Kimberdude Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 I am new to this forum and to reloading. I shoot a 1911 and have exhausted my supply of ammo. I do not shoot competition but still shoot 2000 rounds a month on average. I am beginning to reload, have a semi progressive and a Dillon 550B, and this is the question I have. I have never shot a LSWC thru my gun, always been jacketed HP or LRN, did not think a SWC would cycle and load properly. Is there any loading tips for LSWC vs LRN for reliability? Does the LSWC cycle reliably in a 1911? I would very much like to take advantage of shooting lead over jacketed due to the price difference, and even more would like to be able to use less lead as in smaller grain bullets found with the LSWC. Any suggestions? Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMITH Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 I have probably shot 300 LSWC for every 1 of all other bullet types in 45 acp. Several hundred thousand rounds would be conservative. I have always had pretty reasonable guns, and I have always set my seating die with a round of factory ball ammo. If the bullet is or is close to an H&G68 and they don't run set this way the gun probably doesn't run anything well. 155 LSWC can be problematic unless you set your mags up for them, and 255 LSWC are a little sensitive to mags as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianH Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Nothing wrong with lswc's. There was a day when that's all we shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimberdude Posted January 10, 2009 Author Share Posted January 10, 2009 I shoot a Kimber CDP II 5" and Wilson Combat mags exclusively. what would I have to watch for in mags to shoot the LSWC? My pistol has not found a food source yet it wont shoot excepting a batch of Fiocci that was way to short, my bad on that one for not catching the difference in OAL. I am pretty sure my pistol is from factory with 22lb? spring, I have not made any modifications to it other than CTC grips and a magwell, would that be too strong of a spring for some of the lighter LSWC loads? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viggen Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Do a bit of ""search" on recoil springs and on loads for the 45ACP. There are reams of information on the subjects. On mags, if they work they are great. If mags don't work they suck - replace. Wilson's are OK. If you and your gun like them run them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2MoreChains Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 I shoot 200 gr LSWC in my Kimber TLE (for whatever that's worth). The thing I learned when I started loading lead bullet was to bell it slightly more than plated or FMJ to get the bullet to seat well without creating a slight bulge in the case. Not sure if this is due to the .452" dia (vs .451" in plated or FMJ) or because lead bullets don't slide into the case as well as copper jacketed. But after some experimenting with my expander die, I got to the point where most of my loads would fit into a case gage w/out using a LFCD to get rid of the bulge. I should note that I've only loaded LSWC's that use the H&G 68 profile, and taper crimp them to .469-.470". COAL seems to be another determining factor for reliable feeding. I believe most people are loading around 1.250" COAL, but if you read other posts you'll find some people loading as long as 1.265" and others shorter in order to get reliable feeding. For me, 1.265" would be a little long for my mags, and I've found that 1.245 - 1.250" seems to give me near 100% reliability. YMMV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2MoreChains Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 (edited) I want to say most 5" Kimbers chambered in .45 acp come stock with a 16 lb recoil spring and 21 lb mainspring (at least mine did per the manual). The weight of your springs should be "tuned" to the velocity of your load, so IMO the weight of bullet shouldn't matter. I load my .45 acp (200 gr LSWC) to 170 PF (or about 850 fps) and use a 14 lb recoil spring and 19 lb mainspring combination. Some people are running springs of even lighter weight. Edited January 10, 2009 by 2MoreChains Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick N Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 I started out loading FMJ only but switched to LSWC bullets to save money. When I began using the lead bullets my reloads would chamber in some of my guns but not in the ones with tight chambers (Springfield TRP). After I got a Lee FCD to get rid of the bulge caused by the LSWC bullets my reloads now run like clock work in all my 45s. The only other thing you need to consider is the leading caused by the lead bullets. I get a fair amount of leading which takes a little longer to clean my guns after a trip to the range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revchuck Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Michael - A little bit of history is in order here... Up until the late '80s, there was only one brand of 1911 available - Colt. Some of the 1911s Colt produced were amazingly reliable and accurate. A bunch weren't. Colt could literally sell every one they pushed out the door, so they didn't care if they worked. Semi-wadcutter bullets came in two flavors at the time: factory-loaded jacketed target ammo and bullets that mimiced it, and bullets cast from Hensley and Gould (H&G) #68 moulds. The factory ammo was made for Conventional Pistol ("bullseye") competition, and pistols and magazines had to be modified to work with them. The H&G 68s were made to work better with unmodified pistols and mags, but at that time both pistols and mags still needed some tweaking to run reliably. This is before your excellent Wilson mags were available (and is the reason for their creation and production). Nowadays, 1911s like your Kimber, using currently produced magazines, will run reliably with just about anything, including semi-wadcutter ammo. Having said that, the ammo has to be correctly produced. You need to do a search on this forum for SWC and read through the discussions. With your pistol and magazines, and correctly assembled LSWC ammo, you should run jam-free with great accuracy. FWIW, back then (1980s) the standard load was 5.7 grains of Winchester 231 powder under the H&G 68 200 grain LSWC, loaded to an overall length (OAL) of 1.26". It runs around 900 fps. It's still a great load. This forum is competition-oriented, so most here prefer something a little slower. Also, H&G is no longer in business, but most of the 200 grain LSWCs produced by current companies are copies of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertbank Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 Your Kimber will do fine with LSWC. Personally I would not use a Lee FCD. Your lead bullets are sized .452 for a reason...to seal the barrel and reduce gas cutting. When you use a FCD all you do is resize the bullet down which makes for a pretty bullet but doesn't do accuracy or leading any good. 5.3 gr of Win 231 is my loading for playing IDPA. Soft shooting and accurate in all my 1911's. Good luck with your reloading. Take Care Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharonAnne9x23 Posted January 10, 2009 Share Posted January 10, 2009 contrary to Howards' experience, I never had any problems with 155/152s in my Metalform magazines. I did not need to tune them in any way and shot many 10s of thousands of 155s without any magazine problems. Granted, these Metalform magazines are of older design. They have an orange plastic follower, stainless steel floor plate on a blued body, and a relatively soft factory installed mag pad. The 155 was intended for comped barrels. The light bullet allowed for faster muzzle velocity and the higher gas speed worked the comp much better. I don't know how they will work in a standard barrel at slower velocity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duane Thomas Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 I would very much like to take advantage of shooting lead over jacketed due to the price difference, and even more would like to be able to use less lead as in smaller grain bullets found with the LSWC. The most popular bullet weight in LSWCs is 200 grains; 200 grain LRN bullets may also be had. As to how to get feed reliability with LSWCs, start with good mags. This is a given. I'm partial to Wilson or KimPro, myself. Don't load too short. 1.250" is the classic OAL for .45 ball, and I find it works nicely with LSWCs, as well. I put a little over 15k Laser-Cast 200-gr. LSWCs loaded at 1.250" though my Wilson .45 with exactly zero failures to feed. Having said that, don't be afraid to lengthen the OAL if your feeding has a bit of a "chunk-chunk" effect. In another 1911, I found that lengthening the OAL from 1.250" to 1.265" smoothed out feeding a LOT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duane Thomas Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 The only other thing you need to consider is the leading caused by the lead bullets. I get a fair amount of leading which takes a little longer to clean my guns after a trip to the range. That depends on the hardness of the bullets being fired and the smoothness of the barrel they're being shot through. I once, just to see if I could do it, put almost 5,000 rounds of my Laser-Cast 200-gr. LSWC load through my Wilson .45, without cleaning and without malfunctions. When I finally broke down and cleaned the gun, when I looked down the barrel, not only was there no leading, the lands and grooves were so clean they looked polished. But then again, Laser-Cast bullets are harder than the hinges of Hell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duane Thomas Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 I am pretty sure my pistol is from factory with 22lb? spring I sincerely doubt it. Classic factory recoil spring weight for a .45 ACP chambered 1911 is either 16 or 17 pounds (depending on which book you read). Wolff Gunsprings actually markets their "factory standard" 1911 .45 recoil spring as 16.5 pounds, specifically because they got tired of so many people asking them, "So, is factory stock 16 or 17 pounds?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimberdude Posted January 11, 2009 Author Share Posted January 11, 2009 Thanks for all the input. I am working 12 hour graveyard shifts for next 2 months so not much time for shooting , works great for being out of ammo. Also means i have lots of time to read up on forum searches. I have decided to load a number of LSWC, I happen to have Unique powder on hand and have read much to its lead load popularity, and also load a number of 200gr LRN, vary the OAL from 1.25 to 1.26 and see what happens. I thank you all for you knowledge and the willingness to share. Hopefully someday I can return the favor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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