[muddcatt54]

I've been loading 9mm off and on for the last few weeks some days a lot some days a few. Today I changed the Dillon over to 45's I couldn't look at another 9mm it was time to change I'm running low on 45's anyway. It's too hot to be outside for any length of time for me anyway as I get older the heat seems to bother me more and more.I am glad that I moved the Dillon inside its comfortable loading bullets out of the heat in summer and the cold in the winter.
Now that the press is set up for 45's i plan on leaving it that way for awhile I still have powder that I have yet to use in the 45 and I'm curious as to how it will shoot with them. I also have some W-231 on order it shoots great in the 9mm I'm hoping it will work well in the 40 and 45 because it really impressed me with the 9mm problem is I only had a small amount my neighbor gave me back when I first started loading pistol rounds.
Has anyone else ever just got tired of loading one caliber. Sometimes I just need a change

 

[muddcatt54]

That's good to know I could hardly believe the group's I was getting with the 9mm

 

[muddcatt54]

Getting back on topic, with my Dillon XL650 press, I tend to go into production batches of 2000 rounds or so, depending upon Bullet Supply. I've never tired of loading any one Caliber, but that's just me.
T p
As for W231, I tried 6 pounds of it back in the thrilling days of yesteryear, the mid 1980's. It worked great in the 9mm. In the .45 ACP, it was only okay performance. Not great.
What I found most objectionable about it in the .45 ACP, was the brilliant muzzle flash, particularly with the 185 and 200 grain SWC target loads.
Later on, I found that it could also produce lower velocity in cold weather temps. Something Match Shooters found out the hard way on a cold (45 degree F) day in Colorado, during the USPSA National Matches.
Some of them were trying to warm up their Ammunition on the hoods of their Cars to pass the Chronograph Tests for Major and Minor Power level scoring. Major Power level being the more desirable outcome.
This particular incident sent many reloaders and serious competitors scurrying away from W231 and onto other powders. Notably, the then new Vihtavouri Powders.

Now supposedly, from some of the chatter on the Internet, the formulation of W231 has been improved, to eliminate most of it's prior bad characteristics, but I've never seen any official press release from Winchester/Olin to that effect. I've not bothered to test any of the newer batches of W231, and probably won't.

While I have tested and used many different Powders in the .45 ACP, I've pretty much settled on Alliant Red Dot as my go-to powder for the bulk of my .45 ACP loading. A big plus for Alliant Red Dot is that it works in quite a few other Handgun loads, notably .38 Special, light 9mm bullet loads, my 12 gauge Trap Loads, and I've been able to find it during Political Induced shortages of Reloading Components. Not to say it's the only game in town, but it's a good one!

Also, FWIW, my favorite .45 ACP loading uses a 200 grain Berry's Plated Bullet over Red Dot for 850 fps, from the muzzle of a Tanfoglio .45 Witness or a bit more from a 1911.

t

RED DOT IS way up on my list also. But I keep reading these forums and go buy a pound to try like CFE PISTOL universal WST HS-6 and some others and have had pretty good luck .With them all