Reloading for 45 ACP Revolver

[coat]

230 cm from rcbs

Stophel: Sir i have that mold now about 3 month so far it is the best mold i have for my 625. But it will cast a little big bit still it will shoot under 2 inchs at 25ya with Win. 231

 

[Stophel]

I just sized a bunch yesterday evening. .452" fits my chambers well (the new 22-4). I can push them through with a stick without undue pressure. Snug, but not tight. A .453" bullet has to be pounded through (I made a .453" sizing die...after 2 hours of trying to ream an HSS die with an HSS reamer....but, by golly I got it! 'course I don't really need it....)

I believe that this will finally work out for me. Previously, my Lee sizer only put out a .451" bullet!!! That's just too freakin small, and my shot patterns reflected that...

I might finally get some new loads made up and shot this weekend.

 

[Gun 4 Fun]

I like the idea of trying a lot of different weight bullets in my 25-2. I own plenty of .45 Colt's and even a lot bigger guns, but still.......

I don't bother with moonclips. I find them a pain in the rump. I don't shoot competition with it so I just drop in ACP cases and fire. They come out very easily with fingers too.

I will be going to AR brass here shortly, just to experiment some more. I don't like the idea of my 25-2 being only a "target" gun, when it shoots so well. It will do for whitetails and such nicely with a good SWC of 240 to 280 grains at 1,000 fps or more.

I like the idea of trying an old barrel for de-mooning. I have an old Wilson match barrel that was split by a squib load/follow up shot, during a match years ago. I'll give it a try.

 

[William N Hovanasian]

I load 255 swc for my 1911. I use a 1.20 aol and a lfc to .470. This brings the crimp just to the back edge of the first "ring". Thesr bullets are very accurate in my 1911. I just got a 625 and shot it using the same ammo, but noticed some backing out of the last rounds when I checked them. I do know the leading edge of the brass is sort of hanging in mid air.
I guess I will have to set the oal a bit shorter to get the crimp on that front shoulder.

 

[coat]

45 auto rim brass

Stay away for R-P brass get Star.I have a lot of bad R-P auto rim after 1 reload. As far as crimp goes i had to go to a under size sizer for Lee. I was get a lot of bullet jump. I thank auto rim brass is not as thick as 45acp brass and i got Redding 45 auto rim not a acp die

 

[Gun 4 Fun]

Something that can, and will help keep your bullets in the cases. Check the expander ball for size. Most of the time the factory gets them right, but not always. (.001"-.002") under nominal bullet diameter) A trick I learned from Brian Pearce, is to reduce the size of the expander ball to at least .004"- .005" under bullet diameter. It works! Even on extremely hard recoiling rounds the bullets stay in place if seated this way, along with a proper crimp. It doesn't cause an ugly buldge in the brass either.

 

[William N Hovanasian]

Something that can, and will help keep your bullets in the cases. Check the expander ball for size. Most of the time the factory gets them right, but not always. (.001"-.002") under nominal bullet diameter) A trick I learned from Brian Pearce, is to reduce the size of the expander ball to at least .004"- .005" under bullet diameter. It works! Even on extremely hard recoiling rounds the bullets stay in place if seated this way, along with a proper crimp. It doesn't cause an ugly buldge in the brass either.

I would do this but I have a sizing die that does not have a sizing ball.
Thanks, Bill

 

[dutch harbor john]

rcbs 230cm

Hello Coats, if I may ask, what is your load of W231 for this bullet? I am waiting on my mould back from RCBS. It would whisker on me and the bases wouldn't fill out. My chambers on my M22 Classic are .453 and I have plenty of W231 to load with. I really like the RCBS cm bullet style, should be a hard hitter.

 

[Gun 4 Fun]

I would do this but I have a sizing die that does not have a sizing ball.
Thanks, Bill

First, welcome to the forum!

Your resizing die won't generally have an expander ball in handgun cases, but you neck expander/mouth flare die should. The Hornady New Dimension Dies that I have for handgun rounds won't allow you to take the ball out to check or adjust. My RCBS dies will.

 

[coat]

231 for Dutch Farbor

Sir I used 5.3 grs of 231 sofar it shootes the best. I have used Unigue also but it did not do as well as 231. Now in some books that is a max load some watch yourself

 

[dutch harbor john]

For Coat

Thank you Coat for the reply. I was going to start with Unique but 231 is more uniform in charge weights for my powder measure. I have used 5.5gr of 231 with Win 230 fmj and it is very accurate in my 1911.

 

[Bluecoat76]

Rimz

Howdy,

While qualifying today My 25-14 failed to fire two WW rounds. This has happened before while practicing. The armorer thought that the flexible RIMZ clip may have 'cushioned' the firing pin strike. Running them around again failed to fire them.
It was around 85 degrees out there so maybe heat swelled them?

This is no way to qualify. Should I be using steel moon clips?

Thanks guys

 

[coat]

Thank you Coat for the reply. I was going to start with Unique but 231 is more uniform in charge weights for my powder measure. I have used 5.5gr of 231 with Win 230 fmj and it is very accurate in my 1911.

I have used 5.5 grs 231 and i did great with 230 rcbs cm bullet. I look at all my book some say 5.3 is max and some say 5.5 is max so i back off but 5.5 grs did do very well recoil was mmild to

 

[kv4v]

I became tired of loading, unloading moon clips. I just drop the cartridges in the cylinder. Any problems encountered unloading are solved by poking with a pencil.

 

[Amici]

Howdy,

While qualifying today My 25-14 failed to fire two WW rounds. This has happened before while practicing. The armorer thought that the flexible RIMZ clip may have 'cushioned' the firing pin strike. Running them around again failed to fire them.
It was around 85 degrees out there so maybe heat swelled them?

This is no way to qualify. Should I be using steel moon clips?

For competition, YES. They don't release cartridges when dropped or handled roughly (like when you're trying to reload in a REAL hurry).

As for the RIMZ clips "swelling" - I sincerely doubt it, as plastic doesn't absorb water and doesn't really swell. The fact that the cartridges failed to fire a second time is further evidence that the problem lies THERE; not the clips.

As for those who prefer to knock out cases w/a pencil - feel free. That is NOT what the .45 ACP 625 was designed for, but if time is not important, unload any way you wish.

 

[Gun 4 Fun]

I became tired of loading, unloading moon clips. I just drop the cartridges in the cylinder. Any problems encountered unloading are solved by poking with a pencil.

I do the same thing with my 25-2. I shoot for fun, not speed. If I wanted to have fast reloads available to me, I'd use my 1911. Or you can buy AR brass, which I will be doing shortly for use with loads that aren't appropriate for a 1911. I use a lot of +P loads in my 25-2, since it seems to shoot best with them, and I have never had any trouble removing empties from the chambers using only my fingertips.

BTW, 25-2's were made with proper chamber specs, and cases will reliably headspace on their mouth in the chamber, without any of the problems that some of the more recent Smith's have had with that issue since Smith decided against chambering them properly. I guess they figured everyone would want to use clips of some sort. This issue has been written about by JD Jones, and Brain Pearce of Handloader among others. Pearce even describes a bit of an argument he had with someone at Smith over the issue. Handloader #254 August-September issue in an article on loading for the .45AR, page 69, in sidebar article at top of page.

I like knowing that no matter what the reason, if you are ever caught without clips (again, I don't use them), your gun will reliably fire each and every round in the cylinder.

 

[Skip Sackett]

Agreed

For competition, YES. They don't release cartridges when dropped or handled roughly (like when you're trying to reload in a REAL hurry).

That is NOT what the .45 ACP 625 was designed for, but if time is not important, unload any way you wish.

Great input here. If you DO shoot in some kind of competition with a revolver and the reloads are part of your timed score, THEN, full moon clips is the ONLY way to go.

I have never used the Rimz plastic version. Only the steel ones. I have no problem "mooning" (the right kind of mooning!) with my hands or "de-mooning" with my 25¢ homemade tool.

If you don't think speed is important then don't gawk at Jerry when he uses full moon clips to work his marvelous works!

Another fly in the ointment might be if you used your M625 (or one of the lightweight variants) for CCW. You may want to throw an extra loaded full moon clip in a pocket just in case. Fastest way to reload a revolver. That is why some folks have their "L" frames converted to accept them!

Food for thought, just don't choke on the bones!

 

[Gun 4 Fun]

Speed isn't important to me in the type of shooting I use a 25 for, but it sure is fun watching ol' Jerry shoot those new records!

I agree with clips if you are carrying a revo for CCW, but I don't.

 

[RevKAB]

Moon clips

Try the TK Custom moon clips. Excellent quality. They also.mske a great little moon clips loader.

I load exactly the same for my 625 as I do for my 1911. Well, almost (always that exception).

I've found that federal brass is too thick to drop freely into the cylinder when loaded in full moon clips. Winchester and RP work fine.

I've also found that RP brass is so thin that it has insufficient neck tension to prevent bullet setback when loaded in my 1911.

So I use Federal brass in my 1911, RP brass in my 625 (where there is no bullet setback issues), and winchester works in both.

I have one set of dies that I use for both, so I use the same bullets, powder, primers, seating depth, and crimp for both.

I've used S&W and Wilson moon clips, both work fine. You will need a remooner/demooner tool to load/unload them.

 

[LostintheOzone]

This thread is 13 years old.