Best .45 ACP lead bullets? Your opinions needed.

DaveInPA · March 19, 2008, 07:57 PM

What are the best .45 ACP lead bullets, in your opinion? I've been loading both 230gr LRN and 185gr LSWC from Missouri Bullet Company. I have two issues with these bullets:

1. I'm getting a good deal of leading in my barrel. They have a Brinnell hardness rating of 12. Would something harder be better?

2. They're very smoky. They use that blue lube, whatever it is.

Can anyone recommend some good lead bullets that have less of these two problems? I am not at all interested in casting my own.

Thanks
Dave

TexasSeaRay · March 19, 2008, 09:35 PM

[email protected]

200 SWC in 45 caliber. This is what they do for me at 50 feet, handheld with 5 grains of W231.

Excellent bullets. No leading, very clean.

Jeff

capbuster · March 19, 2008, 10:54 PM

Magnus bullets made here in Alabama have performed extremely well for me for many years. take care.

bluetopper · March 20, 2008, 12:18 AM

A Brinnell hardness of 12 should be fine for target velocities. If you're shooting max loads you probably need 18 or better.

Mastercast is hard to beat on quality.

DaveInPA · March 20, 2008, 04:46 AM

I'm not shooting max loads . . . . so I don't know where the problem is.

ShootingNut · March 20, 2008, 06:03 AM

I would give Mike at Mastercastbullets a call, or email him. I'll guarantee you that you will get his opinion, and advice to try his of course!

I use Mike's .45 lead in RN and SWC with NO excessive leading, hardly any shooting start to medium loads.
Regards,
SN
www.mastercastbullets.com
[email protected]

2sigs · March 20, 2008, 10:00 AM

I like and have used Laser cast bullets for many years, I would say they have gone up in price considerably in the last year, But they are clean to deal with and clean to shoot. I prefer the 200 SWC pushed by max charge of 700-X have been shooting that charge/load for years.

http://www.laser-cast.com/AboutLaserCast.html

Travis Two · March 20, 2008, 10:47 AM

www.pennbullets.com offers .45 200 swc in Target Grade and Match Grade. The Match Grades are harder and the lube they use is very low smoke with my loads of WST and Clays. Best cast in the buisness.

MaineColt · March 20, 2008, 10:51 AM

I use 200 gr. SWC from Carroll's Bullets out of Connecticut.

VERY accurate out of my Kimber using 8.3 grains of AA #5. OAL of 1.250"

No problems with leading at all with this load.

Kev

carpfisher · March 20, 2008, 01:21 PM

Penn Bullets. I was getting about a 10% reject rate with any other brand out of my Go/No-Go gauge.
I switched to Penn Bullet and my rejection rate went to zero. The only change was the bullet. Absoulutley the best cast bullet in the world, IMHO.
http://www.pennbullets.com/
Greg

drail · March 20, 2008, 07:33 PM

You stated you're not shooting hot loads. Could be the bullets are not obturating and gas is leaking around them. Try loading them a little faster and check the bore leading. A little leading is considered normal.

zebulonsmith · March 21, 2008, 10:26 PM

+! for http://www.mastercast.net/

I've been extremely happy with them. I shoot their .45 LSWC, 185gr 10mm (.40) and 125gr 9mm with good results.

DaveInPA · March 21, 2008, 11:09 PM

Seems there are two companies called mastercast? One has much better prices. . . .what's the deal there?

ShootingNut · March 22, 2008, 07:57 AM

This has caused confusion in the past.
The previous post is the "mastercast" vendor, the other is www.mastercastbullets.com which is Mike in Carbondale, IL.
Mike's product/price list is outdated, he prices have gone up like most due to their materials. You have to email or call him to get the current pricing if your interested.
SN

Pilot · March 22, 2008, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Penn Bullets.

X2. I've been using Penn bullets for years, in .45, .38 and 9MM. Always get good performance.

Travis Two · March 22, 2008, 08:50 AM

www.pennbullets.com. +1 on performance.

WESHOOT2 · March 22, 2008, 11:45 AM

Yep, Penn Bullets.

And ditto LazerCast.

And Beartooth and Cast Performance.

Test, then know.
Then buy zillions........

But make it a 230g RN for fun shooting.

skipjack · March 24, 2008, 04:30 PM

What diameter is your bullet? You will get leading if it is smaller than groove diameter.

WSM MAGNUM · March 24, 2008, 07:04 PM

A+++ for Mastercast. I just ordered 1000 225gr. TCFP cast bullets. Loaded up 10 test rounds yesterday with 5.5gr Unique. Fearing that they were going to lead up the barrel and concerned about the smoke most people complain about from Unique, I shot 10 rounds with beautiful results. No leading, hardly any smoke. Good accuracy.
Unique is not smoky or dirty. Unless you have the old Hercules Unique. The Alliant Unique is clean.

Eric M. · March 24, 2008, 07:39 PM

Precision Bullets--www.precisionbullets.com

These are lead bullets with a black coating.
They don't need to be waxed because of the coating.
They are by far, the most accurate bullets that I use with my 1911's.
Their bullets are spot on when I weigh them. Not even a tenth of a grain off, and the last batch that I received a couple of days ago, costs only $95.00 per thousand, with no shipping costs.

Your order takes a couple of months to complete, but the guys at Precision always keep me informed of what is going on.
They also don't charge you until the order is shipped.

I use these strictly for shooting at 50yds because of their great accuracy.

I learned about Precision from a post on Firing Line sometime ago.

Eric

TexasSeaRay · March 24, 2008, 10:39 PM

Quote:

Unique is not smoky or dirty. Unless you have the old Hercules Unique. The Alliant Unique is clean.

I have about three-fourths of a pound of the old Hercules Unique.

If there is a powder I hate MORE than Hercules Unique, it's probably white and manufactured in Columbia. . .

So is the new Alliant formula cleaner than the old Hercules formula? (Not that it could get any dirtier unless it turned into black powder)

And, has the data changed since Alliant is now manufacturering it?

Thanks.

Jeff

DaveInGA · March 24, 2008, 10:55 PM

The ones I cast myself out of wheel weight alloy using a Lee six banger die.

Regards,

Dave

WESHOOT2 · March 25, 2008, 09:54 AM

Still pretty dirty in handgun; better than old in shotgun; instead recommend ballistic-equivalent Universal Clays.

"Universal"

joerockt · March 25, 2008, 12:33 PM

I've had some issues actually with Mike's bullets, but he has done everything he can to make it right. For some reason, when the bullets show up, many of them have the lubricant detached from the grove. It happened with the first batch of 1000 and it happened with a replacement batch of 500 he sent me. We can only conclude that USPS is abusing the box. He said its extremely rare for this to happen. Has anyone else encountered this?

freakshow10mm · March 25, 2008, 12:46 PM

Some lubes are stickier than others. Some are sticky enough to handle brutal shipping and some aren't. The lube I use is pretty darn sticky, but holds up nicely in shipping and is low smoke.

March 19, 2008, 07:57 PM	#1
DaveInPA Senior Member Join Date: January 20, 2008 Location: Berks County, PA Posts: 1,106	Best .45 ACP lead bullets? Your opinions needed. What are the best .45 ACP lead bullets, in your opinion? I've been loading both 230gr LRN and 185gr LSWC from Missouri Bullet Company. I have two issues with these bullets: 1. I'm getting a good deal of leading in my barrel. They have a Brinnell hardness rating of 12. Would something harder be better? 2. They're very smoky. They use that blue lube, whatever it is. Can anyone recommend some good lead bullets that have less of these two problems? I am not at all interested in casting my own. Thanks Dave

March 19, 2008, 09:35 PM	#2
TexasSeaRay Senior Member Join Date: November 19, 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 810	[email protected] 200 SWC in 45 caliber. This is what they do for me at 50 feet, handheld with 5 grains of W231. Excellent bullets. No leading, very clean. Jeff __________________ If every single gun owner belonged to the NRA as well as their respective state rifle/gun association, we wouldn't be in the mess we're in today. So to those of you who are members of neither, thanks for nothing.

March 19, 2008, 10:54 PM	#3
capbuster Senior Member Join Date: August 7, 1999 Location: Bessemer,Alabama Posts: 302	Magnus bullets made here in Alabama have performed extremely well for me for many years. take care. __________________ cliff

March 20, 2008, 06:03 AM	#6
ShootingNut Senior Member Join Date: December 27, 2006 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 1,475	Dave I would give Mike at Mastercastbullets a call, or email him. I'll guarantee you that you will get his opinion, and advice to try his of course! I use Mike's .45 lead in RN and SWC with NO excessive leading, hardly any shooting start to medium loads. Regards, SN www.mastercastbullets.com [email protected]

March 22, 2008, 07:57 AM	#14
ShootingNut Senior Member Join Date: December 27, 2006 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 1,475	Dave This has caused confusion in the past. The previous post is the "mastercast" vendor, the other is www.mastercastbullets.com which is Mike in Carbondale, IL. Mike's product/price list is outdated, he prices have gone up like most due to their materials. You have to email or call him to get the current pricing if your interested. SN

March 20, 2008, 12:18 AM	#4
bluetopper Senior Member Join Date: December 16, 2005 Location: Northeast TX Posts: 1,197	A Brinnell hardness of 12 should be fine for target velocities. If you're shooting max loads you probably need 18 or better. Mastercast is hard to beat on quality.

March 20, 2008, 04:46 AM	#5
DaveInPA Senior Member Join Date: January 20, 2008 Location: Berks County, PA Posts: 1,106	I'm not shooting max loads . . . . so I don't know where the problem is.

March 20, 2008, 10:00 AM	#7
2sigs Member Join Date: September 10, 2005 Location: Mini-soda Posts: 37	I like and have used Laser cast bullets for many years, I would say they have gone up in price considerably in the last year, But they are clean to deal with and clean to shoot. I prefer the 200 SWC pushed by max charge of 700-X have been shooting that charge/load for years. http://www.laser-cast.com/AboutLaserCast.html

March 20, 2008, 10:47 AM	#8
Travis Two Member Join Date: September 27, 2006 Posts: 63	www.pennbullets.com offers .45 200 swc in Target Grade and Match Grade. The Match Grades are harder and the lube they use is very low smoke with my loads of WST and Clays. Best cast in the buisness.

March 20, 2008, 10:51 AM	#9
MaineColt Senior Member Join Date: November 2, 2007 Location: Maine Posts: 222	I use 200 gr. SWC from Carroll's Bullets out of Connecticut. VERY accurate out of my Kimber using 8.3 grains of AA #5. OAL of 1.250" No problems with leading at all with this load. Kev

March 20, 2008, 01:21 PM	#10
carpfisher Senior Member Join Date: October 15, 2004 Location: Fowlerville, MI Posts: 122	Penn Bullets. I was getting about a 10% reject rate with any other brand out of my Go/No-Go gauge. I switched to Penn Bullet and my rejection rate went to zero. The only change was the bullet. Absoulutley the best cast bullet in the world, IMHO. http://www.pennbullets.com/ Greg

March 20, 2008, 07:33 PM	#11
drail Junior member Join Date: February 2, 2008 Posts: 3,150	You stated you're not shooting hot loads. Could be the bullets are not obturating and gas is leaking around them. Try loading them a little faster and check the bore leading. A little leading is considered normal.

March 21, 2008, 10:26 PM	#12
zebulonsmith Senior Member Join Date: October 27, 2007 Posts: 307	+! for http://www.mastercast.net/ I've been extremely happy with them. I shoot their .45 LSWC, 185gr 10mm (.40) and 125gr 9mm with good results.

March 21, 2008, 11:09 PM	#13
DaveInPA Senior Member Join Date: January 20, 2008 Location: Berks County, PA Posts: 1,106	Seems there are two companies called mastercast? One has much better prices. . . .what's the deal there?

March 22, 2008, 08:50 AM	#16
Travis Two Member Join Date: September 27, 2006 Posts: 63	www.pennbullets.com. +1 on performance.

March 22, 2008, 11:45 AM	#17
WESHOOT2 Senior Member Join Date: February 20, 1999 Location: home on the range; Vermont (Caspian country) Posts: 14,324	small quantities for testing gunbarrel and process Yep, Penn Bullets. And ditto LazerCast. And Beartooth and Cast Performance. Test, then know. Then buy zillions........ But make it a 230g RN for fun shooting. __________________ . "all my ammo is mostly retired factory ammo"

March 24, 2008, 04:30 PM	#18
skipjack Senior Member Join Date: December 10, 2002 Location: Maryland, USA Posts: 140	What diameter is your bullet? You will get leading if it is smaller than groove diameter.

March 24, 2008, 07:04 PM	#19
WSM MAGNUM Senior Member Join Date: September 30, 2006 Location: Maryland Posts: 750	A+++ for Mastercast. I just ordered 1000 225gr. TCFP cast bullets. Loaded up 10 test rounds yesterday with 5.5gr Unique. Fearing that they were going to lead up the barrel and concerned about the smoke most people complain about from Unique, I shot 10 rounds with beautiful results. No leading, hardly any smoke. Good accuracy. Unique is not smoky or dirty. Unless you have the old Hercules Unique. The Alliant Unique is clean. __________________ Henry - Life NRA Member, USCCA Shield Member If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?

March 24, 2008, 07:39 PM	#20
Eric M. Senior Member Join Date: January 26, 2007 Location: Forest Lake, Minnesota Posts: 307	Precision Bullets--www.precisionbullets.com These are lead bullets with a black coating. They don't need to be waxed because of the coating. They are by far, the most accurate bullets that I use with my 1911's. Their bullets are spot on when I weigh them. Not even a tenth of a grain off, and the last batch that I received a couple of days ago, costs only $95.00 per thousand, with no shipping costs. Your order takes a couple of months to complete, but the guys at Precision always keep me informed of what is going on. They also don't charge you until the order is shipped. I use these strictly for shooting at 50yds because of their great accuracy. I learned about Precision from a post on Firing Line sometime ago. Eric __________________ NRA Chief Range Safety Officer NRA Pistol Instructor NRA Life Member DNR Certified Firearms Safety Instructor 37 yrs

March 24, 2008, 10:55 PM	#22
DaveInGA Senior Member Join Date: December 13, 2005 Location: Flowery Branch, GA Posts: 132	The ones I cast myself out of wheel weight alloy using a Lee six banger die. Regards, Dave

March 25, 2008, 09:54 AM	#23
WESHOOT2 Senior Member Join Date: February 20, 1999 Location: home on the range; Vermont (Caspian country) Posts: 14,324	easy metering, clean burning Still pretty dirty in handgun; better than old in shotgun; instead recommend ballistic-equivalent Universal Clays. "Universal" __________________ . "all my ammo is mostly retired factory ammo"

March 25, 2008, 12:33 PM	#24
joerockt Member Join Date: October 2, 2006 Location: Temecula, CA Posts: 67	+1 for Mastercast I've had some issues actually with Mike's bullets, but he has done everything he can to make it right. For some reason, when the bullets show up, many of them have the lubricant detached from the grove. It happened with the first batch of 1000 and it happened with a replacement batch of 500 he sent me. We can only conclude that USPS is abusing the box. He said its extremely rare for this to happen. Has anyone else encountered this? __________________ "How 'bout you, Lash Larue? Can you keep your spurs from jingling and jangling?" -The Wolf

March 25, 2008, 12:46 PM	#25
freakshow10mm Junior member Join Date: January 23, 2008 Location: MI Posts: 1,398	Some lubes are stickier than others. Some are sticky enough to handle brutal shipping and some aren't. The lube I use is pretty darn sticky, but holds up nicely in shipping and is low smoke.