Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Would you ever load hardball for defense?

Thanks Mack. I was curious if the SWC would feed properly in the 1911.

I will find a few to purchase for trial in 38 Super and 10mm before purchasing molds.

In my experience the H&G #68 (200 grain LSWC) or a close approximation, loaded to 1.250" OAL, will feed about as slick as hardball in properly speced 1911s.

But not because that's their first choice.

Exactly.

What may have been best back then may not be the best option today.

Do you have a favorite mold?

Thanks Sarge.

You're welcome.

I don't cast. The last batch I ordered was from MO Bullets and they shot & fed real well for me.

https://missouribullet.com/details.php?prodId=56&category=5&secondary=13&keywords=

Words like ever and never are absolutes.
And should be used carefully.

Yes, I absolutely would "ever" load fmj.
Hell I would load marbles or rocks in a shotgun. If desperate enough.

But I wouldnt pass up good, reliable, expanding ammo for defense.

Cooper was active into the era where the 1911 was available in decent platforms. He also made statements that Hardball produced one-shot stops in 9 out of 10 cases. A couple of studies concluded it was more like 6 out of 10. Certainly in Cooper's heyday, hardball was as good as anything else and certainly more reliable than the platforms of the WWII/Korean War era and about two decades thereafter.

I’m not Mackey but the RCBS 45-200 is what I use and it is a great mold and bullet. I load it over 6gr Unique and shoot it out of a 5” 1911 or a 5” S&W 625. It’ll break both shoulders or both hips and exit on 100lb pigs. When I peeled the hide off the two I shot last week with the 625 they both had a softball sized area of bloodshot around both the entry and exit wounds. I imagine that at higher speeds they would be even more devastating as far as wound channel width.

Yes i do, 230gr Hornady FMJ flat points and 200gr Lehighs in 45 ACP,

140gr Lehighs in 10mm

115gr Lehighs in 357 Sig, 38 Super, and 9mm.

Loaded for two and four leggers, and barriers around house, farm, vehicle.

He's sure spot on with this as well.

I concur with his opinions on this thread. Being a 1911 guy, (pretty much exclusively) for the past 35 years myself, his experience with all the above bullets parallels mine.

I'm not as concerned about FMJ's in a .45 as I would be in .38 or 9mm calibers. Early on in law enforcement I learned that the last thing you really want in a self defense bullet would be a RN FMJ, or a RNL. If you have to use FMJ in a handgun, make it a .45, because comparatively, it's already "expanded" when 200 plus grains hits the target, vs a 158gr or 124 gr round nose .38 round.

While I don't cast (I don't have the time) I do prefer the H&G #68 bevel base as Sarge mentioned above. It is the classic, and pretty much the standard by which all others are judged. I have been using those since the early 90s.

In fact I have a couple coffee cans that I have saved to remind me of the "Good Old Days". There was an old gent who shot out at the Boise Rod and Gun club that cast #68s. He was a legit 3 war vet. He served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. He would cast a coffee can full of bullets, 1,400 of them for a whopping $30.



My buddy Jim, who is the co-owner at the Milt Sparks Holsters shop would pick a number of cans up from him when he was shooting bullseye with the old gent.

I have kept these cans for about 25 years now under my bench just to remind me of how good we had it at one time.

Today there are a number of makers who produce a similar bullet as it is one of the most popular bullets made for the .45 and for good reason. It is perfect for target work, hunting, whatever and you can load it up or down the scale, velocity wise.

I load for some folks locally here (as well as not so locally) and will probably do a run of 200 grain SWCs pretty soon. Maybe this next week here, but I have to get some 10mms and .38s done first.

Gotta catch up with the .44s first.

While I don't hunt pigs, your observation about the terminal effects mirrors my own in shooting Mule Deer and coyotes, various livestock and similar size animals.

Good information!!

Back when I was casting, I used the older RCBS 45-201KT bullet, it was a fuzzy bit more blunt than the current bullet (wider meplat), and it had a flat base, no bevel. I used them with 7.0 Unique, or 5.4gr. AA#2, or 5.8 231, depending on the timeframe. I used them for IPSC shooting, and had good results with them at the '89, '90, and '91 Nationals. IIRC, they chrono-ed at about 975fps, which was a bit more than necessary, but they sure smacked pepper poppers down hard. I still have about 1500 or so of those loads and use them for general, all-around shooting and fooling around.
I also used an NEI bullet the 452-205N, a truncated cone bullet that weighed 205gr. with wheelweights, Sierra brought out a Tournament Master bullet that was very similar to that one, in 200gr., but I never bothered to try them. They needed a bit more powder to reach the same velocity, so I didn't use them too much, but they were good shooters, too.

I have enough of those loaded that I rarely bother to search out and buy HPs or even ball ammo, for that matter. I have a lot of faith in them. A big meplat is probably about as good as even the newer HPs.

Ball ammo in 9mm and in .45 is all I carry.

No, but I wish to help you make the right choice. This is modern state of the art design that is affordable to buy.....

I use the flat point ball for plinking, practice, and carry. A decent meplat will do some damage. 230s for me in my 1911s and P-220. Be Well, RZ.

Carry Ball in my 9mm and my 1911's.

Keep your opinions. You load your guns, I'll load mine.