.45 ACP in .45 LC Loads

[87iroc]

Am going to get in to .45 LC reloading and I already have a 1000 .45 ACP bullets on my bench. Can I use the same bullets? Some of mine are lead, some are coated. They are all 230 gr RN bullets. I did a google on it and I see mixed results.

My take is on my new .45 LC gun, the size is the same between 45 LC and 45 ACP...but there's a discrepancy in lead vs coated. I need to look in to that.

It appears that Xtreme doesn't have a perfect sized coated bullet for my 45 LC.(I was looking at their 255 gr bullets. Thought I'd get 250 of them to try them out).

Anyway, all the threads I saw on other forums had some saying one thing and some saying another.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

 

[Leadeye]

No reason why you can't, I've run lots of Lee cast 230 grain TL bullets through my Ruger 45 LC. It's one of the ways I keep hot 45 LC out of old revolvers like my Colt New Service. Round nose is good to go in anything.

 

[ghitch75]

i run 230gr RN in all my 45Colts......as leadeye said just keep hot stuff(anything over 1100fps) out of the old stuff.....

 

[rxer]

I know people that have. Might want to check the length as I thought it might be more difficult to get the proper length out of the 45acp bullet in the 45colt case. The other problem you might encounter is the 45 colt is supposed to have a crimp groove and crimped but the 45 acp doesn't. Depends how much of a crimp you plan on putting on them. I do put a roll crimp on the 45 colt because they are being fed into a lever rifle not sure it would matter that much in revolver.

 

[warthog]

I use the same bullets in 45 ACP as well as 45 Colt (e.g. 230g plated semi-wadcutters) but I also use some bullets in one I don't use in the other. They are the same diameter so, as rexr says, the only real worry is OAL. If you can make that work then go ahead and use the same for both.

 

[Leo]

Old .45 COLT revolvers took a .454" cast soft bullet. Hard alloy cast .452 would not do too well, no safety hazard, but poor accuracy. Modern manufacturered .45 Colt revolvers are happy with ,452" bullets. If you are shooting them in a revolver, any bullet nose will work including a wadcutter. How much bullet that is in the case affects the pressure, not nose shape. You do need to crimp them firmly to keep the bullets from getting pulled out from inertia during firing.

If you want to try something fun, load round balls. That was one of the original factory loadings. It is a whole different game to get a pretty accurate round ball load out of a cartridge firearm.

 

[87iroc]

Thanks for the info guys. I think I will try out some 230 gr bullets in it. Mine is brand new so I gather the .452 works.

I see lots of bullets that are .451 dia...is that bad or is it just less accruate?

 

[oldpink]

The only two caveats to using the same bullets you fire out of your .45 ACP out of your .45 Colt would be lead hardness and crimping grooves.

The former issue won't be a problem as long as you load to standard factory load levels out of the .45 Colt, but it could be a big problem if you have a Ruger Blackhawk or other gun that allows you to up the ante, as it were, and you go from factory load 850 fps 255 grain loads up to 1200 fps.
The reason is that soft bullets will badly lead your bore and chamber throats, so you'll need to switch to hard cast if you intend to go substantially above factory load power levels.

The latter issue could be a problem if -- as with most jacketed bullets intended for autoloaders -- the bullets lack a crimping groove or cannelure.
Since you'll be shooting in a revolver, a decent roll crimp is essential, and bullets lacking a cannelure make it tough to prevent the safety risk of bullet slip under recoil.
I encountered this problem when I jumped before thinking and bought a box of 230 grain Speer Gold Dots for my Ruger Blackhawk .45 Colt, not realizing that these particular bullets lack a cannelure.
Recognizing the potential for trouble, I fired up my Rockchucker and loaded up six, then went to the range with the Blackhawk.
I fired one at a time, ejecting all of the cartridges with each firing to see if the bullets had slipped.
I didn't notice anything after the first shot, but after the third, there were noticeable scratches on the unfired cartridges' bullets from where they had slipped partly out of case under recoil.
I load very stout, with maximum charges of H110, so it's possible that this wouldn't have been a problem with a mild dose of Unique or Red Dot to duplicate factory load levels, but I instead just gave away the rest of the Gold Dots to a guy I work with who has a .45 ACP.
It wasn't worth the anxiety of a kaboom if something went wrong.

 

[87iroc]

Loaded up some 45 ACP 230 gr LRN bullets I had from Indiana Bullet Co today in my .45 LC cases. OAL was the challenge as was said. I had to drive the bullet WAY deep in the case to get the overall length short enough for the .45 LC. Was past the crimp groove on my bullets but did the crimp anyway which took some force to form(had to crush the lead). I didn't try any plated bullets as they didn't have a crimp groove and I was more trying it out than anything.

Regardless, the light loads of titegroup I put behind them did OK. Felt nice in the SAA. Had a definite different feel than the 200 gr factory cowboy loads I had bought. I ran 10 or so rounds through the gun. They all functioned fine.

I suspect I don't want to be doing this long term? I need to get the correct bullets for the .45 LC with the groove in the right spot? Or is this normal when running .45 ACP bullets in a .45 LC and it will be fine...just loosen the crimp up some?

Thanks!

 

[sloughfoot]

I am on a parallel track. I loaded up some 200 LSWC, .452 bullets that I have used for years in my 1911's in some 45LC cases with the same powder charge of W231 that I use for my 255 LSWC's in the big 45.

Heavy roll crimp, crimp groove nowhere to be found. OAL length? Sticking out of the case with the crimp ahead of the lube groove..

I am going to shoot them out of my modern S&W 25 tomorrow. I can post the results.....

 

[87iroc]

Sounds very similar. I have 45lc data for my loads. Crimp groove is main concern.

I haven't checked gun for any leading or other issues. On mine it was odd in that you could almost feel the exploding powder inside the chamber then a pop as the bullet released.

 

[87iroc]

I was looking on some of the different bullet websites. The .45 ACP and LC 'universal' bullets appear to have a crimp groove ahead of the lube groove. I'm just used to crimping in the lube groove I think. Most just had a second recess to crimp in to. I believe my loads were just too heavily crimped. Looking at my 230 RN bullets, there is a slight groove right at the base of the nose that would be about perfect for a crimp I think. I can make it work for a few loads I think until I figure out what I want to do. Bullet will look a bit funny I think so far recessed in...but it should work OK.

 

[87iroc]

Loaded up 20 bullets today with the 45 ACP RN's in the 45 LC cases. Minimum OAL with Titegroup is 1.58 and I loaded them 1.60X length. They look very good, low effort to crimp just past where the nose starts. I think they'll work just fine. Hope so! It will be great to have the same bullets for both guns...save the 'stock' I have to keep on hand!

 

[scooter 583]

new to reloading, looking at hardcast .45s I am going to use for acp and lc I see some are .451 and some are .452

 

[wolfman]

Thanks for the info guys. I think I will try out some 230 gr bullets in it. Mine is brand new so I gather the .452 works.

I see lots of bullets that are .451 dia...is that bad or is it just less accruate?

The proper size for Jacketed is .451 since the bullet rides on the lands and does not seal the barrel.
Proper size for cast is .452 since the rear of the bullet expands on ignition effectively sealing the barrel completely.

 

[scooter 583]

Thanks wolfman