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Posted: 8/13/2012 6:53:26 AM EDT
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After some setting up and experimenting, this is what I have come up with for my first reload. I just wanted to get thoughts from the hive before actually expending any reloads.
Bullet: Hornady 200gr. SWC .452in Primer: CCI 300 Brass: Once fired factory (Remington and Federal LP) Powder: Titegroup 4.8gr charge Gun: XD .45 4inch barrel Used all Lee Dies, with a light to medium crimp using the FCD. And sorry for the cell phone pics! Cartridge OAL 
Case width at the throat. 
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too long won't work A 1.225 OAL looks to recommended in all the load data I have looked at for 200gr LSWC ammo. The 4.8 charge is the starting load also recommended. Can you elaborate? Drop it in the chamber....I bet it stops before it chambers. The squared shoulder of the trunicated or flat nosed bullets will usually contact the rifling before completely chambered, if exposed to far. you normally won't have that problem with round nosed bullets. I almost always have to seat deeper than what the books call for with that type of bullet. Maybe you'll be lucky...but I'd test them in the chamber first before wasting a trip to the range. |
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It looks like the shoulder of the bullet will prevent the round from completely chambering.
You can check this by removing the barrel from your pistol and then using the barrel as a drop-in gauge. The base of the cartridge case should be even with or slightly below the hood of the barrel. |
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You can get a .45 ACP Maximum Case guage pretty cheap.... or you can take out your barrel and drop it in and see if it seats.
I put the bare minimum 'taper' crimp on my straightwall auto ammo since it is the "case mouth" that stops bullet in the chamber. You want just enough taper to hold the bullet in place when it chambers and no more. Did you trim all your cases down to the recommended length? I didnt see a measurement of case length. Also as mentioned before...you are going to have to experiment with the OAL on those since the bullet was primarily designed for the .45 Long Colt. Just dont take those to an Indoor range....Range Officers won't allow you to shoot lead bullets indoors. Did you cast these yourself? Just wondering why the lead? JJ |
| i dont have experience with swc in semi autos, but looking at what others are saying, i think you may have chambering and cycling issues. then again the xd may eat whatever you give it. xd's have traditional rifling as i understand it, so i dont think that would be an issue like it is for glock and h+k. i would remove the barrel and try to drop a round in the chamber to see if it does fit. if you do have issues but would like to stick with lead, may i suggest ball bullets? ive loaded .45 lead ball for my 1911's, and they seem to cycle decently |
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Thanks guys. I did drop it in the chamber, and everyone was correct, it is a touch too long. I did some experimenting with OAL and the chamber on the XD, and found 1.190 to be about the max length it would accept without pushing into the rifling. My brass length is at .893, so I did not do any trimming.
The reason for lead? Just price to be honest. I was planning on 230gr FMJ, but found the lead for cheap, and found load data for it, so I went for it. I appreciate all of the feedback. Obviously, I am willing to go through some supplies to experiment to figure out what works, and what doesn't. I just don't feel like blowing my pistol up in the process. I will get to the range this week with a couple of different OAL rounds and see what happens starting with some light loads. |
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Here is what I do.
Draw a diagram of a 230 round nose, to scale of course. lay your loaded round on top of drawing If any part of your bullet is outside the lines then it is 'probably' too long. think of the bearing surface of the bullet where it hits the feed ramp, this should match the profile of the 230 at some point ymmv just make a few and test them (I had loaded way too many too short one time, and way way too many too long another) |
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Looks good overall. I haven't used lead SWCs in a long time, but I think I had to load them longer than that to get them to feed in my 1911s. Never tried any of those loads in an XD or a Glock.
I just chrono'd some TG loads last week, 230gr lead round nose, 4.5gr Titgroup at 1.258" gave me an average velocity of 850fps. |
| Definitely run a small batch first as the XD's tend to have problems feeding SWC's regardless of OAL. Nothing wrong with going to lead due to cost. There are some round nose options for you as well. I'm trialing some IDP#4's from Missouri Bullet Co that so far run great in my XD. |
| Consider working up a few small batches of different charge weights. It's good to start at the minimum recommended weight, but you might get to the range and find out that it isn't powerful enough to cycle the slide on your pistol. Also, if feeding is a problem you can usually track down 200 gr. round nose flat points for close to the same price as the LSWC Here are some from Missouri Bullet Company. |
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