Shot my first .45acp reloads today

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Grim Peeper

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I recently started reloading 45acp with my lee loader hand press and shot some of my first loads today at the range. I was using mostly white box recycled brass, hp38, Berrys 185 round nose. I started out by making my rounds using a charge of 5.0-5.2 grain in each shell which seems to be a under powered charge I got my data for charging from the calculator if hodgsons website and postings on a previous thread on the THR.

In Just about 50 rounds each bullet fired about the same in both my SA 1911 mil specs. My OAL is 1.250 to 1.275 and a couple had trouble feeding when hand cycling in only one of my 1911s. They would fire and cock the hammer but not eject the empty round If this didn't happen it would stovepipe. This required me to rack the slide to eject each round or eject the stove pipe after pulling the trigger after each shot I went through 50 of these and got fairly good groups. Looks like I will try a charge of 5.5 next time I go.
image_25.jpg
 
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Great. Just work up to a good cycling load w/o going over max and you'll be fine. Welcome to the madness!
 
Of course! Shooting .45 always feels good! And at least I got some good stove pipe clearing practice. Actually it was more of a horizontal stovepipe. Like the empty shell was trying to enter battery again after it discharged.
 
Well, your guns are still in one piece and you have enough fingers to operate a camera.

That's a win in my book.
 
I think your OAL is somewhat long. Should be down in the 1.23-1.24" range, I think. Might help with your reliability issues.
 
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You have an almost classic case of too light a load for the guns (did you install a heavier recoil spring?). My guns would all be happy with that load.
 
G

Glad to see that there were no serious problems, shooting the first one I loaded made me nervous back when...


Bummer about the stovepipes but that happens sometimes.
Hodgdon shows a shorter OAL for 185s. The shorter OAL would up the pressure (= more energy) and might fix the cycleing issue. Another way would be to increase the charge a bit with your current OAL.
If you already have you dipper fixed to throw 5gr I would shorten the OAL a bit. Maybe load some at 1.23 and some at 1.20. Shoot the longer ones first of course.

I am not saying there is anything wrong with the 1.25 or 1.275 OAL as long as they feed and chamber ok in your guns. (one had issues feeding???)

The shortest OAL Hodgdon lists is 1.23 for all .45 APC loads so you should be able to bring the OAL down safely.
The shorter OAL might also help with the feeding issues.
I don't remember your bullet shape or style of the Berrys but Hodgdon show 1.135 for a 185 SWC. In OAL that is a lot shorter than 1.25 or 1.275.

4.7 or 5 gr of HP38 with an OAL of 1.20-1.23 should be perfect for the RMR 230 gr bullets I sent you to try, both loads function my two .45s fine. 5.3 is the MAX with 230s
For the 200 lead SWCs I sent I like 5 gr of HP38 as well.
Remember
Heavier bullet = less powder.
Shorter OAL increases pressure the same as more powder.
More pressure = higher velocity = more energy

As you found some guns will feed rounds with an OALs that others won't, and some will function with lighter powder charges than others.
This is just the nature of the beast. I would find something that makes both happy and go from there.

My Citadel (full size) and Colt Commander will both function fine with the RMRs 230 with 4.7gr HP38 and 1.23 OAl. ( I did settle on 5gr HP38 for this bullet) I use 5gr with the 200 lead SWCs as well in both guns.

I think your off to a good start.:)
It is much better to be to light to start and have the stovepipes than to heavy and have something bad happen.

Thats one reason it is alway a good idea to not to load to many before testing them.

I am curious to see what others think is the best direction to take to start, more powder or a shorter OAL with the Berrys.

Be safe and ENJOY!
 
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berettaprofessor,

He's loading 185s. See post #1.

dudedog,

The 185s have a shorter OAL because they are smaller. Roughly 20% less mass than a 230. They don't necessarily seat deeper even with the shorter OAL.
 
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Yep, the bullet is shorter overall so even though the OAL is shorter there may be less bullet in the case.

Of course this depends on bullet shape as well. (can't think of any 185s offhand that are longer than 230s)

Side note: The RMR 230 FMJs need to be loaded shorter than other 230 FMJs due to the bullet profile.
 
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The 1911 in the first pic with the dark grips had trouble chambering 1 or 2 of the rounds when manually charging so the rounds might be a little too long. Maybe I'll try taking the OAL to 1.23 and keeping the charge of 5.0 so that shortening the OAL will increase pressure in the round.
 
One thing to watch out for as well if they are to long, is that the bullet can hit the feed ramp funny and get setback if your crimp isn't good and you end up being to short which can make pressures skyrocket.

Lets see if you get any more feedback on shortening the OAL, but I am guessing that it will help the feed issue in the one pistol as well as the stovepipes. (you may still need to up the charge a bit)
Remember I am not an "expert" and have been know on occasion (well more than one) to suffer a case of the stupids. :eek:

Just curious, did you use the same mag in both guns? Sometimes one mag will feed what another won't so the issue could be mag related as well.

Betting you will like 5grns with the RMR 230s. (start lower)
 
I use all my mags like 10 of them Wilson, kimber, SA etc. once I get formula right with the Berrys I will def try those 230s you sent me. Thanks again for that!
 
Definitely a long OAL with a 185 grain bullet. I haven't loaded that exact bullet but my guess is it would feed better and shoot better at a shorter OAL.

Case tension holds a bullet in place in a 45 ACP as opposed to crimp and I have seen many times poor case tension with 185 grain bullets because of the shorter bearing surface. Loading them long can magnify this problem.
 
The 1911 in the first pic with the dark grips had trouble chambering 1 or 2 of the rounds when manually charging so the rounds might be a little too long. Maybe I'll try taking the OAL to 1.23 and keeping the charge of 5.0 so that shortening the OAL will increase pressure in the round.
 
Dudedog said:
Of course this depends on bullet shape as well. (can't think of any 185s offhand that are longer than 230s)

Side note: The RMR 230 FMJs need to be loaded shorter than other 230 FMJs due to the bullet profile.
Click to expand...

^^^ +1 ^^^

Bullet shape, even in the same weight, can make a huge difference.

I can seat the Xtreme 230 RN to the max SAAMI length of 1.275" and they are still about .030" from the lands in my Witness pistol. The RMR 230 Hardcore Match (thick plated) are touching the lands at 1.220", so the longest I seat those are 1.200". If I seated the Xtreme to that length, the ogive would be recessed in the case, the shortest I can seat those are around 1.225".
 
Hodgdon shows this with a 185 JHP
185 GR. HDY JSWC Hodgdon HP-38 .451" 1.135" 5 762 12,000 CUP 5.9 906 15,800 CUP
OAl 1.135 start 5 gr max 5.9 so you should be fine at 5.5 gr. That is about the middle of the charge range.

I tend to load a lot of ammo with charges that fall right about the middle of the range. Since I am shooting paper targets I am not after "MAX" power and velocity. Also, since I tend to shoot a lot at one time I like it if the ammo is a little "softer".

I do load up some to "factory" power levels, but generally I load lighter.


My load for the 200gr coated SWCS is 5gr range is 4.4 to 5.6 dead in the middle on this one.

For the 230s I am using 4.7 or 5 gr range is 4.2 to 5.3. 4.7 is about the middle, 5 is a bit above the middle.

I load the RMRs at 1.23. They are fine for my .45s but quite a few other people (most others) have reported they need to load them at 1.2.
It is just due to the shape of the bullet. I think I gave you the OAL I was using for the coated lead 200s. If you don't have it let me know and I will get it for you again.
(notes are out back in my "reloading" shed.

Nice .45s.
 
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Grim Peeper said:
I recently started reloading 45acp with my lee loader hand press and shot some of my first loads today at the range. I was using mostly white box recycled brass, hp38, Berrys 185 round nose. I started out by making my rounds using a charge of 5.0-5.2 grain in each shell which seems to be a under powered charge I got my data for charging from the calculator if hodgsons website and postings on a previous thread on the THR.

In Just about 50 rounds each bullet fired about the same in both my SA 1911 mil specs. My OAL is 1.250 to 1.275 and a couple had trouble feeding when hand cycling in only one of my 1911s. They would fire and cock the hammer but not eject the empty round If this didn't happen it would stovepipe. This required me to rack the slide to eject each round or eject the stove pipe after pulling the trigger after each shot I went through 50 of these and got fairly good groups. Looks like I will try a charge of 5.5 next time I go.
image_25.jpg
Click to expand...
You're safe to go up a little. I use 5.5 grains of HP-38 with 230 grain FMJ RN. 1.265 OAL

Russellc
 
Looks like I will try a charge of 5.5 next time I go.
Click to expand...

Not a good habit to get into, making big jumps, best to work up the load. Like others said shortening your OAL will have the same effect as increasing your charge. With some powders a 0.030" decrease in OAL will double the pressure if your at max load. With most it's the the equivalent of bumping your charge up 0.1gr.

Only make 1 change at a time. Load 10-20 each and test the load range to find what works best in your gun.

I have one gun that likes a shorter OAL, 1.235" while the other prefers 1.250. Each gun has it's own preference.
 
Yes u understand that's a significant jump in powder however the load I tried seemed very weak most did not even reset the hammer at all.
 
I suspect that your OAL is long, and your powder charge is light.
I would recommend that you use an OAL and charge for that weight and shape projectile, taken from an actual loading manual.

I have never had any trouble with any of my 1911s using a variety of 200-225 grain lead SWC/TCs and a reasonable charge of Unique/Green Dot/W231, etc.
 
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