Opinions on load data for .45acp and Clays.

[Old Irish Shooter]

Just want an idea before I head out this weekend to run them through the pistol. I have two mags worth ready of 3.5 grains of Clays with a 230 grain lead round nose, Bullets By Scarlett, seated to 1.265. All rounds fit nice in the case gauge and if this looks acceptable I will run them through the gun this weekend.

I added a picture of one of the rounds and would like opinions on the taper crimp.

 

[Big Timber SASS #19724Life]

I always taper crimp to 

.470

[El Catorce]

Plunk tested? 

[Old Irish Shooter]

1 minute ago, El Catorce said:

Plunk tested? 

Indeed! Drop nicely and just a smidge below the barrel hood. 

[El Catorce]

1 hour ago, Old Irish Shooter said:

Indeed! Drop nicely and just a smidge below the barrel hood. 

Pretty close to the load I use. Depending in your recoil spring, it shoots fine in my SR1911. Yes with clays 3.6 

[Old Irish Shooter]

8 minutes ago, El Catorce said:

Pretty close to the load I use. Depending in your recoil spring, it shoots fine in my SR1911. Yes with clays 3.6 

Stock Rock Island GI profile. I had made up some loads with Winchester 244 and had some problems with sooty case and bright blue burn spots. I realized my seating die needed some tuning to keep bullets from setting back under recoil. My first  few reloads ever so it was a learning moment for me. 

[El Catorce]

31 minutes ago, Old Irish Shooter said:

Stock Rock Island GI profile. I had made up some loads with Winchester 244 and had some problems with sooty case and bright blue burn spots. I realized my seating die needed some tuning to keep bullets from setting back under recoil. My first  few reloads ever so it was a learning moment for me. 

first reloads ever or first reloads of .45ACP?  Rimmed cartridges are much more forgiving to learn with for cowboy action shooting distances and loadings. we really don't need to worry about case length very much for .38’s etc...   with semi auto rimless like .45ACP we might need to pay closer attention. I’m relatively new to .45ACP reloading myself so take my comments with a grain of salt…but thats the load i use.

[Baltimore Ed]

Sounds good. I run 200 gr rnfp. They feed fine in my 1911s.

[Old Irish Shooter]

I am new to metallic cartridge reloading. I have been reloading shotgun for quite a few years and decided it would save money to start reloading pistol and rifle rounds. After taking some extra time with empty cases learning to set the dies up I feel comfortable with what I have now. 

[El Catorce]

38 minutes ago, Old Irish Shooter said:

I am new to metallic cartridge reloading. I have been reloading shotgun for quite a few years and decided it would save money to start reloading pistol and rifle rounds. After taking some extra time with empty cases learning to set the dies up I feel comfortable with what I have now. 

Good! If you start to reload .38’s or .45LC etc it will be much more forgiving. I have accidentally mixed in a .357 case into my .38 run and the flared mouth looked like a trumpet mouth… primer shortage and all so I decided  to load’er up anyway… it seated ok and i ran it up the roll crimp just fine. I ended up with something that resembled a bottle necked 38-40 with the part of the .357 case thats slightly longer than a .38 case covering about half the lead rnfp. it plunk tested in my vaquero so i sent it… like i said, much more forgiving. Do not, however, try this at home! 

[Painted Mohawk SASS 77785]

7 hours ago, Old Irish Shooter said:

Just want an idea before I head out this weekend to run them through the pistol. I have two mags worth ready of 3.5 grains of Clays with a 230 grain lead round nose, Bullets By Scarlett, seated to 1.265. All rounds fit nice in the case gauge and if this looks acceptable I will run them through the gun this weekend.

I added a picture of one of the rounds and would like opinions on the taper crimp.

 

Would be interested in your PF  &  FPS with those loads ..thanks

[Long Fingers, SASS#56813]

1 hour ago, Painted Mohawk SASS 77785 said:

Would be interested in your PF  &  FPS with those loads ..thanks

3.9 of clays under a 230gr bullet gives me around 750fps = 172pf out of a 5” springfield. Load I used for years for USPSA. Moved to WST when clays became unavailable the first time several years ago. 3.6 should give a nice mild push recoil impulse. Should be under 700 fps depending on the gun. 
LF. 

[Old Irish Shooter]

So everything went well this go around but 3.6 grains felt a little light on recoil. Did not have the chronograph this time so no data to share. I feel safe in increasing the charge a little bit and may go to 3.9 grains.

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions, it certainly helped.

[Pat Riot]

So, you asked about Clays. 
 

Let me tell you my pet load using another powder that you didn’t ask about under a bullet you didn’t ask about…

 

 

Just kidding. Have fun. 

[Badlands Bob #61228]

I'm thinking 3.5 grains of Clays sounds a little light.  If you're planning on shooting Wild Bunch, you may not make power factor.  You may also get some feeding problems as your gun gets dirty.  I found that in light loads, Clays will leave unburned powder flakes behind.    

[Red Eye Jim]

I don't have a lot to add here because I use 700X myself, but when I did my first load outs for .45 ACP and .9mm with the intention of using the former in both Practical Pistol and Traditional Wild Bunch, and the latter in PP and Speed Steel, I used 150 rounds of each per firearm at the range to assure that I would get reliable function from my firearms at the loads I decided on before using them in match.

 

Experience at the range watching others with "light" loads led me to make sure my guns would action correctly as I feel that was more important that if high recoil was slowing target acquisition.

[Badlands Bob #61228]

You can always tell the folks that have monkeyed with the springs in the 1911.  They are the ones that are banging on the back of the slide after about 4 stages.