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Well, I bought the Lyman reloading manual for use with my dillon 550, It says for a 230g FMJ to start at 3.8g of bullseye but not go higher than 5.3g with an OAL of 1.275. But the Lee manual says the min AND max suggested load is 5.0g with an OAL of 1.23.

So I guess my question is; Am I supposed to just find a happy median between the two? As long as I stay within the guidelines stated in the Lyman manual? I am mainly worried about 3.8g being too light and not cycling the weapon properly.

I dont feel like I am being to paranoid or anything, I am just a little confused and want to make sure I get this right.

I am using hornady 230g FMJ's with winchester brass/primers and bullseye powder.

I have 25 rounds loaded with 3.8g of bullseye seated at 1.275 (give or take 1-2 2000th's of an inch) and I was thinking of doing the rest at 1.23 with 4.5g of bullseye.

Any advice for a true newbie is more than welcome.

If I were a new loader for .45 ACP, I'd stick with the Lyman data for Bullseye. I'd start w/a 10% reduction of the maximum listed load for Bullseye. Depending on the pound rating of your weapon's recoil spring, 3.8 grains of Bullseye may not even reliably cycle your weapon.

The manufactorer's data site does not even list Bullseye as a suggested powder for .45 ACP
http://data.hodgdon.com/main_menu.asp

My speers manual shows 5.2 to 5.7 grs of bullseye, for a 230gn FMJ, at 1.260 COL

Double check your manual, and make sure your looking at 45ACP and not another 45 cal load.


Dan

I checked last night but I'll double check again when I get off of work, but I am almost certain it said 3.8g of bullseye.

Also, I used bullseye because the Lyman manual had it listed as the most accurate powder for a 230g FMJ.

There's plenty of published data on Bullseye for 45acp. We load & use it all the time. We tend to prefer the Speer manual though. If in doubt, just CALL Hodgdon.

M.D. Smith's pages at http://reloadammo.com/45loads.htm lists Bullseye - 4.8 gr. - 884 FPS for a 230 grain jacketed bullet.

Bullseye is an old-time standard powder for .45ACP, especially for Conventional Pistol (i.e. Bullseye Pistol).

Shoot the 25 rounds you loaded with 3.8 grains. If they cycle the pistol, you can decide if you want more "power" or are happy there. If they do not, then go a little higher until you are happy.

One of the neat things about reloading is getting to experiment. Once you have "worked up" a load you are happy with, just cranking out ammo gets boring. Have fun!

Regards,
Andrew