Heavy loads for 45ACP

Finally got around to loading a few different boolit designs. The leade on the Springfield is pretty much non existent so I had to load the Lee to a short OAL

Lee 255 RNFP- 1.135
Lyman 255 SWCGC- 1.238
Commercial 260 SWC- 1.217

All are loaded over 5.5gr of Unique. The pistol has a 20# Wolf mainspring, Wilson flat bottom FP stop, full length guide rod, and a shock buff thrown in for good measure. I hope to get a chance to test them in a day or two.

I guess this is a heck of a way to start loading for the ACP Maybe one day I will even load some regular 230 gr fodder.

Come to think of it, a fine gentleman here gave me a few more conventional weight boolits to try....

Will the 2 rounds on the right chamber easy? I noticed the bulged cases.........

Good to have a 20# spring and buffer when testing those.....

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They will chamber in a Glock. : )

.... They'll eject too.

Where's a good place to get my hands on some .45 lead? Since I now have a .45 to reload for I need to get my hands on a bunch.

Yes they chamber easily. I found a set of carbide RCBS dies with 2 expanders. I found that with the larger diameter one I can just touch it to the case mouth and bell it without expanding the case at all. That way I get max case tension without relying on the crimp. I like my cases to look like the snake that swallowed the alligator

And I think the flat bottom firing pin stop will help more than the heavy spring.

Also, that is a 255 Lee RNFP, a commercial 260gr Keith, and a Lyman 452490GC

I like 5.0 grains of Bullseye with a 255 rnfp. It will do a number on a hog.

locrawlr wrote:I like 5.0 grains of Bullseye with a 255 rnfp. It will do a number on a hog.

What OAL is your loaded round? And also what is your diameter at the crimp?

you drop 5 of Bullseye in a 45 ACP case and you pretty much aint got nut'n but air...no Thanks

Likes me some Green Dot for 45 ACP

Educate me here, I alwas thought 45 bullets that heavy were only for the 45LC, 454 and other exotic stuff?????

I´m pretty sure that your rounds won´t work in my Springfield. I had to buy a factory crimp die for it. I´m going with Titegroup for my 190grs LSWC. The 255grs seems to be a bit heavy to me because the most load data´s are ending at 230grs. But as long as they work safe, no prob.

Re: 5.0 grains of Bullseye with a 255 rnfp

The OAL is 1.212
The diameter at the crimp is .473
The load averaged 861.8 fps at 10' from the muzzle.
We used 2 different 1911's to work up the load, a Colt Series 70 and an older Springfield plain jane. I used a Federal 150 primer. There were no issues with pressure in either of the guns or any I have shot that load in since.

good luck

Got around to shooting them today. They all shot great. I started with some factory 230's with the heavy spring and flat bottom firing pin stop to check function. It ran without a hiccup and was ejecting the brass about 3 ft. I tried all the 255s without an issue. They ejected about 4 ft. No recoil to speak of. The brass all looks great with no bulges or flattened primers. I was shocked at how well they shot on paper. All 3 loads were shooting 1-1.5" groups at 20 yards from a sandbag rest. I hope to get to run them across the Chrony here in the next few days to see exactly how fast they are running. I think I will stick with the SWC's since I don't like the seating depth required for the Lee

The SWC is my choice too. They are much more accurat than the RN´s. 1" -1.5" is great shooting!

The middle cast boolit pictured above runs 806-832fps from my Springfield over the 5.5gr Unique load. I only ran 7 across the Chrony and that is the low and high for the 7 shots.

I never tried the Uniqe. Tried some loads with VV N320 and N310 but haven´t good results and the same with Bullseye. Best was the Titegroup there the 5 rounds grouping at 25 meters off hand is at 2".
Maybe i should give it a try.

And now a few Mihec 270 SAA HP's to try

DAMN...... those look wicked. Mean little mothers.

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Are the larger weight bullets sized to .451" or .454? That may be why they look bulged.