Just wondering what grain bullet everyone likes? I'm talking about ball, for target shooting? 45acp.

Thanks!

I've never found any difference in any of the 230 grain ball ammo, and it's great for target shooting because it's inexpensive. Certain brands may shoot better in your particular gun.

I've had good luck with Federal for a lot of years.

For target shooting I buy what's on sale or what's cheapest

For accuracy I've had best luck with the Hornady 230 TC bullets in my reloads so see no reason why their loaded ammo would not shoot the best either. Going to be expensive however...

...well disregard the above...just checked and although Hornady still make the bullet for reloading they no longer make ammo using that bullet.

Bob

I've found that WW whitebox 230gr. ball is about as good as anything out there. Plus the cases are great to use with reloads and last forever. Of course, I guess you could say the same for Fed. and others. I'm NOT very fond of Rem. ball ammo though; just doesn't meet the accuracy levels of WW and Fed. IMO.

Ball IS 230 gr. FMJ.

As to brand, whichever is cheapest is best, for me.

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USAF, 69-92
Vietnam, 72-73

The same for me. 230gr FMJ works just fine for practice/plinking. WW and a local bulk reloading operation work just great for me.

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gunfighter48
NRA Life Member

Federal 45A is pretty good. Rock River used to use it when accuracy testing their 1911s.

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Common sense isn't so common.

230 grain plated bullets from extreme loaded to 800 fps with 5.8 grains of SR7625. Gives me a nice accurate gentle shooting load I could shoot for days if the range would allow it. BTW, I expect the pistol would need cleaning from time to time but hey, give me a chance to shoot for days and I'll put up with having to do some cleaning.

I bought some cheap(well kinda cheap)Israeli surplus. It's a little hot, but shoots just fine...With my marksmanship, any ball seems to be OK, puts shots on target, functions fine, and keeps me happy. BTW I am a ****** shot, so YMMV!!

In my family we shoot a lot of .45acp, about 11 guns and except for when I reload, which is not often anymore, we have found that the best inexpensive, quality target ammo, is whichever of the following three, is on sale, usually $16/$18 a box of 50, is best.

Magtech
Sellier & Bellot
Armscor

Of the three, I really like Sellier & Bellot the best.

When I choose to shoot commercial .45 ACP I rely on WW white box simply because the accuracy is acceptable, it's reasonably priced, and I prefer WW brass for reloading. That said, I usually shoot and prefer my own handloads, but you sometimes get caught short.

Wolf ammo 45acp ball FMJ.

I BELIEVE the white box Winchester ammo is manufactured by sellier and bellot it's good stuff.

For Target work I load a Dardas cast 230 grain RNL bullet over 4.5 gr. Winchester 231. I nice and accurate load and can be shot all day with no leading. DEAD "NUTZ" ACCURATE!

I do not shoot 500 rds. of .45 ACP a week. However, a few years ago I was shooting 1,000 rds. a month, all of it ball. Some brands were a bit cleaner burning. All were sufficiently accurate to chop the center out of a B-27 at 25 yds. Firing a RIA 1911 there was never a single malfunction regardless of brand... Winchester, Remington, S&B, Wolf, Magtec, etc. If I needed brass, I bought Winchester. If I just wanted to shoot and have a good time w/o having to hunt brass, I bought Wolf. Wolf was in every respect equal to any other domestic or foreign ball. It was significantly less expensive. The only way to get cheaper good quality ammunition is to handload. Sincerely. bruce.

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Been a long time since I've bought any commercial .45ACP but I can say that for budget range fodder the PMC brass is very high quality. Love finding that stuff left behind. 230gr bullets is generally what .45ACP pistols come set up for out of the box.

Some years ago I bought 10K GI FMJ bullets at about 2 cents each, still have a few left. My handloads (5 grains of Bullseye) shoot much better than I have a right to expect. I think any hardball load will do whatever you want, target shooting or otherwise. Have yet to shoot a single round of .45 ACP that wasn't loaded with .45 FMJ or equivalent lead bullets.

Shooting wolf 45acp ball ammo in my reworked norinco 1911a1 shoots clusters and cloverleafs at 25 yards.

The best was the WW and Rem 230 ball practice ammo supplied by the Sheriff's Department Range. You could shoot as much as you liked there, without costing the deputy anything. One of the things I miss since retiring.

Many target shooters shoot 200 grain swc's some even use 185's.
Most modern 1911's will feed them fine .

I have never seen much difference from one 230 ball to another .

IF you are talking Factory, Federal's American Eagle 230 grain FMJ is the hottest of the bunch. It has a MV of 890 whereas Remington is 850 and Winchester is 835.

I have never encountered a gun that wouldn't reliably feed the AE brand of FMJ and it has been 100% reliable.

Lately, I have been shooting a lot of .45 ACP ball ammo at the range. I shoot R&P, Magtech, Freedom Munitions, Fiocchi, WWB, S&B and various other brands.(All 230 gr.) The best of all I find, is the S&B (Sellier & Bellot .45 ACP 230 gr.) It appears to be of excellent quality, It shoots clean, consistent, low priced, and I'm sold on it! Anyone else have this same experience? What do the rest of you all shoot?

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It's The Carbonaro Effect!

...the ammo I make myself that costs much less than anything in a store and I can make it any way I want!

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

These days it's nothing but 230 gr. ball, mostly Win white box and Federal AE.
For SD it's 230 Gold Dot or Federal 230 HST in the 5" gun and
Barnes 165 gr. all copper in the 3" gun.

When I was shooting bulls eye it was 185 gr. plated SWC handloaded to approx. 750fps.
Good load but the barrel needs to be throated for it.

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CSM, U S Army(Ret) 1963-1990

I would guess most .45 "ball" ammo is 230 grain roundnose FMJ. I've shot very little of this stuff and don't recall it being very accurate. Don't know if it's all like that or not.

Depending on your level of seriousness, you might consider getting at least three boxes from different manufacturers and shoot some 25 yard benchrested groups. You'll quickly find out what's best.

I like WW White box. Good stuff.

If what you mean by ‘target shooting’ is just burning ammo at the range, then anything will do: cheaper is better.

If you’re talking competition, then I prefer Lake City match ammo. This isn’t something you find easily, but if you keep your eyes open, you can locate it at gun shows.

Winchester Service Grade brown box

Good enough in over 100 years of combat and self defense the FMJ 230 ball just works! Been turning bad guys to fertilizer for over 100years.

Could not have said it better!!!

Surplus military ball ammo. That is all I ever shoot

I don't think LC ever loaded .45 MATCH ammo- it was loaded by the commercial companies and headstamped Match. I've seen RA, FC, and recently a bunch of WCC. There was also some IMI and TZZ made in the late '80s.
All of it that I saw was priced in the "Collector" category, not "Shooter" price range, or about double "good deal" prices.
Keeps the Dillon going!

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Good shooting.

Zombie thread, but I'll chime in anyway. For my FNX-T and its 5.25 inch barrel, I shoot Winchester Service Grade (brown box) 230g or American Eagle 230g. It shoots both equally well, but the Service Grade is both cheaper and cleaner. For my Shield 45, I shoot American Eagle 230g almost exclusively. My Shield is more accurate with hotter ammo (AE, 890 fps; Win, 865 fps). I regard the Win Service Grade rounds to be the best combination of quality and price in .45 acp ammo.

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What, me worry?

Thanks for chiming in!
I think the Win Service Grade would be more than suitable for me to shoot.
I see Brownells has it for $.32 a rd. (10-50 rd. boxes) with free shipping today only! I am about to place an order.

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It's The Carbonaro Effect!

Freedom is very high quality ammo ordered directly from their website. Most of the time you can get $10 flat rate shipping too. They offer new or once fired re manufactured ammo. Freedom also owns X-Treme Bullets which are what they use in their ammo offerings. I reload nothing but X-Treme bullets in .45 ACP mostly their 200 grn HP and Ball, but also some 230 grn Ball. The HP's are optimized for target use, not self defense and are glorious! Read their reviews, and cheaper than WWB.

I tried the 230gr Winchester Service Grade and like it! It's great out of my Springfield 1911's and Model 25-2! Clean and accurate!

Where does one find that these days?

Just shot some S&B 230 Grain ball in my Springfield XD and I put the first 3 shots in the middle of the X ring on a B-8 target at 25 yards, then I got excited and sprayed the next 7 shots in the 7 & 8 and 9 rings. The S&B ammo is often on sale at Midway. I think most of the commercial 45 Ball ammo is going to be simmilar.

My choice

Winchester Military Service Grade Ammo 45 ACP 230 Grain Full Metal