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45 caliber sizes

Posted: Thu May 10, 2018 3:38 pm
by Hakaman
I have a technical question concerning 45 caliber handguns, and the size of the bullets I reload. I am wondering what the consequences are of loading the below listed sized 45 caliber bullets in either a 45 ACP handgun or a 45 Long Colt revolver. Here are the three bullets I have and I am wondering if I can load them as a 45 ACP or a 45 Long Colt?
45 cal 230g FMJ @ .452“
45 cal 250g plated FP @ .452+"
45 cal 200g plated SWC @ .451+"

Re: 45 caliber sizes

Posted: Thu May 17, 2018 7:51 pm
by blue68f100
The 250gr is too heavy for the 45acp, though some have worked up loads for it. Load data is scarce.

Re: 45 caliber sizes

Posted: Wed May 23, 2018 9:13 pm
by Hakaman
I don't load 45 ACP for semi-automatic pistols, all those bullets there are for my revolvers. I have been loading 45 ACP for my Smith & Wesson Governor revolver which uses moon clips.

Re: 45 caliber sizes

Posted: Sat May 26, 2018 1:14 pm
by blue68f100
That makes it easy, Shoot them in the 45 Colt :guns:

Re: 45 caliber sizes

Posted: Tue May 29, 2018 9:27 am
by greener
I've been using the same powder load for 230 and 250gr bullets for .45 Colt loads for quite a while. I don't recall ever loading ACP with 250 gr. If I did, I'd probably shoot them in my ACP cylinder for the Blackhawk.

I've gotten good results with 200 and 230 gr ACP loads in my 1911's and haven't been all that adventurous with other weights.

Re: 45 caliber sizes

Posted: Tue May 29, 2018 9:47 pm
by Hakaman
greener wrote:I've been using the same powder load for 230 and 250gr bullets for .45 Colt loads for quite a while. I don't recall ever loading ACP with 250 gr. If I did, I'd probably shoot them in my ACP cylinder for the Blackhawk.

I've gotten good results with 200 and 230 gr ACP loads in my 1911's and haven't been all that adventurous with other weights.
Well all these size bullets will be loaded for my Smith & Wesson Governor revolver using Moon clips. I was more concerned with the diameter of the bullets then the wait of the bullet itself. I guess in a nutshell, it's hard for me to imagine a thousand of an inch (. 001") being that big of a deal in any 45 barrel,of course neglecting the old Colt barrel diameter that were .454 in in diameter.
Ps... it's nice to see Mr Greener alive and kicking these days, I haven't heard from you or much from anybody in this forum lately.

Re: 45 caliber sizes

Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2018 9:28 am
by blue68f100
Where the dia causes problems is when the throats on the cylinder are smaller than the forcing cone. As long as they will pass through you should not have a leading problem. Using too hard of a bullet can cause a leading problem when not pushing them hard enough to seal. The small throats reduce the bullet dia then the load is too light to expand the bullet to seal off. You end up with leading at the forcing cone forward. I prefer using the softer 12 bh since they seal off easily with low pressure of the 45acp. The only time I use a hardness > 12bh is when doing full magnum loads.

Re: 45 caliber sizes

Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2020 9:02 am
by Pete D.
No 250 in 45 ACP....you can but you lose capacity to little positive effect.
You can load all of them in a gun chambered for .45 Colt. I have done this for a Ruger Vaquero. The one apt to give you a problem is the .451. Use a swaged bullet if you do.
Pete