I am going to be reloading for a friend, he is practicing for Perry. The idea is accuracy and repeatability, but I wanted to tab your collective brains before I start.

Bear in mind, this is his gun, and I do not yet know if he is open to lead bullets, or if he will insist on copper. But most likely will want to shoot the same thing when he gets up there.

1) Are cast bullets going to produce much dirtier of a gun, or be bad for the weapon? I read on here that many use them without any problems, but this is a custom target pistol, not your Saturday plinker. I don't want to cause a problem for his gun.

2) 185, 200, 230... seems to be a lot of "favorites" out there, but what is a good weight for the accuracy/bullseye thing?

3) SWC, JRN, JHP, what? Is one more accurate than the other? The only thing I loaded years ago was LSWC, cuz it met my two main criteria - it was available locally, and it was CHEAP! Well, now the main objective is accuracy and repeatability.

4) I won't ask the powder question; I know there are about 11 more "best powder" answers than there are reloaders in the world.

5) And does any of this really matter? Or should I just buy some stuff and throw it in the gun, hope for a winning combination?

6) Where is a good place to order from online, particularly the lead? I know that primers and powder will tack on the hazmat fee, but 40 lbs of .45 lead won't ship cheaply, I am sure.

7) *added later* What about trimming the cases to the same length? Will this improve accuracy?

I know there are a lot of .45 ACP posts, and sorry if I asked some of the same quesions, but today I could not find a post that was specifically related to bullseye reloading; I am sure someone out there is doing it, and doing it well. Feel free to PM me, and we can talk via email, or I will call you if you prefer.

Thanks so much for your advice,

F6hawk

P.S. I believe it is a 1911-style .45, but not sure.

Alot of it will depend on his particular gun.I used to shoot alot of action pistol matches with various 1911s and found the only thing that was 100 % reliable in my pistols was 230 gr roundnose ammo,either lead or jacketed.John Browning designed the gun to feed military ball ammo.Even at that overall length can become a critical factor in 1911 reliability.
Now if he's shooting a gun other than a 1911 it becomes less of an issue as Glocks,Sigs Paras et al have a ramped barrel rather the using the frame as a feedramp.
You'll probably need to do some experimenting.
Good luck and have fun!
Howard

I use MagTech 230gr jacketed round nose for action pistol. I usually order 1000 at a time. The best deal after factoring in shipping costs that I've found was with Cabelas.

Alot of the guys shoot straight lead because it's a little cheaper, but I don't think the price difference is enough to not go jacketed.

If accuracy is your game, then I doubt that cast bullets are going to be the bullet of choice. I'd start with a semi-wadcutter in the 200 grain range and see what the gun is capable of. If it's a custom gun then Hornady and others make match bullets for bullseye work, and they would be a good start. You just can't get the uniformity with cast bullets that you can get with jacketed.
Cast are fine for practical, combat shooting type games or practice, but accuracy is secondary there, making cast bullets acceptable and cheaper by far.

I would suggest you stick with the standard...

185 grain jacketed semi-wadcutters for standard bullseye and the 230 grain full metal jacketed for "hardball" bullseye.

Everyone will have a pet load for their .45acp, because every pistol is different.
Back when I was a cop I carried a Colt series 70 government model .45acp.
I had the ejection cut and angled to keep from destroying the empty brass, had the feedramp and barrel throat polished to ensure reliable feeding, installed an 18# Wolf recoil spring and Pachmeyer grips.
The load I developed had to make IPSC major power factor, but I wanted a lighter bullet to keep muzzle flip down for quick follow-up shots (we qualified on a combat course).
I ended up with a Sierra 185gr JHP over 6.7gr Unique in whatever brass I had on hand.
My .45 was unaccurized, but this was the most accurate load giving the smallest groups during slow fire. It was very quick during action shooting. It allowed me to qualify Combat Master.
YMMV,
Jim

What course exactly is your friend shooting? IDPA, Bullseye, Action pistol? There might be power factores he wants to adhere to and other specific load conciderations. I`d go here, http://forums.1911forum.com/ and ask. I`m sure someone there can tell you what you need to know or steer you to the answers.

The 200gr Speer Match SWC as are most Speer bullets.
Nosler pistol bullets are great too, very accurate.

You are wrong about the shipping on bullets.
The USPS just introduced a new Flat Rate Box.

$7.70 anywhere in the US.

Just shipped 3 boxes to Maryland, they each contained 1000 44 Mag bullets which is pretty much a full box for only $7.70.

They weighed over 40 lbs.

So there, shipping bullets can be easy!

quote:

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Originally posted by ShopCartRacing:
The 200gr Speer Match SWC as are most Speer bullets.
Nosler pistol bullets are great too, very accurate.

You are wrong about the shipping on bullets.
The USPS just introduced a new Flat Rate Box.

$7.70 anywhere in the US.

Just shipped 3 boxes to Maryland, they each contained 1000 44 Mag bullets which is pretty much a full box for only $7.70.

They weighed over 40 lbs.

So there, shipping bullets can be easy!

---

Good info, unfortunately, some dealers lock you into either UPS or FedEx for shipping. But will definitely ask for this now,

Thanks!

F6

One more thing, on the thread of accuracy... is it necessary to trim the cases to the same OAL? I know this is often done with rifle brass, but haven't heard much about it in pistols. But it seems to me that the more that is the same, the more consistent the shot will be.

And on that note, I have read about folks weighing all their lead, and separating it into groups; but by what kind of a grain difference? 0.1, 0.2, what?

And I read where someone did the same thing with their brass; is that needed? Seems to me that while you could group bras by weight, nothing would show you where the weight differences were. I mean, one round could be base heavy, another could have thicker walls, and yet weigh the same.

Thanks for your thoughts!

F6

F6Hawk:
I presume that by your comment that your friend is practicing for Perry, that we are talking about Bullseye which will require shooting at 25 yards and 50 yards. Therefore my comments are based on this scenario:

1- Bullet....you want a SWC. They make larger holes and can increase your score by cutting the ring for the larger score (ie. you put it in the 8 ring but, if it cuts the 9 ring...you score 9. Your bullet can be lead or jacketed...its a matter of preference. Not very significant to go w/one or the other. Lead is a lot cheaper and just as accurate.

2: Bullet weight....200grains is the most common. But 185 is also popular.

3-Powder.....There are two which are most commonly used...Bullesye and Win 231.

4-Trimming cases...not needed. When shooting offhand with one hand you will never be so accurate that so minute issues as itty bitty case length differences are going to be noticeable.

5- Powder charge: If you use Bullseye and a 200 grain bullet, you want to start at 3.7 grains and work up to a max of 4.0 grains. See what works best in that range. This is, by far the most accepted "boiler plate load for bullseye. When developing your load, remember you will have two courses of fire..one at 25 and another at 50 yards. You will want to settle on one that you can use for both distances without having to change your sights in between 25 or 50 yards. For me, the one that works best is 4.0 grains....it shoots flatter at 50 yards so I dont have to change sights. If you use W231...you want o be around 4.7 grains.

Hope this helps.

F6Hawk, go with what carluchin has said. Plus dont use cast bullets. Swaged lead or jacketed in 200 gr swc work well.Use brass of all the same lot number, no trimming is needed as long as not over max length. Bullseye powder can be loaded with 200gr lead as low as 3.5gr at 25 yards(must work action everytime)for the timed and rapid fire course(less recoil). At 50 yards 3.8 gr of bullseye works for me with 200gr lead bullet. A jacketed bullet will need more powder.You can use one load for 25 and 50 yard targets, but less recoil is best when shooting timed and rapid at 25 yards. This info for a 1911 type gun.