.45 ACP cast target loads

[gym cat]

If you go to bullseye. com sign in and do a search, you will find an enormous amount of info on what you are looking for. Good group of guys willing to share info. I have switched to N310, 200grn coated bullet and non-coated bullets very accuratel, meters like bullseye and is also cleaner. I only shoot indoors.

 

[rockquarry]

If you go to bullseye. com sign in and do a search, you will find an enormous amount of info on what you are looking for. Good group of guys willing to share info. I have switched to N310, 200grn coated bullet and non-coated bullets very accuratel, meters like bullseye and is also cleaner. I only shoot indoors.

Thank you for the information. I've read about N310 in .45 ACP target loads but just haven't got around to trying it.

 

[scattershot]

I have used Bullseye my entire life (79 years). What do you guys think of using Promo and a replacement.

Most accurate load I have ever shot was 4.2 grains of Bullseye withthe 200 grain H&G Swc Bullet. 4.0 grains of Promo is as accurate. I have found that 4.0 Promo is good for just about anything I shoot.

 

[littlerocknroller]

I agree. I have been reloading 45 ACP since the 1980's. I used Bullseye because it was cheap and accurate but at the same time it was very dirty especially with lubed lead bullets. I tried W231 and Unique - wow what a difference!

I bought something like 2000 bullets from a guy I met in Kentucky. They are 230 grain lead roundnose bullets lubed with some sort of blue stuff. My Kimber has never malfunctioned with something like 200 of them - I will keep loading the same way.

I like the Hensley & Gibbs no. 68 with 5 Grains Lovex/Accurate Arms. Plain base for easy sizing. N320 will also do a good job. Some pistols simple do not accept the SWC bullets. In any case you must seat the bullet so that a small portion is not in the case, so that the bullet slips easyly into the chamber and will not stay upright and jams the pistol. If the cartridge slips into the chamber without problems you have won!
H&G are off the market, but there are many clone bullet molds are available.

 

[rockquarry]

I like the Hensley & Gibbs no. 68 with 5 Grains Lovex/Accurate Arms. Plain base for easy sizing. N320 will also do a good job. Some pistols simple do not accept the SWC bullets. In any case you must seat the bullet so that a small portion is not in the case, so that the bullet slips easyly into the chamber and will not stay upright and jams the pistol. If the cartridge slips into the chamber without problems you have won!
H&G are off the market, but there are many clone bullet molds are available.

I've actually had a real H&G #68 and sold it as I got slightly better accuracy from bullets cast in my Redding/SAECO #069 (copy of #68) mould. However, I always wondered about that #68 mould as bullets weighed 190 grs. in ww alloy while those from my SAECO mould were and are around 203 grs. in the same alloy.

 

[TaxPhd]

Clays was very very good with a cast #68 SWC.

I think the Clays load I started with was a practice load of the Marine team but it may have another big team. It may have been with a jacketed 185 though but that was where i got on to Clays in a pistol.

Clays is a great powder in .45 acp. Economical, clean burning, and versatile. What’s not to like?

 

[30calflash]

rockquarry, I too used bullseye powder for NRA bullseye shooting. Years back many old timers lauded the 3.5 grain load as the one to run. I ran with 4 grains for my Clark longslide.

When I had the chance I did some testing using a ransom rest with commercial #68 200 grain bullets that were inspected and sorted by weight. I found that the 3.5 Bullseye load grouped poorly at 50 yards, you could barely cover the group with your hand. I went to 3.6, 3.8 and then 4.0 grain load. In all cases accuracy improved as the load went up in grain weight. The 4.0 load was under 3", which may not seem great but that load had unweighed bullets. I meant to load some warmer, like 4.2 and higher but never got to do it.

I would suspect your 4.4 WST and 4.2 Titegroup similar or a little faster than the 4 grain bullseye load. If you have some bullseye try loading it incrementally higher, it may start to pull together for you as it did for me.

 

[rockquarry]

rockquarry, I too used bullseye powder for NRA bullseye shooting. Years back many old timers lauded the 3.5 grain load as the one to run. I ran with 4 grains for my Clark longslide.

When I had the chance I did some testing using a ransom rest with commercial #68 200 grain bullets that were inspected and sorted by weight. I found that the 3.5 Bullseye load grouped poorly at 50 yards, you could barely cover the group with your hand. I went to 3.6, 3.8 and then 4.0 grain load. In all cases accuracy improved as the load went up in grain weight. The 4.0 load was under 3", which may not seem great but that load had unweighed bullets. I meant to load some warmer, like 4.2 and higher but never got to do it.

I would suspect your 4.4 WST and 4.2 Titegroup similar or a little faster than the 4 grain bullseye load. If you have some bullseye try loading it incrementally higher, it may start to pull together for you as it did for me.

Thank you for the information. I've actually tried 4 grs. Bullseye some years back using the 200 grain H&G SAECO copy. My notes indicate good accuracy at 25 yards but apparently I never tried it at 50; MV= 750 fps. For the 4.4 WST load, MV is 770 fps. 4.2 Titegroup is 800 fps.

I use a couple of Clark accurized Gold Cups (one has been accurized twice in twenty-five years; seems it loosened up after much shooting) and a Les Baer.