Load Data for Brazos 180gr 45 SWC

Looking for load data for the Brazos 45 180gr SWC/Bevel Base/Groove bullets, specifically OAL and crimp. I'm using WST powder. For some reason the search engine on the site often gives me zero results for any keywords (i.e., 185, brazos, etc.). 

Also, I've never reloaded with SWC that didnt have lube in the lube groove. Zero has lube in the groove, but these Brazos bullets don't have lube. Do I need to do anything additional to reload these bullets?

If anyone can point me in the right direction I would appreciate it. Thanks

Load them as-is. Brazos coats their bullets with Hi-Tek coating so no lubricating is required.  I load mine with Bullseye powder but I use the same charges as with 200 Grain bullets.  I load 4.2 Bullseye..

Same as Wobbly. Load them as they are with the hitek coating.

I shoot irons and my gun isn’t a tight wad gun, so I found 4.0 grain WST under 180 or 200 grain SWC worked better for me. 4.2 was a bit hot for my delicate sensibilities. Lol

PS stock mainspring range officer and a 14 lb recoil spring.

I'm at 4.1 gr of WST with the Brazos 180 flat base, 15# spring. If I had a 16# spring, I would probably load same.

Thanks for the feedback - this helps. Going to take some of these rounds with 3.9 and 4.0 WST to the range tomorrow. Found a OAL at 1.26 and "crimp" at 0.471.

Orion, on your OAL I found that no more than about 0.025 case mouth to shoulder was required to feed reliably. Over 0.030 I’d get a round “bridging” at an angle trying to feed. This is with a Kart barrel replacement for the stock barrel.

Depends on your gun. A wide range of charges has the potential of good accuracy. In my gun I need a higher charge with the brazos than the zeros.

For the LSWC style bullets, I use the recommended measurement of 0.92" from the cartridge base to the bullet shoulder.  I do not measure OAL.  I use the flat base Brazos 180's, with WST I use 4.0 gr at the long line and 3.8 gr at the short line.

You also may want to try a little more crimp with these light powder charges, I crimp to about 0.467 with these bullets.

rburk wrote:You also may want to try a little more crimp with these light powder charges, I crimp to about 0.467 with these bullets.

Thanks for the feedback, can you shed some more light on why I should crimp more on light loads like these? My limited understanding is that crimping is really necessary to the point of removing the bell from the brass and increasing the crimp generally leads to inaccuracies.

Orion wrote:

rburk wrote:You also may want to try a little more crimp with these light powder charges, I crimp to about 0.467 with these bullets.

Thanks for the feedback, can you shed some more light on why I should crimp more on light loads like these? My limited understanding is that crimping is really necessary to the point of removing the bell from the brass and increasing the crimp generally leads to inaccuracies.

IMO, how one measures the crimp is a bigger variable than what the actual crimp is. IMO for a .45 if the bullet is .451-.452 diameter and the wall thickness of brass is .010 -.011 then combined that is .451 or .452 plus .020-.022 thus .. .471-.474. A few thou of crimp puts me in the .468 - .471 range.  My target crimp is .470 ish as close to the case mouth as I can get. Otherwise, I feel the bullet is being crushed.

My few thou of crimp's worth.

Also I'm at a O.A.L. of 1.250 and crimp of .467-.468
Haven't really played around any further as it works ok for now.

Allgoodhits wrote:

Orion wrote:

rburk wrote:You also may want to try a little more crimp with these light powder charges, I crimp to about 0.467 with these bullets..

IMO, how one measures the crimp is a bigger variable than what the actual crimp is. IMO for a .45 if the bullet is .451-.452 diameter and the wall thickness of brass is .010 -.011 then combined that is .451 or .452 plus .020-.022 thus .. .471-.474. A few thou of crimp puts me in the .468 - .471 range.  My target crimp is .470 ish as close to the case mouth as I can get. Otherwise, I feel the bullet is being crushed.

My few thou of crimp's worth.

Can you see visible signs of the bullet being crimped if you remove the bullet from a completed round? A lot of folks would say if you can see evidence of crimping on a pistol round as such then there’s too much crimp. Thoughts?

Removing a bullet is one way that I measure the amount of crimp, you can see the ring where the crimp was, and measure it.  I also use a micrometer on a loaded round, it is hard to measure exactly, but using both methods I can get close.

I crimp because a lot of the better shooters crimp their lswc loads, and they seem to shoot well for me.  Some top shooters are using even tighter crimps with the 160 gr Brazos bullets.

Yes crimping deforms the front driving band on the bullet. Deformation will not affect accuracy. It's concentric and at the front; the tapered shoulder/driving band will enter the lead angle concentrically. Obturation takes place at rear of bullet/base.
So crimping doesn't affect the accuracy of the bullet; other things affect the accuracy (fc60)
Jon

Crimp gives the bullet a bit more pull force or resistance to motion. This gives better combustion or pop as is said. Softer, or lighter bullets need more powder for the same velocity.
Crimp helps

bruce martindale wrote:Crimp gives the bullet a bit more pull force or resistance to motion. This gives better combustion or pop as is said. Softer, or lighter bullets need more powder for the same velocity.
Crimp helps

Less powder on your forearm.

Bill