Thread: 45 acp 200 gr LSWC with Unique, high fps, feedback from other folks

Curious if anyone has had experience using Unique for 45acp with a 200gr. LSWC. Reason I ask is I worked up some loads using the following:
6.4 Gr Unique
200 Gr Laser Cast LSWC
CCI300
Crimp @ .470-.471

Accoding to he Lyman manual these should be mid 800 fps. When I chronographed it showed a 5 shot average of 1120.4 FPS, std dev 14.9fps. I was surprised at the measurement. I disassembled 5 rounds and re-measured and they were all at 6.4 Gr. Looking at my other manuals this seems that it may be correct.

Was curious what other people are getting as this seems very hot!

fast for 45. What is your accuracy like, from stable platform? If you have good accuracy and like the load, use it.

High FPS does not come for free. I've not checked any of my manuals, but with this being so much faster than listed I would be fairly concerned.

Any pressure signs?

My favorite load for the 45 200 swc is 4.0 grains Bullseye. Just enough to function a 1911. Excellent accuracy low recoil. I have been using this load for many years. IPSC Major Power Factor load is
200 swc 8 grains of AA#5.
My midway loading manual for 200swc lists Unique charges from 4.8 to 7.0 grains. It looks like you are under the upper limit.

There are two possibilities. One is that the chronograph is wrong. I know, most will swear that their chrony is right on, especially when it's showing speeds faster than expected but it does happen.

Second is that the data is incorrect. All my available data for this load shows speeds in the range of 900 fps. Only time the speeds exceed 1,000fps in published data is when using a jacketed 200 gr bullet with just over 7 gr. of unique.

I would be paying close attention to any pressure signs and maybe use someone else's chronograph to see if the speeds are repeated.

No sings of overpressure. Primers looked good, case looked normal.

I thought the same thing about the chrony, however I was using it on other loads (Bullseye and True Blue) and other calibers and it seemed inline with what I expected.

I noticed in the manuals that Lyman lists a considerable max charge then the other folks. Now I am trying to decide to I disassemble the remaing 30 or put a heavy spring in the 1911 and roll with it.

Thanks for all the replies, you guys are great.

Matt

I like the combo of Unique & 200gr hard cast... but that's a heavy charge. Lyman's 45acp data seemed really hot to me. I follow Alliant Powder's recommendation for Unique (Alliant Powder - Reloader's Guide), and its a smooth shooter.

I always reference at least two or three different sources before I start whipping up a reload, just to sanity check the load data before I proceed.

Speer manual # 9 shows 6.9 gr of Unique as the low and 7.3 as the high for a 200 gr jacketed bullet. I am using 7.0 grains of Unique (I always round up the low load to start) with the 200 GR RN Laser Cast and it is very accurate and really does not seem overly 'hot' with no signs of overpressure.

My friend had a .45 load with a 230g bullet do the same thing over my chrono. Way high velocity and not much deviation. Turns out we were too close to it and the muzzle blast was doing funny things to it. Backed off to 12-15 feet and things normaled out

running 230 grain RN plated bullets with 6 grains, they work.

I loaded and fired several hundred 45 acp last year with 5.5 gr Unique and the same bullet. Those chronographed high 700s, to low 800s and were accurate.

Your velocity with 6.4 gr is within what I would expect, and is within published data.

However my pistols all shot cast bullets better with the charge noted above.