The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - .45 acp Loads for Steel plate Competition,

Nnobby45 · March 11, 2012, 09:40 PM

When .45ACP was king of IPSC, 5.7 or 5.8 gr. of W231 made "major" caliber with the 200 gr. SWC. Light loads would use from 5.0 to 5.2 gr. Maybe less if you change the recoil spring.

Bullseye and W231 were the two most popular powders, I believe.
Jeff Cooper had a favorite load using IMR 700X.

My preference is 200 SWC with 5.6 gr. W231. Enough recoil so you know you're shooting a .45 and easy to shoot all day long if you want.

For 230 plated or jacketed, I prefer 5.7 gr. of W231. This load approximates the velocity of WWB, at about 770 fps from a 5" bbl. Easy to shoot, but not whimpy. My steel plate shooting is on my own Evil Roy Portable Tgts. Not formal competition. A good hardball equivilent might be 5.8 or 5.9 gr. W231 with 230 gr. Jacketed hardball. When I use Winchester JHP, they develop more pressure and I reduce the load to about 5.6 or 5.7 gr.

March 11, 2012, 09:40 PM	#15
Nnobby45 Senior Member Join Date: November 20, 2004 Posts: 3,150	When .45ACP was king of IPSC, 5.7 or 5.8 gr. of W231 made "major" caliber with the 200 gr. SWC. Light loads would use from 5.0 to 5.2 gr. Maybe less if you change the recoil spring. Bullseye and W231 were the two most popular powders, I believe. Jeff Cooper had a favorite load using IMR 700X. My preference is 200 SWC with 5.6 gr. W231. Enough recoil so you know you're shooting a .45 and easy to shoot all day long if you want. For 230 plated or jacketed, I prefer 5.7 gr. of W231. This load approximates the velocity of WWB, at about 770 fps from a 5" bbl. Easy to shoot, but not whimpy. My steel plate shooting is on my own Evil Roy Portable Tgts. Not formal competition. A good hardball equivilent might be 5.8 or 5.9 gr. W231 with 230 gr. Jacketed hardball. When I use Winchester JHP, they develop more pressure and I reduce the load to about 5.6 or 5.7 gr.