45acp

Other than Springfield's penchant for short throats, there's nothing special about your XDS. Set your COAL reliably shorter than plunk, and carry on

Also, no, you can't ream the throat forward. The nitride surface treatment is ~ tool-steel hard.

What do you mean when you say 'effective'?

If you want The Good Stuff... Speer makes the 230grn Short Barrel Gold Dot as a component bullet, it does very well out of my 4" Kimbers, as does the factory SBGD ammos.

My forever .45ACP load was 6.5grn Unique under any 230grn FMJ bullet, but after I transitioned to the 4" barrels, I'm on the hunt for a better powder for the short barrel. Likely candidates are WST, Sport Pistol, and maybe BE-86. Further, I got my first alloy-framed 1911 a few years ago... my full-house forever loads were a bit much with the lighter frame, so I've dropped down to a 200grn FMJ, and probably WST or Sport Pistol... testing is ongoing.

Just about everyone I know is loading some sort of 230gr bullet with just about any powder imaginable. Myself I like a 200gr plated with either Silhouette or AA#2.

Walkalong said:

5.0 to 5.2 Grs W-231 or HP-38 with a 230 Gr lead, plated, or jacketed bullet at a reasonable OAL.

The good news is many powders work well in .45 ACP. Which powders do you have?

Click to expand...

That is a very good place to start especially since you already have W231 and then tweak the load for your gun. You might not have to make any changes at all with that load.

Keep us updated.

Use a 230 round nose bullet and if it is FMJ use 5.0 grains Bullseye. That was the load used in the original developmental ammunition back in 1910. It is hard to beat that for function, reliability, and accuracy. If you are using a 230 LRN, use 4.5 grains. Any case, any primer.

I recommend the 230 RN because it feeds well and does not require any alterations to feed ramps, which used to be common back in the day.

I shoot hundreds of .45 ACP rounds a month. Almost all with a 200 gr SWC cast bullet and either 4.0 gr of WST or 4.3 gr of Vectan A1. I've used 231 in the past, 4.4 gr.

Mine likes 230 gr FMJs over 6.0 gr of Unique. Not exactly a SD load, but shoots straight.

For .45 I like 230s with either AA#2 or HP38.
4.7 gr of HP38 makes a soft shooting .45 load, 5.0 is a little stouter but still not Full power both shoot well for me.
(using RMR plated 230s)
MBCs BHN12 coated 200gr SWCs also shot well for me with HP38. I tried both the BHN12 ones and the BHN18 ones and my gun preferred the softer ones.
Some guns will feed SWCs fine, in some they are a challenge.
Haven't had a chance to test out Sport Pistol in .45 yet but I would think it would work well there.

(HP38/W231 are the same powder)

I did load up some .45 with Longshot at one point in time, don't remeber how well they shot but I worked up and a MAX Longshot makes stout .45 loads.
(really to slow for .45 but since you have it load some up as an adventure)

Walkalong said:

5.0 to 5.2 Grs W-231 or HP-38 with a 230 Gr lead, plated, or jacketed bullet at a reasonable OAL.

The good news is many powders work well in .45 ACP. Which powders do you have?

Click to expand...

This is the load I use for a 4" barrel and 5" barrel 1911 in 45acp. Bullseye, although many say is too dirty, is very accurate in my 1911's. Again I use the same Bullseye load for both the 4" and 5" barrel 1911's.

5 gr of 231 or HP-38 under 230 FMJ for my Kimber 1911, XD 4” service model and FNX Tactical. All shoot that load with fantastic accuracy.

I’m firmly in the Bullseye camp as well. A traditionalist I guess.

I use Bullseye in my 3.75" barrel 9mm's too. I already had some Bullseye when I began reloading 9mm and it worked so well I left well enough alone.

For the most part, I reload one 45 ACP load for use in my Commanders (4.25" barrel), full size (5" barrel) and rifle carbine firearms.

My main load is a 230 RN bullet over 700-X. Use published data.

My back up powder is Accurate #5 but I have used W231 and Unique as well. For my Gold Cup, I use Accurate #2 with 185 grain SWC bullets.

There are other powders that work well with 45 ACP. I used Bullseye when I first got into reloading back around 1980 but I do not have another use for Bullseye these days so I have not continued using it in 45 ACP. I maybe should re-visit this decision.

45 ACP in an M1911 is a pretty forgiving application and there are lots of combinations that work well.

A good friend of mine has the XD mod2 in 45acp . He likes to shoot my 230gr plated or Hi TEK coated bullets loaded with 6gr of Unique. After I got a S&W model 625 a couple years ago I started loading coated 200gr Semi wadcutters. He tried a few mags of those and had no problems

I practice every week with my Colt New Agent in 45ACP 3" barrel . I started low until I found a charge that worked the slide 100% . I'm only shooting 230 FMJ's over 4.7gr. of W231 set at 1.255 . Didn't want to beat the little guy up with a steady diet of full loads , as long as it opperates with a lower charge for practice , easier on the pistol and springs . I do the same with the full size 1911.

My "Just in Case" ammo is a classic load of Bullseye (5.0 gr) under a 230 gr FMJ bullet. This load feeds and shoots well in my 3, 45 ACP guns (one 1911, one P90, one carbine). I have about 1,000 rounds handy, just n case...

I'm an outlier. I found some Universal and worked up a load: 6 gr with a 230 gr FMJ.
-mike

I've used several powders with good success.
Universal, TiteGroup, W231 & Accurate # 5.

I think the TiteGroup was the best all around - Low Charge Weight, mildest recoil, etc.
Accuracy seemed really good with all of the powders.
# 5 had the most recoil, but it still was manageable.
I'd say Universal was 2nd best & W231 I'd rate as #3.