.45 Reloading Questions

[Rube Burrows]

Hello pards. I shoot .45 and I am just curious as to what others are loading them up with to get the best out of them? I am not a speed shooter but obviously want to get the most out of what I am loading.

 

 

 

 

[Yusta B.]

Edited

 

[Rube Burrows]

Okay, done.

 

Well can people talk about it in PM's?

Or is it something that no one wants to talk about?

[Michigan Slim]

PM sent

[Yusta B.]

4 minutes ago, Rube Burrows said:

Okay, done.

 

Well can people talk about it in PM's?

Or is it something that no one wants to talk about?

PM's are fine.

[Rube Burrows]

Thanks. 

[Nickel City Dude]

IMHO it's a stupid rule

[Yusta B.]

35 minutes ago, Rube Burrows said:

Hello pards. I shoot .45 and I am just curious as to what others are loading them up with to get the best out of them? I am not a speed shooter but obviously want to get the most out of what I am loading.

 

 

 

 

Mr Burrows: Can you better define what you are looking for? More/less recoil, power ? Better accuracy ? What weight bullets are you using now ? Some more info would be helpful.

[Rube Burrows]

5 minutes ago, Yusta B. said:

Mr Burrows: Can you better define what you are looking for? More/less recoil, power ? Better accuracy ? What weight bullets are you using now ? Some more info would be helpful.

I had more info but was told to delete. 

Im using trail boss with 200g RNFP bullets. 

 

I guess I'm looking for the sweet spot between good accuracy and low recoil. 

[Yusta B.]

3 minutes ago, Rube Burrows said:

I had more info but was told to delete. 

Im using trail boss with 200g RNFP bullets. 

 

I guess I'm looking for the sweet spot between good accuracy and low recoil. 

This is likely to be different for different pistols & different shooters. You need to experiment with your guns & different loads to find what works best for you.

[Captain Clark]

1 hour ago, Rube Burrows said:

I had more info but was told to delete. 

Im using trail boss with 200g RNFP bullets. 

 

I guess I'm looking for the sweet spot between good accuracy and low recoil. 

To reduce recoil you may want to try lighter bullets in the 160 / 180 gr range with TB, and like Yusta B pointed out ...do some experimenting with your pistols and rifle to see what gives you the accuracy level your comfortable with. I find TB and a couple others give good results in 45 colt, yet react differently in 45 Scofield and 45 cowboy special.

BlackMZ and APP can also easy shooters as well!

[John Boy]

ETR7 and Red Dot for smokeless  - FFg for black powder

[Rube Burrows]

Thanks for the replies both here and in pm. 

 

I am definitely experimenting with my loads and bullet weights. Loaded up a couple different loads tonight and will see what they do. I'll try some smaller grain nullets possibly also. 

[Kid Rich]

10 hours ago, Rube Burrows said:

I had more info but was told to delete. 

Im using trail boss with 200g RNFP bullets. 

 

I guess I'm looking for the sweet spot between good accuracy and low recoil. 

Load case with BP compress with bullet. Very good for accuracy not so much for recoil.

kR

[Tex Jones, SASS 2263]

At the distances we shoot at, accuracy is usually OK regardless of the powder/bullet combination.  I shoot 200 grs in 45 and usually am at the mid point, or slightly below, the Hodgdon recommended load for that bullet/powder combination. 

[Lead Friend, SASS #53635]

PM sent.

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

200gn bullets and Unique powder with a firm roll crimp, will serve you very well.

Unique also works very well for low recoil SG loads.

OLG

[Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474]

s250 grain bullet, (it's what I have) and Trail Boss for me.

Took a bit of playing around with charges to find a compromise sweet spot for both Rugers.

 

[ShadowCatcher]

One thing that you might want to try with loading Trail Boss, or frankly any other powder, is to make a series of reloads

varying about .1 grain per shot.  For example, the minimum amount of powder that they list for a 250 gr lead bullet is

A.0 grains, while the maximum is B.4, so you could load say ten rounds of A.0, ten more of A.1, ten more of A.2,

and even ten more of A.3.

 

Take those 40 rounds to the range, and shooting over sandbags, test each loading for accuracy at say 15 yds.

If nothing works better than anything else, and the groups are not good enough, keep increasing the loads until

you either get something you like, or you near the maximum.  If you find a loading that produces the accuracy you

wat, then load more and see how it behaves in your hands, rather than over the bag.

 

If that doesn't get it, then it's time to change bullet or powder. 

 

FWIW I shoot 250 gr bullets because I didn't want to file the sights on my pistols, but I keep velocities at the point

where I get best groups.

 

While it is often said that at our ranges accuracy is not an important aspect, I feel that any time I shoot I'd like to know the

ammo and gun are doing their job, and that any miss is my fault, which I can then work on correcting.  It also comes in handy

when you need to hit a small target for a bonus!

 

Hope this helps!

 

SC

 

 

 

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

Then you start all over again with a new lot of powder. 

We are shooting big steel plates at spit'n & rock throw'n distances.

It's not a 1K yd benchrest match. 

OLG

 

[Rube Burrows]

Thanks to all who have replied. I have gotten lots of good answers and most lean towards a certain point so I will work my way in that direction and see what my guns like.

 

I am on other boards that are not dedicated to SASS and could have posted questions there but its always nice to get feedback from the people who are actually shooting the stuff I'm interested in.

[Augustus Goodnight]

PM Sent.

[Matthew Duncan]

250 grain bullet in front of Titegroup powder loaded 1 grain below manufacters recommended maximum.

[SOUTH-PACIFIC,SASS #59402]

i shoot 200g  .45 and load with T B recomend not loading on the low side of recomended from chart. i stay slightly on  a scosh over. i found too low has a tendacy to be eratict over the crono send me a PM and i can explain what i do

[Ripsaw]

Every thread that asks about load advice, OLG suggests Unique. Now, don't misunderstand me, Unique is a great powder, and I use it for 9mm and some other pistol loads, but it is NOT the best, or even close to the best, load for CAS for most any ammo. It is way too slow a powder for what you want if you are trying to be competitive. 

 

The advice to use a lighter bullet is good. For .45 Colt, or .45 C45S, with lighter bullets (160/180/200g) you should be looking at a faster powder similar to bullseye, Red Dot, 700x, Clays or Clay Dot. Possibly include Nitro 100 NF,  titewad and other fast pistol powders.  I think Trail Boss is a little slow for very light loads, so if you are going to a 160g bullet, forget TB and look at Clays, 700x or Red Dot. 

 

Apologies to OLG, but you are just wrong in recommending Unique every time someone is asking about a load solution. At least IMNSHO. 

 

 

 

 

[Captain Clark]

Ripsaws advice on the 160/180 grain 45 Colt loadings using TB is spot on. Of the other powders he mentions I have found 700x to be the cleanest by a bit when using the minimum load data! As you get to mid range load data, Clays begins to clean up and perform much better in my experience. Clay Dot is consistent performance wise as well. I have also used Tin Star with good results, but considering its price, scarcity, and temperature sensitivity it never really caught on.It does perform well with 200 gr + bullets.

 

Trail Boss does work very well in 45CS with the lighter bullets {150/160 } by using the Hodgdon load calculation formula on their website! Trail Boss loaded by using the formula will result in approx 615- 635 FPS with a 160 gr bullet. It is a soft and accurate pistol load for 45CS.

 

[CodyMaverick]

So far in my experimental experience everything is a trade off.  Accuracy, recoil, consistency, cleanliness, etc...  In all that experimentation with bullets, powders, primers, and cases the one thing I found to be constant is my preferred power factor.  For my pistols I seem to like about 108 pf and about 150 - 170 pf in the rifle.

 

I guess there is one other constant, in all my pistols (Rugers) and rifles (various) the 250g RNFP bullet loads always perform the best in every way and if it weren't for the recoil factor and the added expense I would probably be using them.

[Tex Fiddler SASS Life 10127]

I'm a competitive shooter, but I shoot .45s as does my wife.

 

I'd be happy to tell you what I shoot in a private email.

 

My address is joepro@proandsons.com

 

-Tex Fiddler

[Blackey Cole]

45colt or45 cap.for the former I use 200 gun rnfp lead Bullets, might be moly or poly coated as I bought some of those Bullets, I also loaded the 250gr but it was a waste oh lead and money as it's not needed for our game.the laterfor wbas I use 230grn round noseebullets with the power factor they have the 230 is the easiest to use.

[Tom Bullweed]

Rube, developing pet loads is a fun part of the game.  Asking questions is smart, but having 'your' load is part of the competition.

Many shooters who load their pistol, rifle and shotgun rounds use a single powder for all, like Reddot or Clays.  These powders are often more available than specialty powders like TB.  TB is a good powder for CAS pistol loads but my local vendors want to price that 9 ounce can like it is a pound.

Good luck.  The game is not worth doing anything unsafe.

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

13 hours ago, Ripsaw said:

Every thread that asks about load advice, OLG suggests Unique. Now, don't misunderstand me, Unique is a great powder, and I use it for 9mm and some other pistol loads, but it is NOT the best, or even close to the best, load for CAS for most any ammo. It is way too slow a powder for what you want if you are trying to be competitive. 

 

The advice to use a lighter bullet is good. For .45 Colt, or .45 C45S, with lighter bullets (160/180/200g) you should be looking at a faster powder similar to bullseye, Red Dot, 700x, Clays or Clay Dot. Possibly include Nitro 100 NF,  titewad and other fast pistol powders.  I think Trail Boss is a little slow for very light loads, so if you are going to a 160g bullet, forget TB and look at Clays, 700x or Red Dot. 

 

Apologies to OLG, but you are just wrong in recommending Unique every time someone is asking about a load solution. At least IMNSHO. 

 

 

 

 

Try Blue-Dot for those 9mm loads. Unique never grouped well in the 9mm or .40 S&W for me.

99% of the calibers we load for in this game were first loaded with real black powder. Just how fast does real BP burn?

There is not one caliber or gauge that is used in SASS/CAS that Unique can not be used with great success. 

Example-I load everything SASS from .32 S&W to .44 and 12 gauge along with some .45-70. with Unique. The only other powder that comes close to this versatility is WW231.

" It is way too slow a powder for what you want if you are trying to be competitive. "  Seriously , how so? That statement makes no sense at all.

I recommend what I know works from many decades of reloading experience.

OLG

>

[Ripsaw]

OLG, we all have our preferences, and of course, you are right that Unique can be made to work for all those cartridges.

 

However, Unique is not the optimal powder if your objectives are low but legal power factors (minimal recoil) and clean burning.  My comment about being competitive was based on the assumption that low recoil would help most shooters improve times.  You won't get Unique to burn cleanly when loading at minimal velocities for most of our cartridges.  

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

10 minutes ago, Ripsaw said:

OLG, we all have our preferences, and of course, you are right that Unique can be made to work for all those cartridges.

 

However, Unique is not the optimal powder if your objectives are low but legal power factors (minimal recoil) and clean burning.  My comment about being competitive was based on the assumption that low recoil would help most shooters improve times.  You won't get Unique to burn cleanly when loading at minimal velocities for most of our cartridges.  

You stay within loading specs and you'll have no issues w/Unique. Anyone DUM enough to load outside the specs, is dangerous & stupid.

I do urge the use of a firm roll crimp with Unique at all load levels. One of the very best things about Unique, is it's not temperature sensitive like many of these so called 'fast' powders are. Also you don't have the lot to lot variation with Unique like say Bullseye will show.

If you want a clean burning powder, then use Blue-Dot. Like I said-never found any better for 9mm or .40S&W.

You are correct-I don't load fly-fart level loads for SASS. Mine are 'middle-of-the-road' with smokeless, and full on 'warthog' with BP. 

OLG

[July Smith]

It seems that other members have helped answer your questions.  One thing I will add is to do yourself a favor and pick up a steel sizer die.  Yes, carbide dies work, but steel ones size the 45colt case with a proper taper.  45colt brass that has been sized in a steel die seals the chamber much better and prevents a lot of the "blow by" shooters often complain about when shooting 45s.

[Captain Clark]

47 minutes ago, July Smith said:

It seems that other members have helped answer your questions.  One thing I will add is to do yourself a favor and pick up a steel sizer die.  Yes, carbide dies work, but steel ones size the 45colt case with a proper taper.  45colt brass that has been sized in a steel die seals the chamber much better and prevents a lot of the "blow by" shooters often complain about when shooting 45s.

SAAMI specs for 45 Colt don't call for or show any case taper that I am aware of. I checked, and believe SAAMI notes that the case dimension is .4806 Cylindrical.

 Not arguing, perhaps I don't understand what your refereeing to.

Care to share? Always willing to learn something new!