45 ACP plated bullets same loads as FMJ?

[xmanpike]

I am finally ready to start reloading 45 ACP. Couldnt find FMJ bullets anywhere so I ended up buying 230gr RN plated bullets from PowerBondBullets.

My question that I can't find answered in any of my manuals or books is:
Can I use the same load data I see for FMJ's for plated bullets?

Will be using Titegroup or W231/HP-38.

Any help appreciated!

 

[xmanpike]

One more thing, someone posted something about removing the crimp from the brass. Is this done during the sizing of the die or the belling of the case mouth?

 

[xmanpike]

looks like they may have been talking about a primer crimp?

 

[Walkalong]

I doubt you have any .45 ACP brass with crimped primers. It is not removed in either step you mentioned. Special tools are used to do it.

I load plated bullets in .45 with jacketed data. Others will gasp and quote the Ranier site about load like lead.

5.5 Grs of W-231 or HP-38 will be close to GI spec velocity with a 230 Gr slug. It will be very accurate and function 100%. I have shot a great many Ranier and Berrys 230 Gr plted bullets with that charge over the years.

5.5 Grs of W-231 and any lead, plated, or jacketed 225/230 Gr bullet is hard to beat.

 

[xmanpike]

Uh oh, sounds like this is going to be a conficted issue.

Yeah I just looked through some of my brass, dont see any crimped primer pockets

 

[evan price]

I load Rainier plated .45 230-gr roundnose with 4.7 grains of Titegroup. It's my default load for pretty much any 230-grain .45 acp and it works good for plated, lead, or FMJ.

 

[FM-793]

Great timing. I bought some 185 gr .45 Auto plated bullets from Berry. I normally load them mid-range for jacketed. My only question is that they were out of round nose pills, so I bought flat-noses. Do you load the flat-tops to the same COL as the round noses? Can't seem to find COL data for the flats. It's probably obvious, but I've had a rough, rough week.

Thanks!

Mark

 

[Squeaky Duck]

I've been using Berry's plated 230gr .451 round nose double struck bullets with no problems whatsover for the past couple of years. I load them the same way as I would with jacketed bullets with 6gr of unique and you really can't tell the difference between them and factory loads...except that they are more consistent and my groups are very good

I managed to recover some of my bullets from down range and the platng on them is pretty tough. The rifling is there but it never went thru the plating since the plating on them is about the same thickness as a jacketed bullet. So yes I would consider them the same. The 45 ACP does not use magnum velocities so it's not going to be a problem whatsoever.

Berry's makes a great bullet for the money. And you don't have to worry about lead on your hands. I'm trying their .308 110gr bullets for one of my pistols. Works great.

 

[xmanpike]

Ok. Now one more debate

Titegroup or w231/hp38

 

[ants]

Titegroup or w231/hp38

Yes. Either will do vey nicely. Can't lose either way.
Any other questions?


On load data, I think Walkalong is wise. However, just in case you're interested, note that the PowerBond manufacturer recommends lead data only http://powerbondbullets.com/ .


FM-793 - Measure the flat nose bullet compared to the round nose bullet of the same weight (before loading, of course). The difference is the difference in cartridge OAL for the same powder charge.

 

[ReloaderFred]

The only actual, tested, data done by the powder manufacturers for plated bullets has been done by Ramshot and Accurate, with their powders, of course.

With that said, I use jacketed data for Berry's .45 and 9mm plated bullets, and work up my own for other calibers. As it happens, Walkalong and I use the same load for the 230 grain Berry's bullet, though my favorite for the .45 is the Berry's 185 grain Hollow Base Round Nose, which is the same profile as the 230 grain. It has proven to be very accurate in all my .45's.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[ReloaderFred]

FM-793,

When changing from a round nose to a flat point bullet, here is a trick I use for the .45. I back off the seating stem in my die and run a loaded 230 grain round nose cartridge all the way up into the die. Then I screw the seating stem down until it touches the seated bullet and tighten the stem at that location. This will usually make the contact point on the flat point bullet on the feed ramp roughly the same as the round nose. You should need very little adjustment from that point.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[rscalzo]

.45 ACP brass with crimped primers

Military cases have crimps in them.

 

[magstang1]

** use at your own risk ** Many manufacturers say load plated to lead levels

I use w231 with my 45 acp ranier plated bullets. I have been up to 5.8g, but am going to back it off to 5.5. No problems, the paper was just as dead with 5.5 as 5.8 so I figured I would save a little powder.

Btw, I started at 4.3g and worked up.

 

[Walkalong]

Anything over 5.5 Grs of W-231 is a wate of powder. IMHO of course.

(I have tried up to 6.1...not recommended)

 

[FM-793]

Fred - that is an awesome idea - simple and effective. Man, you can sure tell where the experience kicks in.

Thanks again.

Mark

 

[Hanzerik]

Ok. Now one more debate

Titegroup or w231/hp38

Throw Bullseye in the mix
It's the powder I use in my .45ACP loads.

200gr LSWC over 4grs of Bullseye; nice shooting accurate load out of my guns.

 

[lv2tinker]

xmanpike:
Sent you an email with an attached .PDF file showing Rainier's Loading Data that Midway used to have listed on their website.

Cheers....

 

[Sport45]

My ROT (Rule of Thumb)

If the head stamp has the word "Auto" it is most likely not crimped. If it has 2 or 3 letters and a 2 digit date stamp there's a fair chance it is. Just generally speaking, of course.

Titegroup and W231/HP-38 each work well in .45acp as do Unique, Universal, Bullseye, WST, WSF, and many others. In my experience it it the easiest cartridge to reload.