Tough 45 auto bullets

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98s1lightning said:
I've experienced similar results, this is why I just began to wonder about plated....maybe NO jacket to shred dumping energy lost that could have been used for penetration...idk
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Most plated bullets have a very thin skin of copper that has impact on internal ballistics (what happens inside the gun/barrel), but little or no impact on terminal ballistics (what happens at/inside the target). I promise you, plated bullets splatter like they are made of play-dough when they hit something hard... they're very soft. If I drop one from table-height onto my basement's concrete floor, there will be a visible dent/deformation. I love plated bullets for some applications, but not for dangerous game.

Now, there are some super-heavy plated bullets that exist. Speer's Gold Dots are, IIUC, technically made by plating copper, but it's much more copper than regular plated (or even most "heavy plated") bullets.
 
98s1lightning said:
It is my understanding that you should only run copper on polygonal rifled barrels.
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Not totally. You should NOT run soft lead bullets in poly rifled barrels due to lead build up.

You can safely shoot copper and synthetic jacket bullets fine, and hard cast bullets should also be fine.

That said, I’ve seen a lot of videos where some Glock barrels have a hard time stabilizing the very heavy hard-cast rounds. This is more prevalent in the Glock 20 with 220 grain hard cast rounds and key holing.

I have seen no issues with my G21 and UNderwood 255 gr HC rounds.
 
Should be no stabilization problems with that bullet, plus it's BNH 18, so it should handle the toughest targets.

I've shot many thousands of coated bullets through a HK45C and USP 45, never a problem.

I wouldn't go with a light bullet for heavy 4 legged animals. You need penetration, not theoretical energy.
 
Buzznrose said:
OP,

When you said “no lead”, were you including “hard cast” in that statement? They are not the same thing...

Per Tim Sundles if Buffalo Bore Ammo:

https://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_list&c=54
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I guess this feller might know what he is talking about, but all this comes from commercial casters. "Hard cast" is a relatively new term, which means nothing. When I got interested in lead bullets there were 2 kinds; swaged and cast, with cast being categorized by lead-tin content, ie; 16-1, 20-1 etc.Today folks say "hard cast" meaning any cast bullet to differentiate from swaged (and nothing to do with BHN). When does the "hard" come into play? Is there an "official" (similar to SAAMI) designation at what BHN a bullet becomes "hard"? 16 BHN? 18 BHN? And does "hard" designate any alloy ingredients? Antimony %? Arsenic or tin %?. I believe some cast bullet purchasers were convinced that harder is better and commercial casters just gave them what they think they needed; and called their bullets "hard cast"...
 
I carry Buffalo Bore 45 ACP +P bullets in my 1911 when I'm hiking in New England. I'm sitting in my camper now in Vermont and we'll be out and about tomorrow. We also carry Bear Spray!
-mike
 
The "harder" the cast bullet the more likely it is to shatter when it hits something hard. Antimony makes the lead hard but also makes it less ductile.

Elmer Keith did all the work on the .44 Mag with 16-1 alloy.
 
I like the Nosler idea, their company has a good reputation of understanding bullet science amd making tough bullets. They should remain available at dealers and on websites, and "easy to come by"
 
Ive always thought the 230gr dropped FAST, but it should be close range only though. Gotta wait till its close enough for good head/neck shots. Speeding them up hotter should help flatten the trajectory some...
 
Midrange trajectory for .45 ACP zeroed at 50 yards is about 2 inches.
So 2" high at 27 yards or so, right on at 50. And several more yards before it drops as much as 2".
How far will you shoot that bear?
 
30 feet or less. I think the drop is just deceiving at longer ranges, not really a problem for the range were talking. Like you say.
 
LRDGCO said:
For black bear, I would use Barry's plated. Flat points best if they will feed in your 1911. 230 grs of hard lead will penetrate and will expand slightly. 45 ACP was adopted by the army in the days when horse cavalry was still a main arm of the military. 230 grs at 850 fps was deemed effective in disabling horses. It will do the same for black bear, most of which in Maine will be sub-300 lbs.

Unless you're in Aroostook. Then you want an S&W 500 and stay away from the Dr. McGillicuddy's ;-)
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Berry's Plated use swaged soft lead cores.
 
I've never been attacked by a bear (but I did stay at a Motel 6 in bear country). But most (all) the reports said the attacks were sort of an "ambush", the hiker/hunter was unaware of an impending attack, and did not have time to do anything. The attacks happened too quickly to either draw a gun from a holster of even shoulder a long gun. There are bears and puma in my area, but attacks are very rare (I don't remember any reported, but sightings are fairly common). I often have a 44 Magnum when I'm up in the hills, but I would think I'd be better off making a lot of noise and keeping an eye out for critter that might wanna kill me...
 
Think I'm gonna try Montana Gold 200gr JFP and Hornady 200gr HAP. While the hornady is a hollow point it is designed as a "non expanding" with no petal cuts but is said to be the same bullet as XTP. My thought is XTP is built tough for high powered 45 colt, 454 casull, and 460 S&W so at 45 auto velocities it should only expand a little, if not at all, which is fine by me. I think 200 grain is a nice balance between case capacity and heavier bullet than 185.
 
I got my hands on the Montana Gold 200gr JFP I haven't worked with them yet, but just looking at them they look SWEET! They look to be high quality.

I really want to get my hands on some Ramshot Silhouette but won't be able to right away. In the meantime, I will probably load up some of these bullets with some Unique and shoot them into some jugs full of water to see what they look like afterwards.
 
98s1lightning said:
I got my hands on the Montana Gold 200gr JFP I haven't worked with them yet, but just looking at them they look SWEET! They look to be high quality.

I really want to get my hands on some Ramshot Silhouette but won't be able to right away. In the meantime, I will probably load up some of these bullets with some Unique and shoot them into some jugs full of water to see what they look like afterwards.
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Where ya located? Maybe someone close has some Silhouette to spare.
 
98s1lightning said:
Think I'm gonna try Montana Gold 200gr JFP and Hornady 200gr HAP. While the hornady is a hollow point it is designed as a "non expanding" with no petal cuts but is said to be the same bullet as XTP. My thought is XTP is built tough for high powered 45 colt, 454 casull, and 460 S&W so at 45 auto velocities it should only expand a little, if not at all, which is fine by me. I think 200 grain is a nice balance between case capacity and heavier bullet than 185.
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the xtp bullet made for the 45 colt is tough and made for that cartridge. but the bullet made for the 45 acp is made to start expanding at 700 fps. and since it is a controlled expansion bullet, the faster you drive it, the more it expands. it will work fine in your pistol for what you want.

there is more than enough room in that 45acp case for the powder charge to drive a 230 grain bullet as fast as your reloading manual will allow.

luck,

murf
 
I don't think I will be sticking with the Montana Gold bullets, I saw lots of pieces of jacket in the gravel pit I was shooting in. Also I shot 2 into 2 different 1 gallon jugs, 1 looked decent and just started expanding the other completely shed it's jacket. So these aren't going to be a choice for woods loads. BUT they are definitely the finest target bullets I've ever had the pleasure of working with at the reloading bench.
 
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