Starting out with .45 ACP..

[Guns and Watches]

I would recommend getting 500-1000 once fired brass and tossing all of the small primer brass. They are a pain in the ass when one gets mixed in while you are reloading. And mixed headstamp is fine for mid level loads. At the range 99% of the bullets I shoot are 230 gr lead. I cast the Lee 230 truncated cone bullet since it makes clean holes in paper but any round nose will work too.

Excellent advice. Thanks. Will do.

[Guns and Watches]

Best thing is sign up for emails from all the big reloading vendors online. Grafs, Midway, Midsouth Shooters, Powder Valley, Natchez, etc. There is always a sale or deal somewhere.

The other thing I do is buy in bulk when there are great deals to be had.

Good idea. Will do. Thanks.

[Guns and Watches]

You can also look at Berrys & Xtreme bullets. I like the copper plated ones as opposed to just hard cast lead. They both have good quality products and I've used bullets from them both with good results.

https://www.berrysmfg.com/category/p...plated-bullets

https://www.xtremebullets.com/Copper...ets-s/2897.htm

That's a cool option. I'll check them out. Thanks.

[Guns and Watches]

.45 ACP is relatively easy to reload. Lots of data available lots of choices for bullets. For primers if you're loading for a semi-auto any primer that fires will be fine shop for price. Powder, I've been switching to CFE Pistol maybe not the best or the gives the hottest loads but it covers a multitude of calibers and thus reduces the amount of stuff I have to have. Low power target loads Win 231 between 4.5 and 5.0 grains. Brass nearly any is fine. Having been a member of an Army team I used GI brass, which I got free. But any of our US commercial brands are good too. Bullets, you find any better than the coated lead offered by Steel Valley Casting headed by Ducati Ron. Used once fired is fine check out these guys for a source https://capitalcartridge.com/ sometimes they have primers available too.
I saw someone say something brass set up with small pistol pockets. It seems they work just fine keep the separate and you'll be OK. Someone else mentioned that small pistol primers seem to be easier to find than large pistol, that seems to be true.
Last get several manuals. I find those from powder and/or bullet manufacturers the best.

Excellent advice. Will take note. Thanks.

[Guns and Watches]

About 12 to 14 years ago I used to get insanely cheap deals on .45 ACP, 9mm and 5.56mm we're almost free. I didn't how good I had it back then. I miss those days. Wish I had a time machine to go back. Thanks again for all of the advice. I'll take note of it.

[eddyb74]

I just ran a bunch of .45 acp, but only because I had a stockpile of large pistol primers. I toss the small primer ones because there just aren't enough of them and I save my small primers for 9mm. Honestly though with component prices you might be better off buying bulk ammo. YMMV.

[Delkal]

Honestly though with component prices you might be better off buying bulk ammo. YMMV.

I haven't loaded any 9mm since primers hit 10 cents a piece. At about 25 cents for a loaded round by the time you add a primer, another 10 cents for a bullet plus the powder I don't think you are saving much. And if you pay for new brass you are losing money. I only use my small pistol primers for harder to find ammo.

You can still come out ahead with a .45 using fired cases and an uncoated lead bullet (especially if you cast it yourself). With the right load you get minimal leading with a 45. I can shoot 250 rounds I sometimes see a small streak or two but it wipes out with a couple of passes with a wire brush. The only downside is that the loads can be smokey but that doesn't bother me.

[markshere2]

Casting my own boolits worked out great in some of my 45s, but others the loaded cartridges would not chamber correcty.

Lee makes boolits sizing dies. I settled on .451 as I recall, and still had issues until I bought a Lee factory crimp die.

Now my reloads chamber in the 1911s and the Rugers and the hi points.

[TooBigToFit]

I would recommend getting 500-1000 once fired brass and tossing all of the small primer brass. They are a pain in the ass when one gets mixed in while you are reloading. And mixed headstamp is fine for mid level loads. At the range 99% of the bullets I shoot are 230 gr lead. I cast the Lee 230 truncated cone bullet since it makes clean holes in paper but any round nose will work too.

What I personally do is take an empty powder bottle, and label it SPP .45 brass. When loading .45, if I run across SPP brass (it's usually Blazer), I toss it in the bottle and move on to the next piece. When the bottle is full, I convert over to small primer, and then run the entire bottle's worth of brass. Or at least I used to, when SPP was easy and cheap to find.

It goes without saying, but if you encounter any resistance when priming, do not try to force the operation. Stop, and evaluate the situation.