The information that all members provided me on my question about OAL for the 45 ACP was extremely helpful.

I was able to do some reloading and tested the Laser Cast 180 gr. SWC using Titegroup and Ramshot True Blue and Competition Powders in my Smith and Wesson 745.

I started with new Winchester cases and large pistol primers. I seated the bullet according to the barrel technique (i.e., placing a resized empty brass cartridge in the barrel (observing were it was located) then seated the bullet deep enough to match the blank cartridge. My final OAL was 1.250 which is what many of the manuals suggest. I taper crimped the bullets to 0.472 and all powder charges were hand weighed. I made several blanks and manually tested loading and ejecting by running the slide. The all worked fine.

I ended up with 6.6 grains of True Blue with a velocity of 787 fps which seemed to perform the best and I was able to shoot 4 shots (using a rest) holding a one-inch group size at 25 yards. The fifth shot was a outlier/flyer and expanded the group size to 2.5 inches. This seems consistent (i.e.,a outlier/flyer).

Does anyone have any reloading suggestions of what is causing this? If not for these flyers the loads would be tack drivers.

2.5" from a service pistol at 25 yds is typical performance, even when using a ransom rest as seen in articles in the gun magazines firearm tests.

There area too many variables with the gun, the ammo, the shooter, the weather, the wind, to get perfect results. A custom target pistol will hold 2" at 50 yds, this puts them all in the "X" ring of a Bullseye target but you pay dearly for that kind of accuracy.

In hand loading the bullet is responsible for the majority of the accuracy of the ammo. Cast bullets can have voids in the as well as other slight imperfections. Probably the major factor in shooting is the shooter. All it takes is a bit tighter or looser hold on the pistol, a slight misalignment of the gun to the eye, a blip in blood pressure, breathing or concentration to throw the bullet off.

I concur with Steve tht you are jumping to conclusions that the variation is due to the ammunition.

I suspect that load fired in a 10" test barrel fixture would shoot into an inch all day, if you are consistent from cartridge to cartridge.

In a real semi-auto, the sights are on the slide, which moves with respect to the barrel, and both move with respect to the frame on each shot. There has to be some clearance in the gun, or it wouldn't work. So even with the gun in a Ransom rest, the combination of gun and ammo gives a greater spread than just the variance n the ammo.

Then there are the problems of holding the gun in a human hand with exactly the same grip and trigger press for each shot.

I'd say your gun and ammo are working very well.

Is it always the fifth shot that's out?

I agree. If you are casting your own bullets, you need to weigh them and keep them in like weight groups when you reload. If you find any that are grossly underweight, then as Steve C said, there are probably voids and they should be set aside and recast.

As 5-shot asked, is it always the 5th shot. If so, this could indicate that the barrel is heating up and may play a role in the flier. Other than that, there are only about 50 things that can cause a flier. Wind, breathing, trigger squeeze, getting anxious because of the group size you have going, someone shooting a .500 magnum one station to your right, etc. etc.

When testing a load or when shooting for group size, I was always taught to shoot 3 shot groups. Less is too few and more only adds to the possibility of human error.

__________________
James Redfield
LM #497

After all the information I went back and looked at the target. The holes seemed to go progressively lower on each shot with that last shot being really low. It occurred to me that it may not be the rounds but rather the rest. I found the front rest knurl was loose and after each shot it must have turned slightly downward. I went back and repeated the test using my load and corrected rest. The group was 1.75 inches which is not bad for a non customized pistol. The 745 has a match barrel and is conned rather than the traditional bushing. I did have the slide tightened to the frame. I thought it may not shoot like a fully customized 45, however, it should do quite well.

Thanks to all that have contributed. Sometimes the advice that other people provide triggers thoughts that perhaps would not have been originally given credence.