Favorite load for .45 ACP?

[USMC Snakedriver]

On a Dillon 650XL, I just reloaded 1000 rounds of Delta Precision 230 gr. FMJ's over 8.5 gr. Accurate No.5 in mixed brass with CCI 300 LP primers. These rounds approach 900 fps and group at about 2.5 inches at 40 ft, holding two handed, non-supported,from several of my 5 inch 1911's. Comments or suggestions? What is your favorite 230 gr. FMJ load?

[WIL TERRY]

YOURS is an interesting post. I have been loading the 45ACP for over 45 years with all the traditional propellents, Bullseye, Unique [ Hodgdon's UNIVERSAL now] etc. Back then AA and all their products were not even a gleam in a chemical engineers eye.
Since then I have used ALL the AA propellents in various calibers [ I load for a 135 of 'em at last count ] and have several favorite loads with AA5, AA7, AA9, XMP5744 etc. AA5 in particular has been outstanding in 38SPL+P-158gr SWC loads and the top load shoots very well in ALL my 38SPL and 357MAG sixguns, a most pleasing situation indeed !! AS a matter of fact I was looking for one 38+P load that shot well in all my guns when I found it in AA5, no other propellent in that search was even close.
I've never given a thought to trying AA5 in the 45ACP [ 45AR too...maybe ??] and it does look to be darned interesting. The other side of this coin is now almost ALL of my 45ACP shooting is with a COLT SAA 45ACP sixgun which puts all the fired brass in my waiting hand...imagine that ?!!!

[ChuckS1]

I like 7. 8 grains of Accurate No. 5 with my 230 grain LRN bullets. I'm using H&G 34 bullets that I cast myself from wheelweight alloy.

[kenhwind]

My load is old hat: 5.0 Bullseye with 230 FMJ

[WIL TERRY]

my load is old hat: 5.0 bullseye with 230 fmj

bingo !!!

[Shooter_55]

My loads were made for soft shooting target rounds. Titegroup 3.9gr with 230 RNFMJ (Zero) and Fed. LPP. Works in anything (Gold Match II/ Sig GSR Target/Para 13-45/ Sig Nitro Carry + more) I shoot it in and very accurate.

[Axeman]

I've been loading 5 gr of Win 231 under .45acp 230 gr LRN bullets and 5.5 gr of 231 under 185 & 200 gr LSWCs for so long that I don't remember when I began. I tried using those same weights of AA #2 under the same bullets a few years ago with the same good accuracy and moderate recoil. I now alternate between the two, but I still use 231 more often than the AA. I use those moderate charge weights because I don't try to get maximum velocity from the handloads I use for casual target and plinking in any caliber, and that works very well for me. I keep only factory ammo around for self and home defense purposes, so those moderate level handloads are all I need for either plinking at Coke cans or making holes in paper. I also use 231 and AA #2 for .38 spcl, .32 Long, and .380. I once tried 231 for .45Colt LRN bullets but I soon found that my former Unique load was more accurate in the 6" Blackhawk that I had at the time, and I don't mind the clouds of smoke and the dirty residue left by Unique.

I think I could get by just fine for all my handgun reloads if all I had were Unique and either 231 or AA#2. But since I'm not limited to those three I occasionally do some experimenting with one or two of the "new & improved" propellants on the market now, and so far I haven't found anything I like better than what I've been using all along. That may be because I'm an old goat whose wife tells him he's getting more set in his ways with every day that passes. In my opinion 74 isn't really old nowdays, and goats are actually pretty nice animals when you get to know them.

[Plstu]

200 gr hard cast SWC over 5.2gr of Tite Group for me. My series 70 eats them up!

[bmcgilvray]

6.7 grains of Unique under a 230 grain FMJ bullet duplicates military ball velocities in my .45s. Been using it since the 1970s.

Never tried Bulls-Eye in the .45 ACP with 230 grain FMJ before but only with light target wadcutter loads. I may have to give that 5 grains of Bulls-Eye a try.

[Axeman]

6.7 grains of Unique under a 230 grain FMJ bullet duplicates military ball velocities in my .45s. Been using it since the 1970s.

Never tried Bulls-Eye in the .45 ACP with 230 grain FMJ before but only with light target wadcutter loads. I may have to give that 5 grains of Bulls-Eye a try.

A few years ago I read somewhere, probably in a gun rag, that the U.S. military's standard powder charge for the .45acp round during WWII was 4 gr of Bullseye. I haven't reloaded any handgun ammo with Bullseye for a long, long time, but if I remember correctly 4 grains is a rather light charge for a 230 gr FMJ bullet. I couldn't imagine the military issuing an underpowered combat round for the 1911, much less for the M1928 or the M3 grease gun, so I doubted the writer's claim. Then I googled .45acp reloading data but didn't find any recommended Bullseye load of less than 4.7 grains for the 230 gr FMJ, and the velocity was listed as 860 fps for that load. That data appears to make the article's writer correct after all. Therefore I'm assuming that 4 gr of Bullseye actually was the standard powder charge for WWII ammo (and Korean War as well) for both pistol and submachine guns. And also that in a 1911 pistol it propelled the FMJ bullet to approximately 800 fps, a velocity figure that I remembered from using .45acp loading data in the early '60's when I was reloading .45acp and .45 auto rim for my 1917 S&W WWI relic. I didn't have any way of knowing what velocity my reloads were reaching, but they were speedy enough to kill rabbits and armadillas almost instantly if I placed the bullet in the right spot.

The .45 round's velocity was probably somewhat higher when fired from a submachine gun instead of a pistol, but apparently either one was more than adequate to send many enemy personel to their afterlife whether it's in a pleasantly cool place or a very, very warm one. Or at least send them to a field aid station with a life threatening wound, which is the best outcome as seen from the shooter's point of view. That's because treating a seriously wounded man ties up many of the enemy's personel and depletes his medical supplies, while retrieving a dead body is less costly in time, resources, and personel.