what is a good go to load for .45 ACP

im new to Bullseye shooting but do have years of reloading experience for my HP shooting I still compete in.  would anyone have a good load for both short and long lines for the .45?  I don't have any powder or bullets yet for the .45 and will be shopping very soon being that I don't see me shooting pistol very long with these ammo prices unless I start reloading very soon.

Thanks

KellyJeanne Pyne

sorry I just saw the "Pet Loads" topic.   I will read through that but if you would like to share what you do I would more than appreciate it. 

My main goals will be CMP match type shooting so I can go double distinguished,  triple when I get the .22 pistol badge as well. 

I guess what im saying is im still learning and don't know everything about the gun setups bullets, etc. 

my loading will be to meet the CMP rules for now and once I learn more ill try new things.

For leg matches with the new rules. 4.5-4.8 of Bullseye, with the 185 nosler, a .469 crimp and oal of 1.223 (i think) worked in my Ball gun and my Range Officer. Springs are stock.


4.0 of Bullseye with a zero 185 lswc and .469 crimp worked in the Range Officer with stock spring. I will need to look up the oal.

Welcome to the forum;

There is a sticky right above on this page
oops, looks like you found it.

My load now is 4.6gr of BE under a Nosler 185gr JHP since I stopped shooting lead.

Clarence

185 fmj-hp is the ticket, read the pet loads from the people who have used it with great success.
4.5 be is a great load used by many, 1.205 oal, .468 crimp

While the new rule change does allow for the loads given thus far I'm a old school dude and will always feel the best sense of making distinguished will be with full service pistol hardball loads. Yes, it is harder but yes you can do it! I got mine shooting a 230gr. Sierra Matchking RN/FMJ in Winchester brass with Winchester primers stuffed with 5.2gr of Titegroup. Some manuals show this as max some show it a bit over max but in my gun there are no signs of overpressure and it really shoots tight groups. I'm sure I'm not politically correct but I will always have the satisfaction of making it as close to the original intention of the award as possible. If I could have got there with issued ammo I would have.

I've only been shooting for about 5 years... How long has the name "EIC Match" been around?  Have the matches ever officially been called "Hardball" matches?  I would think the original intent of Excellence in Competition is about beating 90% of the other shooters.  If you want to shoot 230gr, there are still Service Pistol matches around.

Doug

Depends on the gun. I have found the gun I use has a bi modal range of accuracy very low and mid range. So I go with very low. In my set up 3.6/3/7 Bullseye groups with an 185gn LSWC or 200gn LSWC. From a bench all the bullets make a ragged hole. 4.0 works too but the improvement is about .125 of an inch at 25 yards so why absorb the extra recoil. OAL is largely dependent on the chamber of your pistol and the bullet heads. 

You need to take the barrel out, and see how your dummy rounds chamber. If they are level or above the tip of they shroud when observed in profile then they are too long and more than a 1/32 lower its too short. See pic in link. 

http://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=305810

Generally with a HG 68 SWC head the range will be between 1.25 and 1.26. inches. Zero HPLSWC are shorter so 1.38 works for me and 1.205 JHP works. Unless you are using new brass there is variance in the brass so either load 4 or five dummies to see what die set up is loading them mostly in the range you want. 

I find a variance of mean deviation of under 0.01 an inch is ok so for me 1.245 to 1.26 will make the gun function well and accurate. too long the barrel leads and too short the groups get a little wild. 

Alternatively you can measure your brass for length and use uniform brass for each batch. 

I will for big matches use new brass and for regular matches sort the 1.255s out of a batch, so if reload 400 bullets I will get much more than enough for a match and use the rest for practice or leagues. 

No matter what, I use Starline, Remington or Federal brass for match ammo because they just seem more accurate and I always sort my brass by manufacturer and usage.

So new brass, by manufacturer is in one clearly market can, once and twice fired by make is in an other, and more than twice fired is another. At very light loads below mid range the brass is good for at least 10 reloading s. At mid range you will need inspect your brass carefully and often looking for brown discoloration following cleaning, damaged bases and cracks. Dont get too attached to the brass is it does not look right throw it out, for every 300 cases you should get 1-5 damaged cases after 4 times reloaded. 

Crimp .469 to .47 works the 45 acp seat on the case mouth so you don't want to go lower than .469 and if some are .47 or .475 that's ok. My dies are set for .4695 and you need to reset them each time you change the brass because the difference makes have different thickness. 

As important for accuracy is uniformity. Match 22lr is expensive because the bullets are very uniform. 

Now if I can only shoot straight, lol

I can only attest to EIC being used since 1988 when I started shooting Service Pistol matches. They are one in the same. Same with Service rifle, also called EIC (Excellence in Competition) matches. Hardball was a military reference to the 1911 round issued at the time. I'm sure its been around much longer but without research that's as far as I can bear witness to.

While I get that some shooters can't help focusing on the details of reloading, I've found that I don't need to spend that much time to make x ring capable ammo. Mostly its about the bullet. I've never trimmed by brass, only measured it like the first year and never found one too long. Short doesn't seem to matter. I used to sort my brass but stopped doing that too. When I had Ed Masaki build one of my wadguns I sent him some of the bullets I was using and he loaded up some misc. Brass with 4 gr of titegroup and used some of his own reloads which I know were a mix of headstamps (cuz that's the guy who taught me it doesn't matter) and ransom rested the gun. I have three test targets with three different bullets and loads and they are all three 2" or less at 50yds. 
I woud recommend less time screwing with the ammo and lots more trigger time both dry and live fire. But everyone gets to choose what's important to them.

dstates wrote:I've only been shooting for about 5 years... How long has the name "EIC Match" been around?  Have the matches ever officially been called "Hardball" matches?  I would think the original intent of Excellence in Competition is about beating 90% of the other shooters.  If you want to shoot 230gr, there are still Service Pistol matches around.

Doug

The Distinguished Pistol Shot Badge was authorized in General Orders Number 65, dated April 29, 1903. Civilians were allowed to participate beginning in 1925. The first reference to EIC I remember from my reading was in in the 1950's.

I don't think the term hardball match was never an official title it was more of a description of the match based on the ammo used.

- Dave

Interesting fact:
Corporal Horace W. Bivins, a trooper with Troop B the 10th Cavalry-the famed ‘Buffalo Soldiers”-had won three medals in 1894 and therefore was retroactively awarded the first Army Distinguished Pistol Shot Badge. Bivins had also been awarded the rifle Badge in the same year and in doing so became the first Double Distinguished shooter.