Lead Bullets in a 1911?

[LionsFan1911Man]

I have never fired lead bullets through my 1911 because I was warned long ago that lead bullets are bad for pistols. Recently I was told by one of the most knowledgeable men I know (and hands down the best shot I have ever seen), that he uses lead bullets in his 1911 all the time and that is causes no ill effects. ???????????? I am wondering why I've rejected such a cheap option for years because they are "terrible for my weapon" and now have been told that is ridiculous. Does anyone have any first-hand info on this? The guys who told me lead bullets are no good have never used them, while the guy telling me they're fine uses them regularly. Anyone else want to weigh in on my situation? My favorite piece is my Sig Tac Ops 1911 and I want more opinions before I start feeding it lead...............

 

[CalebToNowhere]

I reload and shoot no less than 5,000 200gr RNFP through both of my 1911's each year. Both guns shoot great.

2011 Colt Government
1999 Kimber Compact Stainless

Both guns love the load!

 

[rustygunner]

Shoot 200Gr LSWC all the time.

 

[CalebToNowhere]

Some people get all bent out of shape over fouling, but if you just do a great job of cleaning the gun you'll be fine. Personally, a good couple hours cleaning after a shoot is half the fun to me.

 

[CalebToNowhere]

Shoot 200Gr LSWC all the time.

Not sure why but I don't have that much luck with feed with the LSWC. That being said, I've only been reloading 1.5 years so I'm sure that there is a huge amount of things that I will eventually learn. We never really stop learning, right?

 

[rustygunner]

5.0Gr TiteGroup behind 200Gr cast LSWC Win LP primer, 1.121" COAL IIRC; had to adjust overall length until the load would cycle 100% reliably. Clean as lead can be and accurate.
I started using a brush made for .50BMG a few years back to remove fouling. Quick and easy.

 

[rustygunner]

Not sure why but I don't have that much luck with feed with the LSWC. That being said, I've only been reloading 1.5 years so I'm sure that there is a huge amount of things that I will eventually learn. We never really stop learning, right?

I had to play with the overall length quite a bit to achieve 100% reliability.
If I recall Correctly (pretty sure I do), my loads are at 1.21"

 

[sloughfoot]

Not only is the 200 LSWC backed with 5.7 grains of 231 my choice for training and competition with the 1911, it would be a dandy SD round.

I have many thousands of rounds through many 1911's with this round.

I did discover that the Glock 21 does not like this round, however. The lead plugs up the firing pin channel.

 

[bwframe]

Those of us who shoot competition prolly wouldn't if we had to buy all jacketed bullets. I have run +/- 20,000 through my gun.

A couple thoughts:
If you get leading;
- Don't worry about it as long as you continue to shoot lead
- Don't try to clean leading with jacketed bullets, it works until it doesn't.
- If you must clean the leading, Copper Chore Boy makes it quick/easy.

My load, along with many others, is 4.3-4.5gr Clays behind a 200gr LSWC or 200gr LRN. 1.25 AOL +/- .005

I prefer to spend a touch more to get molly coated bullets to avoid messy bullet lube and handling lead directly. I might well go back to lubed bullets if there was a significant $ savings.

 

[LionsFan1911Man]

Those of us who shoot competition prolly wouldn't if we had to buy all jacketed bullets. I have run +/- 20,000 through my gun.

A couple thoughts:
If you get leading;
- Don't worry about it as long as you continue to shoot lead
- Don't try to clean leading with jacketed bullets, it works until it doesn't.
- If you must clean the leading, Copper Chore Boy makes it quick/easy.

My load, along with many others, is 4.3-4.5gr Clays behind a 200gr LSWC or 200gr LRN. 1.25 AOL +/- .005

I prefer to spend a touch more to get molly coated bullets to avoid messy bullet lube and handling lead directly. I might well go back to lubed bullets if there was a significant $ savings.

Are you saying I should shoot only lead if I decide to shoot it? As in, don't buy what's on sale and shoot that and lead?

 

[bwframe]

Are you saying I should shoot only lead if I decide to shoot it? As in, don't buy what's on sale and shoot that and lead?

I'm sorry, I wasn't clear. What I meant was don't shoot jacketed bullets through a heavily leaded bore without cleaning first. Some folks believe the easiest way to remove barrel leading is to shoot a few jacketed bullets after a session of lead bullets. I ringed a barrel this way.

 

[45-70]

I shoot nothing but my own cast loads in all of my 1911's and have no issues whatsoever with them. These are the 200 grain hollow points I usually shoot cast from 50/50 wheel weights and soft lead. Just make sure the bullets are large enough to seal the bore, I say that because many of the commercially made cast bullets I've run across are undersize and that is not a good thing.

 

[woodsie57]

Another thumbs up for cast R.N. in .45acp! Match made in heaven!

 

[rockhopper46038]

Lots and lots of 200g LSWC being shot here!

 

[giovani]

200 gr round nose from Big Iron Bullet and 6 gr of HP 38 is what I use in a1911.

 

[Adrian8]

Its not going to change anyones' mind but I am one who will not shoot lead.. 1. because of the lead fouling 2. I do not want to touch that stuff.

 

[Cat-Herder]

I shoot many, many thousands of 230gr LRNs out of my 1911s. My handloads are, by far, more accurate than anything I've shot off a shelf.

You're always going to find guys that swear up and down it's "dangerous" and "bad for your gun" and "impossible to clean"...and whatnot, and to those guys, I say "Keep on buying all your ammo."

That means fewer people casting their own, and more materials on the market for me!

For such a low-pressure, low-velocity round as the 45ACP, the only reason NOT to cast your own is because you have deep pockets. Or you're SKEERED.

 

[Sniper 79]

What do you think people used before jacked? I load and shoot my own and have not bought a factory round in years. I am currently working up some loads with lead bullets for some of my other guns. They are super cheap but the trade off is a little more cleaning at the end of the day. Most accurate bullets I have shot out of my 1911.

 

[dukeboy_318]

I've shot a ton of 200 Gr SWC and 230gr RN in my 1911, I don't get any noticeable leading. The key to prevent leading is A) use the correct hardness for your velocity and/or add gas checks. and B) use the right lube.

For 45acp, I use a .452 diameter sizing die and lube with 50%Alox and 50% beeswax, some people use .451 but for me, .451 seemed to be a tad undersized. Also, there's no need to Gas check 45 acp, its not fast enough to warrant it.

For lead, I use a 8lb to 2 lb ratio of wheel weight lead and range lead respectfully. I also, drop straight from the mold into a bucket of water, thus water quenching them. Its over doing it a tad and makes the bullet harder than it needs to be but its working and giving me great results.

 

[BE Mike]

The world is full of know-it-alls who really have no idea what they are talking about. The person who told you not to shoot lead bullets out of your 1911 is one of these. When I was shooting a lot of bullseye pistol competition, I would shoot jacketed hollow points for the slow fire match at 50 yards and switch to lead for the timed and rapid fire matches at 25 yards. I would do this twice (centerfire match and .45 match). I never noticed a problem in accuracy or a problem with lead build-up when switching between jacketed and lead bullets. During practice, I would use lead bullets exclusively. The only time a person might have trouble with lead build-up is if the barrel is rough, the ammo isn't loaded properly or the bullets are improperly sized.