Tried the Lee 160gr 45acp bullet today

[chris in va]

Talk about a weird bullet. It's wider than it is long.

The Hodgdon site suggests a 6.5gr minimum charge of Universal for their 155gr SWC lead bullet, and in all honesty they felt similar to a 40S&W round. Kinda snappy, like a hefty 9mm. Not the 'big roll' of a 230gr.

I also tried 5.5gr but it didn't cycle the slide at all. Not enough dwell time to send my CZ's slide back far enough. I may try 6.2gr to see if the snappiness can get cut down some but still function. The 230 grainers get 4.7gr of powder to give you a reference point.

Interesting experiment!

 

[g.willikers]

I tried the 155 SWC in a 1911, once upon a time.
It definitely didn't feel much like a .45.
But it wouldn't feed completely reliably, unlike the 185 and 200 swc bullets, that do.
Fun to play with, though.

 

[Scharfschuetzer]

Chris,

I tried a 155 grain SWC style of bullet once in my 45 too. With a light main spring, it functioned OK, but I never got the accuracy with it like I did the 200 grain SWC. I never bothered to chronograph it, but I suspect that it had a pretty high SD too. If my memory serves me, I was using either Olin 231 or Bullseye powder under the bullet.

Perhaps I could have developped it into a better load, but it just didn't seem to be worth the time. Now with lead getting to be expensive or harder to find, it might be an alternative way to stretch that 10 pound pot of lead a little further.