Powders for the 45 acp

[Big joe]

Gentlemen,

Just bought a Taurus 45 acp. I've never reloaded for this round before. What is a good powder or two to try for bullets 200 gr. on up?

Thanks

[dovehunter]

I have been using predominantly Unique or SR-4756 with 230 gr. hard cast round nose bullets. These may not be and probably aren't necessarily the best powders for the .45 ACP but I use them to load for several other calibers and Unique for virtually all my shotshell loads. Both seem to give pretty good accuracy - at least within my capabilities. If I had to choose between the two as to accuracy, I believe Unique would have a slight edge.

[Adam Helmer]

Big joe,

The .45ACP likes a variety of powders. I use Unique, 700X and Red Dot in my 200 grain SWC cast handloads.

Adam

[Rocky Raab]

For a century now, the military load has been 5.0 of (non-canister) Bullseye. That'll still work just fine with the Bullseye we buy.

Many other and newer powders will work just as well. TiteGroup is a new favorite because it burns so clean and uses such small charges. Clays is a Bullseye rough equivalent, as are 700X, RedDot, Solo 1000, Nitro 100, and a few more.

Lots of people like a slightly slower powder for what they perceive as a milder, slower recoil. Unique and all its near-clones fill that bill. Universal Clays, W231, Green Dot, American Select and others are included.

That's about as slow as most folks go, this being a round with a very high expansion ratio that indicates a fast powder to burn efficiently.

[Jack]

The good news is, there are a whole lot of powders that work well in the 45 auto - especially if you reload shotguns, as a lot of shotshell powders work nicely.
All the powders others have listed are good recommendations. To those, I would add AA #2, AA #5, and WST.

[skeet]

I happen to use Win 231 not necessarily because it's the best but when I bought the Dillon 1050 at an auction it was set to load 231 and i got a lot of the powder at the auction...so that is what I shoot. But listen to Rocky or any of the others .. All suggested powders will work. 700X Red Dot Green Dot and especially Unique are my favorite mid range pistol powders.. And I have a lot of those powders because I used 'em for shotgun. Especially Unique in the 20-28 ga.. 357 44 Spec and Mag..

[Ol` Joe]

I don`t think you can make a bad choice of powder for the 45acp as long as you use one that is on the fast side of the burn chart. As to my personal take on powders, for target and general plinking you can`t beat Tite-group or VVn320 with any type/bullet weight. I also like PowerPistol or VVn340 for jacketed self defense or heavy hunting loads. The VV powers are so much cleaner they are prefered but do cost more.

[mrmiskin]

I must admit that I have not been on in a while and it is good to see the old format. One suggestion I think Moderator Jack should either stay on all the time or get an away button instead of the off button. "I'm just saying"

[mrmiskin]

I must admit that I have not been on in a while and it is good to see the new format. One suggestion I think Moderator Jack should either stay on all the time or get an away button instead of the off button. "I'm just saying"

[Jack]

Mrmiskin, you are not the first person to suggest that I am 'off'. ;) Maybe not even the first person today. . .
Seriously, I generally stay logged in here all the time, so, I guess I show as 'on'.

[muskrat30]

Hey, even I get the joke.

I use Tightgroup & H Universal in the 45 acp. I'm usually loading 200 grn RN plated bullets.

[dovehunter]

Here's another vote for Unique. I am not saying that it is the best but it does pretty well in my M1911 and, I guess more importantly, I always have it on hand because I use it for virtually all my shotshell reloading. I have also had good luck with SR4756 - which I only use in handguns.

[Seawolf1090]

I began my .45ACP handloading with Red Dot, and it does well. Had bad experience with Unique - burned dirty and gunked the Colt M1991A1 up to the point of failure in only a few magazines. Read elsewhere that Unique is best done for hotter loads to make it burn more completely(?).
Now, I have settled on Bullseye for most of my handgun loading - the main exception being .357 Magnum (I prefer Lil Gun).
AA#7 is also very good in the .45ACP for cast loads.

[Larryjk]

I have burned many thousands of 200 gr. SWCs through 45 ACPs over the years and used principally W231 and Bullseye. I run them about 800 fps., sometimes faster as in meeting the IPSC power factor. I use commercial cast 200 gr. swcs and haven't had any leading problems. Of course, both barrels have been polished by all of the bullets that have passed!

[Gil Martin]

I have loaded Unique for many years and really like it in the .45 ACP. All the best...
Gil

[elkman12]

Well here is my 2 cents worth. I had someone load for my 38 and 45 years ago and they used shotgun powders. My fingers had a lot of residue from these types. SO, one day years back when the new Hornady 185 gr xtps came out I started to ask questions of engineers from several companies. I was not getting Hydro-Shocks to mushroom with my 45 auto. ( stack up wet phone books and give it a try). I was told by Hornady the best powder to use was Winchester 231. Get up to 900 fps area. I found this to be a very good clean powder that works well with xtps. They ALL mushroomed. The next I phoned Hodgdon. I wanted info on 308, 300 win mag ,7mm mag. The new powders are more stable than some on my old favorites. i.e. IMRs. They recommended Verget for 308 and Retumbo for mags. Problem is some of these are harder to find. I know a lot of people use shogun powders for pistols by I think there are better. The Verget and Retumbo did good but like some people I still like my IMR powders. Force of habit I guess. But I sure like Win231 pistol powders far above all.

[6.5s4ever]

I have been reloading several years for the 45 ACP 1911 type pistols,
I have used Bullseye (the dirtiest powder there is) Unique a little bit cleaner,
Win 231 , Clays ,Universal Clays and now am using Winchesters WST and
am staying with it. Gives me very accurate loads and is super clean!
Try WST I think you will like it a lot! :) Just my 2 cents!
Regards 6.5 :D