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I bought some 296 since sportsmans wharehouse has been out of 231. My friend recommended. I have a reloading manual but it does not list 296 under .45 acp. I looked online and it 296 only comes up for magnum rounds. Has anyone tried it and can recommend a safe load?

296 is for magnum loads try some Bullseye or something similar if you can't get 231.

296 is way too slow for 45acp. Even in the 45 colt it would only be good for hot T/C - Ruger loads. If your friend is an experienced reloader then you must have misunderstood him. Titegroup, Clays, Unique, Bullseye, or Longshot will work in the 45acp. There are others but these are all I can think of for now.

Houston1944 wrote:296 is way too slow for 45acp. Even in the 45 colt it would only be good for hot T/C - Ruger loads. If your friend is an experienced reloader then you must have misunderstood him. Titegroup, Clays, Unique, Bullseye, or Longshot will work in the 45acp. There are others but these are all I can think of for now.

No that was my point: he was at the store and pointed it out. I will give him grief when I see him next week. thanks for the replys.

Don't rely on your friend for loading data - you did the right thing by checking out a reloading manual. (Actually, I recommend checking out more than one - or cross checking the one you have with the powder manufacturer's on-line data - as multiple sources are unlikely to have the same misprint.)

For .45 ACP, my "standard" load is a 230 grain cast bullet on top of 4.8 grains of 700-X powder. This essentially duplicates ball ammo (albeit with a cast, not jacketed, bullet) and is cheap, clean, accurate, and reliable.

My "target" loads for paper punching consist of a 200 grain cast SWC on top of 3.5 grains of Bullseye, which clocks at a mild 650 ft/sec. Upping the charge to 4.2 grains adds about 100 ft/sec to the velocity.