Ever since I got my first .45 Colt firearm I have had issues with the available factory ammunition. Most of it is extremely wimpy cowboy action ammo that, at least in the case of Magtech, is extremely dirty to boot. But this year I've noticed that Sellier & Bellot made .45 Colt ammunition has been available in local gun shops. It has been quite difficult to get hold of, with several stores only having a single box of ammo available and thus making ordering from them uneconomical. But I did manage to grab one box of S&B 230 grain FMJ when buying something else, and had the chance to shoot it. Naturally the battery in my chrono was dying so I only got a few readings, but out of my 4" barrel S&W 625 a three shot average came to approximately 870 fps, giving the round a power factor of 200. Out of my Winchester 94 Trapper, the average of four rounds was 1227 fps for a power factor of 282. Not crazy hot, but that's not what I was looking for - I just wanted something that's above CAS mouse fart power levels and doesn't foul the gun as badly as Magtech loads. This S&B ammo fulfills both requirements so for factory ammunition I'm quite pleased! Especially since I never did manage to upgrade to a proper reloading press, the funds always ending up going to something more vital. So I am quite pleased to find an alternative ammo source to my Lee hammer loading kit. Reloading with that thing is just so very, very slow and tedious work.
S&B also makes.45 Colt ammunition with a more traditional 250 grain LFN bullet. I've yet to try that one due to the aforementioned difficulties with actually getting my hands on the ammo. Has anyone else tried it? The published specifications seem to indicate that this might be a wimpier load, but without trying the ammo you never know - the published specifications do not always correlate with reality very well.