David Bradshaw Photos - Vol. XLVI

[Lee Martin]

Freedom Arms M83 .454 Casull 4-3/4" with .45 ACP cylinder. Leupold 4x28mm LER scope with factory target turrets and Duplex reticle. Leupold Dual Dovetail mount & rings. Federal #45A 230 FMJ, circa 1980. 50 yds----5x5=2.6"; 4x5=1.7".



Fed 45A 230 FMJ at 100 yards----4x4=4.1"; 3x4=0.5". Correct, last three shots into 1/2-inch from a football field away. Raised scope 30-clicks from 50 yd setting for first shot, which hit high. Came down 6-clicks for 4x4 group. Had never seen 3x3 .45 ACP print 0.5-inch @ 100 yds. Wouldn't bet a nickel on seeing it again. Nevertheless, 4-inch group @ 100 yds with ball ammo is excellent anytime.



Wolf (Russian) .45 ball with copper jacket 230 FMJ and lacquered steel case, 50 yds----6x6=5.8"; 5x6=4.1".



Wolf 230 FMJ @ 100 yds----5x5=7.6"; 4x5=6.8". No accuracy deterioration from 50 to 100 yards.



Winchester Super Match 185 FMC (Full Metal Case----same jacket-forward construction as hardball), circa 1960. This bullet was the bullseye shooter's answer for 1911's to the .38 wadcutter in revolvers. Very tight @ 50 yds----5x5=1.3"; 4x5=0.9".



Winchester short semi-wadcutter 185 FMC from around 1960 at 100 yds----5x5=5.6"; 4x5=3.9". Cone of dispersion four times 50 yd group. Bullet designed for bullseye tournaments out to 50 yds.



Handload of commercial cast 197-204 grain short semi-wadcutter, plain base, over 5.1/231 in R-P .45 ACP case, with Federal 155 magnum large pistol primer. COL=1.130". Without standard primers at time of loading, mag primer was substituted. Notes show velocity of 793 fps from Les Baer 1911 5", with 5x5=8.8" @ 100 yds. (Did not shoot this load frm M83 @ 100 yds.)



Federal Cartridge Corporation military contract 1962 Match 230 FMJ. Headstamp "FC 62 Match." 50 yds----5x5=2.3"; 4x5=1.8".



FC 1962 Match @ 100 yds----5x5=3.6"; 4x5=1.2". Rather extraordinary accuracy at 100 yards. Not because ammo is half-century old, but because great care must be taken to achieve uniform jacket thickness with round nose.


Match ammo side-by-side @ 50 yds----Winchester 185 FMC SWC and Federal 230 FMJ.



... and compared @ 100 yards.



-Lee
www.singleactions.com
"Building carpal tunnel one round at a time"

[cmillard]

fine shooting!!!

[bradshaw]

cmillard.... this is mainly an exercise to compare a couple of pedestrian loads and match loads at 50 and 100 yards from the M83 .454 Casull with .45 ACP cylinder. Shooters trying their .45 ACP for the first time at 100 yards should prepare for the bullet to drop 18" to 24" from 25 yard ZERO. When you throw a pumpkin ball with the ballistic coefficient of a barn door at around 800 fps, gravity takes a bite.
David Bradshaw

[cmillard]

have you ever tried the Bill Wilson load (200 grain laser cast with 4.5 grains n-310). I have found that in all of my .45 ACPs, this load shot phenomenally. I recently dropped my jaw on a new load for one of my .45s (FN .45 tactical). shooting a home cast swc lee mold (255 IIRC) with linotype and supermoly (I think it ends up weighing at about 238 grains) sized .452 and 5.5 grains of longshot with wolf lp primers and Winchester and cor-bon brass. with my FN, I got 1 inch groups at 25 yards. want to test with virgin starline brass and at 50 yards to see how it does. also want to try in my springfield trophy match. if this load shows consistent results, I will try extending the range more.

[Markbo]

Do you have an idea on the belocity of that n-310 load? Is that a target load or warm?

[cmillard]

i want to say it was under 900 fps. it is a nice, soft shooting load and feeds flawlessly--more importantly, extremely accurate

[Markbo]

My fav is 5.0gr Titegroup undrr 200gr cast or plated. May need to get me a pound of N-310 & compare

[bradshaw]

cmillard and Markbo.... Win 231/HP-38 (both are 231) seems to be one of the more versatile powders for accuracy with a variety of bullets in .45 ACP. Other powders, which may shoot tighter with a particular bullet, often are more bullet-particular. An inaccurate bullet cannot be made to fly straight by any powder. Nor can an accurate bullet be made to fly straight from an inaccurate pistol.

As the above targets indicate, some bullets which are accurate at 25 or 50 yards do not hold tight at longer range. With target .45 ACP developed for tight shooting at 50 yards, accuracy out to 75 yards tends to remain excellent, yet spreads noticeably by 100 yards. A load must be accurate beyond the target.

Evidently, the long nose of the Hensley & Gibbs .452 200 grain SWC helps it hold accuracy. Whereas, accuracy from a short 200 short SWC deteriorates rapidly beyond its specified use.
David Bradshaw

[cmillard]

bradshaw, all I can say is wow! great shooting and I really enjoy your posts and learn a lot from them. can't wait til it warms up so I can get out and shoot a little more than I do in winter.

[jayhawker]

When I was shooting early IPSC (late 1970s) the 200 H&G was the standard.

[bradshaw]

AxeHandle.... DB Vol. 46 (XLVI) with a couple of groups of .45 ACP match SWC and Hardball @ 50 and 100 yards. Sandbagged from Freedom Arms Model 83 .454 Casull with .45 ACP cylinder, 4-3/4” barrel, 1:24” twist. Leupold 4x28mm LER scope with Leupold target turrets in Leupold Dual Dovetail mount.



FC 1962 Match @ 100 yds----5x5=3.6"; 4x5=1.2". Rather extraordinary accuracy at 100 yards. Not because ammo is half-century old, but because great care must be taken to achieve uniform jacket thickness with round nose.

Match ammo side-by-side @ 50 yds----Winchester 185 FMC SWC and Federal 230 FMJ.



... and compared @ 100 yards.