Which 45acp bullet weight for IDPA

[nyc71]

I normally shoot 9mm at IDPA, my daughter is going to joint me so she's going to shoot the 9mm & I'm going to start shooting a 45. I normally shoot the 200gr bullet, would I be better off with 185gr bullet instead? I've not shot enough 185gr bullet to make a fair comparison.
Thanks for your replies in advance.

[Adamantium]

Most people stick with 200 and 230 for IPSC/IDPA. Power factor favors heavier bullets because you can drop the velocity fairly low to reduce recoil. I used to shoot 230gr LRN but switched to 200gr SWCs because I could get more bullets out of a bucket of lead. It didn't save me much money but saved me the hassle of obtaining lead for longer. Using a medium to heavy bullet in front of a fast powder like Clays is very popular and will have noticeably less recoil than factory ammo.

[serf 'rett]

In today's market?

It may depend on what you can find.

I think heavier is better.

[warningshot]

I Don't Practice Anymore. Well, maybe sometimes. The 200 H&G cast and the 230 round nose stuffed in front of W231 or Bullseye worked for 20 or 30 years.

[1stmar]

What's your goal, to minimize recoil and be competitive or mimic carry loads as close as possible and minimize cost?

[nyc71]

Minimize recoil for competition.

[1stmar]

Ok, 2 ways to go then. Personally I like the heaviest bullet I can find as slow as it can go. I used 250gr bullets, very soft recoil, very manageable.

Lower weight bullets(185gr), create a different feel of recoil, much quicker cycle time (which some like) but the recoil is more of a snap then a push.

I can follow the sights better with the slower bullet. Try both and measure your times.

[bamiller]

I'm confused. I was always told the lighter the bullet the less the recoil? Powder goes boom. Has less weight pushing back on it's pressure. Thus less recoil?

[1stmar]

You probably have less muzzle rise with the lighter bullet but i always Preferred the heavier bullet, that was when pf was 185. all you need to do is make 165 pf. 250 * 660, w 185 you need to go nearly 900 fps.

[Adamantium]

The difference isn't night and day but I think the heavier the bullet the quicker the recovery time. That being said I still shoot 200 SWC because they use less lead to make and push me into a higher zone occasionally

[1stmar]

I used 3.3gr of clays with lead 250, very easy to shoot and easily made major at 185. Probably could drop to 3.1 or maybe even 3 to get to 165.
energy (e = 1/2mass x velocity squared). It does make magazines very heavy :-).

[kraigwy]

If you don't get carried away with the powder charge any 45 ACP bullet will work. You can keep the recoil down and still knock over any steel you hit.

What is most critical is how the bullet functions is your gun. If it wont cycle, it don't matther how well it shoots.

I use an old bullseye load, 3.8 grs of Bullseye pushing a 230 cast RN lead bullet. It functions well in my 1911s, knocks over any steel target I hit, It's accurate and extremely mild to shoot. (Cheap too).