Loading 185 HPs for 1911?

[Capt. mike]

Haven't loaded 45 in a hot minute and never loaded anything beside 230 plated ball. I got some rainier 185 plated HP bullets and they are for my GI 1911 rock island. I remember having an issue with OAL in my last 1911 but OAL didn't matter to the glock. These are strictly for the 1911 so anybody have a sweet spot for the light HPs. Ill be going for 4 digits on these possibly higher, gonna use longshot as thats what I've been using for everything else but Ive got a pound of blue dot I can use too but cant find any loads for the 185s especially plated.

[Rumbler]

I'll check my notes, but I can't recall loading anything that light in years and years. :(

[Capt. mike]

I remember thinking that when I picked these up

[Capt. mike]

I remember having a 1911 mag that had instructions on it stating that 1911s prefer x.xxx OAL for proper function.
I have 1.22 written down but its so old I cant remember if that was the before or after

[Rumbler]

I just checked Hodgdon's COAL data for .45ACP 185gr and all the list is a jacketed semi wadcutter. :(

They list that at 1.125.

However . . .

I find references for your bullet anywhere from 1.115 to 1.250

http://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=388697

Now a tad of opinion based on experience; the right COAL is going to be very dependent on your individual pistol. Primarily three factors:

A) Barrel feed ramp throating.
B) Barrel ramp polishing.
C) Recoil spring "weight".

Were it me, I'd crank out a couple of dummy rounds, probably starting in the middle somewhere between 1.115 and 1.250 and see if they function smoothly manually feeding them. Then adjust in or out if necessary. That way you won't actually consume any of your components (as long as you have a bullet puller).

[mapper]

On cases that index off the mouth the plunk test is what I use...
The oal data is ok to get close, but the chamber will tell your oal length..

http://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=435838

There are other post on this it is just the first one that came up..

I Agree with post 5...they all are diffrent..

[Capt. mike]

The Hornady 230 XTPs that I have loaded in it are 1.24 so Im gonna start there and see where it goes

[Capt. mike]

And to bring up another lively debate I only have a little bit of 45 brass laying around and most of it is SP. Is the small primer brass any stronger or weaker than LP. Im running wolf SP and LP in these

[mapper]

Lyman lists
185 jacketed swc 1.135 oal, and 185 jacketed hp 1.175

Lee lists
185 lead at 1.210 to 1.240
Lists 185 xtp at 1.200 to 1.230
Lists 185 jacketed at 1.135 to 1.210
(These are minimum oal- longshot is 1.135)

As to the sp brass, I use it when I can't or don't want to retrieve brass...

[Rumbler]

And to bring up another lively debate I only have a little bit of 45 brass laying around and most of it is SP. Is the small primer brass any stronger or weaker than LP. Im running wolf SP and LP in these

"Stronger" I don't have enough knowledge to voice an opinion I would be comfortable with.

But I can tell you that based on chronograph results small primers are a little "slower" than large primers. I'll normally bump a load up .1-.2 if I developed it using large primers then switch to small primer brass, in order to get the same velocity.

[Capt. mike]

Hand cycled them through 2 mags without an issue gonna try and test them out tomorrow

[Rumbler]

Excellent! I'm sure that you don't need me to tell you that is a very promising sign.:headbang:

[Capt. mike]

Used 8.5 of longshot (this is .5 past max for jacketed so don't try this at home) and ran them out to 1.24" with just a light crimp so I dont get bullet setback. My experience with longshot is that with light plated bullets it usually needs a little extra powder to get them going compared to jacketed and heavy ones. I based the length off the hornady rounds so if they hand feed I think they should run, ill report back soon thanks for the help.
Also a bit of advice these plated bullets are a pain in the ass to get them seated without cutting the thin plating. I ruined the first 4 or 5 and kept flaring the cases out to the point that it wasn't improving. The lee chamfer tool (I think thats what its called) is your friend with plated bullets and the excessive flaring isn't necessary. Just run a few turns in the case mouth and get a smooth edge and the bullets will go right in.