Loading .45acp and 9mm

[Corey3]

I finally picked up some plated .45 and 9mm bullets today, and loaded 50 rounds of each with my Lee Classic turret press. I used Standard primers for the 9mm, and a box that said Standard or Magnum loads for the .45. I used Winchester 231 powder with 4.2 grains pushing a 115 grain 9mm bullet, and 4.7 grains for the 230 grain round nose .45acp. I loaded them to the OAL specified in the Lee reloading manual. Does this sound about right? Thanks for any help you have!

 

[bear.23]

You'll probably find the rounds a little on the soft side...

OAL is a guideline.. Your gun will determine what is best.. Sometimes you will with rounds at the published OAL they will not cycle in you gun...

A longer OAL will reduce pressure and shorten the cycle time however that can cause you issues....

You can experiment until you and your gun are happy...

 

[curtmg]

Did you try cycling them through your guns? I found some types of bullets don't like to cycle if they're too long in my 45ACP Glock. I used to go as long as 1.268", but lately I've been going as low as 1.190" They feed really well at this length, for me.
Where did you get the load for the 45ACP, my speer manual #14, gives a starting charge of 5.6 gr W231 for 789 FPS, going up to a max charge of 6.2 gr for 858 FPS. So your load will be fairly light. I always end up running max charges through the glock, working my way up to them. I always make sure my brass isn't getting battered, and judge mainly the loads by how far the brass flies, if I'm between 6-10 feet, I'm pretty happy.

 

[tigrr]

Hi Corey

What brand of bullets?
My old Lee manual says 9mm 115 gr starting load of w-231 is 4.5, close enough
Old Lee manual says 45acp 230 gr starting load of w-231 is 4.6, looks good.
Some factors to contemplate, do they cycle the gun, if the spring is a lighter one and the gun cycles, great. I always plink with the lighter loads, but when I am doing serious target shooting, I use the load the gun shoots the most accurate with.
Raising and lowering powder charges slightly, raises and lowers point of impact for fixed sighted guns. Some bullet companies now have websites with info, on what performs best with their bullets.
Happy reloading.