First effort at reloading .45 ACP

[ajn1963]

I would like to get some thoughts on making .45 ACP for the first time. No worries I am an experienced reloader and made numerous other loads for High Power, NRA ARC with 9mm, .357 mag, 5.56, 7.62 and 6.5mm Grendel. All loads work fine and I work up the rifle loads using the Audette Ladder testing with different powders.

In which, not sure what the best powder is for .45 ACP, from snooping around Youtube, it seems red dot is the most popular, which I have but reluctant to use as it is for my 1.75" 12g buck and slug loads and it very expensive and difficult to get.

Hence from the powders I have on hand I and bullets I have, I plan to make 230g LRNs and 230g Berry's RN plated bullets. My thoughts were going with Acc No.2 for the lead bullets and Titegroup for the plated bullets. I try to stick to NATO spec so I want to achieve around 825 fps.

The powders I have on hand to chose from are:

Longshot
Unique
Bullseye
HS6
CFE Pistol
Acc. No.2
Titegroup
W231
W296 - I save this for my .357 loads
Red Dot - as I said save this for my 12g loads

I would like to get some opinions on powder preferences if you can kindly advise.

As for primers I have an assortment of CCI Remington Winchester as Large Pistol was none existence in this parts for several years. Cases are range brass as we have too many slobs at our club who actually do NOT police their brass and vultures like me snatch it up. I recently hoarded whatever came available in the last 18 months, but never got around to making any .45 ACP until now. For the curious it is for my never fired Colt Govt Mod 70.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[GuitarmanNick]

With the supply of available powders constantly changing, I would suggest developing loads for several powders. For .45ACP, I primarily use Win231 under 230 grain FMJs. I also have loads for Unique, AA #2, and Shooter's World Ultimate Pistol.
HP-38 would be good for the LRN, I think.

 

[DDRanch]

5gr Bullseye with 230gr FMJ bullet here.

 

[divingin]

I load 4.5 Titegroup (which is a little warmer than ideal for bullseye); or about 4gns of WST. Both with a 200SWC.

The old standard target load (short line) was 3.5 Bullseye, as I recall.

45 isn't real picky about powders, as far as I'm aware. Most fast powders will work pretty well.

 

[ajn1963]

With the supply of available powders constantly changing, I would suggest developing loads for several powders. For .45ACP, I primarily use Win231 under 230 grain FMJs. I also have loads for Unique, AA #2, and Shooter's World Ultimate Pistol.
HP-38 would be good for the LRN, I think.

Yeah, that is what I normally do, I like HS6 for 9mm it seems easy to find, I use W231 but don't seem to be able to get the velocities I need and it is very dirty with a lead bullet. Unique and Bullseye can be difficult to acquire at times. RIght now no one around here has any and that is the Ohio Valley/SW PA area. The Alliant Dots forget it. HP-38 and W231 are the same if I recall.

 

[ajn1963]

5gr Bullseye with 230gr FMJ bullet here.

That was one load I was looking at.

 

[Doug Casner]

w231 and 185s is what I shoot in mine. Its a series 70 gold cup. Doug

 

[ajn1963]

I load 4.5 Titegroup (which is a little warmer than ideal for bullseye); or about 4gns of WST. Both with a 200SWC.

The old standard target load (short line) was 3.5 Bullseye, as I recall.

45 isn't real picky about powders, as far as I'm aware. Most fast powders will work pretty well.

My fmj bullets on hand are Berry's @1250fps so the reason why I pose this to the forum is I am trying to optimize a best load and what is readily available. It seems most of the places I can go to get powder have more stuff available but not optimal. HS6, No.2, W231, Titegroup are mostly available. Bullseye, Unique can be difficult, Alliant Powders non existent, Longshot is about the only shotgun powder you can find around here. I appreciate everyones input. The other reason is I am trying to conserve my powders, and after November's elections we maybe back in shooters hell again with guns, powders, primers, bullets.

 

[itchyTF]

VV3N37?

 

[ajn1963]

VV3N37?

I love Viht powders, I use 24.1g of N140 for my High Power match loads for both a 77gr SMK and a Hornady 80gr ELD bullets that I laddered out from different manuals and against different powders. Viht is king. Sub MOA groups at 100 yards for both loads. Sportsmans Warehouse in Washington, PA has Viht 3Nxx powders but don't recall which ones. Viht seems to be staying on the shelves. I am willing to pay just to have it in case things go south again.

 

[itchyTF]

I was trying to find a powder that would be good for .40S&W and .45ACP so I got a 4 pounder of that one. At my rate of shooting pistol that will last me a LONG time.

 

[CJ6]

VV 3N37 as mentioned Win 231 and HS 6. VV 3N37 is by far the cleanest and most accurate in. my Sig 220s.

 

[Steve Donlon]

I've been reloading the 45 acp for a long time and my newest powder I use is N340 for 230 fmj or any heavy bullet for self defense loads. WSF for the same thing and WST for target loads. WST is my favorite powder. It has plenty of bulk so 4.3-4.5 grs. fills the case more than most other powders and is perfect for soft ball 230 gr target loads. There are so many other powders that work good. Unique, 231, AA5. It depends on the bullet weight and velocity you want. Target bullets a faster powder and self defense loads a slower powder for best results.

 

[Fuj]

I luckily have after all these years a good batch of 452AA for
my 200 gr semi wadcutters that I cast. 231 sits along side it.

 

[nbkky71]

No matter what powder you choose, be wary about overcharging a .45ACP case. It’s easy to do if you’re not paying attention!

 

[wboggs]

I would like to get some thoughts on making .45 ACP for the first time. No worries I am an experienced reloader and made numerous other loads for High Power, NRA ARC with 9mm, .357 mag, 5.56, 7.62 and 6.5mm Grendel. All loads work fine and I work up the rifle loads using the Audette Ladder testing with different powders.

In which, not sure what the best powder is for .45 ACP, from snooping around Youtube, it seems red dot is the most popular, which I have but reluctant to use as it is for my 1.75" 12g buck and slug loads and it very expensive and difficult to get.

Hence from the powders I have on hand I and bullets I have, I plan to make 230g LRNs and 230g Berry's RN plated bullets. My thoughts were going with Acc No.2 for the lead bullets and Titegroup for the plated bullets. I try to stick to NATO spec so I want to achieve around 825 fps.

The powders I have on hand to chose from are:

Longshot
Unique
Bullseye
HS6
CFE Pistol
Acc. No.2
Titegroup
W231
W296 - I save this for my .357 loads
Red Dot - as I said save this for my 12g loads

I would like to get some opinions on powder preferences if you can kindly advise.

As for primers I have an assortment of CCI Remington Winchester as Large Pistol was none existence in this parts for several years. Cases are range brass as we have too many slobs at our club who actually do NOT police their brass and vultures like me snatch it up. I recently hoarded whatever came available in the last 18 months, but never got around to making any .45 ACP until now. For the curious it is for my never fired Colt Govt Mod 70.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

The classic target load was a 200gr SWC loaded with bullseye. It is still very good but HP 38 is cleaner. Get some good 200 cast swc and start with bullseye. Switch if it is too dirty for you.

 

[Timberyote]

My favorite 230gr FMJ/plated is 4.4gr Bullseye.

I'm not a fan of Titegroup.

 

[ajn1963]

Thank you everyone. I like what I am hearing. I plan to make 500 LRN and 250 Berry's Plated RN both 230 grain. I guess I can try the different ones on hand, and definitely going to pick up some VV3N37 and HP38(is this the same as W231?) to try. I don't shoot a lot of .45 in fact never shot the Colt Govt Mod 70 since I bought it back in 2016 during the Scalia scare. But been meaning to break it in, and maybe use it in an NRA ARC match with 10rd extended mags.

I am trying to make my powder stocks last. I am stingy with Bullseye and Unique being I only have a pound of each and not always available around here. I use that mostly for my .357 158g LSWC loads and W296 for my 125g JHP loads. So I really stretch my powders, primers, ect in these times. I am not familiar with WSF and WST but plan to research that. My main focus is High Power rifle competition, but to take a break from cranking out massive 5.56 rounds for the season, I get into ballistics and make bullets. I chronograph everything and have extensive logs for everything I make. .45 stuff been collecting dust so I think I am going to get busy with it.

I try to stick to NATO standards as I load mostly military calibers again being I shoot a lot of CMP and NRA High Power so 5.56, 7.62, 30.06 which I painstakingly Audette laddered out for the tightest group. The sorry part is the bullets shoot better than my peak capabilities of slightly above mediocracy but I do make a good bullet. I love to hear what others are making and getting new ideas to try, in this case other powders.

Bullseye, W231, Unique as I expected still seem to be the ageless classics.

 

[mac86951]

I've had good luck with unique in 9mm, 40, and 45; also bullseye. You'll find that a light load is quite dirty; but so's bullseye. All I can really say is load within your margins and make sure the firearm works as intended, it's not rifle accuracy is more relative and slightly subjective for pistols.

You're on the right path to find one powder, cleaning the powder measure and not double charging is very important. A powder check die, and/or progressive lock-out die is recommended.

-Mac

 

[Krogen]

Any of the powders in your list except 296 will work, OP. The .45 ACP is easy to load for. I suggest you don’t make all 500 round at once, though. Your pistol will probably like some loads better than others. Functioning could depend on the load, especially if a lighter charge. The bullets you mention should give feed/function problems, but it’s still not worth committing to all 500 at once.