Starting out: Recommend me a cheap 45acp plinking load please!

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alpining

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Just getting starting in the reloading game. I'd appreciate your advice on a relatively cheap 45acp plinking load. Really not concerned with load accuracy at this point, just want more trigger time... I've got mixed brass from the factory ammo I've been using, but all else will first purchases.

I'll likely be getting all supplies from Wholesale Sports in Calgary (unless you convince me otherwise), so please keep availability in mind. Also, I'm going to shell out the extra for jacketed bullets at this point.

Thanks in advance!
 
If you want cheap loads, jacketed bullets are not the way. All you can get, even hand-loading, is cheaper (cheaper than commercial, ie). So I would suggest you reconsider cast bullets.

The Bullet Barn has an agent in Calgary. Their stuff is good quality and cheap (230 gr RN in .45 cal at 16¢ each vs 35¢ for bulk Winchester FMJ at WSS). Website is: http://www.bulletbench.com/. Look top left for bullets.

If you are dead-set on cheap + jacketed, not counting the brass which you say you have, the bullets are going to cost you five or ten times as much per shot as the powder and primers combined. So go for the cheapest ones you can find at the time and pull loads out of your manual to suit.

Not the answer you wanted, probably, but that's my advice anyway.
 
4.5 grains of bullseye.

Bout as cheap as it gets, and accurate in most guns as well. ;)

.45 ACP is a low velocity/pressure round ideal for cast bullets, so I wouldn't hesitate to use em.

At the very least go with some copper plated bullets instead of jacketed. You are literally just throwing money away using em.
 
Thanks gents. I'm thinking I will switch to cast bullets for high volume stuff (thanks for the bullet barn tip). But for now I just want a small quantity of bullets while I sort my system out, so I'll grab a box of cheap jacketed.

4.5 grains of Bullseye, then. Sounds good. Thanks!
 
If you want to avoid cast for the moment, an intermediate option is Berry's plated bullets. Cheaper than jacketed, but more than cast. They are available from a number of site sponsors, I would start with Budget Shooter Supply and Mystic Precision.

If you want to run cast eventually, contact Ben Hunchak on this forum. His bullets are excellent quality, he is extremely knowledgable and his prices are significantly less than any other supplier I have seen. You are stuck until spring though, he goes south in the winter to live it up in the warmer areas.


Mark
 
I have found that plated bullets aren't alot more $ than cast and they shoot cleaner and don't gum up my dies like cast seems to with the wax on em.
 
185 or 200 swc[lead] 3.5/4.1 grs bullseye @ 1.235+/-. not only is it as cheap as you can get, it's the go to bullseye load & has been for 40yrs +
 
Pro Line and TSE both carry cast 200 grain SWCs for the .45 ACP.

Wholesale Sports used to carry the Cactus Plains cast bullets, but I haven't seen any there for quite some time. If you Google "Plains Ammunition Supply," you should be able to find his contact number and order direct from the source. Last time I ordered from him, he was able to arrange pickup in Calgary, saving on shipping.
 
I have had really good luck with 200 gr. SWC cast bullets (Lee tumble lube and Saeco SWC ) and 3.6 gr. of Alliant Promo (use weight for weight the same as Alliant Red Dot). I know it sounds like a light load (maybe too light) but I have been shooting this out of my stock Kimber Stainless II .45 with the factory weight recoil spring (16 pounds) and the FTF/FTE rate is just about zero. If I do my part this is an in-the-black load all the time.

Plus the load is cheap to assemble. Around here we're only paying about $100 with tax for an 8 pound keg of Promo so that works out to over 15000 loads per keg and less than 6 1/2 cents per round for powder. Add about 8 cents per cast bullet and 4 cents for a primer and if you reload your brass that's 19 cents a round or $9.50/box of 50. The best part is I cast my own bullets out of free wheelweights that I scrounge which drops the price to $5.50 for a box of 50. Pretty cheap shooting. :)
 
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Thanks!

Thanks everyone for the ideas - After looking through a few manuals, I opted for Bullseye.

4.5 grains Bullseye with 230gr FMJ, and my first batch of reloads! After some futzing about getting the OAL right, I managed to create 50 holes in paper without damaging myself or my pistol! YaHOO! It is a GREAT feeling firing off ammunition that I assembled. I think I'll make some more. :D Lots more. :evil:

And they were much more consistent than the factory ammo I've been using, giving me a nice little pile of brass just a couple feet to my right, instead of spraying all over the damn place. Haven't done any accuracy tests cuz it was damnably cold out, and I really just wanted to be sure they would go 'bang' instead of 'kaboom'.

Making my next batch with Bullet Barn 230gr LRN. If I understand correctly, I don't want to load lead too hot, correct? I like a beefy hardball feel, but I don't want to have to worry about leading.

Thanks again!
 
ted_dent said:
I have had really good luck with 200 gr. SWC cast bullets (Lee tumble lube and Saeco SWC ) and 3.6 gr. of Alliant Promo (use weight for weight the same as Alliant Red Dot). I know it sounds like a light load (maybe too light) but I have been shooting this out of my stock Kimber Stainless II .45 with the factory weight recoil spring (16 pounds) and the FTF/FTE rate is just about zero. If I do my part this is an in-the-black load all the time.

Plus the load is cheap to assemble. Around here we're only paying about $100 with tax for an 8 pound keg of Promo so that works out to over 15000 loads per keg and less than 6 1/2 cents per round for powder. Add about 8 cents per cast bullet and 4 cents for a primer and if you reload your brass that's 19 cents a round or $9.50/box of 50. The best part is I cast my own bullets out of free wheelweights that I scrounge which drops the price to $5.50 for a box of 50. Pretty cheap shooting. :)
Click to expand...

I use this same bullet and 4.2 grains of Red Dot powder.
A little dirty, but very accurate. Be warned though, this powder is very temperature sensitive. This will print very well in the spring/summer months. Not the same in the late fall & winter though.
 
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