OT Gun Show/XTP

[dennie]

Went to the gun show at Sharonville (Cincinnati), Ohio Sunday. What a difference a year makes! Last winter you had to wait in line about an hour to get in the place, that is, after you found a parking spot! Sunday, no problem, parking available and pretty much business as usual inside. There was a nice crowd, but not jam packed. I saw a few lever guns but most were .30-30. I was looking for a .357 or .22mag. No luck.
I do not know where all the SKS and AK type guns come from, but that is mostly what was there. (Except for the dump truck load of junk knives that should have been left overseas! Why do people buy this stuff?)
Not many primers at all, some Remington and an off brand SP, and quite a few shotgun primers.
Anyways, I bought some Hornady XTP to try in my .45 autos. I bought 100 of the 200gr and 100 of the 230 gr. Thought maybe y'all might have some pet loads for these. I have a Colt stainless Commander, a Kimber stainless Commander, and a Para P-10.45 that I have been loading only lead rounds for them. The P10-45 was mostly a jam-o-matic with factory FMJs, but runs well with shorter lead reloads. I want to see if it will run on the XTPs. Must admit tho, I can load the lead rounds for less than half the cost of the XTPs! And, the lead rounds can prolly do anything that needs doin'.
Has anyone tried the XTPs in the short barrel autos? Do you have a favorite powder for these?
I have Unique, Universal, HP-38, and W231 on hand.
Thanx for your help.
Dennie

[Ray Newman]

dennie: interesting & timely thread. Last week-end, 3 boxes of Hornady 230 grain XTP HP followed me home from Cabela's.

I wonder what would be a good load for a Marlin .45 Colt??

[dennie]

Ray, I have a Marlin CBC with a 20" octagon barrel, and a Navy Arms M92, and could use that info as well!
Thanx for the reply!
Dennie

[Hobie]

Well, HP38 and W231 are the same powder...

I would check a manual but IIRC I load 6 gr. Unique under 230 gr. jacketed bullets in the .45 ACP. Seat to the correct LOA.

[dennie]

Thanx, Hobie. My pistols seem to like Unique. Do you use a light crimp, or no crimp?
It was raining today when I got home from work, and with the switch back to EST it is dark at 6:00PM. Bummer. Maybe I can try it tomorrow.
I am finally thinking of getting my CCW and would love to find something that will work in the P10.45.
BTW, thanx Hobie for this great site! I check it nearly every day, even tho I do not post much. I remember a preacher friend telling me that it is better to let the world think of me as a fool, than to open my mouth and remove all doubt!

[J Miller]

Dennie,

I don't have my 45 ACP data handy, but I've got two comments.

First; the only crimp that is proper on the .45 ACP is a taper crimp. All that does is flatten out the case mouth to remove the residual bell from the belling operation. Every die manufacturer makes a taper crimp die.
I use RCBS.

Second; If your P10-45 chokes on FMJ ball ammo there is something wrong with it. Period, end of story. Any 1911 type should feed ball ammo like water through a funnel. If it doesn't, it needs something.

Joe

[dennie]

J Miller, I bought this P10.45 at a gun show years ago and was so disgusted with it that I did not touch it for years. It took a couple of years before I got a complete mag thru it without a stoppage! I started reloading about 4 years ago and found that it liked short rounds much better than long ones, and lead much better than metal. It also seems to like 200gr loads the best.
It shoots very well with the right loads. Now that Para has a business in the USA I may see if they can make it run 100%. My biggest prob with it now is the slide locking back on occasion. I am very observant to be sure I do not hit the slide release with my thumb, but still will get a slide lock now and then. Maybe a little more lube, or different lube on the internals. I want to love this little pistol, but cannot if it does not run 100%.
Thanx for the post.

[JReed]

dennie: interesting & timely thread. Last week-end, 3 boxes of Hornady 230 grain XTP HP followed me home from Cabela's.

I wonder what would be a good load for a Marlin .45 Colt??

I don't have any .45auto advice. But for .45colt I load the 250gr XTP's over 6.2gr of TiteGroup. It burns really clean and a little goes a long way. I get 950fps out of my trapper with this load. Not fast but great for home defense.

[adirondakjack]

For the Marlin or a 92 in .45 Colt, or of course a BH or vaquero, a 250 XTP and 21.5 grains H110 is a good load.

In ACP, whatever the max load is of Power Pistol or Blue Dot and the 200 would be my go to in a short barrel. The 230 at ACP pressures is not gonna reliably open.

[Buffboy]

Unique is a bit slower than necessary for 45acp but will work. I find that shorter rounds, in general, feed through the 3 45s I've used them in, better too. My 230gr RN cast load is at 1.200 in overall length and has fed wonderfully, accurate too. I can't recommend going that short without the use of a cronograph in load development to make sure you're not getting too high on pressure. Pressure signs on 45acp are hard to read and it's real easy to get too hot without knowing it. Stay at or below(I stay toward the low end) the listed velocities and you can fudge the length quite a bit, safely.

That's not a problem with the hollow point or flat point rounds as they will be shorter than the ball anyway. Use the recommended length from the Hornady book and you should be fine.

[txpete]

+1 on titegroup.excellent with cast or jacketed loads.fwiw I use the lee factory crimp die on ALL my 45 acp and 9mm reloads.it works.
pete

[Buffboy]

Your slide lock problem may be a weak spring in the slide release. As the 1911 relies on friction from this spring(also the safety spring), not a detent, for holding the slide release down, this may be your problem.

IMO the ball ammo problem comes from every manufacturer wanting their guns to feed with hollow point or flat point/wadcutter ammo. A lot of magazines have a little longer lip(than the old ball GI mags) to keep the shorter hollow point ammo from releasing too early from the magazine. That's why a lot of guns like the shorter ball. GI spec mags work great for ball in a 1911 but don't always feed hollowpoint ammo reliably. That doesn't fix the problem for other manufacturers but the shorter ammo does, usually.

[dennie]

Finally got around to loading some XTPs. I used 6.0gr Unique with the 200gr XTP. It shot very well in my P10.45. It was a little dirty, not bad.
I then loaded some 230gr XTPs over 5.0gr of Bullseye. These shot very well in my Colt Commander, and to the same POI as hardball. That's cool.
I know this isn't much of a test, as of yet, but the XTPs seem to work well for me.
The XTPs cost me about three times the cost of my lead reloads, so I sure won't be loading truck loads of them.
Thanx for everyone's input.