Not a rifle but - Accuracy - 45 ACP

[Link]

How much difference will load development make in a off sthe shelf Ruger 6711?
Is it worth the trip down another hole?

TY Don.

 

[cmysix]

My Father was a National match shooter in his day, 5 grns of 700X 185 LSWC you can try but I don't thing there's much to be gained, getting the pistol TIGHT is the key.

 

[DocBII]

Don,

The same things which make rifle ammo consistent are what pistol ammo needs to be consistent. How far down the rabbit hole do you wish to go?

HTH,
DocBII

 

[cmysix]

NM barrel and bushing, you can feel the bushing drag on the end of the barrel it's so fitted

 

[stork]

What make & model 1911 are you starting with?

 

[stork]

Prior to Kart, Barsto, and a couple others, there wasn't much available for match barrels. They just took factory bbls & welded up the hood & lugs. Those barrels shot very well with just that and a hard fitted front bushing.
EGW will make a custom bushing if you send them them the measurements of your muzzle and interior of the slide. It's very inexpensive for the amount of precision work involved. If your barrel isn't a very firm fit to your slide stop, you can get a .200 oversized slide stop that may help.
The thing that is most helpful, is a good trigger job.

 

[stork]

Are you planning on shooting Bullseye or a different discipline?
Accuracy is important on a bullseye range. Others are not as demanding in the accuracy department.

 

[riflewoman]

As a Bullseye shooter I offer the following:

First, pistols aren’t rifles so don’t get wrapped around the ammo and reloading. Even for 50 yard shooting.

Second: Choose accurate bullets. Hint: use what other shooters use. Most of the guys shooting Bullseye buy their bullets from Zero, Magnus, Brazos, Penn and Missouri. Popular styles are 180 and 200 gr SWC (H&G 68 style) and 185 JHP. The JHP can include Noslerm Sierra, Speer and Hornady.

Third: Powder selection is open but Load these to a velocity of 700-800 fps. Variances of .4 grains of Bullseye powder give 50 fps velocity variance. 700X, Bullseye, Accurate #2, Vhit 310/320, Titegroup, and WST. Are all suitable. Primers can be anything you can buy in large quantities.

Lastly, don’t worry about which brass is better. For shooting 25 yards and practice you can even mix brass. Most guys only keep track of times loaded for 5 loadings then it goes in the practice bin until it cracks.

One other thing: pistol shooting requires lots of quality ammo, like 200 rounds 3 times a week when training for a major match. So use a truly progressive press for large (1000-2000 round) loading sessions. I load my 45s in 2000 round batches.

 

[Link]

What make & model 1911 are you starting with?

off the shelf Ruger 6711. I don't want to invest to much as I will never shoot compition with it. I just want it to shoot well. Maybe a fun shoot once in a while. How much will load development show us?

ty Don.

 

[stork]

What distances would you be shooting at?

 

[K22]

As a Bullseye shooter I offer the following:

First, pistols aren’t rifles so don’t get wrapped around the ammo and reloading. Even for 50 yard shooting.

Second: Choose accurate bullets. Hint: use what other shooters use. Most of the guys shooting Bullseye buy their bullets from Zero, Magnus, Brazos, Penn and Missouri. Popular styles are 180 and 200 gr SWC (H&G 68 style) and 185 JHP. The JHP can include Noslerm Sierra, Speer and Hornady.

Third: Powder selection is open but Load these to a velocity of 700-800 fps. Variances of .4 grains of Bullseye powder give 50 fps velocity variance. 700X, Bullseye, Accurate #2, Vhit 310/320, Titegroup, and WST. Are all suitable. Primers can be anything you can buy in large quantities.

Lastly, don’t worry about which brass is better. For shooting 25 yards and practice you can even mix brass. Most guys only keep track of times loaded for 5 loadings then it goes in the practice bin until it cracks.

One other thing: pistol shooting requires lots of quality ammo, like 200 rounds 3 times a week when training for a major match. So use a truly progressive press for large (1000-2000 round) loading sessions. I load my 45s in 2000 round batches.

riflewoman nailed it - spot on advice.

I shot bullseye also in the 70's - 90's. In those days, the most significant variable besides the shooter was the pistol since factory offerings in the 1911's had to be accurized to shoot competitively which involved fitting a match bushing and match barrel plus a trigger job.

I shot mostly revolvers in civilian competition, but I did shoot the 1911 on an Army post pistol team in the 70's. The 1911's had to hold an "X" ring at 50 yards off a Ranson Rest. We used factory ammo, target master Winchester 185 grain if my memory serves me correctly. The point is that quality target grade factory ammo was extremely capable of winning matches IF you had an accurized pistol which we did and of course if the shooter had the skill.

These days, you can buy a factory offering that is competition ready. The ammo options riflewoman
suggested is excellent advice in my opinion. It's not like benchrest rifle shooting so don't get caught up in exhaustive load development. There are time test loads for the 1911 45 ACP, so you don't need to reinvent the wheel.

 

[Walt Schmidlin]

Relatively easy to make reliable accurate ammunition using the bullets and powders listed previously.
I would suggest having the trigger (hammer & sear) reworked by a COMPETENT pistol smith to obtain a 3.5lb +/- weight.
In my opinion this should result in better accuracy that any load development process.
As previously mentioned ask 2-3 of the better .45ACP shooters what bullet/combo pick one and run with it and enjoy shooting.

 

[1911nut]

off the shelf Ruger 6711. I don't want to invest to much as I will never shoot compition with it. I just want it to shoot well. Maybe a fun shoot once in a while. How much will load development show us?

ty Don.

At 50 yds load development will make a difference. Nosler 185g JHP over Clays or N310 is very accurate in several 1911’s. Sierra 230g FMJ is also a very good 50 yd bullet.
LaserCast 200g SWC over 3.8g of N310 was a very good lead bullet load for me when I shot bullseye.

 

[Bill K]

A good consistant load and practice, practice, practice, as Riflewoman posted and you can do just fine, for what you want. Don't get caught up in the hype of this is better than that, etc. etc. K.I.S.S. and enjoy your pistol.

 

[Sandstorm]

I shoot a Kimber 1911 in 38 super and just use off the shelf Eley Match ammo from Killough.
Shoots superbly well.
( Disclaimer...Not 45 cal but the same platform ) my other ones are 45...)

 

[Sandstorm]

What I was getting at Don was that with a lot of practice at the range,
you can find factory ammo that will shoot good for you too..
My Sig 1911 shoots real good with Federal Aluminum case 45 box ammo.
( Emphsis on practice..lots of practice. )

 

[JackT]

Lots of great advice given here. My 2 cents, before you spend any money upgrading anything but the trigger have a really good shooter test the pistol for you. Sometimes all the tolerance variants line up and you end up with a very accurate pistol. I know this happens because I bought an entry level Springer and much to everyone's surprise all it needed was a good crisp trigger job. More accurate than most custom guns costing 3-4 times more.

Get a trigger job first and then hone your skills by spending money on reloading consistent proven loads.

Have fun!

 

[Forum Boss]

If you are just shooting paper inside 25 yards. Here is what worked for me:

1. Get high quality brass, trim to equal length. Use the SAME BRAND and vintage brass.
2. Vihtavuori N320
3. Get Precision PolyLube-coated semi-wadcutter (SWC) bullets.
4. Load subsonic.

Story: https://bulletin.accurateshooter.co...ading-vihtavuori-n320-and-other-good-powders/



NOTE: The bullet hole edges are sharp because I was using semi-wad-cutters, and the target paper is thick. Rounds were loaded with Vihtavuori N320 and 200-grain SWCs from Precision Bullets in Texas. I use Precision’s coated bullets in many of our pistols. These projectiles are accurate and they seem to reduce fouling in our pistol barrels.

After trying numerous powders, I found VV N320 delivered the best combination of accuracy, easy metering, consistency, clean burning qualities, and low muzzle flash. My gun has proven exceptionally accurate using N320 with bullets from 180 grains to 230 grains.

------------ About Practice ---------------

 

[rwj]

NM barrel and bushing, you can feel the bushing drag on the end of the barrel it's so fitted

Don’t forget to control barrel movement at the breech too… the barrel link needs to also be fitted!

 

[tominboise]

off the shelf Ruger 6711. I don't want to invest to much as I will never shoot compition with it. I just want it to shoot well. Maybe a fun shoot once in a while. How much will load development show us?

ty Don.

When I am doing what you are talking about, before I unlimber the Dillon and run off 1000 rounds, I do a brief ladder test with the chosen components and bench the pistol at 25 yards. When I first started doing this, I was surprised at the difference in grouping charge weights made. I use 5 shot groups. Sometimes I'll use 6 and throw away the first shot with an Autoloader, but in real life, that shot will count too, so I don't do that very often.