New to reloading 45 acp

[BigK]

I'm trying out some Berry's 185 gr plated SWC right now. They look so funny with that big ol .45 acp case and that lil bitty nose sticking out the end.

I think SWC are the hardest to find 'good' load data for. Since they need to be seated to a certain depth near the shoulder, you can't go by OAL anymore. You have to calculate how much bullet is inside the case and see what else seats to that depth AND is of the same weight before you can get a starting charge that's as close as possible to what will work.

[dlm37015]

well i guess i will weigh in on this one. i have been shooting cast bullets for over 40 years .caster is right to get a good cast bullets you pretty much have to cast it yourself. imo there is no reason to spend money on jacketed bullets when a properly sized and lubed bullet will do the same job .most of my rifle bullets in 25 cal and larger are cast as well. yes i shoot load and sell other bullets but most pistolrounds do as good or better with cast

[dlmeadows]

I cast my own 230gr rnd nose and combine that with 4.1 gr of titegroup. My overall legth is 1.235. I get a consistent velocity of 735 fps out of my Kimber. These are my competition loads for IDPA. they are a little on the light side but as long as I'm over 717.4fps they are legal lol. No issues with accuracy at all, A 2in group at 20yrds is possible everytime I pull the trigger, as long as I do my part lol. Titegroup doesn't seem to foul up my gun that bad, nor does it seem to cause the barrel to lead as bad as it did when I was shooting a higher powder charge. Hope this info is helpful for you.

[Ray Z]

Everybody has their favorite powders. I use solo 1000 on 45acp, 44 special, 40 S&W, 38 special, and 9mm. I find it a lot cleaner to shoot than a lot of the other powders I've tried. That is to say that it doesn't have nearly as much graphite in it as Bullseye, unique, 231, and most of the AA powders. One other thing. Unique likes to be in an almost full case to burn completely.

As far as the setting of the taper crimp goes, instead of measuring I slide the finished cartridge through my fingers. If I can feel a flare in the case mouth I'll bring the taper crimp die down not even an 1/8 of a turn and check a couple more cases.

[Ray Z]

One more thing to touch on regarding brass.

Most people tumble their brass with way TOO much media. And when you have too much media it actually acts like a buffer extending the time needed to clean the brass. If you cut back on the amount of media then the brass themselves will clean each other.

What I do is add the brass to my tumbler with no media at all then turn it on. The brass will sit there and do a little dance but do not tumble at all. Then I add media a cup at a time until the brass just begins to roll over on itself. You get a lot more action and the brass will be squeaky clean in no time at all.

Dolomite

Dolomite thanks for that one. I've been loading for a long time and knew that too much media was too much of a good thing. But I never knew how to determan what was a good way to get the right amount in the tumbler. One thing that I do is use the dryer sheets after they have been used in my tumbler. They absorb the fine corn cob media that makes the dust when I empty the clean brass out.

[mikegideon]

I am using Flitz Media Additive with crushed walnut. The Flitz isn't cheap, but worth every penny. Shines the brass in a couple of hours. I've tumbled some real skanky range brass in a long session, and it came out looking new inside and out. It also seems to do a good job of controlling dust.

I used Nu Finish before I switched to Flitz. No comparison.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

I'm still using some walnut media from twenty years ago, with Lyman Turbo Brite. I wonder if they still make it?

Works just fine.