question for 1911 reloaders

[gregthehand]

I use 5.6 grains of Win 231 in all my .45 and it functions all my 1911s just fine.

Edited to add with a Win 230 gr fmj bullet.

[jhutto]

I use 5.1 of win231 with 230 fmj

I use 5.4 grains win 231...
winchester brass
Hornady #45160 230grain (hp) XTP
winchester large pistol primers.
OAL 1.230
850 FPS

[drinks]

In my MKIV/70 1911, I shoot a 200gr cast rn with 7gr Universal, this gives me 1000fps from the 1911 and 890 from my 1917 S&W.
A nice target load and has never failed to function in the 1911.

[G.C.Montgomery]

It's been a couple years since I've had to buy powder but the need has finally arisen. But VV has gotten a bit more expensive in the last couple years than it used to be. So, it's time to find a new powder.

Does anyone here reload with Green Dot in .45ACP? I'm very interested in hearing about Hodgdon's LongShot, Ramshot True Blue, Winchester Super Field or possibly Accurate Number 2 or Number 5 if anyone uses them.

[BobCat]

G.C.,

Yes, in .45 ACP, with 200 grain lswc, 4.5 grains of Green Dot is interchangable with 5.3 grains of Unique as far as feel and point of impact. It may be cleaner than the Unique load too.

Both of these are very light, soft-shooting loads. They cycle properly in a standard 1911 with standard recoil spring, but are very far from max.

I also use Green Dot in light .357 mag loads for short barrels. It is versatile.

Regards,
Andrew

edited for clarity/content

[G.C.Montgomery]

Sorry for hijacking the thread folks...It was late and I honestly thought I'd posted this to an all new thread. Thanks for the info BobCat.

Venus, as others mentioned, the starting load you wrote about is pretty light. It was one of the very first loads I used when I started reloading nearly ten years ago. It's not quite a squib but it's not far off.

Until recently, I've been burning 5.2 grains of Vihta Vouri N320 to push a Rainier 230gr plated hollow-point at 830-850fps with Winchester Large Pistol primers. I've also used VV N350 which gave more consistent velocities but lots of flash and trace amounts of unburned powder left over in the bore.

One load I shot for several years in USPSA was a Montana Gold 200gr jacketed cone bullet over 5.3 grains of VV N320 with Winchester Primers. This was a soft load with almost no flash, great for indoors or night shoots. The only reason I stopped using it was that I'd switched to carrying 230grain Gold Dot defensive ammo and wanted my training/practice ammo to be very similar.

As noted above I'm looking for a new powder. I generally try to stick with loads that a ballistically similar to my defense ammunition. That generally means I don't shoot much in the way of lightweight loads in .45ACP. One advantage of shooting heavier bullets is it's generally easier to make "major" at lower velocities if you shoot in USPSA.