Steel .45 shells and reloading

I'm new to .45 and have experience in .38 for many years. I have confidence in my reloading .38/.357 after at least 100k reloads but I don't know any of the nuances for .45. To get familiar with the .45, I plan on just shooting a few K of factory loads. I like the price of Wolf brand cartridges but I am concerned about using steel cases. Can they harm my new Springfield? Is it wise to consider reloading the shells? With my .38, I got the cost down to about $.02 to reload using my cast bullets from scrounged type and wheel weights. I'm getting old now and don't like the idea of casting anymore and I can afford a few more cents per round than I could as a kid. After pricing out the components and factoring the time for reloading...it's a wash, but I feel the need to dial-in the right load for me, the .45 and the circumstances. I will only be punching paper. What projectile will suite my needs best without significant problems or mods to the gun? I'd like to leave it stock and consider building the next one from experience gained on this one. Maybe pin shooting or Bullseye down the road.

Although you can reload a steel case it's more trouble than it is worth. You can buy Starline brass at http://www.starlinebrass.com/ You can also buy once-fired brass or pick up brass off the range.

You didn't mention which 45 cartridge you were interested in but I suspect you are referring to the 45 ACP because you mentioned 'Springfield' . I will go on the assumption that you are indeed talking about the 45 ACP cartridge. The 45 ACP cartridge is a simple round to reload for. It has a straight wall case, relatively short length, will handle a number of different types of powder and has a wide selection of bullet weights and styles to choose from.. Just stay away from steel cases if your intention is to use the used cases for reloading purposes. Stick with brass cases. Either purchase new cases, or purchase factory ammo that has brass cases or purchase secondhand once-fired 45ACP brass case at a gun show. Just don't use steel cases for reloading.

A good bullet wt/design to start off with is the good old 230g. lead round nose bullet. This bullet is standard and also the easist for any semi-auto to feed. If your gun can not reliable feed a round nose bullet then it surely will not feed any other type of bullet. After loading thousands of this type of bullet with sucess, then you can branch out from there. As far as powder selection, W231, HP-38, Red Dot, Blue Dot and other fast burning powders should be tried. As I mentioned, the 45ACP is a very easy cartridge to reload for. Oh, BTW, use a tapper crimp rather than a roll crip,,,,but that is how the dies are usually sold anyway.

Good luck.

Sorry about that. Yes, I am talking about .45 ACP. Your advise makes good sense and I'll run factory brass for a while and then I'm sure of the history of brass. I learned a long time ago to keep good records of performance, components and history of brass. What kind of life can I expect from good brass that is well cared for and meticulously scrutinized?

Don't get hung up on the life of a straight wall handgun case life. Reload them until the case either splits down the side or starts developing hairline crack(s) around the mouth,,, then throw that flawed case away and keep going with the rest. A person can probably get 15,20,25 reloads from a case. I really have no solid answer because I have given up a long time ago in counting the number of times I've reloaded a particular case..

I strongly suggest you get one of those 45ACP case gauges (about $9) and run all your freshly reloaded rounds through that. If the round doesn't easily fall in/out of this gauge, then chunk it. You will find the flawed round before shooting it and will cut down on the number of jams and miss feed problems.

Good idea about keeping records. I keep reloading data records for each of my guns because I've found each gun prefers a slightly different load. Not all 357mag revolvers like the same load. Same goes for 45ACP and so forth.

Now for the number of times (and be safe) one can reload a straight wall 40 S&W cartridge that is used in a *Glock* gun only,,,, that is a different answer and a whole new topic that isn't relative here

Ony way to do it, Bubba!

It's already typed. And here it is again . . . ready . . . . Ony

Hickbonics 'only' . . . for your benefit, Bubba!