45 acp

What kind of loads y’all have for 230g bullets? So far I have loaded 3 because my Lyman manual says to use large pistol primers and come to find out all these Federal cases I have take small pistol.Presently using 700X.

What I did was go through my brass and throw any small pistol primers out. 45 ACP ain't rare, no need to confuse it with non-standard brass. After that, there is a great deal of loads for the 230gr with a myriad of powders. I can't recall my load off the top of my head, but it pretty much mimics the M1911 .45 Ball.

Ive run identical loads in LPP and SPP brass with both SP and SR primers and difference was minimal at acp pressures. Moving up to 45 super and 460 level pressures or running the bottlenecks like the 38 casull or 400 corbon the SPP brass with SR had less primer flow.

I shoot a lot of coated Bayou Bullets in 230gr with W231 and it is an accurate load. I have loaded them down to 4.2 grs and even my grandkids can handle them well. Almost no recoil at all and super cheap plinking ammo. I have also loaded Unique with great results, except dirtier than W231. I am in the process of working up 185XTP loads using both W231 and Unique. Still in the early stages of testing but so far looks promising. 45 is cheap to reload and lot of fun to practice with. Using the coated bullets, there is little to no leading, easy loading and have great accuracy at 25 yds. All I use Winchester primers.

Forgot to say, I toss the small primer cases in a coffee can in case that's all I have one day. Thus far, I have never reloaded a small case primer.

231 AA2 Unique. All work.

I try to avoid the small primer cases but if I had a decent amount of em I'd use em no problem just makes for a extra step loading a handful of Small primers.im loading unique,be-86 and blue dot. Blue dot is little to slow but makes some good stout defense type rounds.having good luck with all 3 powders

Unique and W231 will do very well. Like has been said w231 is much cleaner

5.6gr of AA2 under 230gr blems from Midway. All of my loaded ammo has large pistol primers but I do have some brass that was given to me that uses small primers.

Update?

Still playing, but 6.2 grs of W231 at 25 yds, off a bench, yielded as 7/8" 3 shot group. Pretty happy with that for 65 yr old eyes. At 12 yds it about a 1 1/4" single hole.

Currently playing with 230 JHP Zero bullets. Still trying to find the load. Actually looks like Unique may be the best powder for it. But still trying to get W231 to work as well since it meters so much better and is cleaner burning. I am getting some unburnt power with Unique, So I am playing with seating depth.

Didn't think about stating what I am shooting. It is a full size M&P Smith. 4.6" barrel.. At 50 yds I struggle to keep them on a paper plate. Actually only about 80% at that yardage. That is very slow fire and close to an 8" group. But I think most of that is due to aging eyes and really can't focus on the sights and target very well..

Scooter get an Apex tactical flatface trigger for your Smith it'll help. Always found 185&200 grainers best for the 50 yard line but if you have a quantity look into aa#5 HS6 Unique.The big 230s like a slower burner than Bullseye 231 Hp38. Why? I've no idea.

I used Universal Clays a lot back in my reloading days for rimless handgun ammo. It was VERY much like Unique but not dirty. My Unique stayed in the bottle most times.

Haven't done the flat face trigger, but do have the sear kit in it. 3lbs 13 oz trigger. No grit and breaks sharply. I have cataracts in both eyes and honestly the target is just cloudy, while the sites are blurry. I am In hopes of getting my eyes fixed this year. Did very little hunting this year, due to the fact of seeing double crosshairs in scopes, tried red dots, which helped for close ranges but has no magnification. Adjusted eye pieces every way possible, bought a scope with adjustable objective and finally gave up when the doc told me "you have Cataracts". You aren't gonna see properly until you get that fixed.

I had the cataracts cut off my eyes last month. Used to see five of the targets arranged in a pentagon shape. Now I can see a gnat’s ass at 100 yards.

That's what I want to hear! Currently, I am in the middle of lower back issues I am trying to get fixed. Next is right shoulder replacement, then get my eyes fixed. If I was a horse, well you know what would happen.

Youth is wasted on the young.

Its a shame they discontinued SR4756 this was a great powder for pistol calbre's
Fortunately I have a few pounds of it

I've been shooting CFE pistol with pretty good results. I shoot it with cast instead of copper jacketed which eliminates the benefit of the CFE, but it meters super consistent, shoots really well, and I've got a bunch.