My results with a 250gr .45acp

[AzShooter]

Back about 30 years ago we had a local caster that would make up some 265 grain .45 bullets. I loved them in my Model 25s. They shot great for Major and were unbelievable for Minor loads. You only have to shoot them at about 500 fps.

Everyone would say you could see my bullets flying down range. On 5 to Go it looked like my fifth shot hit the stop plate before the 4th shot made it to it's plate. I won a lot of matches with this setup and did very well at the first few IRCs with it. I even made Master in USPSA back then but with all my physical ailments I've been down graded to B class.

Heavy bullets are the way to go.

[Modoc]

Note, these are real soft in my full sized 1911, but hurt like #&!! in the 3" Kimber Ultra Cary

[hovbuild]

I load a 255 lswc for pins in a .45 acp. OAL 1.205, 5.3 unique, winchester primers. These run out of a 5" barrel around 875 fps.

That seems like it would be a rather manly load, pushing the 255gr that fast. I've got to read up on shooting pins--I'm not familiar with that game but it sure sounds challenging. Anyway, the big bullets definitely change the feel, especially down around 650 fps! I'm looking forward to trying another powder or two in the hope of finding something that produces better consistency, but mostly for entertainment.

Some very experienced shooters run 5.7 unique in a 1911 with a compensator. I find that when the pins get heavy a 5.5 load is as far as I want to go in my autos. Some shoots I attend there are 30+ shooters and at the end of the shoots the pins are very heavy. I do also use 230 LTC with 4.8 wst and 6.0 unique. They run just under 900.

[lawboy]

Actually, the saying is "The proof of the pudding is in the eating" which makes a lot more sense than "The proof is in the pudding", which sounds messy and makes no sense at all but is shorter and so people repeat it.

Pet peeves? No, not me.

I didn't know Mizzou Bullets made a 250 gr .45 auto. Might be an interesting experiment. I guess I'll grab the tiger by the horns, as they say.

the appropriate grammar is "Pet peeves? No, not I."

haha. Could not resist!

Edited May 5, 2011 by lawboy

[ben b.]

the appropriate grammar is "Pet peeves? No, not I."

haha. Could not resist!

Touché, sir! Well-played.

[underlug]

Is there a 250ish round nose .452 .45 caliber bullet commercially available?

Edited May 7, 2011 by underlug

[Tom E]

Is there a 250ish round nose .452 .45 caliber bullet commercially available?

I shot sunday with Missouri Bullets 250 gr .452 RNFP with 3.5 gr Solo 1000, 670 fps, 8.8 SD, in my 625. The brinell 12 .45 LC 250 gr "cowboy velocity" bullet they list. Nicest (barely) major load I've ever shot in my 625. It's going to be my regular load, probably with .1 gr more powder.

http://www.missouribullet.com/results.php?category=5&secondary=14

Edited May 10, 2011 by Tom E

[Intel6]

Been playing with heavier bullets in .45 ACP mainly for my revolvers. They have always been lead except for trying out some jacketed HP's that were for .45 Colt.

I have been making jacketed bullets for my 40/10's and 44 mag's out of fired cases for some time. See the link below:

BE thread

Well with the addition of a set of dies to make .458 cal rifle bullets out of .45 ACP cases or cut down .308 cases an idea came to mind. I got the set to make bullets for my .458 SOCOM and .460 Weatherby (and 45-70 later on) but after making some light 250 grain JHPs using .40 cases with the set an idea occured to me. If I just run these through a sizer, I could shoot these out of .45 ACP/AR guns.

Just to prove the concept I made up some 250 gr. JHP's in .458 and then sized them down to .452" and .454" I found the .452 bullets dropped right through the cylinders of my 1955 target so I decided to try some sized to .454" to see if they shot better. The cylinders on my 625's were tighter and will probably use the .452"

At this time I was only testing this concept out so I decided to only try it on my revolvers due to the length of this particular bullet. Since I was using an untrimmed .40 case this bullet is long and would have to be seated too deep in an autoloader round.

Loading up some dummy rounds I came up with an appropriate place to apply a cannelure to the bullet with it seated longer to not take up too much case capacity and loaded up some test loads just to see how they shot. I loaded up some with Unique because the old Speer manual has loads with heavey bullets for the .45 ACP/AR and they used that powder. I also wanted to try some competition type loads with a faster/cleaner buring powder like WST. I loaded them in .45 ACP cases and use a Redding profile crimp to crimp the bullet in the cannelure.

They all shot well and that bullet in the current configuration is perfect for 45 Auto Rim and 45 Colt loads. The length of this particular bullet is too long for shooting in an autoloader so next I will try and trim down some cases to make a shorter "jacket" and not make such a large hollow point. I want to keep the weight up at 250 or so but want to make a better profile for use in autoloaders and also loading cylinders with moon clips.

Two pics below to look at. The first one is a moon clip full of the 250 JHPs from the top along with my 1955 Target. As you can see the HP cavity is very large (looks like the old Speer flying ashtray) as it was inteded for a .458 rifle bullet. The second pic you can see the profile of the bullet and the loaded round with the bullet profile crimped into the cannelure.

Neal in AZ

Edited May 11, 2011 by Intel6

[underlug]

Is there a 250ish round nose .452 .45 caliber bullet commercially available?

I shot sunday with Missouri Bullets 250 gr .452 RNFP with 3.5 gr Solo 1000, 670 fps, 8.8 SD, in my 625. The brinell 12 .45 LC 250 gr "cowboy velocity" bullet they list. Nicest (barely) major load I've ever shot in my 625. It's going to be my regular load, probably with .1 gr more powder.

http://www.missouribullet.com/results.php?category=5&secondary=14

How do they reload in the gun?

[Tom E]

Is there a 250ish round nose .452 .45 caliber bullet commercially available?

I shot sunday with Missouri Bullets 250 gr .452 RNFP with 3.5 gr Solo 1000, 670 fps, 8.8 SD, in my 625. The brinell 12 .45 LC 250 gr "cowboy velocity" bullet they list. Nicest (barely) major load I've ever shot in my 625. It's going to be my regular load, probably with .1 gr more powder.

http://www.missouribullet.com/results.php?category=5&secondary=14

How do they reload in the gun?

Not quite as good as a true RN if your alignment is sloppy but plenty good enough that I'm going to continue using them. I seated the bullets to the cannelure (crimp groove) 1.195 oal and the cases were bulged enough (just a distinct single ring) that I ran them thru a FCD to smooth the ring. I load on a SDB. VERY nice to shoot.