Tested 45ACP with Red Dot

[The_Shadow]

Tested 45ACP with 5.5 grains of Red Dot under the Lyman 185gr cast Devastators HP's at 0.4525".  Velocities were averaging 920 fps from the Glock 30 with factory barrel and recoil spring.  They feed great, COAL was 1.2000" CCI 300 LP.

[Yondering]

I haven't used Red Dot much, but use Bullseye for 45 ACP target loads with a 200gr SWC cast bullet. I'm generally not a fan of the fast powders like Red Dot and Bullseye in the 45 for mid to full power loads though; I've gotten much better accuracy with slower powders.

Got a picture of your 45 Devastator bullets? Those are pretty cool designs. I've been hollow pointing some of my molds recently (figured out a link system for multiple cavities that actually casts faster than a solid bullet mold). Your mention of the Devastator made me think of this one, it's a Lee 200gr RF cowboy bullet converted to a giant hollow point, similar to the old 200gr "flying ashtray". It expands pretty well at low velocity, but can be pushed up to 1150 fps in my 45 Auto for reduced penetration. It feeds well in my Glock 21, but not in a 1911.


Here's another conversion, this one is the Lee 230gr TC, it casts at 224gr now (removing the bevel base added some weight back). I didn't make the hollow point as deep, so expansion is pretty controlled. This was at 910 fps, similar to the 230gr Black Talon in the picture.

[The_Shadow]

Yondering, Thanks for your report.  Those are some very nice looking bullets, and impact performance is very useable.  You can see why they started using jacketed bullets to hold the bullets together more above the 900+ fps.  I'm surprised the 1911 didn't want to feed them, it has been said that the 1911's would even feed empty cases.  Did you try that Lee 200gr RF cowboy bullet at slightly longer seated COAL?  I see it has a cannelure as part of it's design, that maybe outside the casing if seated longer...

The Red Dot was a purchase that was made from a guy wanting to sell it locally and supplies were very much lacking (Thanks "O" Communist).  So I was testing it at some of Alliant's 2006 data with the cast bullets...I think it burns cleaner than Bullseye.

I have tested the Devastators with Blue Dot, Power Pistol, LongShot, IMR800X, Bullseye and now the Red Dot.
Now to get my stuff together and try powder paint coatings!   

[Yondering]

The meplat on that 200gr RF bullet is just too wide for 1911's. It's a revolver bullet. It does feed, but dings up the nose on the feed ramp pretty bad. In my Glock 21, the nose doesn't even touch the feed ramp. It will feed empty cases.

Regarding jacketed bullets for hollow points over 900 fps, that's conventional thinking, but not necessarily true. It's all about the depth of the hollow point. As velocity goes up, the depth of the hollow point should decrease, until at a certain point only a flat nose is needed for expansion.

Here's a 9mm Mihec 357-125 HP bullet, where I modified the hollow point pins to a shallower cone shape. I run these as a +P load; expansion in this pic was from 1220 fps impact velocity. As you can see, expansion was very controlled. This same bullet with the original hollow point just fragments at that velocity. The alloy was air cooled wheel weights, no different than I use for most everything else these days.

[Shaunny Rotten]

We also load 5.5 gr of Red Dot, however it's under a 225gr RNFP lead bullet from DRG.  I don't have any hard data on it but from the felt recoil it's just shy of a factory load.  I'm not the most accurate pistol shooter in the world, however the accuracy seems to be on par with any of the factory ammo I've shot.  It's a great plinking round and it has cycled every 1911 that I have ran it through.  This round was developed for SASS Wild Bunch matches, however it has become the only .45 I shoot any more.