A bullet question

rlphvac

solid fixture here in the forum
Grumpy I bought some bullets and they were advertised as 9mm,40 cal., and 45 after loading 50 rounds for the 45ACP I noticed the size was .452 not 451 that I've always used then I noticed the 9mm were .356 and the 40 cal were .401. The 50 I loaded for the 45ACP seated normally and didn't seem tight. I could break the ones I loaded down to use them in my 45 colt I have run .452 diameter through it with no issues. Do you think that these will be OK and safe to use most of my guns are newer guns so I wouldn't think there is a lot of barrel wear on them
 
youll most likely see better accuracy and no pressure issues, a typical 45 acp, is a lower pressure cartridge and most handle jacketed .452 fine!
Id have started a grain lower than the listed start load and worked up at about 1/2 grain steps and watched for issues but I would not expect to see any, realistically with reasonable powder charges.
most 45 acp have .451, most modern 45 colt revolvers use .452, most old colt revolvers use .454.
as a general rule best accuracy is found with hard cast, pistol bullets in a 45 acp with bullets .001 over bore groove diam.
obviously measuring your true bore diam. would not hurt , but I doubt youll have any issues at all
 
What about the 40 cal and 9mm do you think I'm OK with them ? I rarely go near max charge for plinking I usually work somewhere around midrange unless I'm working up for something in a special load. All these loads are just for plinking
 
yes the same applies,the minor increase in bullet bore diam, is usually beneficial to increased accuracy, especially with hard cast or plated bullet designs,
provided max listed powder charges are not used
Ive found both my glock 10mm pistols prefer the larger .401 bore diam bullets
and certainly the use of .356 9mm is rather common,
start loading with the lower powder charges listed and see how your pistols function.
most pistols tolerate, the minor difference in projectile diam, without issue a few with tight chambers may not function relieably
obviously its smarter to start low and work up on the powder charge level in small steps, keep an eye on case expansion and primers.
youll occasionally see guys jump into loading looking for the top listed velocity loads and trying to use those, thats almost always a recipe for problems,
its better to start low load 10 test cartridges, mark the cartridges then step up a 1/2 grain,(pistol cartridges ) and load 10 more,
repeat until your close too listed book max or see case expansion or other pressure indicators
and try to find the most accurate , not the necessarily fastest loads (rifles generally tolerate a 1 grain step)

measure case diameter on several factory loaded ammo ,
fired cases, in front of the extractor groove
,
twice,at 90 degrees apart, twice,
then measure your reload fired cases, the same way, and compare them,
as long as your reloads case size generally does not exceed that diam,
your pressure level is fine
caseex.jpg



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http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/new-reloading-manuals.2379/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/just-started-reloading.6253/
 
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I have from my Hornaday book a charge of Power Pistol from 5.5 min. to 7.1max I loaded 50 with 6.2 I will just set them aside and start with the lower min and work up from there on all the loads that I have except I probably not go near max just for plinking I usually try to find a load that will fire ok in all my pistols and try to stick in that area. I always use factory ammo in my carry guns because I read somewhere that if you ever have to use the gun in self defense having your own loads gives the low life lawyers more reason to try to convince a jury that you are a deranged gun nut because you load your own killer ammo
 
let us know what you find best and most accurate
, and let us know if you find a particularly accurate load,
or some that don,t function well.
 
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