Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns 45 super load vs velocity

I have loaded up some Missouri Cast 215 WFN Hi-Tek coated bullets in starline brass using AA#7. I used #7 instead of PowerPistol or others due to reading that it was flash suppressed vs seeing a fireball at night if needing to be firing at a bear in a tent or on the trail.
I have the data from when Triton had load data for their 45 super. It listed for a 200 xtp 14.6 grains at 1214 fps and 230 xtp 13.5 grains at 1108. My chrono read an avg of 1300 fps using 14 grain which in interpolated midway between charges given with a bullet midway between them as well. The difference being my bullet is cast and polymer coated.

Am I running too hot? I wonder if the cast and polymer allows for less pressure and higher velocity than the jacketed? I am tempted to drop down to at least 1200-1250 fps probably closer to 13.5 grains of AA #7. I have a 25# mainspring, a flat bottom fps, and a #26 recoil spring. Still ejects out there 12-15'.

I'd recommend getting your ejection down to 6-8 feet

What would you suggest then reducing the load or upping spring rate?

If you are not getting any major pressure signs it sounds good to me...

I'm running Longshot with 230s at 1100 and 250/255s at 1050 which are the velocities Buffalo Bore loads are getting. I had both bullets running 50-75 fps faster than that with no pressure signs but just decided to back off to factory velocities.

As to ejection, my 9x23s, 10mms and .45 Supers all eject quite a ways regardless of the spring combinations I use...

Bob

I would reduce the load

You can go to 28 to 30 lbs on the mainspring, that'll do far more for reducing slide velocity than a heavier recoil spring. It will make the trigger pull slightly heavier and the slide harder to rack back at first, but once you get the FFP up on the hammer some, it goes smoother. You can also cock the hammer back before you cycle the slide.

You are already higher on the recoil spring than I like to go, 20 lbs being about the most I've used.

I could live with 12 feet, just replace springs more often than you would with .45 ACP.

Vic in Va, I double checked my recoil spring and it is #20 I had a brain lapse when I typed the #26. I am dropping the load to 13.5 grains and see how it chronos along with ordering a #28 mainspring. That together should help.

Good.

One more trick I tried was a Wilson Multi-comp bushing Compensator. It replaces the barrel bushing and really is not that efficient, but it will add mass to the slide and slow it down.

The downside is that it requires a special plug or guide full-length guide rod, but ejection was about 6 feet with it.

It also made the pistol's handling to degrade a little. Right now it is not on the pistol, but I change my mind a lot.

You didn't say for sure but it sounds like we're talking about a 1911 - if you don't have a flat bottom firing pin stop already, get one. That'll make a big difference even without changing the mainspring. Vic in Va's advice about the mainspring is spot on as well though.

And regarding the load with your cast/coated bullets - you shoud pretty much always expect different results when using a cast bullet for jacketed bullet load data. The cast bullet does have less friction in the bore and can be pushed faster, but the flip side of that is many cast bullets take up more case capacity, especially if you're using a revolver bullet in a semi-auto, and that requires reducing the load to keep pressure reasonable. Other cast bullets can use less case capacity, especially if they're designed specifically for that. The short answer is there is no rule of thumb on this that applies to everything, and at the end of the day the final judgement is up to you as the reloader and shooter if the load is OK.

Also a comment about that bushing compensator - that style doesn't do much for recoil reduction or delaying slide unlocking (it doesn't have the baffle surface area to reduce recoil very much), but can help control muzzle rise/flip.
A good muzzle brake (or compensator, whichever you want to call it) can do a lot to reduce slide velocity and ejection distance, but you'd need a threaded barrel to use one.

I have a G-21 in an Austrian Hi-Point with a Dasan 9" barrel. I have changed out recoil springs and guide rod and my loads so far are from Buffalo Bore. 255 gr maybe? It shoots without a hiccup but I have forgotten how many feet away the ejection is? I haven't seen any frame battering yet. Haven't shot many boxes of ammo yet. Be safe and Be Well, Rustyzipper.

Good statement there, an illustration of that would be my .460 Rowland, which does have an efficient barrel-mounted comp, and can run the same bullet at the same velocity with less felt recoil.



And, besides being barrel-mounted, another reason the .460's comp works better.

.45 Super on left, .460 on right.

Nice looking Kimber Vic...what are the loads running?

I was running a Montana Bullet Works 250 grain LBT in the upper 1100s, but recoil was beginning to interfere with recovery, so I've slowed them down to rhe lower 1100s, I think somewhere around 1125 or so. I apologize for being wishy-washy, but I don't have my notes in front of me.

The reasoning I'm using is that an LBT is gonna penetrate pretty good at 1100 fps, so if I can recover and hit the target again quicker, that would be better than more ft-lbs energy, of which I don't place a lot of value in as an indicator of killing power. I like holes that leak, more is better.

Montana Bullet Works 250 grain LBT.



Meplat comparison of the MBW LBT vs a Missouri Bullet Company Pinbuster, another good bullet.

If 230gr FMJ-FP's ran a good and accurate 1200 fps from an all steel 5" Springfield Trophy Match, id say you were in great shape, brass was piled neatly about 10-12' off my right shoulder, I should have kept that pistol.

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I'd say if you are running 1200 FOS you are over 45 Sipet pressure and into lower end 46p Rolland pressure.

45 Supper pressure is 27 to 28 thousand psi and that us around 1100 FPS

Yep, an old 'crabby' retired Mil/Swat/Sniper/Leo gunsmith Buddy sprung it all up right, he done something to lock/slide release? time too, the pistol was perfect, that guy loves 1911's, old Colt and Winchester lever guns, and hates damn near anything else ; ] bring him any of the above mentioned, he'll smile and happily move you to the front of his line!

You will beat your pistol up prematurely at those pressures without a compensator. What was fine is fine for Super but inadequate for Rowland levek loads

Have to refer back to my first post, "should have kept"...............the Bud I sold it too still shoots it at that level, gave him the load data and set him up with 'Smith who set it up, have heard no bad news from either, 230's at 1200 feel about like what I'd imagine a 44 mag [light] semi auto would feel like.

I don’t know how far a 250 LBT will penetrate at 1100 but it will shoot clear through a broadside deer at 950.