.45 acp in 2023/24

[RJ]

Please let us know how reliably these feed in your gun(s). What are you going to be shooting them out of?

I have 200 rounds in my cart right now but haven't gone through with it. I've always liked the idea of a large caliber, adequately penetrating powderpuff load with as low/lower recoil than a 9mm std pressure.

Yes sir. I will be shooting my Springfield Garrison 5", with a 19# hammer and 17# flat-wire recoil spring. The gun is up to 1,476 rounds, and has been feeding both ball and hollow point well lately. I plan to shoot The Test (7 round version) with the Gold Medal Match 185 LSWC, back to back with some Federal 230 HST JHP and New Republic 230 FMJ for comparison.


I also plan to run the Hilton Yam Feedway test protocol with it:

10 x Repetitions, Slide Drop (full mag, use thumb to release slide)
10 x Repetitions, Slow Feed (full mag, ease slide forward till breech face touches back of round, release slide)
ALL Repetitions must PASS for the Test to PASS


I dunno if this will be a factor, but since the GMM is noticeably shorter, I measured COAL, compared to the HST:

Federal 230 HST - 1.212"
Federal GMM 185 LSWC - 1.166"
(Source: One round out of the box at random with my Harbor Freight 4" caliper)


One last note, the GMM has noticeable primer sealant over the primer, just like the HST.

[03RN]

Just loaded a batch of 200gr swc over 5.7gr 231. Iirc it runs about 950fps. It's been my go to load since I ran out of be-86.

I need to order some more bullets now.

[RJ]

Yes sir. I will be shooting my Springfield Garrison 5", with a 19# hammer and 17# flat-wire recoil spring. The gun is up to 1,476 rounds, and has been feeding both ball and hollow point well lately. I plan to shoot The Test (7 round version) with the Gold Medal Match 185 LSWC, back to back with some Federal 230 HST JHP and New Republic 230 FMJ for comparison.


I also plan to run the Hilton Yam Feedway test protocol with it:

10 x Repetitions, Slide Drop (full mag, use thumb to release slide)
10 x Repetitions, Slow Feed (full mag, ease slide forward till breech face touches back of round, release slide)
ALL Repetitions must PASS for the Test to PASS


I dunno if this will be a factor, but since the GMM is noticeably shorter, I measured COAL, compared to the HST:

Federal 230 HST - 1.212"
Federal GMM 185 LSWC - 1.166"
(Source: One round out of the box at random with my Harbor Freight 4" caliper)


One last note, the GMM has noticeable primer sealant over the primer, just like the HST.

The good news:

The Gold Medal match appears to group better than the HST, for me anyway. I was able to do three decent 8 round "The Test" runs for a 73, 78 and finally a 79. 79 is the best I've ever done with an 8 round "The Test" run.



The not so good news:

The jury is still out as to whether it runs 100%.

I didn't get any feedway stoppages while actually shooting. However, I did perform a full run of Hilton Yam's Feedway Protocol; 10 reps of fully loaded mags, chambering by slide release, and 10 reps of fully loaded mags, chambering by slowly allowing the slide to contact the breechface, then releasing.

I got a FAIL on magazine A, via slide release. The round got "stuck" in the ramp, at about a 45 degree angle. Hmm. Not off to a good start. And then I did the rest of the slide lock reps, all 9 passed. Then I did the slow feed reps. All passed...until I got around to Mag A again. Fail. I looked at Mag A, but it looks like all the rest. Hmmm. I then repeated the slow release rep, twice more with Mag A. Both FAIL. Hmmm.

So in conclusion, absent Mag A, the test passed. Either the ammo isn't 100%, or Mag A is suspect. I'll probably do some more testing before drawing a conclusion. By the way, my "letter" mags (A, B, C, D) are all stock Wilson Combat #47C 7 rounders. My "number" mags are Wilson Combat ETM 500s with the HD flatwire spring (#1, #2, #3, #4) , or Wilson Combat $500C-HDs (#5, #6) 8 rounders.

Bottom line: I'm pretty happy with the Gold Medal Match so far, the weirdness with feeding aside.

[RJ]

Missed the edit window to add the feedway stoppage with the GMM:

[Chuck Whitlock]

I would suspect mag A. But verify.

[RJ]

@JRV Is this the Wilson ammo you mentioned?

https://wilsoncombat.com/45-acp-bill...p-100-box.html

[Bruce Cartwright]

I used to shoot that H&G #68 loaded with 7 grs Unique, it was perhaps just a little warmer than the mentioned velocity, it had a following back in the 80s as a defensive load. Im not surprised to hear it penetrates well. In the 1968 Colt National Match and little Detonics I was shooting at the time it had about 1 more failure to feed per 1000-2000 rds than 230 gr RN cast loads with 6.5 grs Unique, I ended up dropping it partially for that reason, but i recall it shot well. Its likely a fair load type for the stated use so long as the gun feeds it well. Its got to be a step up from any RN bullet as far as effectiveness. Dad had a bit of it and a similar 185 gr cast swc left from his action shooting days, Its going to take a while to use that stuff up.

Malamute:

Do you still have the Detonics you mentioned in this post? Those were cool guns. I have handled one but don't recall ever shooting one. If you have any photos and could post them up, that would be great. Thanks in advance.

Regarding the cast 185 grain semiwadcutter in the 45 ACP, Ken Hackathorn developed a load using a similar bullet (looks just like an H&G 68 but only weighing 185 grains) and running it at fairly sedate velocities (750 to 800 + feet per second I believe). It is a neat way to keep 45 1911s in service while not beating up the shooter. That load runs reliably in the 1911s I saw him shoot it in.

Bruce

[revchuck38]

^^^^IIRC, that bullet is the same profile as the H&G 68 with the same bearing surface but without the bevel base. It should be just as accurate, just slower to handload due to the flat base.

[JRV]

@JRV Is this the Wilson ammo you mentioned?

https://wilsoncombat.com/45-acp-bill...p-100-box.html

No, this is the ammo.

When it goes on sale, it’s a better buy. If I had to quit reloading for some reason, I’d probably shoot more matches .22 only; stock up on these puppies whenever they went on sale; and save the .45 shooting for state matches, CMP regionals, and a couple training sessions ahead of those matches. Three cases a year would cover everything, four would if I was going to Perry.

[Malamute]

Malamute:

Do you still have the Detonics you mentioned in this post? Those were cool guns. I have handled one but don't recall ever shooting one. If you have any photos and could post them up, that would be great. Thanks in advance.

Regarding the cast 185 grain semiwadcutter in the 45 ACP, Ken Hackathorn developed a load using a similar bullet (looks just like an H&G 68 but only weighing 185 grains) and running it at fairly sedate velocities (750 to 800 + feet per second I believe). It is a neat way to keep 45 1911s in service while not beating up the shooter. That load runs reliably in the 1911s I saw him shoot it in.

Bruce

I do not have the Detonics. It was indeed a cool gun, and ran well, but at the time Arizona had no legal concealed carry, so it was not really very practical for anything I did. I ended up trading it to a guy that wanted it pretty badly, we made a mutually agreeable deal. I didnt take pictures much in those days unfortunately. I think I maybe shot maybe 2500 rounds through it, but never had any problems that I recall other than it had about 1-2 stoppages per 1000 with the 200 gr H&G load.

Dad was into various action pistol games in the 90s, he still had some 185 and 200 gr swc stuff loaded up from when he was shooting more. Its pretty mild from what I recall of the load info but I havent shot any of it yet.