Guys and Girls,
I am about to start reloading a bunch of .45 ACP. It's been a long (How long?) REAL long time since I've done this for pistol.

I'm going to be loading 230 FMJRN that I will use for IDPA, 3 Gun Challange and range work.

Could use your advice on which powder to use.

Thanks in advance.

W-231 works well with all ranges of bullet weights.

185gr- 6.0gr
200gr- 5.6gr
230gr- 5.2gr

Rusty

There are a lot of good powders for the 45 ACP.

I have always used Unique for full power loads.

With a 230FMJ the Lyman manual shows the factory duplication load to be 6.5gr for 877fps.

Max is shown as 7.2gr for 960fps.

This is with the older Unique.

In my experience factory 230 gr ball does @830 to 850fps.

I would use some lead bullets if I could get them as they cause a lot less wear on your barrel.

I would start with 6gr of Unique and work up.

with the 230's i start and stop at 6 grs of unique, it's pretty soft shooting and accurate.
i like that it don't snap and I can get back on target quickly.

Rusty, lots of good powders for the 45acp. You are an experienced reloader so you can use just about any of the uberfast-med. burners. I am still not a fan of powders much faster than WST but many guys like old Bullseye or TightGroup & Clays Uberfasts). Best powder I have used for target to std. vel. loads is WST. Under a 230gr lead or jacketed bullet, very soft shooting & best accuracy I can get from the 45acp. Nothing wrong w/ Unique, I shoot a lot of it in 45acp, but it works best at std. vel. to +p to burn cleanly. WSF is a good substitute for Unique & meters a bit better in mot measures.

Just about everything works for the 45acp from what I`ve seen and heard. I like Titegroup or VV-n320 in mine with 185-230 gr bullets but know lots of others that swear by WW231, Clays, Bullseye, Unique, ect.

Rusty, a friend of mine who's DEEP into competitive IPSC turned me onto using VV-320. It's an exceptionally clean burning powder and worth the extra expense given how many rounds you can get out of a pound of powder.

Haven't shot the ACP much lately but when we were shooting a lot my reloading buddy and I used WW231 under 200 and 230 gr lead bullets with no complaints.

If you load 12 gauge shotshells, dig just about any of those powders out of the closet and go to work. Red Dot, Green Dot, Unique, SR 7625, any of the Hi Skors and successors, and a myriad of other more recent powders all do just fine in the old ACP. Traditionally, Bullseye was a favorite and still works just fine.

While we are on this topic. I purchased some 45 cal hand cast 185 gr wadcutter. Got em home and realized they were .452 diameter vs. .451...

Reading the manuals caused more concerns questions...

Can someone enlighten me..

quote:

Originally posted by garyn:
While we are on this topic. I purchased some 45 cal hand cast 185 gr wadcutter. Got em home and realized they were .452 diameter vs. .451...

Reading the manuals caused more concerns questions...

Can someone enlighten me..

Lead are normally .452" and jacketed .451 for the 45acp There are also a few .454" bullets out there, mainly for use in the 45LC.

quote:

Originally posted by fredj338:
Best powder I have used for target to std. vel. loads is WST. Under a 230gr lead or jacketed bullet, very soft shooting & best accuracy I can get from the 45acp. .

+1 for WST

Thanks guys! I went with the WST and it does seem to shoot accurately! If y'all need me, I'll be in front of the Pro-Jector this weekend!

HS-6 would be my first choice

AA#5 is my favorite for high velocity 185gr loads - mainly because it has very low flash. If you don't mind the flash then Alliant Power Pistol is king as it is more stable, cleaner, and economical.

Mid-range loads have a lot of old standbys (w231, Unique, etc.) but there are some new powders worth trying namely Winchester AutoComp and Ramshot Silhouette.

Poofter loads are best handled with the uber-fast powders like Clays, etc.

I don't care for Unique, HS6, Universal Clays, International Clays (burned a lb trying to see what it would do).

quote:

Originally posted by ForrestB:
Rusty, a friend of mine who's DEEP into competitive IPSC turned me onto using VV-320. It's an exceptionally clean burning powder and worth the extra expense given how many rounds you can get out of a pound of powder.

I also like the N-320 powder, although I haven't the choices you have in the USA. The Vihta powders measure very consistently in my Hornady powder dispenser.

Win. 231