Titegroup on 45 ACP

[socal s&w]

I just tried using a 185gr LSWC over 3.6 grains of Titegroup in a 45 ACP, not a good round at that weight. There was a LOT of unburned powder and the cases were very smoke-burned. I suppose that more like 4.5 might work a little better.

I'm simply punching paper and am looking for a similar load to the old 3.5gr of Bullseye with the same bullet. That is a pretty tried and true combo.

I figured that since the Titegroup was close to the powder speed that it might work......wrong answer.

 

[ChuckS1]

I like 4.2 grains of Titegroup for my 200 grain SWC load for the short line and 4.7 grains for the long line in my Les Baer wad gun. I have a slide-mounted UltraDot and a 12 lb recoil spring.

I think that the 4.2 grain load would be pretty much the same for your 185 grain bullet. If I were you, I'd work up in .2 grain increments until I found the right load.

 

[tbury]

In my 625 5" I use 5 gr of titegroup with 200gr LSWC, I get 905 fps and overlapping holes at 15 yds.

 

[Littledragon777]

I use 4.5 grains of Titegroup with Winchester 230 FMJ bullets and shoot extremely tight groups at 15 yards with my PC945. Powder seems to all burn and my gun is not hard to clean after 100 rounds.

 

[uzisandfloozies]

i loaded up some berry's 185gr hollow base plated round nose with 4.9gr bullseye, and it would NOT cycle the slide on my new HK45c!

i upped the charge to 5.6gr bullseye, and it works fine. recoil is indistinguishable from factory rounds.

 

[Emerson]

I have found that like many other powders Titegroup is cleaner when loaded toward the high end. I am currently shooting 5.2 gr with a 200 gr cast SWC in my 45 ACP. Light recoil and easy cleanup after shooting.

 

[socal s&w]

All of your answers are pretty much as I suspected, I need to up the grains of powder to allow it to burn cleaner.

I will try small increments until it starts to burn better.

I thank you one and all for your valuable input.

 

[Skip Sackett]

socal,
How's it going "homie"? ( I was born in Oceanside a long, long time ago!)
While I like Hodgdon powder I don't really care for Titegroup. I especially don't care for it in larger cases. For me, that includes the 45ACP. With the proper weights there just isn't enough in there to satisfy me. Very dense powder.

That being said, the Hodgdon data website calls for a minimum load of 4.2gr for a 180gr LRNFP and I would find it hard to believe that a reduction of .6gr in powder for 5gr of bullet weight is a good thing to do.

If it were me and I decided on Titegroup for a powder, I would use the minimum load for the 180gr LRNFP for a starting point.

I NEVER use less powder than the manufacturer recommends, I have used considerably more than their maximum at times though!

 

[VonFatman]

Here's my 200gr load with T-Group...

200gr LSWC
5gr TightGroup
CCI Primers
Mixed Brass (Rem & Starline)
1.215 OAL

Bob

 

[socal s&w]

Crazy -

O'side is a fer piece up the road for me as I live in the east county of San Diego, although O'side is a nice place, still fairly quaint.

I appreciate the input from you as well as all of the others and will try bumping this load by a few grains at a time until it sufficiently burns better.

I like reduced loads though, as paper isn't real forceful and the recoil is much more enjoyable. And no, I have never stuck one in the barrel from a lite load.