Kings Shooter's Supply "Better Bullets .45 ACP issue....

[Mus408]

Had very good luck with their .45 Colt hard cast bullets,so ordered some of their 230 gr. .45 ACP round nose bullets.
Now this bullet has almost same profile as the old Speer 4690/91 bullet in that you have a shoulder which is the size of the bullet dia. .452/ .453 sticking out past the case about .050 when seated at Speer's 1.270 COL based on their load data.
Now being soft lead the Speer bullet will slide in with a light push into the chamber until the case lip hits.
However with hard cast lead,as in the Better Bullet, this causes the bullet to bind up when trying to seat fully in the chamber.
I started out seating a few bullets at 1.270 and they would freely seat in my Wilson check gage.
However when I tried to load a couple in my Ruger .45 ACP revolver they would not easily seat deep enough to rotate the cylinder.
In my 1911, slide spring pressure would slam it in but they will not drop in to full seat,like my other loads.
Now if I reduce the COL down to 1.235 the Better Bullets will drop right down into the 1911 chamber and my revolver.
Should I reduce my current 5.8 Unique powder load by .5 grain to reduce any pressure increase if there is any?

 

[Jimbo357mag]

Sounds like a plan. Then see how they shoot and cycle. Were you close to Max. If you have a chrono you could check the velocity.

 

[Jim Puke]

That sounds good, to me.

My 1911's have to have 1.25-1.26 COL to reliably seat bullets...as long as I keep them in that range, they are good to go. Gotta make the bullets work in the gun and adjust from there. I use 5.6grs of 231 for most of my 45acp loads...never tried Unique.

 

[SweetWilliam]

I have a Colt Gold Cup that will shoot anything I feed it. But my Ruger cmd. Is real finicky with oal. I have to seat the bullet a little deaper.
I kept the powder charge the same with no problems.

 

[Mus408]

Looking at some 230 and 260 gr. JHP load data in my Speer manual,I see these two with a 1.200 COL.
Now with a hollow point that 230 and 260 gr. of lead has to made up somewhere and it's at the base as in closer to the powder.
The 230 gr. starts out at 5.4 and max is 6.0 and the 260 is 5.8 to 6.3....so from this I may be okay at my 5.7 to 5.8 range.
Another lesson learned...just because it drops great into the check gage,doesn't mean it will function in the gun!