thormx538

I'm a big fan of N320 and Blue Bullet 147gr RN.Yeah, N320 is expensive (I paid $32/lb shipped price for 8lb in the fall) but it's still only 1.5 cents worth of powder per round, so who cares. The bullet cost is the driver, not the powder.

I ended up finding a guy that had a Para to STI conversion mag catch, so I ordered that and a few STI mags to try out. I'll update you guys once everything comes in, and I get it fitted and to the range.

What's everyone's experience with 140mm tubes in the 40SW widebodies? I assume the MBX ones work great, but how about the cheaper options, such as the SPS 21rd ones? Has anyone had luck with STI tubes? From what I understand the notch is not in the correct place -- is anyone making a Para to STI conversion mag catch these days? I couldn't seem to find one on Google. I've had too many issues lately with the MecGar P16 mags + Dawson basepads, that I want to go in a more reliable direction -- MBX is just not in my budget right now.

Thanks for the info -- which Arredondo inserts did you use? I'm only seeing them offered in 9/38 and 45 on the website (https://www.arredondoaccessories.com/collections/inserts/products/magazine-inserts?variant=30586014541) EDIT nevermind, I now see that they are labeled as P16 & 38 super

Any issues shoving 20 into the mags? I use MG Para mags with the Arredondo springs/followers and Dawson toolless pads and I had all sorts of issues this weekend when I loaded to 20. Followers getting stuck and mags turning into shakers, etc. I stuck to 18rd in each after that as a precaution.

Good to hear you fixed it. I have the 51782 (widebody .40, with the rail) that I bought used, and it runs really well. I will say though, the extractor tension on this is a lot higher than any other 1911 I've personally detail stripped (which isn't a ton, maybe 5?)

I tried 4.2, 4.4, and 4.6gr TG at 1.251" today. All shot well. I didn't have my chrono, so I'll need to check the 4.2gr load to make sure I'm making velocity and then load some more up.

Also, just a heads up, rangebrass.us is a pretty reliable source for 45GAP brass. You can also try Paul at K&D (http://www.kdcartridgeandsupply.com/) but I remember him telling me about a year ago that he believed his source was drying up, because that department was getting rid of their G37s. Ultimately, that's the only reason I got rid of mine, I got sick of having to chase brass everywhere. I always liked the caliber and I think it does .45 better than .45ACP does, but the world is so entrenched in 45ACP (and understandably so) that it was never going to catch on in the mainstream.

SNS I presume, based on your handle, haha What are you loading them to? Absolute max length for my barrel with those is 1.255" to plunk and spin.

I used to have a G37. I never ran into "Glocked" brass in that caliber. 45GAP is only like 23k max PSI, compared to the 37.5k of 40SW and 10mm. I do push through sizing on all of my 10mm and 40SW brass. I used Dillon dies (which I still use in 45ACP). Titegroup worked pretty well for me in 45GAP, with 185gr and 200gr. I never tried 230gr bullets.

Looks like 4.6gr of TG loaded to 1.251" will be a similar load to my RMR Thundercast 230 lead Bullseye load (4.7gr at 1.225") in terms of velocity and recoil, according to Quickload. I'll try and load some up this week to test next weekend.

Normally I use Bullseye, but I'm just about out and have about 3lbs of TG left with no real plans for it. I searched through the archives and have found several posts where people use it, but find it awfully dirty. I used to use TG on 9mm 124gr FMJ loads, and found the cases to be very sooty at less than max loads. I was going to try around 4.4gr, which is mid-range according to Hodgdon data (they call for 4.0-4.8 on a 230gr lead RN) for these 230gr SNS (no lube groove) coated bullets I just picked up. Going to be run through a stock Sig MAX1911, need to make Major. Alternatively, I do have a bunch of N320 that I use in 9mm and 40SW. Seems like most people prefer N310 for 45 when it comes to VV powders.

I forget the exact dimensions, but an actual resizing die like your Dillon will be several thou smaller than the Lee FCD. I pass my .40 and 10 brass through a Lee FCD, and then I resize like normal with a Dillon die -- don't push the brass through the Dillon die.

I just picked a Max up in 45 last week. I too felt the trigger was a bit creepy and heavy, compared to my Series 70 Springfield and RIA. I bought both of those guns used though -- should I wait until I have 1000 or so rounds on the Max before doing anything with the trigger? I ran 300 through it on Sat.

I guess cast lead with Bullseye is my metric I will say that when looking back in videos, N320+Blues smokes less than Precision Bullets+Unique, but both are significantly less than cast lead. I honestly never even thought about it until watching videos of my stages, and reading about it on here.

I ran 147gr Precisions last season on top of Unique A bit dirty, but I didn't really notice any smoke.

I ran 1000 last year of the 147gr FP, over Unique. 3.3gr I think. I had to seat them deep to run in my LWD barrel -- like 1.060" I probably ran half in the LWD barrel, and the other half in either my G17 or the stock G34 barrel. I never had a problem with coating that was hard to clean in any of those barrels, but it's not like I ran all 1000 and then cleaned -- I used it as practice ammo along with several other types (FMJ, plated, other coated) in a given range session. Their .45 200gr SWC worked fine in my 1911 with Bullseye. I tried the .40 185gr FP in my Limited gun with N320, but when hovering around power factor, I couldn't get the ES down to less than 80 FPS. SD was significantly worse than the Ibeji and Blue bullets I tested that day with N320 and similar PF loads.

I use PP for self defense type loads in 9mm (147 JHP, etc). It is "flashy", but not too bad. In the future if you like the performance, try BE86 -- very similar burn rate and performance but it is less flashy.

That's kinda what I think it is, because it's more obvious on the transition to the meplat. I think it's from the bullets vibrating against eachother causing the coating to begin to come off more than the tumbling media removing the coating.

I ran a few batches last night. 10 minutes seemed to be a good time, any longer than that and the bullets started to show the wear and tear of tumbling; ie, the coating was beginning to come off in spots. Not off the entire bullet obviously, but starting to get noticeably lighter in spots.

I wasn't worried about the powder or anything -- I tumble loaded jacketed and plated rounds all the time. I was just noticing the coating beginning to come off of the Blue Bullets in this instance.

I think I got sidetracked and left them in for about 45min. I'll run a batch tonight in shorter increments to see where the sweet spot is. Just wanted to make sure it wasn't like, common knowledge to not tumble coated bullets

If I sprayed my cases with a bit of lube (lanolin + isopropyl alcohol) to make sizing easier, can I dry tumble them after to remove the lube, or will that adversely affect the coating thickness on the bullets? I'm using Blue Bullets, in 9mm. I tumbled a test batch (vibratory tumbler, using Lizard Litter ground walnut as the media) and to me it looked like some of the bullet coating was coming off, but I wasn't seeing bare lead or anything.

Duly noted. Again, thanks for the detailed response. I have not slugged my barrel yet to see what the diameter is of the grooves. Worst case for me, I will make sure to check the leading of the bore when I use this ammo. I made it as a hunting/woods defense load, so It should be low volume anyways.

Thanks for the in-depth response! I believe it is a case thickness thing going on here, specifically with Armscor (A USA headstamp) brass. I believe that brass is thicker than the Underwood and Starline brass I have, which is causing a more pronounced bulge on completed rounds using those cases. FWIW, Federal (FC headstamp) cases had no noticeable bulge, indicating the brass is thinner. These are the uncoated SNS bullets, and of the 20 or so I measured, a lot are 0.4015" with about 7 or 8 of them at .402 or .4025. Basically, I had bought a 100rd sample pack to do my workup with (used 50 of them), and then purchased a 500 pack to load. The sample pack bullets seemed to be consistently .4015 or below, with the larger diameter ones only showing up in the 500 pack. Since they are uncoated anyways, and my LWD barrel has traditional rifling, I went ahead and loaded the rest of them up and used the Lee FCD to remove the excessive bulge that happened on some of the cases at the base of the bullet -- it measured 0.4250 on some of the loaded rounds using A USA cases. Once passed through the Lee FCD, everything chambers fine in my barrel, and there is no bulge. Since I have a traditional rifling barrel and the bullets are uncoated, from a methodology standpoint, running the rounds through the FCD as I did is not an unsafe practice, is it? Meaning the bullet was reduced in diameter as the round went through the FCD -- not that the brass wall was somehow thinned in that area, right?