of the times! Don't want to run out of My rifle primers or my SPP's ..... Trying to go to what I have most of!
Thanks
Jim

Considering your preference for low velocity loads why not just use your LPP in your rifle loads?

 

[Matt]

Lee 200 gr H&G copy, unsized +2 coats Ben’s Tumble lube, 5.2 grains W231 and any large pistol primer. Works in my 1911s, Glock, and S&W. I do this because it’s accurate, uses less lead than a 230gr RN, and cuts nice holes in the target. Since you have a 230 gr RN mold you are set. I used two 4 cavity 230 RN molds (a Lyman and an H&G) for 30 years with W231 before Lee came out with the six cavity mold. Any fast pistol powder like W231 (HP38, Bullseye, Red Dot etc) all work. I switched from Bullseye to W231 because it smoked less indoors with conventionally lubed bullets. If I was casting the 230 RN today I’d tumble lube them. Tumble lube makes target velocity cast bullets simple.

 

[Ian]

Powder-coated Lee TL452-230TC, sized .4515" with 5.3 grains of Universal and CCI 300 seated to 1.200". I would use the Accurate 452-230L except nothing with a stepped band will feed through my AR-45 and I insist on universal ammunition. 1.200" is shorter than most autos require, but the longest that several modern plastic throatless autos will accept, so I load to the lowest denominator.

 

[Ole_270]

Another that uses 231/HP-38 @5.2 under the Lee 200 swc or rf for the majority of my Sig 1911 shooting. I use the Lee 230 TC under 5 1/2 gr Universal for my heavy load and it works very well. However, the majority of my 45 acp heavy loads get run through my Ruger Flattop convertible, prefer not to have to chase the brass.

 

[bruce381]

200 gr Saeco H+G clone #69 I think? but now have a cut down to remove BB Lee 200 now 185 gr. 6 cav.

Load behind 4.5 gr Clay dot clean and soft. using LARS Carnuba red sized in Star sizer with PID heater and air lube feed.

 

[CZ93X62]

Two 45 ACP pistols here, SIG P-220 and a Series 80 Colt Gold Cup. (Also a S&W 625 x 4", but not germane to the O/P's question)

Both of the bottom-feeders get fed 230 grain castings that quasi-duplicate my carry loads (WWB 230 JHPs). These take the form of the Lee 230 TC, the Lyman #452374, and some BD-45 castings I made with a borrowed mould some years ago. I feed them all 5.5 grains of WW-231 which enables the 875-900 FPS that the WWB JHPs give.

 

[bruce381]

to add yeah 5-5.5 gr 231 works very well to me kind of sticky but shoot very accurate

 

[fiver]

I've circled around to the lyman that's similar to the 68 only with a shorter nose.
I think I got rid of all my other acp molds but have a 225gr rnfp 45 colt mold I use for a heavier bullet if need be.

powder?
man pick one.
pretty much everything up to Herco works just fine.
I think I used green-dot or 700-X in my last batch.
unique has a nice soft recoil impulse but it likes to spit sparks out the ejection port.

I bet American select is just about right for burn speed [s/d-e/s] and recoil impulse.

 

[Wiresguy]

The MP version of the #68, or the Accurate #45-200E with Bullseye. The 45-200E in moon clips chambers easily in the S&W Model 625 as it doesn’t have the WC shoulder.

 

[Brad]

MP version of the #68 over 4.8 gr of Promo. I use PC and size .451.

 

[CZ93X62]

When I want to punch paper with less recoil or swat small varmints, the 200 grain H&G #68 plagiarism by Lee usually get the call. 4.5 grains of WW-231 runs things gently and gives a little over 800 FPS. The Glock 21 would feed these, but had a ka-chunky cycle to it. The Colt and the SIG run them smoothly. About 10%-15% of my brass is loaded this way, put up in ACP brass to run in all of the toys. I am really starting to like the plastic full-moon clips by RIMZ for the ACP loads in the 625. Carry loads are put up in steel clips, but the fun stuff and hunting ammo get RIMZed. I start to get sluggish feeding and failures to lock the slide back at powder weights under 4.2 grains in all 3 pistols, and the Glock would hang up and fail to fully feed. A friend now uses the Glock with some kind of optical whiz-bang sight thing. Another G-21 may be in the cards, but in my heart of hearts I want a steel Commander.

 

[Joshua]

I do load for a 45acp pistol. It isn’t a 1911. I enjoy shooting it; yet I’m embarrassed to mention the manufacturer of the pistol. Many years ago it was gifted to me without a magazine. It’s a chunky American made sidearm from Mansfield, Ohio.

I’m glad that it was the first auto loading pistol I reloaded for. It has cycled and fired everything that I have loaded. It has never had a failure to feed. My S&W Shield in 40s&w on the other hand has not been so nice to me, that gun jammed often until I found out what it liked. I think that I might even pick up one of those ugly, blowback carbines in 45acp, someday.

I have had good luck with the Lee TL452-230-2R, 45/45/10, over 5.2gr of Ramshot ZIP, with an OAL of 1.267”.

I searched/read quite a bit about what was the most reliable nose profile for a 45acp bullet. Over and over the Lee TL452-230-2R was recommended. It uses more lead than others. There may be more accurate bullets. But I wanted it to work every time in a cheap, poor mans pistol, and it did.

Josh

 

[Petrol & Powder]

The 45 ACP has been around for so long that I think all of the experimentation has been done and the results circulated amongst reloaders.
The secrets are all out.

When I returned to the 45 ACP, I asked around and the 200 gr. SWC was the most recommended by a large margin. I can say that I understand why that bullet is favored in the 45 ACP. It just works !

In my first go-around with the 45 ACP I was predominantly loading 230 grain bullets; some FMJ and some commercially cast. My hollow point choices back then were a 230gr jacketed HP and the Speer 200 grain "flying ashtray" which was available as a component bullet in those days.

The 45 ACP is a low pressure cartridge and as such, it is very forgiving, a lot like the 38 Special. A fast burning powder and a C.O.L. that works will probably get you pretty close to a good combination.

I don't powder coat, so I can't speak to that.
With a cast bullet you don't need, or want, a hard alloy.
NRA 50/50 lube works perfectly and results in zero leading. With the 45 ACP stay away from hard bullet lubes.
WW-231 [HP-38] is my go-to powder but Bullseye is a solid performer as well.
Use an expander that works for your bullet. A Lyman "M" die expander profile is also very useful.

With the SAECO #069 bullet (one of the many 200 gr. clones of the excellent H&G #68)
An alloy around 10 BHn (+/- a bit, it doesn't seem to matter)
Sized to .452", lubed with NRA 50/50
Seated so that just a tiny little bit of the front driving band stands proud of the case mouth
Any large pistol primer
5.3 grain of WW-231
Just enough taper crimp to hold things in place
And my 1911's will put the bullets where I want them all day.

I like that 200 gr SWC so much that I intentionally shot up all of my old 230gr loads just to free up the brass for the 200 gr bullets.