.45 cal 185gn Hornady JSWC...

I acquired some Hornady 185 JSWC's for my SA 1911 .45 and would like some advice on a starting load. I don't have a Hornady reloading manual.
 I have BE,Titegroup,W231.and Unique.    Thank you.........Dan

4 to 4.5 BE should get you sip tarted.  Most people shoot about 4.2

Wobbley wrote:4 to 4.5 BE should get you sip tarted.  Most people shoot about 4.2

+1

Hodgdon's manual is available online and shows loads for that bullet: http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/pistol

They sound a little high, so YMMV.

I did a +1 above but thought I should add to that. I use 4.2 of Bullseye with this bullet and get great results. I should add that you really do not want to go below that load. These are true jacketed bullets and as such they need to have enough powder to prevent any problems with the bullet clearing the barrel. You can/should not try really reduced loads like you would with a lead bullet. Just my .02

Len

The guys I build PPC guns for run 4.2 BE for 50 yd line. They're getting 1.5ish groups from Ransom. Very mild shhoting. I believe Zero is using 4.7 700X for their loads. It's very stout load.
Jon

I want to thank those that gave advice on loading 4.2gn BE with this Hornady FMJ SWC bullet. I took your advice and this load shoots excellent in my pistol...super accurate and reliable. Thanks to all.

This forum has helped me in MANY ways.........I really appreciate all that share their knowledge.         Dan

Good to hear.

4.5 Titegroup will get you a good starting point. With 185 JHP usually a 1.200" oal.

I have excellent results with 4.3 BE

I ran 4.8 BE with the 200 JSWC Hornady in a revolver>>>>>>>>
with excellent results.  I think you got to run these jackets a bit fast.

john bickar wrote:Hodgdon's manual is available online and shows loads for that bullet: http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/pistol

They sound a little high, so YMMV.

You cant go by loading manuals their starting loads will be way hotter than whats accurate for target shooting.

This thread is very timely as I have 300 of these bullets I am going to load up for testing.   Thanks to the consistent agreement, I'm going to try 4.2, 4.4 and 4.6 BE as a starting spread to test.

Thanks again!