First time reloading question, is my round too hot.

[Mcatanio]

Hello Everyone,

I started reloading and was working on some .45 ACP.

I am reloading Hornady 200gr XTP using Longshot powder 8.1-8.3 grain charge. COL is 1.25.

Some of my rounds I fear are loaded at 9.0 Grain and the max load in the Hornady manual for this powder and round is 8.6 Grain.

I will be shooting these out of a 1911. Is this too hot and should I just pull these rounds?

Thank you,
-Michael

 

[bozo699]

Why do fear there at 9.0 grains?.... if you don’t know there at your target weights of 8.1-8.3 you need to pull them imo. I don’t load many pistol rounds I shoot mostly rifle but I know you can get in trouble quickly with pistol ammo.
Wayne

 

[bozo699]

Hello Everyone,

I started reloading and was working on some .45 ACP.

I am reloading Hornady 200gr XTP using Longshot powder 8.1-8.3 grain charge. COL is 1.25.

Some of my rounds I fear are loaded at 9.0 Grain and the max load in the Hornady manual for this powder and round is 8.6 Grain.

I will be shooting these out of a 1911. Is this too hot and should I just pull these rounds?

Thank you,
-Michael

oh by the way......
Welcome to the forum Michael
Wayne

 

[watercam]

With pistol ammo and spherical powder I weigh the first three rounds individually to make sure my powder measure has settled, every 10th round and the very last. It is very easy to get into trouble if you do not work up from low to high.
I would break down those that you are concerned with for your safety as well as your pistol.

 

[Mcatanio]

When I was measuring them during the reloading process some would get up to 8.6 but I knew that was OK because it was the Max from the Hornady Reloading Book for this round. But the next day today I did a couple of powder test charges and weighed them and some came in as high at 9.0 Gr. But I believe that was the max it could of loaded.

 

[MikeT124]

If your not sure what the load is, pull them all. You don't want to take a chance on a damaged 1911 an/or a damaged shooter...Just not worth the risk. What are you using to measure your powder? A good powder measure will be pretty consistent and generally won't throw charges much more than a coupe of tenths of a grain over what it is set at. You should weigh the first 10 charges individually after setting up your powder measure, make sure it is throwing consistent charges then move forward with your loading. If it isn't consistent by the tenth charge then your safest bet is to weigh every charge. If you don't have an accurate scale, you aren't ready to reload.

BTW: COL for your load should be 1.230"

Mike

 

[M-61]

but I knew that was OK because it was the Max from the Hornady Reloading Book

First I load very little pistol rounds.

You work up to max loads. Your Hornady book may indeed say 8.6grs. is a max load.....however..1st the book probably differs from other loading manuals...and 2nd it's going to differ by what decade it was printed. And 3rd it was written by some experts that are referring to their results with their pistol and their lot of powder on a particular day with particular weather conditions. I consider the reloading manuals as 'guides' and you work your way UP to what works in your pistol.
(or rifle).

What do you mean by 8.1 to 8.3? That's a 2/10 of a grain spread. Seems like a lot to me when dealing with an 8. anything load....but then I load few pistols but 2/10's of a grain.....just seems like too big a spread.

My friendly advice is if you are not sure what amount of powder (you state maybe 9) you have loaded is pull the bullets and start again.
Also is your scale repeatable?

 

[Mcatanio]

Thank you all for the assistance with this. I suspect powder was sticking to the Hornady powder charger cup and that's the reason I am getting inconsistent loads.

I'll be pulling the rounds and cleaning out the power dispenser.

Thank you,

 

[Rdlningcltchdmpr]

When I was measuring them during the reloading process some would get up to 8.6 but I knew that was OK because it was the Max from the Hornady Reloading Book for this round. But the next day today I did a couple of powder test charges and weighed them and some came in as high at 9.0 Gr. But I believe that was the max it could of loaded.

Pull them apart. You're powder charge needs to be( exactly consistent.) If it is not , you need to do whatever it takes to make it so.

 

[2506]

My Hodgdon annual manual that is a few years old says that with 200 gr Jacketed HP Speer bullet that a max load of Longshot is 7.8 grs for the 45 ACP.
Just for your information I have always found that 7 grs of Unique is really a good and powerful but safe load with either lead or jacketed 200 gr bullets in the 45 ACP. 40 years ago when times were hard and I was newly married if I did not grow, catch or shoot it we did not eat it. It was very cheap for me to use a friends loading equipment and bullet mold and get free wheel weights and cast 200 gr SWC bullets for an old WWII bring back Colt 1911A1 I had gotten as pay for doing some work for an old WWII veteran. 7 grs Unique would push this 200 gr SWC clean through the chest cavity of a deer out to my self imposed yardage of 50 yards and cut a 45 cal hole that let the air out of them pretty quickly. Years latter I discovered this same load was very accurate with 200 gr Hornady FMJ SWC and XTP out of my newer 1911 45 ACP pistols.

It takes some time but I weigh EVERY powder charge for my ammo no matter if it is pistol or rifle. Accuracy and safety comes from being exact with the powder charges.

 

[sqrlgtr]

Dont forget loading manuals are just for reference.You still need to work up from min.load especially if this is your first attempt at reloading.I dont load any pistol but do load for some small caliber rifles and have found that the smaller the cartridge the more sensitive it is to powder charge,very easy to get into trouble working close to max loads on smaller cartridges!!!!

 

[Falfan2017]

Get a scale so you know what they weigh. Even the 20$ frankford arsenal will be fine to get started and weigh to the .1 grain. No point in loading hot for a pistol. As long as they cycle and you don’t need to make power factor for competition I just keep em towards the minimum. Also be careful it’s easy to double charge a case like the 45.

 

[bozo699]

I sent you a PM

Thank you all for the assistance with this. I suspect powder was sticking to the Hornady powder charger cup and that's the reason I am getting inconsistent loads.

I'll be pulling the rounds and learning out the power dispencer.

Thank you,

Mcantanio,
To throw powder consistently with a powder thrower it has to be done the same every time. What I mean by that is say you go up quickly to the top then a second tap then drop the handle to throw your charge it needs to be done that way every time or whatever method you use do it every time. I’m not good at explaining it @BoydAllen is who taught me and he’s the best I know at understanding consistent powder throwing.he is a member on here and a super guy you might pm him. With pistol powder you should be able to throw very consistent charges.my Hornady I bought on here from JDpokes throws spherical powder as well as my expensive Harrells I believe.
Wayne

 

[oley55]

First welcome to the forum

I lot of sound advice already given and you seem to be in the acceptance mode. A very GOOD thing when starting out.

Now for a trip down memory lane: In a time far, far away and before the internet and having no one to bounce my stupid off of, I started out reloading for my 44mag Ruger Redhawk (hell a 50 round box of 180gr Federal JHP cost $18.95, who could afford that?). Armed with a Lyman reloading manual and Lee powder dippers I deduced the appropriate mid-range load of Unique. With only those dippers and no scale, I set to work and reloaded/fired many that way. Eventually I discovered some very fine hair line cracks following the length of the barrel. Today I can not say with certainty my loads caused those hairline cracks or a semi-known problem with those early Redhawk barrels, but Ruger kindly replaced the barrel.

The moral of that story is: you can't fix stupid, but you can fix ignorance. Definitely time to stomp on the brakes and do some more reading, and without hesitation hop on this site or similar and ask those ignorant questions. Way better a little embarrassment than some seriously bad schiff happening.

From a resource standpoint I own and routinely refer to four reloading manuals and access others on line. Again, welcome aboard.

 

[Rsadams]

If you're not absolutely positive about loads don't shoot them.... The price of some ruined components are not even close to what a trip to the emergency room cost or at the least a damaged gun.. Take your time when reloading it's definitely not a speed thing...

 

[Mcatanio]

Thank you everyone for all the input this is what I have done.

I pulled all the rounds

I disassembled the powder dispenser, cleaned it out and used Hornady's recommended dry lubricate so powder would run freely.

Chose a much lower powder recipe of 7.4 grain.

Ran a dozen or so test charges through the dispenser and tuned it in.

I am still getting fluctuation up to 7.9 but again, that's within spec for this load since i can go up to 8.6 grain max. But still a fluctuation of .5 grain confuses me. It doesn't happen often just once in a while. I loaded 100 rounds weighing every single one and it only got up to 7.9 about 10% of the time.

Lastly, I seated the bullets to 1.230 EXACTLY! LOL I really tuned it in slowly, on a side know what's the margin of error for COL ? Would 1.235 been OK ? or 1.225 is it better to go over or under ?

Any other feedback or information would be much appreciated, I'll be going to the range tomorrow to test these rounds out.

Thank you,
-Michael

 

[liljoe]

When I weigh charges for pistol rounds, I dump 10 charges together and weigh that. If your wanting 8.2g, and the total if 10 rounds is 86.8g you know your average is on the high side.
You can then adjust to get back to your target weight

Joe

 

[MislMan]

If you overthrow (or under-throw) a powder charge you don’t have to load a bullet on the cartridge. Just pour the load back in the thrower and throw another load (or use tweezers to subtract /add kernels). You want your load to be plus/minus 0.1 grains of your target load for consistent accuracy.

 

[Mikemci]

If you overthrow (or under-throw) a powder charge you don’t have to load a bullet on the cartridge. Just pour the load back in the thrower and throw another load (or use tweezers to subtract /add kernels). You want your load to be plus/minus 0.1 grains of your target load for consistent accuracy.

^^Exactly^^
If you are weighing each thrown charge, why aren't you adusting it to what your target weight is, before you put it in your case?
I set my thrower short and trickle to my target weight. A few 10ths is a large percentage of your total charge in pistols.

 

[Lone Hunter]

Thank you everyone for all the input this is what I have done.

I pulled all the rounds

I disassembled the powder dispenser, cleaned it out and used Hornady's recommended dry lubricate so powder would run freely.

Chose a much lower powder recipe of 7.4 grain.

Ran a dozen or so test charges through the dispenser and tuned it in.

I am still getting fluctuation up to 7.9 but again, that's within spec for this load since i can go up to 8.6 grain max. But still a fluctuation of .5 grain confuses me. It doesn't happen often just once in a while. I loaded 100 rounds weighing every single one and it only got up to 7.9 about 10% of the time.

Lastly, I seated the bullets to 1.230 EXACTLY! LOL I really tuned it in slowly, on a side know what's the margin of error for COL ? Would 1.235 been OK ? or 1.225 is it better to go over or under ?

Any other feedback or information would be much appreciated, I'll be going to the range tomorrow to test these rounds out.

Thank you,
-Michael

One good way to find your overall length is to measure a factory load that is using the same bullet as you are. Most factory loads function in just about every pistol out there. It is a good way to set the overall length. Go to a local gun store and see if they will let you measure a few. It will get you close on other rounds OAL .