Bought a Ruger SR1911 need some advice

[Buckshot Bear]

G'day fella's I bought a new Ruger SR1911 .45acp and need some advice. 

I've tried for a while to get into the Wild Bunch Forum (heaps of help from PWB who is a credit to this forum and SASS as a whole) 

but still no luck and have sent two emails to admin and still also no luck. So hope this is ok to post here just to get some help.

 

Got the pistol, bought brass (LPP) and dies, looking at getting 230gr round nose projectiles (Hi-Tek coated).

Are 230gr recommended? What's a good powder charge to have the pistol cycle well?

Any other hints or tips?

 

Here's a pic of the pistol -

 

 

 

[Pat Riot, SASS #13748]

230 grain bullets at 830fps would be “mil spec” so I would go for that. I am sure that’s what the gun iis designed for. 
 

Or do they shoot gamer loads in WBAS?

Some info;

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/.45_ACP

 

 

Death to Otto. 

[Alpo]

6.5 of unique under a 230 grain lead round nose. 6.8 of unique under a 230 grain full metal jacket round nose.

 

Those were Jeff Cooper recommended loads, and I figured if anybody knew about 45 ammo it was Colonel Cooper.

[Leadspittinlefty]

230 RN coated at 700 fps.= 160 power factor, minimum is 150 so why go  higher, just beats up the steel targets!! also you can,

Put in a lighter recoil spring if needed.

JMHO

LSL

[Pat Riot, SASS #13748]

In my opinion, the gun was designed around the traditional mil spec load; 230 grain at 830 FPS. That is what I would shoot until well broken in. 
 

Here’s why I say that:

1. You load for minimum power factor.

2. Gun works fine at the range. Static shooting situation. 
3. Gun stovepipes at the competition. Dynamic shooting situation.
4.  Immediate spectator response to “help you fix the problem” - the problem that wouldn’t be a problem if you loaded ammo to the manufacturers recommendation/specification.

5. You begin by trying different recoil spring tensions and find one that works…yay!
6. 1 or 2 years from now you discover peening on the frame and / or slide and wonder “How’d this happen?” and then realize that maybe you went too low with the recoil spring tension OR you shot standard .45 ACP loads on your off weekend shooting sessions because you wanted to save your reloads for matches or you found a smokin’ deal on factory mil spec ammo or (fill in the blank)

 

My 2 cents

[Long Fingers, SASS#56813]

The manufacturer has it set up (sprung) for full power loads, usually not ideal for a game gun.  You need to decide how your going to use this gun and set it up accordingly. There’s no reason to run full house loads if it’s a game gun unless that’s what you want to do. Changing spring weight is very simple and can easily be tuned to your load choice. 
Other suggestions would be trigger work, probably right at 5lb stock, 3lb would be better. Extended mag release with reduced spring. Magwell but that’s not legal for Wild Bunch. Grips of your choice. 
These are all reduced loads but make PF  for USPSA which is still higher than Wild Bunch PF. 
3.9 clays 230 gr LRN

4.2 clays  200 gr 

4.0  WST  230 gr 

4.3  WST  200  gr 

Visit Brian Enos forum for info on setting up 1911’s for completion. You will get advise from people that are actually competing with these guns. 
LF. 

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

10 hours ago, Alpo said:

6.5 of unique under a 230 grain lead round nose. 6.8 of unique under a 230 grain full metal jacket round nose.

 

Those were Jeff Cooper recommended loads, and I figured if anybody knew about 45 ammo it was Colonel Cooper.

No jacketed bullets allowed for WB. 

[Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life]

I use my SR1911 for both IDPA (pf160)

and WB (pf150). My WB load is 4.7 gr Bullseye with 200 gr RNFP for avg 765 fps and pf 153. Works fine for WB and IDPA practice. My IDPA load is 3.9 gr Claydot with 230 gr RN for avg 710 fps and pf 163. This is also my cold weather WB load to ensure proper velocity. Both loads are more accurate than me and will put 50 cent piece groups at 14 yards (using our Cowboy rifle targets and slow fire) until I run out of ammo. Stock springs, sights and trigger. If it works why fix it?

Regards

    

Gateway Kid

BTW straight lead no hitek (though I have them) as I still have about 2-3 k left of each of these bullets. 

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

200-230gn bullet.

5.5-5.7 gn WW231/HP38.

Any LPP.

1.245-1.250 C.O.A.L.

Get a case gauge......

[Crooked River Pete, SASS 43485]

I use the same 200gr rnfp in my .45 acp as I use in .45 colt. Can't tell you the load off hand but all these ones above sound about right.

[Sedalia Dave]

230 gr RN or 200 gr RNFP work well for WB. 

 

The best things you can buy for WB are a Case gauge and high quality magazines. Tripp, and Wilson Combat are my preferred magazines.

[Chili Ron]

Howdy,

Congrats on getting a very nice Ruger.

I would shoot it with factory ammo for a bit to break in.

See if you really need to change something before you start with non Ruger parts.

Consider making one change at a time. 

I have very stock guns and very custom guns.

One change at a time works for me UNLESS  a well known smith

is doing his setup and I know what is going to happen.

I have made a change and backed it right out as that particular change 

didnt happen to work for ME.

One step at a time.

Best of luck

CR

 

[largo casey #19191]

I use a 200 gr bullet with 5.0 gr. of TrailBoss.

I have a Ruger SR1911 exceot its 10mm.

                                                                           Largo

[Buckshot Bear]

Appreciate all the replies one and all....thank you kindly!

[LawMan Mark, SASS #57095L]

I put a 16 lb recoil spring in mine, and replaced the factory sear spring with a Cylinder and Slide Shop reduced power model.  I shoot 200 grain RNFP, at about 775 fps.  I don't have a problem with using 230 grain, but I have a ton of 200 grain from 45 colt loadings.  

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

A few pictures you might enjoy.  I took another tour of the Ruger plant in Arizona when the 1911 came out.  At that time the Ruger rep said the 1911 had the tightest tolerances of any handgun they produced.

 

The slides are machined from round bar stock.

 

 

The preliminary machining of the frame.

 

 

The barrel is also machined from a piece of round bar stock.  In an initial operation the part that will become the barrel bushing is parted off from the main bar.  The bushing and barrel stay together for all subsequent machining operations.  They are a matched set.

 

 

Final machining of the barrel.

 

 

The finished slides are selectively fitted to a frame and then proceed together for subsequent finishing and final assembly.

 

[Old Man Graybeard]

I have been loading 5.7 grains of Unique with a 230 round nose. I chronographed a couple rounds at Land Run last fall. They chronoed at 830 t0 850. I think I will cut back to 5.5 grains and see what that does. A case gauge is invaluable for any of the rimless rounds since Glock and 1 or 2 others use an unsupported chamber. If the round won't fall in and out of the gauge...it will cause problems. Lee has what they call a Bulge Buster...well worth the money. You need a Lee factory crimp die and a Bulge buster kit. I think I gave around 38 dollars for the pair. Take the guts out of the factory crimp die and put the parts from the bulge buster in. It comes with a little bin that goes on top and uses a kind of rod with a dimple out of the center so you can run live rounds through it. If I get a round that hangs up in the case gauge...I run it through the bulge buster...normally problem solved

[Buckshot Bear]

Larsen....thanks for the photos of your Ruger tour.....terrific mate!!!!