First .45ACP deer hunting loads

rantingredneck · August 3, 2007, 11:38 PM

I loaded my first heavy bullet loads for .45ACP for deer hunting this evening. I loaded 260 gr Speer SJHP's (No. 4481) over 5.7 gr. of Win 231, which is about midway between the starting load of 5.4 gr. and max load of 5.9 gr.

According to Speer's data and my best guesstimate at averaging the velocities between their published min/max loads I should be getting right around 790-800 fps with this load. I can't see any reason it wouldn't reliably kill deer within 30-40 yds.

The only problem I had with loading them was getting the seating depth adjusted properly at first. I measured COL on all loads as I loaded them. The first few I was bouncing between 1.196 and 1.204. Speer has the load as tested at 1.20. Once I got things adjusted properly I was consistently hitting around right at 1.202.

I would think that's close enough to be consistent with the published data. I weighed every 5th charge and was getting consistently 5.7 grains of powder. I've found Win 231 to be very consistent in Lee's Autodisk so far.

I'm interested to see what the recoil is going to be like on these loads. Should be a pretty good bit of fun factor for it being a .45ACP. I'll test them out at the range tomorrow with Bennnn. At least he'll be there to take me to the hospital if I KB my P90

.

I doubt that will happen though............

Dave R · August 3, 2007, 11:59 PM

Eagerly waiting for your shooting report...

Bambi with a .45acp?

rantingredneck · August 4, 2007, 12:04 AM

Yep. It's legal here. I started a thread asking about factory ammo for this a few months ago. Most of the responses recommended reloading, which I wasn't doing then. Just started recently. I do most of my hunting these days in the deep dark briar thickets here in NC. Most of my shots are 50 yds or less with many of them being within 30 yds. Once I started bowhunting I started gun hunting about the same way. Gonna try this with my P90 this year and see how I do. I'm accurate enough to 30 yds to hit the vital zone. I would think this load would have the oomph to penetrate all the way through while still getting some expansion.

Daniel BOON · August 4, 2007, 12:23 AM

and probably use a soft point, but thats just me. the way things are going in this country, we all might be hunting deer with sharp sticks.

rantingredneck · August 4, 2007, 12:30 AM

5.7 grs. is close to redlining it already, as close as I want to start anyway. If I want to get any closer to the 5.9 grs I'm going to have to get an adjustable charge bar or play around with my double disk kit and smaller charge holes to see if I can come nearer. I loaded these up using the .53 charge hole.

I was looking at a semi jacketed soft point in 240 gr. but Gander Mtn. didn't have any of those in stock tonight. Instead I found these 260's. I figured the extra 20gr. bullet weight can't hurt. These are also MAG rated and canellured so they should hold together well enough to do the job.

joneb · August 4, 2007, 03:09 AM

Quote:

The only problem I had with loading them was getting the seating depth adjusted properly at first. I measured COL on all loads as I loaded them. The first few I was bouncing between 1.196 and 1.204. Speer has the load as tested at 1.20. Once I got things adjusted properly I was consistently hitting around right at 1.202.

Brass can be a bit springy, my guess is the bullet is being seated in a place it shouldn't be.

rantingredneck · August 4, 2007, 06:14 AM

Not sure I follow the part about "a place it shouldn't be"?

Daniel BOON · August 4, 2007, 10:56 AM

is the bullet seated within the confines of the cannalure?

joneb · August 4, 2007, 11:28 AM

My thought was that the base of the bullet was getting down into the taper of the shell case. This could explain the inconsistent COL's either the bullet is springing back or the nose of the bullet is deforming from the added resistance of the taper.

Trapp · August 4, 2007, 11:44 AM

260gr? Never heard of that (though I have never looked for it). Sounds interesting. What book did you get the load data from.

In my older Speer manual (5th edition) The max load for a 240gr is 5.4gr. Down .3 gr from a 230gr bullet (max load of 5.7gr).

With that load you should be pushing 850ish fps and close to 500ft/lbs of energy.

Sounds like a killer as long as the old ruger can handle it!!

rantingredneck · August 4, 2007, 02:51 PM

Quote:

is the bullet seated within the confines of the cannalure?

Yes they are.

Quote:

My thought was that the base of the bullet was getting down into the taper of the shell case. This could explain the inconsistent COL's either the bullet is springing back or the nose of the bullet is deforming from the added resistance of the taper.

You may be on to something there. These did require a bit more pull than normal to seat properly. Could be deforming the bullet tips esp. since they aren't jacketed.

Quote:

260gr? Never heard of that (though I have never looked for it). Sounds interesting. What book did you get the load data from.

In my older Speer manual (5th edition) The max load for a 240gr is 5.4gr. Down .3 gr from a 230gr bullet (max load of 5.7gr).

With that load you should be pushing 850ish fps and close to 500ft/lbs of energy.

Sounds like a killer as long as the old ruger can handle it!!

I got it from one of those Loadbooks USA one book/one caliber deals which compiles the .45acp load data from major bullet and powder manufacturers into one book. I checked it against the 13th Ed. of the Speer manual when I was in Gander last night and the information is consistent. The Speer manual listed the test weapon as a Sig 220 with 4.4 inch barrel and lists the high and low velocities as 756 and 824. I don't have a chrony but the recoil was stout!

Range report to follow

rantingredneck · August 4, 2007, 03:05 PM

Well I survived

.

Thanks to Bennnn for spotting for me and catching fast flying brass.

Here is what the finished rounds looked like. Kinda mean looking

I only fired six rounds of the 20 I loaded up. The fun factor became not much fun after the first three rounds were fired and the flinch factor started kicking in.

First target can be seen here. The target was shot off a sandbag at 25 yds.

The target is divided into 1" grid squares and measuring this yielded a measure of 2.75 inches. Not bad I don't think.

The second three shots were nothing to write home about. More in the 5+ inch range. The flinch was certainly in effect. I didn't even bother bringing that one home. Recoil was more like a .44mag than a .45ACP. It was sharp and stout.

The gun did fine and I only see the beginnings of pressure signs on the primers of the fired rounds. They all cratered to one extent or another. Here is an example.

I'm thinking three things here. 1) I'm definitely ordering a Wolf 16lb. spring before I shoot any more 260's. 2) I'm going to reduce the load to 5.3 gr and see what accuracy I get. I should still be hitting around the 750fps mark at that level. 3) After I test that reduced load I'll make a decision whether to shoot the other 14 I loaded up last night or pull them and start over.

Input??

rantingredneck · August 4, 2007, 03:22 PM

Not sure why those two pics came out so small. I'll have to look into that in a bit.

314EPW · August 5, 2007, 05:29 AM

I just loaded Barnes 185 gr. XPB copper bullets for defence.Shot a raccoon with it.Dropped dead in it's tracks.Internal damage was outrageous.Handloader mag stated a load of Win 231 at 6.2 gr at 1035 Fps.I loaded mine at 6.0.Haven't croneyed it yet.But I believe in will drop a deer with no problem at 25 to 30 yards.I will find out.
Ed

August 3, 2007, 11:38 PM	#1
rantingredneck Senior Member Join Date: January 12, 2007 Location: North Carolina Posts: 4,728	First .45ACP deer hunting loads I loaded my first heavy bullet loads for .45ACP for deer hunting this evening. I loaded 260 gr Speer SJHP's (No. 4481) over 5.7 gr. of Win 231, which is about midway between the starting load of 5.4 gr. and max load of 5.9 gr. According to Speer's data and my best guesstimate at averaging the velocities between their published min/max loads I should be getting right around 790-800 fps with this load. I can't see any reason it wouldn't reliably kill deer within 30-40 yds. The only problem I had with loading them was getting the seating depth adjusted properly at first. I measured COL on all loads as I loaded them. The first few I was bouncing between 1.196 and 1.204. Speer has the load as tested at 1.20. Once I got things adjusted properly I was consistently hitting around right at 1.202. I would think that's close enough to be consistent with the published data. I weighed every 5th charge and was getting consistently 5.7 grains of powder. I've found Win 231 to be very consistent in Lee's Autodisk so far. I'm interested to see what the recoil is going to be like on these loads. Should be a pretty good bit of fun factor for it being a .45ACP. I'll test them out at the range tomorrow with Bennnn. At least he'll be there to take me to the hospital if I KB my P90 . I doubt that will happen though............

August 3, 2007, 11:59 PM	#2
Dave R Senior Member Join Date: January 7, 2000 Location: Idaho Posts: 6,073	Eagerly waiting for your shooting report... Bambi with a .45acp? __________________ I am Pro-Rights (on gun issues).

August 4, 2007, 12:23 AM	#4
Daniel BOON Senior Member Join Date: June 5, 2005 Location: Henderson NV Posts: 360	I would red line that load and probably use a soft point, but thats just me. the way things are going in this country, we all might be hunting deer with sharp sticks.

August 4, 2007, 10:56 AM	#8
Daniel BOON Senior Member Join Date: June 5, 2005 Location: Henderson NV Posts: 360	good point redneck is the bullet seated within the confines of the cannalure?

August 4, 2007, 11:44 AM	#10
Trapp Senior Member Join Date: December 5, 2004 Location: KTN Posts: 1,221	260gr? Never heard of that (though I have never looked for it). Sounds interesting. What book did you get the load data from. In my older Speer manual (5th edition) The max load for a 240gr is 5.4gr. Down .3 gr from a 230gr bullet (max load of 5.7gr). With that load you should be pushing 850ish fps and close to 500ft/lbs of energy. Sounds like a killer as long as the old ruger can handle it!! __________________ HDR Ban!? It's a shame all of my guns sank with my boat last week... Time to catch up.....like mayonnaise

August 4, 2007, 12:04 AM	#3
rantingredneck Senior Member Join Date: January 12, 2007 Location: North Carolina Posts: 4,728	Yep. It's legal here. I started a thread asking about factory ammo for this a few months ago. Most of the responses recommended reloading, which I wasn't doing then. Just started recently. I do most of my hunting these days in the deep dark briar thickets here in NC. Most of my shots are 50 yds or less with many of them being within 30 yds. Once I started bowhunting I started gun hunting about the same way. Gonna try this with my P90 this year and see how I do. I'm accurate enough to 30 yds to hit the vital zone. I would think this load would have the oomph to penetrate all the way through while still getting some expansion.

August 4, 2007, 12:30 AM	#5
rantingredneck Senior Member Join Date: January 12, 2007 Location: North Carolina Posts: 4,728	5.7 grs. is close to redlining it already, as close as I want to start anyway. If I want to get any closer to the 5.9 grs I'm going to have to get an adjustable charge bar or play around with my double disk kit and smaller charge holes to see if I can come nearer. I loaded these up using the .53 charge hole. I was looking at a semi jacketed soft point in 240 gr. but Gander Mtn. didn't have any of those in stock tonight. Instead I found these 260's. I figured the extra 20gr. bullet weight can't hurt. These are also MAG rated and canellured so they should hold together well enough to do the job.

August 4, 2007, 06:14 AM	#7
rantingredneck Senior Member Join Date: January 12, 2007 Location: North Carolina Posts: 4,728	Not sure I follow the part about "a place it shouldn't be"?

August 4, 2007, 11:28 AM	#9
joneb Senior Member Join Date: December 10, 2005 Location: Central , OR Posts: 1,888	My thought was that the base of the bullet was getting down into the taper of the shell case. This could explain the inconsistent COL's either the bullet is springing back or the nose of the bullet is deforming from the added resistance of the taper.

August 4, 2007, 03:05 PM	#12
rantingredneck Senior Member Join Date: January 12, 2007 Location: North Carolina Posts: 4,728	Range Report on 260 Gr. Handloads Well I survived . Thanks to Bennnn for spotting for me and catching fast flying brass. Here is what the finished rounds looked like. Kinda mean looking I only fired six rounds of the 20 I loaded up. The fun factor became not much fun after the first three rounds were fired and the flinch factor started kicking in. First target can be seen here. The target was shot off a sandbag at 25 yds. The target is divided into 1" grid squares and measuring this yielded a measure of 2.75 inches. Not bad I don't think. The second three shots were nothing to write home about. More in the 5+ inch range. The flinch was certainly in effect. I didn't even bother bringing that one home. Recoil was more like a .44mag than a .45ACP. It was sharp and stout. The gun did fine and I only see the beginnings of pressure signs on the primers of the fired rounds. They all cratered to one extent or another. Here is an example. I'm thinking three things here. 1) I'm definitely ordering a Wolf 16lb. spring before I shoot any more 260's. 2) I'm going to reduce the load to 5.3 gr and see what accuracy I get. I should still be hitting around the 750fps mark at that level. 3) After I test that reduced load I'll make a decision whether to shoot the other 14 I loaded up last night or pull them and start over. Input??

August 4, 2007, 03:22 PM	#13
rantingredneck Senior Member Join Date: January 12, 2007 Location: North Carolina Posts: 4,728	Not sure why those two pics came out so small. I'll have to look into that in a bit.

August 5, 2007, 05:29 AM	#14
314EPW Senior Member Join Date: June 14, 2007 Posts: 108	Try Barnes? I just loaded Barnes 185 gr. XPB copper bullets for defence.Shot a raccoon with it.Dropped dead in it's tracks.Internal damage was outrageous.Handloader mag stated a load of Win 231 at 6.2 gr at 1035 Fps.I loaded mine at 6.0.Haven't croneyed it yet.But I believe in will drop a deer with no problem at 25 to 30 yards.I will find out. Ed