Springfield Range Officer Reload tips

First topic message reminder :

Hi everyone, 
I'm an Italian guy, I've been shooting rifles for over 10 years (50mt rifle target and 300mt prone rifle)...

 I just bought a Springfield Range Officer cal.45ACP from a friend who has practically never used it.... After reading here on the forum that it's an excellent bullseye gun I didn't let it slip away! 

I would now like to ask for advice on reloading to start testing with rests at 25 and 50mt. 
In Italy I should be able to get Vithavuori powder and as for bullets I don't know whether to use coated ones or  lead... bullet weight? primers? OAL?

 thanks everyone for the help!

This is my gun

Yes

There are seating dies available that only contact the bullet on that shoulder. Doing so helps with seating it straighter in the case and aids in consistency of depth. Different manufacturers/bullet weights have different nose configurations on their bullets, so seating on the shoulder will always give consistent depth regardless of manufacturer.

I see... I have a set of RCBS dies (classic). I don't think the seater has that feature. Right? Which dies work on the shoulder of the bullet?

After I posted that. I was afraid that you would ask that!

I made my own insert for a Dillon die, but I am pretty sure that someone makes one somewhere. Hopefully someone else can direct you to one.

so is this a custom bushing that you made yourself?

Yes

I use the Dillon flat nose seating stem and have used a standard Lee seating die to seat SWCs, so if you cannot find a shoulder seater—do not fret! It just means you might need to do a little extra adjusting if you change bullets from one manufacturer to the next.

DA/SA wrote:I made my own insert for a Dillon die, but I am pretty sure that someone makes one somewhere. Hopefully someone else can direct you to one.

I use the Dillon seating die inserts from Uniquetek to seat 38spl and 45 auto on the SWC shoulder. Both have worked well for me. With the Zeros you can get a good buildup of lube every 100-200 rounds so the quick disassembly of the Dillon die is nice

thanks everyone for the advice... i'll start with the rcbs dies i have and see the results on the bullet insertion...

RCBS offers a 45 SWC seating stem part number 90033

It will likely work better than the Round Nose seater that is standard with RCBS 45 ACP dies.
It may not match every 45 SWC bullet profile exactly.

Midway link:

RCBS Seater Plug 44-45 Cal Semi-Wadcutter 1/2-20 Thread

very kind!! I will look for this article in Italy...

I found these 2 types of bullets. They are both 200 grains and drawn .452.
One type however has a crimp groove. Better with or without a crimp groove?

Not sure how easy it would to deal with shipping & the like, but RCBS used to make custom bullet seaters if you sent them a few bullets to work from.  At one time, the charge was $18.

There are plenty of articles/videos on-line about modifying your existing seater die to fit a different bullet.

No crimp groove.

The ones on the right look far heavier than 200 grain!

actually the ones on the right don't seem to be 200 grains!!! anyway i will ask specifically without crimp groove.
thanks.

The ones on the right look like 158gr .38 bullets

I was thinking .45 Colt.

giocasi wrote:23.4mm as in the attached picture?

yes

Tibiletti bullet 200 452 SWC lead N 310 4,7 grains

thanks... is the shot, soft or nervous with 4.7gr of n310?

If you want soft change recoil spring in 10 lbs..then same bullet but N.310 3.8 grains

so with the original spring and 3.8gr of n310, the pistol does not complete the reload cycle?

That's way you have to change the original spring in recoil spring of 10 lbs.

very good... thanks for the advice

I have a RO with 5K+ rounds through it, very reliable.  I prefer Zero 185gr JHP or SNS coated 200gr SWC.  I regularly use Bullseye but have used 231, VV310, Ramshot True Blue, Titegroup all with very similar results.  All of these combinations work equally well in all of my 1911s.  The old saying “It’s the Indian not the arrow” holds true.
Experiment and enjoy your new 1911, personally I love them.

Here’s a link to a burn rate chart that may help.
https://images.app.goo.gl/ayvLpvpZ4QmNS77e7

GySgt7291 wrote:I have a RO with 5K+ rounds through it, very reliable.  I prefer Zero 185gr JHP or SNS coated 200gr SWC.  I regularly use Bullseye but have used 231, VV310, Ramshot True Blue, Titegroup all with very similar results.  

Are you using True Blue with the 200 SWC? If so, what load?

The interesting thing about burn rate charts is that no two are alike!