.45ACP 185gr clone load with SWCs

The purpose of this load is to replicate the recoil and other characteristics of the Georgia Arms commercial self-defense load I have in my various .45s, so there's no liability concerns there.
There's no BE-86 to be had within any reasonable driving distance and while Graf's has a good price, the additional $36 or so for shipping is daunting. I'm not looking to stock up a major quantity on this, so even an hour ride to get some would pay.
However, the local shop closest to us does have Accurate #7 and #9, so I may just go that way. It seems that those loads can come close to the BE-86 loads, at least close enough for this purpose.
I do like BE-86's less flash and blast (in my limited experience).

If you have Unique powder on hand ... I would start with a load of 6.0 or 6.5 grains Unique and work up slowly to get the desired recoil / accuracy ...
My pet / favorite load with a 185 gr. JHP (Super-Vel bullet ) was 7.5 grs Unique .

The Speer Reloading Manual #14 - with the 185 GDHP shows a max Load of
8.2 grs Unique @ 1015 fps ... and a Starting load 7.3 grs Unique @904 fps .

Work up carefully to that maximum load ( 8.2 grs Unique) ... it looks like it could get warm .
Load Safe ,
Gary

Have a ton of Unique but it doesn't look like it will work out with these SnS coated SWCs to get there.
Found some (reasonably priced, almost) Accurate #7. I'll give that a go before tossing all that money at hazmat plus shipping.

I think unique would work just fine. :2gunsfiring_v1:
You said +p and unique will get there just fine.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sandspider500

I think unique would work just fine. :2gunsfiring_v1:
You said +p and unique will get there just fine.

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:goodpost:
I Agree ...
If 8.2 grs of Unique wont get you there ... Don't Go !
Besides ... If you have plenty Unique on hand ... then it's the best place to start !
Gary

I just joined Cast Boolits.

My first post was in the Frequently Asked Questions since it seemed to indicate that was the place though it seems somewhat strange for all questions.

In any event, I will not duplicate that post here, but instead a somewhat related question. With different rifling twists, does the hardness of the lead alloys have a correspondence. That is to say, if the rifling is a fairly fast twist, say 1:10" versus a 1:18" twist - would a harder lead alloy be better with the faster twist?

A "normal" 45 auto would generally have a 1:16" twist. However, pushing the bullet faster, will commonly used alloys work well enough, or would harder (or softer) alloys do better.

That seems to come across as obviously the harder alloy should work better but bore obturation with a softer alloy sometimes out paces just going with a harder alloy.

Help me out - I think I'm going is circles with this.

Thanks.

Reloader3- You’re splitting hairs, especially for a .45 ACP. A wide range of alloy will work for you there, and an even wider ranger will work if you do PC instead of lubing.
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Here’s an experiment for you: start with 92-6-2 hardball alloy. Shoot some rounds, checking for leading, if no leading occurs dilute your alloy 50:50 with pure lead. Then you’ll had 96-3-1 alloy. Shoot some rounds, check for leading (I doubt you’ll see any), then if you have good results, cut your alloy again with pure lead, maybe add some tin. If you add 0.5% tin, you might have 97.5-1.5-1 alloy. This softer lead may be fine in your barrel. However, what you’ll find is that your brass case will swage the bullet down causing you to buy a custom expander so your soft lead stays at full diameter in your case. Through all this, I doubt your barrel’s twist rate will come into play at all.
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Feel free to experiment. It’s not a big deal.

Thanks for your insights Justindad.